Speech's Pace

In all aspect of writing, I am very slow. I'm a slow reader, slow writer, slow editor, slow everything. It is very frustrating to most people, sometimes even myself, but the benefits are quite worth the frustration.

But before I get ahead of myself, let's start with why. Why am I so slow at everything I do? The reason is that I do everything at speech's pace. When I read, I read out loud. When I'm in public, I read out loud in my head. Sometimes I mouth words or say them quietly to myself. Basically, I always read as if I am giving a speech to a crowd.

I write the same way. Realistically, I probably write at half of speech's pace, but that is partly a limitation of my body and partly the fact that I am creating the second half of a sentence while I am typing the first half. However, I do still speak as I write. I say the words I am writing as I write them. When I get stuck or otherwise lose myself, I keep repeating the last phrase I wrote to get me back on track. I can only imagine what a sight it must be for onlookers, the crazy person talking to himself as he types.

And yet, despite whatever appearance I may have, I have no qualms with my personal style or process. From what I have seen, it is what makes me as amazing as I am. When I read, I absorb every word. If a sentence doesn't make sense, I stay on it until I understand it, or at least can say it without stumbling. When my eyes start glazing over from a paragraph, I shake my head out, and start from the beginning. When you give a speech, a large amount of your feeling and power comes from your delivery more than your words, and the conviction of your delivery depends on your familiarity with what you are saying and what you are trying to say. Since I am giving a speech when I read, I have to make sure that I actually understand what the author is saying before I can move on.

The results of this method are astounding. My mom can probably read six times faster than me, but she retains probably a sixth as much information as I do. On here third reading of a book, she tells me things that she is ow understanding, that I already got on my only reading of it.

But there is an added benefit to my method. I am a fantastic proofreader (remember, I don't proof my posts, so they are not an example). That is because I am not sprinting through a page. I sit and look at every word. If I go too fast, I look at the words again. Errors leap off the page at me. It gets really annoying because I can't turn it off, but it makes me invaluable when my skills are needed.

Similar things happen to me in my writing. Things like rhythm and melody are important to me because all of my writing is meant to be heard. If a sentence makes me stumble, ties my tongue, or is just too unpleasant to say aloud, then I throw it out and try again. When I get stuck and keep repeating the last sentence or looking over my paragraph, I catch mistakes or ramblings, which allows me to edit as I write. My friend has a similar experience while she is tasting her words. Of course, when I am on a roll, that goes out the window, but that is exactly why I like being slow.

If you are a fast reader or a fast writer, try slowing down. Go at speech's pace and see what you get from it. At the very least, it could make your first draft have the feel of a second or third draft. If you are already a slow reader or writer, don't feel bad about it. Take pride in your style and take full advantage of its benefits.