CLC Kenya Writing

3-7b: Train Your Ears to Edit: How African Writers Can Listen to Their Manuscripts Using MS Word Read Aloud

3-7b: Train Your Ears to Edit: How African Writers Can Listen to Their Manuscripts Using MS Word Read Aloud

Many writers know how to read their manuscript with their eyes, but far fewer know how to listen to it. That is where Microsoft Word’s Read Aloud feature becomes a very useful editing companion. Microsoft says Read Aloud uses the text-to-speech ability of your device to play back written text as spoken words, and it is especially helpful for proofreading, multitasking, and improving comprehension. (Microsoft Support)

For African writers, this tool can be a quiet blessing. Our manuscripts often carry rich oral rhythm, storytelling warmth, strong dialogue, and cultural expressions. Yet the very things that make our writing alive can also hide repetition, awkward phrasing, long sentences, and places where the writing sounds good in our heads but not on the page. Listening helps reveal what silent reading can miss. 

Why writers should listen to their manuscripts

When you listen to your work, you begin to hear problems that your eyes may skip over. You may notice that a sentence is too long, a paragraph is overloaded, a character’s speech sounds unnatural, or a devotional reflection is saying the same thing three times in slightly different ways. Listening also helps you catch missing words, incorrect punctuation flow, clumsy transitions, and places where emotion is explained too heavily instead of shown naturally.

This matters greatly for nonfiction, memoir, devotionals, children’s stories, and Christian teaching materials. A manuscript may be doctrinally sound and full of wisdom, yet still feel heavy because the language is crowded. Read Aloud helps you hear where the writing breathes and where it struggles.

What MS Word Read Aloud does

Microsoft explains that Read Aloud reads all or part of your document, while Speak reads only selected text. In Word, Read Aloud can be started from the Review tab.

Select Read Aloud

Once it begins, you can play, pause, move to the previous or next paragraph, and stop. You can also adjust reading speed and choose a voice from the settings gear. (Microsoft Support)

Microsoft also notes that Read Aloud is available in Office 2019, Office 2021, and Microsoft 365. (Microsoft Support)

How to use Read Aloud in MS Word

Here is the simple process:

Open your manuscript in Microsoft Word. Then go to the Review tab and select Read Aloud. Press Play to begin listening. If you need a break, select Pause. To move through the document, use Previous or Next to jump between paragraphs. When you are finished, select Stop. (Microsoft Support)

You can also change the experience by opening the gear icon in the Read Aloud controls. There you can adjust the reading speed and choose the voice that suits you best. (Microsoft Support)

Another helpful option is to highlight only a portion of text and then start Read Aloud, so that Word focuses on the section you want to examine more closely. Microsoft specifically notes that selected text can be read aloud this way. (Microsoft Support)

Keyboard shortcuts that help

For Windows, Microsoft lists these shortcuts:

  • Ctrl + Alt + Space to start Read Aloud

  • Ctrl + Space to play or pause

  • Ctrl + Right Arrow to move to the next paragraph

  • Alt + Left Arrow to slow the reading speed

  • Alt + Right Arrow to increase the reading speed (Microsoft Support)

 

For Mac, the shortcuts include:

  • Ctrl + Option + Space to start Read Aloud

  • Option + Space to play or pause

  • Option + Up Arrow to go to the previous paragraph

  • Option + Down Arrow to go to the next paragraph (Microsoft Support)

These are worth learning because editing becomes easier when your hands can respond quickly while your ears stay focused.

What to listen for as a writer

Do not just listen passively. Listen like an editor. Ask yourself:

Does this sentence sound natural when spoken?

Does this paragraph carry one clear idea, or is it trying to carry too much?

Does the dialogue sound like a real person, or like a sermon in disguise?

Does the devotional sound warm and clear, or too abstract?

Is the introduction too slow?

Is the chapter repeating itself?

Are there places where the emotion is forced rather than earned?

A good way to do this is to keep a notebook beside you or use Word comments as you listen. Mark sections such as:
“too long,”
“unclear,”
“repeat,”
“awkward dialogue,”
“good rhythm,”
or
“cut this.”

Best ways African writers can use this feature

1. For children’s books

If you write for children, Read Aloud helps you hear whether the story flows simply and clearly. Children’s writing must move well. If a sentence tires your ear, it will likely tire the child too.

2. For Christian books and devotionals

A sermon may survive a long sentence. A manuscript should not always have to. Listening helps you tell whether your spiritual writing sounds alive and conversational or too dense and preachy.

3. For memoir and testimony

Testimony writing often carries deep emotion. Read Aloud helps you hear whether the emotion feels authentic or whether the writing has become overexplained.

4. For dialogue-heavy fiction

Dialogue on the page may appear strong until it is spoken aloud. Listening exposes whether each character sounds distinct, believable, and human.

5. For editing African expressions into global English

African writers often have beautiful local rhythms in English. That is a strength. But listening can help you identify where a phrase is powerful and where it may need slight polishing for clarity, especially if your audience includes readers beyond your country.

A simple editing method using Read Aloud

Here is a practical workflow for writers:

Write the chapter first without over-editing. Leave it for a few hours or a day if possible. Return and run Read Aloud. Do not start by fixing every small issue. First, listen all the way through and mark problem areas. Then go back and edit only what you marked. After revising, play it again.

This second listening is important. Good editing is not only correction. It is confirmation.

If the voice reads in the wrong language

Microsoft explains that Read Aloud uses the proofing language set for the document. So if Word is reading your text in the wrong accent or language pattern, the issue may be your proofing language settings rather than the manuscript itself. (Microsoft Support)

If Read Aloud is not showing

Microsoft advises that if you do not see Read Aloud, you should make sure you are signed in to your Microsoft 365 account and then restart Word or sign out and back in. Microsoft also says that access to some neural voices may require a stable internet connection and that you should be signed in. (Microsoft Support)

Training by: Dr. Muthoni Mercy Omukhango

Dr. Muthoni Mercy Omukhango is a Christian publisher, author, trainer, and marketplace minister. She serves as National Director of CLC Kenya, Authors’ Manager at the African Christian Authors Book Award (ACABA), Convener of Mama Africa Book Box, and Patron of CLC Kids and Teens.

Through the Publishing in Africa Series, she equips authors, publishers, and literary entrepreneurs with practical strategies for developing, publishing, distributing, and growing African-authored literature.

Her ministry is centred on advancing God’s Kingdom through literature and helping more African voices to be written, published, distributed, and read.

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