Voice and environment (was RE: Reading and Editing

[KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com]

Frank Krasovic wondered:

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frank Krasovic [mailto:krasovic -at- intellinet-tech -dot- com]
> 
> When reading text (it doesn't matter if the text is a novel, newspaper
> article, user's manual, what-have-ya) I "hear" a narrator 
> reading the words.
> When I read a Tom Clancy novel, each of the characters have a 
> different
> voice and the third-person arrogation is a more-or-less 
> monotone newscaster
> voice.  This has been going on since I stared reading, around 
> age 4ish.  I
> guess I always knew this was going on, but I just "realized" it after
> talking to another who shares the experience.
> Do any of ya'll have that going on?

Yes. Exactly that. It's much clearer when the characterization 
is good, so I don't dither about what the voice might sound like.
The voices just sound like the characters and I think no more 
of it until I realize that my wife has been trying to get my 
attention.  Hers was just one of the crowd of voices... :-)

Unfortunately, this effect, which greatly aids my enjoyment and 
involvement in fiction... slows down my reading due to the 
subvocalization. 

Some years ago, I made a stab at learning to speed-read, 
so that I could get through technical stuff more quickly.
I found two things:

1) no matter how much I practiced, it was always unnatural 
   for me -- "against the grain" somehow and,

2) it didn't deliver the promised gain in speed of comprehension.

If I needed to really know a topic, then I had to go back over 
it, slowly, often re-reading sections until they jelled. In fact, 
I've noticed that if I invest a dense section of technical or 
expository prose with somebody else's interested and enthusiastic 
voice, I help my own grasp of the material.

Does this suggest that I should be using different voices when 
I *write* technical material?  Hmm.

I wonder if there's any correlation between those of us who 
"hear the voices" and those who don't, versus those who thrive 
in a reading environment with stereo, TV and several live 
conversations roaring around our heads, while others prefer 
quiet surroundings.  (For that matter, is it possible to 
enjoy fiction without having the pictures and voices in 
your head as you read?)

My wife, for example, can always get my attention when I'm 
reading in a relatively quiet room. Sometimes just a raised 
eyebrow does it. If I'm filtering out a lot of ambient noise 
and visual clutter (like the TV), then apparently I'm also 
filtering out the spouse.  (Danger! Will Robinson. Danger!)

This leads me to wonder if you folk write differently for 
audiences who are likely to be reading your guides and 
manuals in distracting environments, versus relatively quiet 
surroundings... ??

Oh, hey! Here's another one. Some user documents -- such 
as auto owners' manuals -- have lots of pictures, usually 
illustrations, rather than photos.  I've noticed a lot of 
use of pastel shades and screens. Do the people producing 
that kind of thing give any thought to the reader who 
might be paging through the book, alone on a highway in 
the dead of night, with a flashlight?

"Fuses, fuses... where are the damn fuses? These @#%*! 
 pictures are so low-contrast in this light."

/kevin

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