You’ve finished your draft. Or at least, you’ve got enough pages that it’s time to step back and see what you have.
Now comes the hard part: actually reading the thing.
I know this sounds simple. You’re a writer. You read. Just open the file and start at the beginning, right?
But here’s what actually happens: You open the document, start reading, and immediately get stuck fixing a sentence in paragraph three. Or you realize your opening doesn’t work and you start rewriting it. Or you get overwhelmed by how long it is and close the file.
Sound familiar?
Reading your own draft requires a different approach than reading someone else’s work. You need a system that helps you see what you’ve actually written—not what you meant to write, not what it could become with six more months of revision, but what’s actually on the page right now.
Let me walk you through three different methods, plus some critical advice on what to do (and not do) while you’re reading.
The Big Mental Block: Should I Even Print This?
Let’s address the resistance first, because I guarantee you’re feeling it.
“But what about the trees?”
“It’s so expensive to print 200 pages.”
“My printer is broken / out of ink / possessed by demons.”
Here’s the truth: Yes, printing your draft uses paper. So does junk mail, product packaging, and about a thousand other things you don’t think twice about. If printing your manuscript helps you see it clearly and move your writing forward, it’s worth it.
Get a double-sided printer if the environmental guilt is eating at you. Problem solved.
Method 1: Print It Out and Read on Paper
This is my preferred method, especially for longer work.
Why it works:
- You can’t easily fiddle with sentences (which is exactly what you want)
- Your eyes process printed text differently than screen text
- You can spread pages out, flip back and forth easily, and see the whole thing spatially
- You can make notes in the margins without getting sucked into revision mode
The page count question:
If you’ve got 15,000 words, you’re looking at about 60 pages (divide your word count by 250 to get a rough page estimate). That’s totally manageable to print.
Even 75,000 words—about 300 pages, 150 double-sided!—is worth printing if you can afford it. You’re going to spend hours reading this thing. Having it in a format that your eyes can process easily is worth the cost.
Method 2: Read on Screen
If printing isn’t an option—maybe you’re traveling, maybe you just can’t bring yourself to do it—you can read on screen.
When this works:
- Shorter pieces (under 10,000 words)
- When you’re primarily checking for continuity or fact-checking
- When you’ve already read a printed version once and want to revisit
When this doesn’t work:
- Longer manuscripts where eye fatigue becomes a real issue
- When you need to see the big picture structure
- When you’re prone to editing as you read (the temptation is too strong on screen)
Method 3: Listen to It
This is an underrated option that works surprisingly well for many writers.
How to do it:
Take your manuscript and use a text-to-speech tool. Most computers have built-in accessibility features that can read text aloud. There are also dedicated apps and services that do this with better voice quality.
Why this works:
- You literally cannot edit while listening
- You hear awkward phrasing and repetition more clearly
- You can listen while doing something else (walking, cooking, folding laundry)
- It forces you to experience the story at reading pace, not writing pace
The catch:
You have to actually pay attention. It’s easy to zone out and miss things. I find it helps to listen with a notebook nearby so I can jot down timestamps or quick notes when something catches my attention.
What To Do While You Read: The Stephen Koch Method
Here’s advice from Stephen Koch’s The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop that changed how I read my own work:
Don’t edit sentences.
I know. I know. You see a clunky phrase and you want to fix it right now.
Don’t.
Your goal in this first read-through is to understand what you have structurally. Where is the story strong? Where does it drag? What questions do you have? Where did your attention wander?
Instead, make margin notes:
- “Strong section”
- “Not sure what’s happening here”
- “My eyes glazed over”
- “Love this character moment”
- “Question: Why would she do this?”
- “Pacing drags”
These notes are gold. They tell you where the real work needs to happen in revision. And they’re much more useful than spending three hours perfecting the prose in a scene you might ultimately cut.
The Real Goal of Reading Your Draft
You’re trying to answer these questions:
- What story did I actually tell? (Not what I meant to tell—what’s on the page?)
- Where is it working?
- Where is it not working?
- What questions does it raise?
- Where does my attention wander?
- What surprised me?
That’s it. You’re gathering information about your manuscript so you can make smart revision decisions later.
You are NOT:
- Polishing prose
- Fixing every awkward sentence
- Rewriting the opening
- Getting derailed by rabbit holes
Just Start Reading
Pick a method. Set aside time when you won’t be interrupted.
And then read the thing you wrote.
You might be surprised by how good parts of it are. You’ll definitely find parts that need work. Both of these discoveries are useful.
The only way to move forward with your manuscript is to see what you actually have. And that means reading it—all the way through—with fresh eyes and an open mind.
So print it out. Or put it on your screen. Or load it into your text-to-speech app.
But read it.
Your draft is waiting.
One More Thing: If you want that Stephen Koch essay I mentioned (it’s from The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop), shoot me an email and I’ll send you the relevant PDF. It’s one of the best pieces I’ve read on how to approach reading your own work without getting paralyzed by perfectionism.
