First time poster.
I also use Read Aloud in Word. My post-first draft strategy is:
1. Grammer/spell check, then read it out loud. Make changes.
2. Leave it alone for a few days.
3. Word Read Aloud the whole thing. Make changes.
4. Leave it alone for a few days.
5. Start searching for my typical writing errors (Missing End quotation mark, lack of contractions in dialog, wrong words, etc)
6. One more editorial pass looking for anything and everything.
7. Email it to my author friend (We do this for each other.) He sends it back with tracked changes in Word.
8. I attend to his corrections or suggestions, then accept all changes and turn off tracked changes.
9. By now, I need a break and usually leave it for about a week.
10. One more pass (ugh) and I am done.
11. Publish.
My only real problem I have with Text-to-speech is the lack of inflection. I can't afford extra voices for Natural Reader and the free voice has the same lack of inflection as Word. I would like to have a voice that makes a question sound like a question, an exclamation have emphasis, all capital words in dialog sound like shouting, on and on.
Is there such a thing that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?
Just found this forum, so I have added it to the other two I frequent.
BTW, concerning typical errors, I'm curious, what are your typical errors that you are prone to make in the first draft?
Thank you,
David