Reading out loud

I once read something by Charlie Stross which made sense to me at the time, and in many respects still does. It was on the subject of reading one's writing out loud and the dangers of correcting the text as a consequence. I am paraphrasing due to dodgy memory, but his reason was that the cadences of written and oral speech are different and one should be careful not to confuse the two.

As I say, I take the point. And yet I do it and find it helpful. I do it for three reasons.

The first is that it helps me decide if a character's voice is sufficiently distinctive to enhance their individuality.

The second is that reading the draft identifies without mercy where the prose is flabby. My hypothesis is that if the writing is lumpy or tiresome or hard to read when spoken out loud, it will be similarly difficult when read in the reader's inner voice.

The third is that it is a useful way of checking my punctuation.