Mary Robinette Kowal » Reading Aloud

Stage fright is one of the most horrible things about reading. It can be debilitating and, what’s worse, it can cause a self-feedback loop that will make the symptoms manifest in different ways...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/reading-aloud-dealing-with-stage-fright/

While I was in Utah at the Superstars Writing Seminar, I did a very fast version of my “How to Give an Effective Reading” workshop.  I do this talk at conventions when I get the chance and h...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/video-how-to-give-an-effective-reading/

The dialect is definitely going much smoother when recording Shades of Milk and Honey. The first day I was covering about 7 pages an hour and my usual speed is 15.  I’m back up to the twelve r...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/recording-shades-of-milk-and-honey-pt-3/

Ah-ha! I had dim memories of learning a general rule of thumb for how to handle the A in RP English, so I went looking for it. Until around the 1600s everyone, no matter where they lived, pronoun...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/the-virtual-linguist-trap-bath-split/

If anyone has time, I could use help with two tasks. 1) I recorded a story (not mine and I promise it’s good) and I need to listen to it to make sure that we didn’t leave any of my stumbles i...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/help-with-listening-and-reading/

Last night, to celebrate, I worked. I needed to turn in my recording for PodCastle and had been given an extension because of my cold last week. The dragon lady was not appropriate for this story...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/reading-aloud/reading-aloud-the-importance-of-quiet-space/

My niece gave me a cold for Christmas, so we’re going to take advantage of it to show some tricks for dealing with throat ailments. For kicks, I recorded the whole post this time. You can liste...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/reading-aloud-the-common-cold/

Please go listen to this brilliant and funny bit of advice: How Not To Do A Podcast by Kate Baker.

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/reading-aloud-how-not-to-do-a-podcast/

When Bill Schafer at Subterranean Press asked me to read Kage Baker’s Rude Mechanicals, I was delighted, because I love the Company stories. I was delighted until I started reading the manuscri...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/reading-aloud-15-choices-and-compromises-recordingrude-mechanicals/

Early on, I talked about the importance of selecting the right piece for a reading. Some pieces of fiction naturally lend themselves to being read aloud, while others are meant to stay on the pag...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/reading-aloud-14-stumbling-and-the-sagan-diary/

I have a mild cold that I picked up from the germ factories that come aboard the boat to meet the Cinnamon Bear. It’s not bad, just a scratchy throat and fatigue–although I suppose the fatigu...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/reading-aloud-singing-while-sick/

As noted last week, I’m not going to post this week. Now, I asked you to record a story yourself. If you did and would like comments on it, paste a link into the comments of this post. Meanwhil...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/reading-aloud-13-sam-a-mowry/

The tricky thing with reading a story written in the first person is that your narration has the same voice as your main character’s dialogue. There is a simple trick for differentiating when y...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/reading-aloud-12-narrating-with-first-person/

Okay. At some point, every SF story on the planet is going to hit some handwavium. You know the thing I’m talking about, that magic point where you just have to make stuff up in order to cover ...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/reading-aloud-11-making-sense/

You’ve honed your voice to be a well-modulated wonder. Now you have to get in front of people and actually read. In some readings, the author remains seated. Some, they stand. What should you d...

https://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/reading-aloud-10-stage-presence/