Reading your Work – Aloud

I’m preparing for a late afternoon soiree. In my own home. The household might have questions about it, I may feel nervous to give a public reading, invited guests might feel ‘iffy’ about what is required of them. Who knows. But, nevertheless, we proceed.

The reason? I want to develop certain memoir pieces to the point where I feel comfortable reading them aloud. (To people who are not me!) It’s helpful to get a feel for the room. Mark Twain notably said: ‘Nothing so focuses the mind as the prospect of being hanged’. Or, in my case, of giving a public performance.

Lately, I’ve been editing scenes from the draft manuscript about my father. The plan is to fine tune and sharpen them. I’ve written previously about the importance of creating scenes in a narrative, as drilled into us during my MA at Wilkes University. You can read my blog post on this, Making a Scene, here.

Luckily for me, I’m surrounded by a wonderful group of writers – especially Elwood Writers – members of which – I’ve invited to join me with readings of their own, thus adding chutzpah to the event.

I’ll keep you posted on the Spoken Word event.