Not long ago, Writing It Real member Dorothy Ross wrote to me about her newest project — recording the narratives she’s written about her life for her family to have in the form of audio files. I listened to a few of them and was so pleased to hear her physical voice. I immediately wanted to share her account of creating and executing this project, as well as some of what she has recorded, with Writing It Real members, who will benefit from considering this avenue for sharing writing. For some of us, having a book and/or publications in journals might not be the only way we want to share our writing. Dorothy’s project excites me. If you don’t have a Mac as she does, your PC will have programs for recording pieces that can be emailed, shared using thumb drives, offered through Dropbox or put on web pages as well as burnt onto CDs. Thank you, Dorothy, for this information and the sample of your writing.

At the Starting Point
by Dorothy Ross

I was prompted to record some of my memoirs because a dear friend is losing her eyesight. A lifelong wordswoman, librarian, reader, and writer, Lyn is no longer able to manage even large print. Other than having visitors read to her, she can only enjoy books on CD. I decided to make her an audio book for Christmas. I have always enjoyed reading aloud, so this challenge was fun for me.

I had already collected the anecdotes, scanned some old snapshots, and was ready to print and assemble them as Christmas presents for my five grandkids, aged 15 to 25. That 18,000-word narrative would be the script for the audio version.

My daughter Sheila reminded me about an application that came on my Mac. Called GarageBand, it’s made for recording music, but she felt certain it would work. Rummaging in my bottom desk drawer, I pulled out the microphone that I sometimes use with voice recognition software. The hair band type of mic, intended for cell phone users, wasn’t ideal for my purpose, but it was worth a try. Otherwise, I would have to use the laptop’s built-in mic, but my Skyping experience had proven that inadequate.

Since our Sheila lives far away in Texas, I asked another computer guru to help me set up my home recording studio. Jill had never seen GarageBand, but her technical ability and instincts carried the day. That first Saturday in December, we burned track 1.

On my own for the following nine tracks, I completed the project within a week, and learned a lot along the way. First, and very important: Open by introducing yourself and your work; conclude each chapter by number, and open the next chapter by number and name.

A quiet environment is essential. Even rudimentary mics pick up surrounding sounds. If the dog barks, you have to start over. Likewise, the whistling tea kettle, and even a driving rain beating on the skylight.

So you need quiet. But not bathroom quiet. The bathroom makes a great phone booth, but sounds bounce off the hard surfaces, creating echoes. A room with carpets and drapes is ideal, like the living room or bedroom — even a clothes closet.

Lyn was thrilled with her own personal audio book, and I also gave CDs to the grandkids, but if I had taken more time, I could have made a better recording. I should have practiced talking into a mic before making the final cut. I often talked too fast, and didn’t always allow pauses for emphasis.

By about the fourth track I had developed the method that worked best for me. To make the words more readable, I set up the page for landscape and formatted the text for 18-point type, double-spaced. I sent that product to my husband’s desktop computer and brought it up on his large monitor. It was as close as I could get to a home tele-prompter.

Then I read the script aloud a couple of times, highlighting words to emphasize and marking with double forward slashes — // — where I wanted to pause. I made the recording and saved it to iTunes on my Mac.

My family has gotten so much pleasure from these CDs that I’m planning to put more of my writings onto audio files for them. The next project will be from my collection of pieces on my travels. And, for my upcoming birthday, I’ve requested a better microphone, one that I can set on a table and use to interview people, like my friend Lyn, who can no longer write but still has a lot to teach and to tell.

I am happy to report two spin-offs from my recording project. I joined a small group of amateurs interested in performing reader’s theater. There, I am working to slow down my rapid-fire New York speaking pattern. And now I’ve written this article for Writing It Real.

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Here is a link to one of Dorothy’s audio short memoir pieces entitled “Joining the Party,” an anecdote she says she’s told many times and something she is including in the first chapter of her memoir Finding Home. I hope you’ll leave Dorothy a comment at the article’s end.