In which I narrate a story from 1930
I took a vacation (the first real vacation I’ve ever taken in my life, where I just got to relax and enjoy myself without ever feeling like I was a Pokemon for people to catch), and it seems to have restored a lot of access to my creative self.
I’m still working through some story problems that I need to solve so I can do the revisions and add the scenes to All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, but I’m doing the work, even if I don’t have words added to the manuscript to show for it. That feels pretty good.
I’ve also been, while not exactly feeling great, getting better and feeling closer to “good” every day. Jesus, it’s been so long since I felt good, I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to have a day without sadness and anxiety in it.
But today, rather than feel creatively stifled and stuck in the mire of depression, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and make a thing.
So I went to Project Gutenberg, clicked through a few bookshelves until I got to classic Science Fiction, and decided to do an unrehearsed, essentially live narration of a story that was published in Astounding Stories of Super Science in 1931.
It’s not the greatest story I’ve ever read (if I’d read it before I narrated it, I wouldn’t have chosen it), but it’s a fine representative of that era’s genre fiction writing. I had some fun doing my best impression of someone reading it in 1931, and I recorded it to share with any of you who are interested in this sort of thing.
I can’t get WordPress to let me upload it, so you can stream it from my Soundcloud, download it to listen to later, or totally skip it. I’m not the boss of you.
However, if you do listen to it, I’d like to know what you think about the story, the experiment, and … um … I think that’s all.
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That was fun - would love to hear more of your live narration!
Enjoyed your narration of the story. If you decide to do another, I recommend slightly lowering the gain, there was some distortion due to over-modulation, I think. That was the only distraction. I found that your dogs barked at an opportune moment in the story. The overall effect was very humanizing. It made it feel less like I was listening to Audible, and more like I was listening to a friend or parent reading a bedtime story. Thank you.
Wil,This was a great experience!
True, I would not have picked this story to read on my own, but that was part of the fun! You can get so caught up in choosing just the right story that you end up never reading anything . . .
I liked the outtakes and asides. It was so refreshing listening to an unedited performance. Everything is so packaged and auto-tuned these days, this was quite enjoyable.
Do try this again! Don't think too much about what to read, best to just dive in and give it a go!
Thanks again
Wil - What a fantastic idea! I'm so glad you did this. I ran out of time and wasn't able to finish the story, but so far, so good. I've bookmarked the site to go back to it. I have to say... I love your voice. Keep up the great work!!
You rocked this book! I had no idea you had such talent. 🤛🏼 Please consider Skippy Dover, The Legend is Real for your next project. I think you’ll find the slightly twisted humor right up your alley. Keep being who and what you are. You inspire so many❤️
Many books that are 70+ years old can be difficult for me to read -- oh my, how the written word has changed! -- but I've found they're very easy to listen to and enjoy. And now I can say I've listened to (and enjoyed) a 1930s short story. So, thank you!