Listening to Myself Read

As you may recall, I record myself reading my short story manuscripts before I send them out so I can make sure it flows right (and to see if the transliteration works for things like gwan' and the foreign languages). It seems to help. Then I put the .mp3 with the manuscript in the folder and listen to it every once in a while just to hear myself talk.

From "Deep Sleep":
041 - Deep Sleep 1

This has improved two things about my writing, enumerated after the period. (1) If I can say it out loud with a straight face, I can write it, and practicing saying increasingly ridiculous things out loud can only weaken my already thin filter. (2) Listening to the soothing tones of my own voice reduces my need for human contact to preserve my social animal mojo, and so I can isolate myself in my writing chambers and tap away at Friend Computer with the help of my speculative pals.

As a bonus, my glib tongue remains well-exercised. This warm-up saves strain when I'm seducing pretty ladies at parties.

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"So, gentlemen, we are agreed: We'll take a harrowing journey to the uncharted corners of the Earth, do some weird stuff, no women (of course). Then we'll return in triumph with a Pterodactyl (of all things), this to rub our success into their smug skeptic faces."

"Um, Professor Challenger: SPOILER ALERT?"

"No time, Malone! We must find somebody whose mysterious past can complicate up this expedition so that you can learn a valuable lesson about proper motivations for adventures."

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250 words? Yes
Book "Lived Too Long To Die"
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Reading - "The Lost World" (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)