After lunch each day of the conference, we'll have a featured reader (one of the scholarship recipients) AND an open mic (5 minutes MAX. no exceptions)
Five minutes spoken would be about 3 pages of double spaced, 12 pt. font, 1 inch margins. Of course if you read really really fast, it could be more, but then no one would really hear your work.
And, if you've never read your work aloud in front of an audience, this is a good place to start. First, you probaby don't know most of us anyway, and if you return to the Taos Conference, most of us will have forgotten your reading... in other words, it's ok to mess up. And on that note, even if you DO mess up, we've all been there, we're all writers, we will understand. We will forgive you and applaud you anyway.
Some tips for reading aloud:
1. Don't forget to breath. Seriously, we don't want you to pass out.
2. Take it slow. Read each word, ennunciate. pause.
3. Project. Even with a microphone, you need to speak up.
4. Look up... you'll see cues from the audience like when they can't hear you, so you'll know to (see number 3)
5. Relax. Have fun. We're all writers.
It's great fun to hear fellow writers read their work aloud, and I do hope you will plan on giving it a try... we'll have sign up sheets probably in the Conference Lobby-- the same place you can sign up for trips to the DH Lawrence ranch, the Harwood, the Pueblo, etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment