Rough week on the productivity front. We celebrated the in-laws’ 50th anniversary (yes, you read that correctly) with a big do, lots of family and friends, and all the attendant preparation, setup, and cleanup that entails. The wife did an outstanding job with the decorating, as always. She was so busy we haven’t yet had much time to properly celebrate her birthday, which was yesterday.
Even so, I did manage to bang out some verbiage on the Halloween story. I didn’t finish it, as I’d hoped, but I should get there with another night’s work (or two). Here’s where we currently stand:
I’m done with the second act, which had been a bit foggy (like that’s news). That is, it was foggy until I got the idea for something really shocking to occur–shocking to me, anyway. I ended up writing a scene that really turned my stomach. It’s not particularly gruesome, but still, it got to me. I can’t ever remember having that reaction to my own prose before. Whether it’s any good, of course, remains to be seen.
Those last three chapters of Petra still await their read-through. The Halloween story’s due at the end of the month; it takes priority.
In other news–I had an interesting experience last Tuesday evening. Some of you may recall that for my wife’s 40th birthday last year, I wrote and performed a song for her. It went over well, and I’ve been meaning to get it recorded. Trouble is, I don’t have the equipment. So as a present for my 40th birthday, my wife, in-laws, and some friends chipped in to get me an hour of studio time, complete with a sound engineer, at a local recording studio. I wanted to get it done in time for her birthday this year, which was, as I said, yesterday. Last Tuesday, I went there to lay the song down.
The recording went well. It’s a simple enough tune, with only two tracks–guitar and vocal. I’d rehearsed it enough that I got the guitar in one take (with one little fix) and the vocals in two. The sound engineer, a guy by the name of Jeremy, was terrific–patient, helpful, enthusiastic. Exactly what this first-timer needed.
The most interesting moment, though–and the reason I’m posting it here–came near the end of the session, when he played back the track for me. It was the old cliche all over again: “Do I really sound like that?”
You would think I would have expected it. I wasn’t doing a cover of another song, after all. This was a Matt Rotundo original, from start to finish. I’m the only one who’s ever sung it. Even so, when I heard the playback, I could not recognize my own voice.
Very weird. Humbling, even.
And you know, there’s a writing lesson in that: I really don’t know the sound of my own voice, in song or in fiction. I mean, I know enough to sing on-key, and to do it with at least an outward show of confidence. But the actual timbre is something I’m just not attuned to yet.
Thank goodness for honest critiques.
Write Club update: IGMS bounced “In the Hidden Gardens of the Soul” with a tier one rejection. Response time, 3 months.
Onward . . .
