Snowflake challenge, Day 8

[lunesque]

Day 8

In your own space, talk about setting yourself a fannish goal. Big or small, it doesn't matter. Some examples: complete a bingo, sign up for a Big Bang, write that fic you've been thinking about for years, podfic that story that you love, make a fanmix for your fandom, post that bit of meta or reclist you keep putting off. Maybe resolve to be better at leaving feedback or answering comments. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Well, I definitely want to focus on answering comments better than I have been. I don't get very many comments anymore, simply because my writing output has gone down so much, but I really want to interact with people more, so that's really important.

Also, I kind of want to do a podfic? IDEK. I've never done it before, and I read far too fast.

Comments

[hananobira]

Yes, you want to do a podfic! All the yeses! Because podfic is awesome and more people need to make it.

[lunesque]

I don't listen to much podfic myself because I find it tough to process, but I've always loved that people do it. I'm excited to try! \o/

[jelazakazone]

Podficcer's are really lovely people. Just do it!

Someone told me to read as though you are reading to ESOL people. It helped slow me down enough, I think. Plus, there is no way to improve if you don't do it:D

(For the record, for my first "real" podfic, I recorded it like three times knowing I was going to throw those away, then I started recording "for real":))

[lunesque]

The podficcing community seems really great, from the bits and pieces I've seen. I think I'm just having a lot of OMG I'M TRYING SOMETHING NEW anxiety. And patience would be good, I think. I'm horrible at patience. :)

[jelazakazone]

Oh yeah. It took me like two months to screw up the courage to figure out my new MP3 player and then I started listening. Then it took me many more months to take that deep breath and take the plunge.

Actually, halfamoon challenge is coming up soon (Feb 1-14) and then there will probably be the Awesome Women's Anthology (or something like that) where people record fics that are less than five minutes long, I believe. It's good to start with things that are really short. I did two of my own that were really short (because I was too shy to ask someone else if I could do theirs) and then six or seven months later, I did two more fics that were substantially longer, but still manageable. (less than 30 minutes).

Now I want to tackle one that will definitely be over an hour, maybe 2. It's a very silppery slope. The learning curve is not steep.

Would you use Audacity or Garageband?

[lunesque]

I wish I could use Garageband, because I've seen so many good things about it, but I'm a PC user and would have to stick with audacity. I've toyed with it a little, so I have an idea of what to do. :) The hard part for me, is the microphone, because I definitely know I need a mic screen, but I can't afford to buy a real one, and so far making one is a pain in the butt.

[jelazakazone]

What is a mic screen and why do you need one? I bought a freestanding USB mic for my laptop and it's good. It may not be professional quality, but for $10, I'm quite happy with it and it's a million times better than the laptop mic.

[lunesque]

I've been using one of my Karaoke Revolution USB microphones to get used to talking into it. ^^;

A mic screen is a mesh or nylon screen that you put between your mouth and the microphone--on recordings, my 'P's pop a lot, so by having one, it makes recording cleaner. Apparently I can make one using nylons and an embroidery hoop, I just haven't done it yet.

[jelazakazone]

Practice is good.

Ah. Interesting. I had no idea. I think there are things you can do with filters and the way you record that would lessen the pops too. I don't know anything about Audacity, so you'd have to ask on podfic tips or somewhere.

[lunesque]

I've been reading a lot of times. I'm so nervous! *flails around*

[jelazakazone]

I'm sure you've had offers already, but if you want me to beta listen, I'd be happy to do that. I can't do it today, but I have lots of free time during the day for the rest of the week. jelazakazone1 @ gmail.com :D or pm me.

[lunesque]

Oh, thank you! I haven't really had any offers, so maybe this'll actually get me trying something. :)

[jelazakazone]

Hee:) Good. Go. Have fun. Try something. Let me know, or someone else.

[analise010]

PODFIC!!!!! LET'S DO IT!!!!! Do you have a Twitter? A lot of the podfic community is Twitter-based, but there are also places like podfic_tips and amplificathon to get you started.

[lunesque]

I have a twitter, but I get lost on it pretty easily. I'm not there often enough to really understand the flow of conversation. Thank you so much for the community recommendations, though! I'm getting really excited!

[arsenicjade]

I think it's cool that you want to attempt a podfic as a way to get yourself to slow down. Neat idea.

[lunesque]

Thanks! I've always read quickly, and I know I miss a lot of nuance, so I'm hoping that podficcing will help me get a deeper understanding, too.