Oh, hi friends!
When most people are continually successful at something, it’s usually not an accident.
Take a peek under the hood and you’ll find: Oh! They work hard! And have effective systems and routines!
I noticed my friend Carlotta Brentan, who’s an actor and director, was narrating more audiobooks during the pandemic (and winning awards), but then I finally asked her, Well, how exactly does she do it?
Her answers were completely unexpected. I didn’t know anything about narrating an entire book?! (This is why I do these podcast chats, btw, to fill in my knowledge gaps.)
She told me about analyzing each chapter, protecting her voice, and sticking to a 7am to 2pm recording schedule — all from the comfort of a soundproofed walk-in closet that gets so hot in the summer she sticks her feet in an ice bath.
Here are some highlights from today’s Do It Today podcast chat, which was inspiring on multiple levels. I’m even brushing off my old Airtable from January 2020 to rediscover some old systems.
On organizing everything related to her career
I have a gigantic Airtable with all these different sheets — I watched a little bit of their tutorials, it wasn't super intuitive to me when I started using it like two years ago — but it keeps track of everything I'm recording, what stage of the process it’s in, the genre, the author, the publisher, who produced it, when, the fee, whether I recorded from home or from a studio, which studio, was there a director, and all of those things. It feels so good to not have to hold information in my brain.
On preparation as the most important part of the process
I write down every time that information is revealed, that is factual, about our main character or anything important to the plot. I write G.C., that stands for given circumstances. When an author zooms out and goes back into the character's thoughts or the past, I like to mark “out” and “in,” to remind me to get back into the moment or take a step back. I note the key plot points that happen in each chapter. I find that, as with every type of acting, the more prepared you are, the more you can be free and creative and connected in the moment. Because you're not stepping out and thinking about the logistics of the story or about the words that you're pronouncing. You're just in the story.
On incorporating small, preventative measures with big payoff
I'm not somebody who's usually really good at taking the small steps that you don't see results for right away, but if you don't do these vocal warm-ups for a month, you will see the negative results. So I've really had to embrace: I have to do a 20-minute warmup before I record. Otherwise the day's gonna be difficult and it's going to snowball into the rest of the week.
Carlotta made me want to clean up my act, get organized, roll out my yoga mat for the first time in a year (small, preventative measures!), and pay closer attention when I’m reading — and especially to what I’m writing.
You never know who’s going to be on the other end, looking for your intention behind every word.
For a Monday pick-me-up, listen below or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or my website.
And for more information about Vatican Falls, the play Carlotta mentions which she’s co-directing and starring in over the next month, head to The Tank from Oct. 27 to Nov. 20. Go, Carlotta, go!