In the past, the concept of narrating something onto a tape recorder has never worked well for me. I’m awkward, I don’t know what to say, and it’s just generally a waste of time. I remember how in college I purchased one of those mini-recorders, thinking I was going to make some great memories of…something.
The idea was cool. The implementation simply didn’t work for me.
As recently as the past two years, I’ve found a certain advantage in talking to myself while trying to work out story ideas. It’s great in practice, except I usually end up getting all excited about an idea and then losing it before I can apply it or write a note about it.
I’m struggling through this year’s NaNoWriMo, and I don’t know exactly what spurred on the idea, but I started looking for microphones for my iTouch.
I was hesitant to use it. I kind of thought that perhaps my old problems would manifest. As soon as the microphone turned on, my well of ideas of what to speak about would dry up. Or worse, when it came time to have to listen to myself speak, I would be so revolted by the sound of my own voice that I wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the resource.
Well, I found a mini mic
last week, and I must say, it looks more than a little bit like something I should be taking orally (or perhaps anally). But I ordered it anyway. It met my needs – inexpensive and small enough to fit in my purse. I wasn’t expecting the best sound quality. Heck, I was barely expecting it to work, to be perfectly honest with you.
Boy, was I blown away (in a completely good way) when I finally tried it out! The sound quality was excellent, and even with a full half-hour of continuous use, it barely drained my battery at all. I love this little thing – the best benefit by far being that I no longer have to worry about writing down my notes immediately. I can listen to them as much as I want, and work them into my stories as I see fit without having to recreate the silly thing every day.
I think you’ll see me talking to myself more and more frequently in the coming days, that’s for sure!