I am absolutely delighted to have as a guest blogger Daniela Acitelli, a wonderful audiobook narrator who just happens to live on the other side of the pond in England. Daniela and I met through our mutual producer, Steven Jay Cohen of Listen2aBook, but she and I also are linked through Bee Audio. I've been enjoying Daniela's books and her perfect delivery, and I thought it would be a nice break to invite Daniela to talk about her narration journey. If you are new to audiobook recording, Daniela's words will give you heart to keep on going (practice, practice, practice). If you are a seasoned narrator, you will see the path you once took on your way to success. Take it away, Daniela:
Diary of an Audiobook Narrator
I am an audiobook narrator. I wake up
every day and remind myself of that now. It still feels exciting and wonderful.
I began this journey about one and a half years ago building my home studio and
regularly recording and producing audiobooks.
I did have experience. I had an acting
background, worked as a voiceover artist and had recorded audiobooks for the
Royal National Institute of Blind People but I always had a day job. A job that
I hated with every fiber of my being but that nevertheless allowed me to pay my
mortgage. There are no words to describe the excitement and terror of making
the decision to become self-employed and never again working a traditional 9-5
job.
I was prepared for all the things they
warn you about, for the lack of structure and routine, for the insecurity about
income and even for the artist angst which is par for the course in any career
that requires you to ‘put your soul on the line’. The one thing I wasn’t
prepared for was the journey. I thought that my new career progression would
follow a linear route. I thought that I’d wake up every day and work as hard as
I could and read and study and learn and soon I would be climbing the notoriously
steep ladder on the way to becoming a full time audio book narrator.
I hired a coach, I read blogs, I signed up
for every training there was, I got one on one vocal training and advice on the
best studio set up possible. I was shocked at how hard this career actually is.
I couldn’t believe how much discipline it took to stand for 6 hours completely focused
on every detail while still acting and imbuing a manuscript with the right
amount of emotion. I was even less prepared for the production side of things
which followed, the massive ‘time suck’ of editing and proofing.
Then once
you’re done and proud/terrified you present this product, this creation that
you’ve loved and hated and laboured over and you wait. You log on to Audible
more times than is healthy. You read your reviews, you want to hug the people
that say really wonderful things about you, then you want to cry when you read
the horrible reviews. When someone say’s, and I quote, ‘she should never be
allowed to read a book again’, you feel as if you want to quit right then and
there.
Every time some new struggle presented
itself I would feel lost and insecure but I would keep going because this was
it, this was plan A. and there wasn’t a plan B. There was the challenge of
learning to edit and master properly. I had help from a wonderful editor and I
signed up for the Bee Audio course but at the end of the day I was on my own in
a studio completely lost.
Now that I look back on it I can’t believe how easy
it is. It was the same for reviews. Now I just deal with them as part of the
business and they don’t affect me at all, the good or the bad, but at the time
it felt like it was the end of the world. I wish I could bottle this feeling of
confidence. I wish I could just study enough that I could avoid the lows and
the misery that seems to come with every new learning curve. When I first
signed up with my coach he tried to tell me to just practice, practice,
practice. I listened to every word he said and tried to figure it out so I
could be the best but in the end you can’t ‘figure it out’ it’s the practice.
There’s nothing anyone can teach me that will get me where I want to go and there
isn’t even an end destination this is it, the journey, the practice. This is
the process of honing my craft.
The thing about honing your craft that no
one ever tells you is this. If it’s comfortable you’re not learning much. When
I look back on my lowest moments through this journey of becoming a narrator
they each preceded a leap in my understanding and abilities. It’s like when you
work out and for the next two days you are in pain. That soreness is your body
rebuilding itself and becoming stronger. You know that to get that gain you
have to feel the discomfort (okay the agony) to come out on the other side a
little stronger, a little better.
So now I’m strapped in and prepared for the
journey. I shall weather the storms and try to remind myself the next time I
feel like ‘I’ll never work again’ or ‘what was I thinking I can’t stand the
sound of my own voice’ that I’m building a muscle and that I should welcome
these times because they mean I’m getting better.
The reward for this job isn’t
in the reviews or booking the great projects. The reward for this job is in the
practice. The reward for this job is being entrusted with interpreting an
author’s words, with bringing their world to life. The reward for this job is
the agony and the wonderful feeling when you look back and realise you’re a
stronger and better narrator than you were. So practice, practice, practice.
Daniela Acitelli
www.danielaacitelli.co.uk
