And NO - it’s not buying another pen…

'Love the art in yourself, Not yourself in the art'
- 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘴𝘬𝘪


𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 & 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗙𝗧 > 𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦 & 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗦

(Though having been runner-up in 20 awards, I would say that) 👀

There are 3 key ways to embrace this mindset:

1️⃣   Immerse yourself in the craft because you love it.
Genuine passion fuels creativity and innovation.

2️⃣   Prioritise learning and development.
When you focus on the art in yourself, it's about getting better than you were  yesterday rather than whether you got lucky.

3️⃣  Your Authentic Impact.
Focus on the value you bring to others.  When your motivation is rooted in art, your contributions are more meaningful and lasting.

I'm not saying that awards or fancy client lists aren't important.
We're all running businesses after all.
And that stuff is 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦.

But if your core criteria for success is validation beyond your control.
Then you're setting yourself up for a fall.

I can't control how many awards I don't win.
I can't control not being selected for a project.
But I can control my actualisation as the artist I want to be.

And within THAT lies the power.

Voice Acting tip of the week:

Repeating a word or phrase can be very effective
But you don't need to 𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗛𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗘 it.

Take the speech below.

'𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶' 𝘹 2 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴
'𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬' 𝘹 2 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴
'𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩' 𝘹 5 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴

The repetition of each of these phrases in turn helps structure the argument.

✅ It provides momentum.
✅ It establishes a rhythm.
✅ It provides an aural hook.

At drama school, we would say it helps build a 'ladder of intensity', where each step up escalates the drama.

But I'm NOT stressing the repeated phrase, because the act of repetition is already doing that work for me.

Instead I'm emphasising the thing that CHANGES in each sentence:

'I ask you 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗦, 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗘'
'I ask you 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗙𝗔𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗥'

Because THESE are the important details.

Often, I get scripts where these repeated phrases are already italicised.
The writer is consciously using repetition for effect,
And doesn't want anyone to miss this.

But so often this leads to the 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 effective delivery.
The attention is drawn to the means and NOT the message.
So we might end up appreciating the craft, but not the take away.

Of course rules such as these are there to be broken.
A clever repetition can change your understanding of a word or phrase.

But I'd urge any writer to think twice before stipulating where an emphasis like this has to be in a sentence.

So often it gets in the way.

Behind The Scenes of the week:

Below is a fascinating interview with Larian Studios’ Audio Director Stefan Randelshofer about hwo they utilised ‘3D audio’ to make a more immersive experience.

Media Recommendations:

Every week, I share three podcasts, articles or interviews that I’d strongly recommend. This week…

1. Rethinking self promotion

   Great podcast on how to make self promotion work for you - and actually find ways to enjoy it too. Courtesy of Helen and Rob Bee, who have recently taken over this VO focused podcast.

2. Apple’s step change

   After widespread negative feedback from their recent ‘Crush’ campaign to herald the release of the latest iPad (see here), it’s great to see them take the response on the chin and offer a more creative, human centric approach.

3. Is Games Journalism broken?

   With the news that games news platform IGN have acquired a host of rivals, this deep dive into the current state of games journalism and what it means for the future of writing ABOUT games is recommended.

Favourite Writing of the week: HAMLET

‘The most devastating moment in a young mans life?
When he quite reasonably says to himself...

"I shall never play The Dane!" - 𝘞𝘐𝘛𝘏𝘕𝘈𝘐𝘓 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘐

Hamlet is still the single most iconic acting role.

Why?

It's huge.
It's brilliantly written.
The role itself is about ACTING.

But probably one of it's biggest attractions?

It leaves room for the actor to make 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡.

So with Hamlet, so with voice acting. So here’s mine!

⭐ Newsletter Frequency Update ⭐

Last week I mentioned that I intended to change the frequency of this newsletter - and you you have spoken. Or about 35% of you have anyway.

From this point moving forward, this newsletter will be MONTHLY rather than weekly. I’ll still compile as much valuable content as I can into it and may well continue to play with the format. I greatly enjoy sharing news and insights with you and thank those who had the time to feed back!

Know someone who might enjoy the newsletter? Feel free to point them here: https://www.naturallyrp.co.uk/newsletter

Thanks again for reading, and until next time, Honey and I wish you a wonderful week month!