Tools and Resources is moving onto our Delta Community! For more information, click here.

Free Monologue Bootcamp Coming Atcha!

DM me on Instagram at the_alexandrawright, OR email me at alexandrawrightcoach@gmail.com.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Hello hello hello!

It is monologue season!

Whether you're getting ready for graduate/undergraduate auditions, prepping for an agent/manager meeting, or just looking for ways to stay creative and sharp during the holidays, I got you!

My first post highlighted some tips on what to look for when picking a monologue. I cover type, contrasting pieces, and mining for inspiration.
If you've missed my first post on monologues, check it out here.

When choosing playwrights, I think diversity of voices and opinions is vital. 

SO!

I've created a Google Doc that is chock full of diverse playwrights. (CLICK HERE).
PLEASE add to this list. This is by no means an exhaustive list. 
Looking forward to seeing who you add; keep me posted on your monologue journeys!

Issues with procrastination?

Waiting until you are 90, 95, 100% ready before sending that email, starting that business, or taking that leap?

Read this article about why you should, why you HAVE TO, launch at 70% if you are ever going to find success. 

Earlier in quarantine my alma mater, good ole USC (FIGHT ON!) collected some VO resources from its alumni. 
I'm proud to present those to you. They are attached below. Yay!

Also, I'm including here some of my favorite resources. Obviously, the attached document goes into much deeper detail, but these are some of the questions I get asked the most. 

Where to record:
 
Voice Trax
Garden of Sound
LA Voiceover beheard@lavoiceover.com

Where to study:
 
Kalmenson and Kalmenson
David Kaufman 
LA Voiceover beheard@lavoiceover.com
 
Good resources:
 
www.edgestudio.com
www.acx.com
Voices.com
http://www.voiceoverresourceguide.com/
 
Editing Equipment:
 
To get started: Twisted Wave, Audacity

Imposter Syndrome can really be yucky.
It can throw you into a spiral, a thought pattern revolving around doubt, fear, and the persistent anxiety of being discovered as a fraud. 

However, I would like to pose that Imposter Syndrome CAN be something positive.

What if Imposter Syndrome becomes a tool for motivation?

For example: If I'm working on an acting project, I want to be surrounded by people who raise the bar. I want to feel like I have to keep learning, keep growing, keep demanding more of myself so that I can jump to their level. I want to be out of my league. 

NOW. The key here is to not let Imposter Syndrome paralyze you. But, with most things in life, looking your thought patterns squarely in the eye can help you untangle negative self talk (not based in fact) from something is steeped in truth. 

For example: If I'm feeling like a fraud surrounding a job or a teaching gig, I will ask myself--what can make me feel about this scenario?

If the solution is something that is impossible to achieve (like read ALL the books on acting EVER written), then I know it's negative self talk that isn't based in truth. 

However, if the solution is something that is possible to achieve (like taking a breathing workshop or learning a new technique in breaking down text), then I know that I can turn my Imposter Syndrome into something positive. 

It all comes down to the question: Can I take action on this feeling?

Below is an excellent Ted Talk about this very concept--taking Imposter Syndrome and turning it into something useful. 

Some Imposter Syndrome Resources:

​Time magazine has an excellent article surrounding imposter syndrome and all the ways it can pop up in your life. Are you a perfectionist, an expert, a natural genius, a soloist, or a superman/superwoman?
Check it out here!

One common symptom of imposter syndrome is self sabotaging. Lack of commitment, procrastination, and self criticism can all be signs of self sabotaging that is linked to imposter syndrome. Below is an article that gives 3 helpful steps on mitigating self sabotage! 
Check it out here!

This article goes into how imposter syndrome can affect your creative potential; I highly recommend it for anyone who feels like negative self talk is blocking their artistry.
​Check it out here!

Hello, humans!
I have THREE workshop opportunities coming atcha :)

Learn how to identify, distinguish, and reproduce sounds represented by the International Phonetic Alphabet. Through studying the symbols and their formation, students can evaluate personal regional or accented pronunciations and assess how to modify them. Phonetic patterns can also be used to explore and analyze rhetorical devices, leading to deeper, more nuanced storytelling, especially in the areas of thought formation and emotional development. ​
​Click on the button below for more information!

I one time had a dear director friend of mine say that the best acting class was therapy. 
I could not agree more.

You are only ever using yourself when you work. 
Your truth is the character's truth, and your blocks--if you don't understand them and release them--will naturally become your character's blocks. 
How could you possibly portray someone else if you aren't in touch with yourself?

Any good training is built on the tenants of truth, and the understanding of that truth must begin with understanding your own truth. This involves a lot of self exploration. 

We have to trust that what is inside of us is not only enough, it is also all there is.
It is needed, it is critical, it is crucial.
But we spend so much of our lives hiding these things inside of ourselves, covering it up because we're ashamed. But being an artist is about mining those things out, excavating those things, digging through layers and layers of habits and shame in order to pull it out and bring it to light.

We spend so much time thinking that we're turning into other characters, when really all along, we're just turning more into ourselves.

It is about finding our journey within the character's journey, or maybe it's finding the character's journey within our own. But it's all the same. Whether you're an actor, a writer, visual artist, a songwriter, the process is always the same, even though the medium is different. The journey is about taking away layers of self protection, not adding on layers of falseness. 

"Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people."
​-Jung

I hear it ALL the time from my students--I know I need to do (fill in the blank), but I don't feel like it.  I just don't have the motivation. 

Um. When did anyone ever say you needed motivation to do something?

Many people enter into the acting profession because it is "fun." And I agree with this 100%! It IS fun! It should be fun!

But you know what?
Sometimes it's not fun. 

Sometimes I don't want to memorize lines.
Sometimes I don't want to do my taxes. 
Sometimes I don't want to send that self pitch. 

But as Mel Robbins mentions in her Ted Talk, "It's your job to make yourself do the crap you don't want to do."

You must FORCE yourself to:
Get out of your head.
Get past your feelings.
Get outside your comfort zone. 

Oh, AND: Start by setting your alarm for 30 minutes earlier than usual and not hitting the snooze button. The effort required to leave that warm bed and enter the world is the same amount of effort needed to shake up your life and make that elusive change.