Levinthal Reading

The Levinthal Reading was my first experience reading a piece of my own fictional work in front of an audience. Its one thing to make a speech about something towards your classmates, its a completely different thing to go out to the podium and read something of you've made up. Needless to say, I practiced the entire day when I had free time so that I wouldn't mess up during my reading. I was supposed to go eighth, but my friends had to leave early so I bumped myself up to third. I was nervous. I sat next to my friend who was also reading her work, and we did our best to relax our nerves even though it seemed pointless. The wait was the first part. I hardly remember the people who went before me; I do remember being very impressed by their work. I whispered to my friend "man, what kind of shit are we writing." We laughed some tension off. Then my name was called.

I'm told I read quite well. That I didn't look nervous at all. Contrary to belief, I was extremely nervous (I believe my hands were shaking slightly and I felt very cold) and, according to my writing, I read poorly (and I'm pretty sure I forgot to mention the title of my piece). But something I learned is that it was all about my presentation of the writing, not necessarily the writing itself. I messed up a couple of times, but no one knew it. I improvised and it went well. Once I was finished I relaxed and it felt really good to have read my piece in front of people. While it is not something I will revisit any time soon, it is something I am capable of doing. And it was fun reading my piece aloud.