Have you heard of SoundCloud? I hadn’t, until recently. It’s an audio sharing site, an audio version of YouTube with 7 million users who share things like their children’s first words or their own music, diary notes, or poetry. Russell Brand recently used it to share a reading from his latest book.
You can record a sound with your computer’s microphone or using the SoundCloud app on your phone, or you can download it from somewhere else. You can share it with sites and social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr, and your SoundCloud page). The people who listen to it can add their comments, which can be linked to specific moments of the audio.
How could writers use it? You might record a chapter or section of your novel, send it to your Facebook page, and ask people to comment as they listen. They might point out where the story sags a little, for instance, or the point at which they got really interested in what happens next.
If you want to hear a short SoundCloud I made, it’s here:
http://soundcloud.com/yourwritingcoach/mad-for-you
Let me know if you come up with any other interesting uses of this service or you have discovered any other apps or tools to share with us.
(If you want to be more productive you'll find a wealth of techniques and strategies in my book, "Focus: use the power of targeted thinking to get more done," published by Pearson and available now from Amazon and other online and offline book sellers.)
