RunlinesGuide
How to run lines by yourself
Short answer
You need two things a partner normally gives you: someone to say the cue, and something to keep your line out of sight. Four ways to get both alone: read the other parts aloud yourself with your line covered, record the other parts as a voice memo with gaps, use an app that reads the other parts and waits, or get a friend on a video call.
Whichever you use, say your lines out loud, at speaking pace, from memory.
What a scene partner actually does for you
When a friend runs lines with you, they do four jobs at once. They say your cue in a voice that is not yours, so you have to listen. They hold the script, so you cannot glance at your line. They keep the pace moving, so you cannot stop and think for ten seconds. And if they are paying attention, they catch you when you paraphrase. No solo method does all four, but each one below covers the two that matter most for memorizing: hearing the cue and hiding the line.
Four ways to run lines alone
1. Read the cues yourself, with your line covered
Slide a card or an envelope down the page. Read the other character's line out loud in a plain voice, stop at your line, say it from memory, then move the card to check.
- Good for: the first sessions, when you are still learning the words. It costs nothing and needs no setup.
- Misses: you are reading the cue yourself, so you see your line coming. It is also very easy to let the card slip.
2. Record a cue track on your phone
Open Voice Memos and read every line except yours. After each cue, stay silent for as long as your line takes plus a breath. Then play it back and fill the gaps.
- Good for: hearing the cues out loud, and rehearsing while you walk or cook.
- Misses: it takes a full read of the scene to set up, and again after every script change. The gaps are fixed, so a long line runs over the next cue and a short one leaves you waiting. After a mistake you scrub back by hand. It is also your own voice reading the cues, which is easy to tune out.
3. Use an app that reads the other parts
Line-reading apps take the script as text or a PDF, ask which character you play, read the other characters aloud with a computer voice, and wait at your lines. Some also hide your line and count how often you peek.
- Good for: full runs at speaking pace with nothing to record first, as many times as you like, at any hour.
- Misses: computer voices do not act, so you get the words of the cue but not the feeling behind it. Before you upload audition sides, check where the app keeps them: some apps process scripts on their own servers or need an account, and sides often come with a request to keep them private.
4. A friend on a video call
FaceTime or Zoom a friend, send them the PDF, and have them read the other parts. Offer to read for their next audition in return.
- Good for: a final run with a real human rhythm, and a check on paraphrasing if you ask them to follow the page. Send them the guide on how to run lines with someone so they know what to do.
- Misses: scheduling, and many friends read flat and fast. Save them for the last run, not the first twenty.
Which way to use
| Method | Setup | Cue in another voice | Waits for you | Catches paraphrase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cover card | None | No, you read it | Yes | Only if you check |
| Voice-memo cue track | Record the scene once per version | Your own voice | No, fixed gaps | No |
| Reader app | Paste or import the script | Yes, a computer voice | Yes | Usually no |
| Friend on a call | Find a time | Yes, a human | Yes | Yes, if they follow the page |
A good week uses more than one: cover card for the first session, a reader app or cue track for the daily runs, and a friend for the last run before the audition or the off-book rehearsal.
A 20-minute solo session
Five minutes on the hardest beat
Pick the beat you missed most last time. Cover, say, check, until it is clean twice.
Ten minutes of full runs
Run the whole scene with a cue track or a reader app, out loud and standing. Peek only after you have really tried, and note every peek.
Five minutes on the misses
Go back to each line you peeked at. Say the cue, then the line, three times. End with one more full run if there is time.
Common mistakes when rehearsing alone
- Mumbling. Alone in a room, it is tempting to whisper. Say the lines at the volume you will use, or the first time you speak them full voice will feel like a new script.
- Reading the cue silently. If you read the other part, read it out loud. The cue has to come in through your ears.
- Waiting instead of listening. Do not count words until your turn. Listen to what the other line actually says; your line is the answer to it.
- Peeking the moment it gets hard. Give it a few seconds. The effort is what makes it stick.
- Only running the part you like. Everyone has a favorite beat and a dreaded one. The dreaded one needs the runs.
Where Runlines fits
Runlines is method 3, built for the people who would otherwise be stuck with method 2. You paste the scene or open the PDF, tap the character you play, and it reads every other part out loud with your iPhone's voices, then waits at each of your lines with the words covered. Nothing is recorded first, and the script never leaves your phone. It does not listen to you; you tap Got it or Reveal, and it marks each line off book, learning, or shaky from those taps. If you like hearing yourself, Record mode (Runlines Pro) drops your own recorded lines into the scene. The free version includes 5 runs a month. How the reading works.
