A short, 30 minute compilation of authors and audio-book engineers discussing the effect of writing for audio-books on writing in general. It may very well be the style of writing literature sees a marked change due to the lessons learnt by authors when exploring their material through sound.
Overly wordy sentences are re-framed to be cogent and just suitable enough that they carry out their responsibility of letting the listener understand the context. The aspect of dialogue is reworked to make it feel like a natural conversation as opposed to a formal exchange of words with an awkward pause in between. The tone of the dialogue plays a huge role in cutting down on redundancy by letting the listener know key information about the character rather than explain it descriptively. The narrations in a audio-book must not be distant but capture the listener as if in a direct conversation. This means reminding the listener of themself as opposed to giving a lecture for the masses. Humour is better conveyed through clear difference in intonation to deliver sarcasm, wit and punchlines.
What brings a reader to audio-books is immersive performance. The production of audio-books have developed a rapport between the author and performer where the narrator pitches in ideas that shapes the character they play. This is a definite change in the vocation which is traditionally seen as being aloof and “lost in one's thoughts”. There is an element of plurality that shape the personalities we cherish in a story.
One of the main functions of an audiobook format is to provide the listener the freedom to do engage in other activities while consuming the contents of a book. The producers are cognizant of the difficulties and have brainstormed on overcoming them. By virtue of its format, it is cumbersome to flip back to re-read a particular segment, indications of time-skip may not be clear and homophones may perturb a reader, making them lose track of the continuous narrative. Control of volume, intonations, ambient-noise and fade-ins are employed to bridge the gap between the reader and narrator.
It is their belief an audiobook format is suitable not only for fiction and fantasy but all genres of reads provided the quality of production, narrative and audial clues is sufficiently utilized to serve the intended purpose.
This short session did its assignment of opening the door to introduce a shift in thought which is crucial when writing for audio.
