tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post3745558954886453095..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Should Authors be Present at an Audiobook Recording? Guest Post by Anna BentinckKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-41464693711612404442014-09-30T15:29:05.254+01:002014-09-30T15:29:05.254+01:00Thanks Anna, a fascinating glimpse of the process ...Thanks Anna, a fascinating glimpse of the process from the 'other side'! I'm hoping to get mine done via ACX but there are no Geordie/tyneside actors listed, sadly. It's obviously been a real collaboration between you and Julia and the result must be fab - shame we can't have a teeny sample on the blog! Yes I find it funny to imagine not mentioning where your character comes from until the end, unless that was the plot twist that explained everything.Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-27951556360705423612014-09-30T15:28:58.787+01:002014-09-30T15:28:58.787+01:00Well done. I'm grateful for being discouraged ...Well done. I'm grateful for being discouraged from even attempting to read my own work. glitter noirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11728649916344336118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-9510087954561831012014-09-30T13:11:34.900+01:002014-09-30T13:11:34.900+01:00And we writers promise to remember, too, that if a...And we writers promise to remember, too, that if a character speaks with a thick Northumbrian burr, a Glaswegian growl, a Welsh lilt, a speech impediment, laryngitis, a fake French accent, or a permanent falsetto resulting from a helium addiction, then we will mention it when they are first introduced, and not on page 361.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-66472550590025734982014-09-30T11:11:28.803+01:002014-09-30T11:11:28.803+01:00Thanks Anna. It's wonderful to get these insig...Thanks Anna. It's wonderful to get these insights into how professionals prepare for (yes Nick) this 'incredibly underrated' job. I'm not sure it occurs to people that a long reading has to have the same intensity and attention to detail that we, as writers, bring to our editing. There's the feeling that 'it's only reading; anyone could do that'. But a bad delivery is worse than the most glaring typos or mis-spellings. I listened to a recording of Ivanhoe a while back in which the word 'tumult' was pronounced 3 different ways in the course of the narrative. Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07675643113010061969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-51612540811319506062014-09-30T09:41:29.194+01:002014-09-30T09:41:29.194+01:00Fascinating. This also helps to explain the produc...Fascinating. This also helps to explain the producer/director's job - the convention in theatre, radio - all drama really - is that the writer speaks to the director and doesn't give direction to the actors unless asked. In practice, at the initial meeting or read-through of a play, and then once you're in the middle of rehearsals, this becomes much more flexible, but the convention remains that it's by invitation on both sides, and it's a good one. Somebody has to have the last word and that somebody is generally the director or producer who is on the side of the work itself. I've never sat in on a full reading - I would very much like to do it - but I've sat in on most of my full length radio and theatre plays and serials. You're often so glad of the director's role as mediator, and I suspect the actors feel the same. I know sometimes 'live' playwrights with opinions as opposed to the long dead can be a bit alarming for the cast! I can read aloud and have done my own short stories on radio but I think I would baulk at a whole novel. I don't have that kind of professional training, and it's very hard. I have huge respect and admiration for those who can do it. Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-72966314196992926252014-09-30T09:41:28.470+01:002014-09-30T09:41:28.470+01:00Fascinating. This also helps to explain the produc...Fascinating. This also helps to explain the producer/director's job - the convention in theatre, radio - all drama really - is that the writer speaks to the director and doesn't give direction to the actors unless asked. In practice, at the initial meeting or read-through of a play, and then once you're in the middle of rehearsals, this becomes much more flexible, but the convention remains that it's by invitation on both sides, and it's a good one. Somebody has to have the last word and that somebody is generally the director or producer who is on the side of the work itself. I've never sat in on a full reading - I would very much like to do it - but I've sat in on most of my full length radio and theatre plays and serials. You're often so glad of the director's role as mediator, and I suspect the actors feel the same. I know sometimes 'live' playwrights with opinions as opposed to the long dead can be a bit alarming for the cast! I can read aloud and have done my own short stories on radio but I think I would baulk at a whole novel. I don't have that kind of professional training, and it's very hard. I have huge respect and admiration for those who can do it. Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-43060680203719855192014-09-30T09:26:56.444+01:002014-09-30T09:26:56.444+01:00Fascinating stuff about a magnificent book. Thank ...Fascinating stuff about a magnificent book. Thank you both.Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-84125724974134428122014-09-30T09:20:51.256+01:002014-09-30T09:20:51.256+01:00Anna, I'm in awe of your skill, and that of ot...Anna, I'm in awe of your skill, and that of others who do this incredibly underrated job. Hardly anyone thinks of how difficult it is. I consider myself a pretty good 'reader-alouder', but recently I tried to record just 30 seconds of narrative for a book trailer. And it took AGES to get it even halfway good. And that was me reading my own text, where I knew exactly what everything signified, and what to emphasise etc.<br /><br />The thought of recording a whole book, in however many takes, just boggles my mind. I actually think it's impossible. Audiobooks are a physical impossibility. I don't believe in them.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-61478551195562233722014-09-30T07:17:16.631+01:002014-09-30T07:17:16.631+01:00Another fascinating behind the scenes glimpse of h...Another fascinating behind the scenes glimpse of how much goes into creating an audio book. And they are so good these days! My mum relies on them as she can no longer see to read, and after helping her with picking titles she might like I've become an addict too, - and it means I can 'read' a book while doing boring stuff like washing up and making jam, and on long drives. Well, any drive actually: I have a cassette player in the car with a book permanently loaded into it! madwippitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02595748471651052552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-15168033834016239502014-09-30T07:15:47.656+01:002014-09-30T07:15:47.656+01:00(pity I haven't learned to type a little more ...(pity I haven't learned to type a little more accurately - sorry about the ans...)<br />I also wanted to say that I think Anna's post may have a wider importance now that the ACX system is bringing more of us into direct relationships with actors and narrators. We will need to be very careful to respect their separate expertise as our words find their way into their new medium.<br />julia joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773900100240758504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-80184103247158303132014-09-30T07:12:13.546+01:002014-09-30T07:12:13.546+01:00Bored? I don't think so! I was gasping ans gig...Bored? I don't think so! I was gasping ans giggling ans lost in admiration. I know I've already written about my own feelings on this (for me) momentous occasion and I still experience fleeting surprise that Anna should have felt nervous of me but I did come to understand that what she does as a voice actress is a full scale performance for an unseen audience. A producer like Adam Helal is a known quantity, her supporter, mentor, cheer-leader. I introduced an unfamiliar and possibly critical element into the equation. No wonder this put her on edge. I hope it wasn't too long before my admiration and delight came pouring through the soundproof screen from the direction of my hidden corner<br />julia joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773900100240758504noreply@blogger.com