Podfic

[ratherastory]

Dear flist,

I have been in fandom just long enough to have heard of podfic but never to have listened to any. I'm not sure why the prospect worries me, but there are also technical considerations (such as I don't actually have an MP3 player on which to listen to it, and I can't see myself just sitting in front of my computer listening to a podfic when I could just as easily read it myself).

So, what's the deal with podfic? Why is it a good thing? Why do you like it? (Alternately, if you're not a fan, why is that? What fails to turn your crank about podfic?) What do you look for in your podfic? What makes you run screaming for the hills?

Is there the equivalent of BNFs for podfic? What's the protocol with recording someone else's fiction? Do people record their own work, or is that considered super-extra tacky?

How does it work for longer fiction? I would imagine that reading for six hours straight is right out for the vast majority of people, so do they get recorded as multiple tracks? So how does that work?

Anyway, this post is a bit disjointed, but I hope you get the gist.

Inquiring minds want to know! :)

Comments

[dinalori.livejournal.com]

I've wondered about this myself for a while now. I've considered trying some podfics that others have reced, but I've avoided it because I really can't stand audio books. When I'm reading something (fanfic or regular fiction) I can "cast" the story in my own mind. Choose voices, background sounds, score, etc. With audio books and, I would assume, podfic you're stuck with what was recorded- tone of voice, accents, pacing. You're having to accept their interpretation of the story instead of being able to make it your own, which is what I've always loved about the written word. It's like you're collaborating with the author to build this little (or in the case of Tolkien and Rowling *HUGE*) world in which the characters come to life and podfics just seem too passive for me.

*shrug* But that's just my opinion.