ratherastory | Podfic

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Podfic

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! :)

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Hi there. I've just started listening to podfics and I love 'em. Mainly because I can listen to them in the car or at the gym and they keep me entertained when doing rather mundane things.

Also, I just don't have enough time in the day to read everything I want, so it's a great way to catch up.

I've listened to both long and short fic. I've currently listening to When Heroes Go Down, They Go Down Fast and it's really long (about 6 hours I think). But it's very engaging so it's not been a problem. Only problem is when my Mp3 screws up it loses my spot... grrrr...

So yes. I would recommend them if you either travel to work or have to spend time waiting on stuff.

Oh and I just love hearing another fangirl read. I don't know why, but it's like a shared experience or something. And the readers are usually really good. I can link you some stuff if you think you might like to give it a go. There's some I've particularly loved..

:)

Edited 2010-02-21 02:27 (UTC)

I only have an iPod shuffle, so it's unlikely I'll be able to listen to it on public transit unless I want to hear all my chapters out of order. Also, it seems to "reset" to the first track when I recharge it, which means I'd end up listening to the beginning over and over.

If I find shorter things I like I may persuade myself to purchase a proper MP3 player to I can listen to the longer stuff. :)

Thanks for your input!

I love podfics when I have a long drive. I'll burn them on CD's because I don't have an MP3 player for my car.

Some fics have chapters that are longer than allowable on a CD and I'm not sure what to do about that yet. Figure I can listen to those on my MP3 player while I'm walking this summer.

I've found that I have favorite readers now. I really like how they tell the story!

I suggest finding a couple of small stories, burn them to a CD and listen to them in your car or wherever. See if it clicks for ya! Need any rec's I can certainly get you some links.

I will refer back to this post because I, too, am curious about podfic. I spend a lot of time in the car, but I tend to be one of those crazy people singing their heart out and getting looks. However, it could be a good thing to listen to some fic. I'm also curious because I'm interested in how people read - it's something that I think would be fun to do, read someone else's fic, but I can't imagine how people are doing it in regards to tone, pacing, style, and voice. These things, I do wonder them with you.

I bought myself a cheap little mp3 player just for podfics. My other one is for music - I did this for exactly the reasons you stated here. :D

no idea. I do not even listen to audio books, but that is because I　 tend to tune out whatever I am listening to after like 5 minutes.

I have two hours on the road every workday, so I love them like whoa. I've gotten really hooked on long ones, and sometimes the enthusiasm to jump in my car for another hour is the main thing that gets me to work.

I've posted a lot of SPN podfic recs in my LJ and on

spnroundtable lately, if you want to see why I specifically like particular stories.

I don't know if there are BNFs exactly, but there are tireless podficcers whose names are to me a guarantee that I'll really like a story. Most of them read other writers' fics, but some read their own.

twasadark may have recorded more hours than any other reader, and I've enjoyed everything I've heard by her. I also enjoy

baylorsr and

sadcypress (whose humor readings I particularly adore, though her other stuff is wonderful too).

pandarus reads in many different fandoms and sometimes reads her own fics as well as those by others. She has a real flair for dramatic reading, and her dialogue is enlivened by the way she uses everything -- breath, little vocal noises, etc. -- to convey emotion. It's not over-wrought at all, which I'm probably making it sound. It sounds very real. (And she has a marvelous British accent.)

audiofic.jinjurly.com is a HUGE archive of podfic, searchable by fandom, pairings, author, reader, even length - and you can combine search terms. That place has saved my life.

I sometimes listen on my ancient iPod, but mostly I download stuff onto a jump drive and put that in my car stereo, which has a USB port (I realize most don't, but I bought a new stereo to replace the cassette-only system when I bought this car, which is old). Sometimes that means fics play out of order, which can drive me nuts searching around, but it's generally still worth the effort of chasing chapters down.

Someone, probably

general_jinjur aka jinjurly, said podfic is a fan work based on a fan work, and it's true. The love and care that goes into recording these is immense.

There are different styles of reading, but I will listen to pretty much anything (and the archive doesn't give warnings or summaries, and I don't click the links to the text version, though it's right there where you can find out what you need to know) and I rarely bail on a podfic, though some things will make me bail. One podfic that had a reader who had a couple of giggling audience members as she read made me cut out early on. Another reader had copious snot-noises going, which were finally too much. But mostly I'm content with most styles; the one thing I find frustrating is readers who go too fast and aren't distinct -- words get lost under road noise, and my hearing has its not-so-great ranges.

Try it out -- I absolutely love the stuff!

I ADORE podfic. I think recording podfic and listening to it, while a new-ish thing for me, is one of my favourite fandom things. Being read aloud to is one of my favourite things ever, and to be able to access fanfic in this way is like two awesome christmas presents in one. A lot of podficcers really perform when they record - some podfics have songs or sound effects mixed in (this is somewhat uncommon, though, as it can be distracting when overdone - a lot of people do it very well - Fayjay (

pandarus) is an excellent example of how to do this correctly, and is amazing and overall one of my favourite podficcers). The best podficcers know when to use a more business like (that's not the right term...) narrative, and when to really give her for emotional responses. Some use subtle changes in voices for each character. Besides FayJay,

juice817 is another on of my favourite podficcers and has single-handedly turned me into a j2 fan.

Another thing about podfics is that it's like an instant rec, because if the reader liked the fic enough to put that kind of effort into the reading (and I don't know about other readers, but each hour of raw recording makes for about 2 and a half hours of editing) then it's pretty much guaranteed to be an awesome story.

Recording your own podfic is perfectly legitimate. :) If you record another person's fic, it's pretty much universally understood that you must have author permission in order to do so. If you want to surprise the author, you can make it for just them, send it to them, and then ask their permission to post it other places, I suppose. But that's a lot of work, lol.

For longer recordings, different readers approach it differently. Some sit with a bottle of water and read for hours, pausing occasionally and editing out the breaks. Depending on how you go about it, the sound quality can change between different tracks. I always podfic in my room, and make sure that I'm in a comfortable position when I start. Then, if I stop and go back to the fic later, I have to go back into the same position. I've noticed that the smallest difference can affect the resonance in the room, so it's important to keep as many things as you can control unchanged from the first recording. In my opinion, anyways. :)

Podfic got me in shape - I take really long walks to it and it's really helped my fitness level. It also gets me through mundane tasks like cleaning. I really hope you enjoy it if you end up checking it out!

I'm really glad you asked this question about podfics. I haven't really tried them and I've been really curious. I listen to books on CD in the car. I've found that I don't drive as aggressively as I do when I listen to metal :-D I could probably listen to gen in the car, but if I listen to slash, I'd probably be blushing all the way to work. Lol!

Because of this post, though, I'm thinking of doing my own post about recs (so as not to clutter up yours). I'm flying overseas in a few weeks and it would be cool to have some fic to listen to.

Thanks!

Here's a link to my recs post at Amplirecathon 2010: http://community.livejournal.com/amplificathon/406238.html

Quite a few of them are Supernatural. :) If you end up checking them out, I hope you enjoy!

Oooh, lovely. Thanks! I'm going to check this out. You are a lifesaver.

I don't listen to podfic. My one experience with it was weird for me. The story in question was one that I had read and loved, but it had a lot of profanity in it. I found that reading it, I wasn't bothered by the language. Listening to it, I found I couldn't ignore it.

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.

I LOVE PODFIC OMG.

I first got into it because I have a 30-minute walking commute to work, and it passes the time so so well.

At first I was hesitant -- podfic readers aren't "professional", and it's weird hearing Sam n Dean read in lady-voices, but once I relaxed and got into it I GOT WAY INTO IT.

It's also an awesome way to get to know my flist better! I can hear their VOICES! \o/ Ever wondered what I sound like? WONDER NO MORE! PODFIC IS HERE!!!!

Plus, I think it's a really cool way for people to get into fandom creatively if they don't write or draw or vid or whatever. Everyone should be able to contribute something, I think, y'know?

I had to look up BNF -- first google entry is for a metasyntax (??), but I figured it out, ha. I don't know that it works quite like writers, but some of the most prolific and well-known podfic readers I know of are Juice187 and twasadark, both of whom I recommend.

I FUCKING LOVE PODFIC, did I mention that? Some of my all-time favorite stories have been podficced, and some of them are more than 8 hours of pure listening bliss.

As a writer it's also really awesome to hear your stuff read aloud by someone else, to see how they hear it. It really helped me come to term with "I'd drive all night" to hear it read aloud -- I feel kind of embarrassed about that story as it was my first, but I listened to the whole damn thing and now I think we're friends again.

If you don't have an MP3 player, you could try listening while you clean your house, or knit, or something like that?

Hi, I've friended you, since from what I've read, I really like your stuff.

Thought I'd comment here to say hi and because podfic is something I've come to love. What's weird is that I've never enjoyed listening to books in audio format, but a little over a year ago I got hooked on podfic. Here's a rec post I made last month. It mentions fics from approx. 30 minutes to six hours in length.

I love podfic because it makes long, solitary car trips more fun, and if I sing for three hours straight I get hoarse. I also enjoy hearing stories told by people from all over the world:England, Germany, Australia, etc. It can also change how you experience the story. I read, and was mildly amused by

fleshflutter's story The Incestuous Courtship of the Anti-Christ's Bride, but when I listened to FayJay's reading of the story, I was actually laughing out loud in places. (Drunken!Sam comparing Dean to a "really badass flower" will never be not funny.)

I would be happy to recommend podfic to you, depending on your preferences of length and rating. Just let me know!

You people are making me want to buy a proper MP3 player so I can listen to podfic. Egads.

Fandom will have corrupted me more in five months than all the rest of my life. ;)

Oh, and I have NO idea what I'd like. I have really eclectic tastes when it comes to fic.

I suppose starting with shorter stuff is a good plan, since I have no idea whether I'll like it.

I have a little 2GB player that's plenty big for just podfic, and it wasn't very expensive.

Also, I know what you mean about being corrupted. I keep meaning to write up a post called "Lines Crossed" because I keep finding them and crossing them thanks to fandom. But it's so much fun I just don't care.

I'll get on it! Just SPN or would you be interested in some short things from other fandoms? I'll look at my list when I get home tonight and get back to you tomorrow!

Dear God, yes.

First line I crossed? Reading fanfic. Second line I crossed? Writing fanfic. That was within about 24 hours.

Third line was Wincest. Fourth line was RPS.

Yesterday I caught myself reading an actual tentacle porn fic. I have NO idea how that happened.

Holy crap.

Like you said, though: FUN!

Despite 3 years of reading fanfic, I'm still not writing. But, I just posted my first podfic...and I have a massive list of stories I'd like to record. I have been assimilated.

I think SPN for now. I'm so thoroughly obsessed with it that I don't think I could get into the right mindset for anything else.

Thank you!

Excellent!

Fandom is totally like the Borg!

Ok, SPN it is! I didn't see my first ep of Supernatural until this time last year or I'd probably have the same singular focus. As it is, I'm polyfannish. I'll get a list of short-ish SPN podfics together and get back to you tomorrow...

Uh, yeah. It's almost embarrassing. I started watching SPN in October, then mainlined all the seasons by mid-November, and I developed a seriously unhealthy fascination and have rewatched it four times since. It's sad, but I don't care.

*bounces excitedly*

Hey, I got that list together. Would you be willing to PM me with your email address? I'd hate to post this much verbiage in the comments.

Sure thing!

OK, it should be there.

::beams::

Yay! Go Team Me!

(er...sorry, didn't mean to stumble into your LJ like this, ratherastory, but I typed 'fleshflutter' into the newfangled search boxy thing and instead of taking me to her lj it gave me a list of references to her - including my own name! And despite the fact that curiosity apparently slew the cat, I was intrigued & came along to read.)

Ah, my friend, wait until you find yourself WRITING tentacle porn. That is the point at which you fling your head back, laugh like a mad scientist, and accept the fact that fandom has broken you irreparably.

Er. Not that I know that first hand, obviously.

::looks shifty::

Anyway, yes - I do hope you don't mind me chipping in like this, but I have to agree that podfic is just a splendid splendid thing. I've never been interested in audiobooks in the past, although I'm a voracious reader, and I'm not even sure how I first happened across podfic, but I DO know that it was a transformational experience for me. Being able to 'read' fanfic WHILE SHOPPING! While walking to work! While in the gym! Having a filthy little smile twisting the corner of your mouth because, while the outward picture of respectability, you're listening to a fellow fan from somewhere else in the world whispering a fabulous story into your ear - So. Much. Awesome. I started out listening to lots of Zabira's 'Due South' stories, and to the fabulous SGA multivoice extravaganza 'Written By The Victors', and found myself wanting to just go and HUG all these total strangers whose voices I could hear.

Hope you find some stories to tickle your fancy!

Hi there!

Sorry I'm late replying to comments this weekend: I am converting three friends to the joys of Supernatural. :)

Welcome aboard! I'm just getting started in fandom myself.

I just had a bunch of podfic recc'd to me, so I'll see if I can get to some of that this week.

I'm looking forward to listening. :)

::blushes like a blushy thing made of blush::

Aww, cheers, mate!

I have also recced the crap out of your podfics twice this week in

spnroundtable, as part of my ongoing series of podfic recs. You rock!

meep!

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