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AUDIOBOOK NARRATION A 'Shorter' Audiobook Narration Does Not Necessarily Mean Less Prep Time July 12, 2018  By Tom DheereVoice Actor, Narrator & Coach As a narrator, audiobook preparation can be a fun, sometimes daunting, and often fulfilling challenge. Here's an example: Right now I'm in the middle of preparing four short stories for an
anthology totaling 122 pages. That works out to roughly 3.5 finished
hours. Many audiobooks are five, ten, or more finished hours, so
volume-wise it sounds relatively easy, right? Well, yes and no. If you are doing audiobook preparation on one fiction title you
often have to play the narrator, the main character (who may or may not
be the narrator), and anywhere from zero to dozens of supporting
characters to prepare for. For the titles in my current project, three of them are written
in third person so that means three narrators, four main characters, and
about 25 supporting characters. All of them require the same amount of
research, preparation, thought, and consideration as the characters
would be for one title. THE DIALOGUE PUZZLE Also, sometimes even the smallest bits of dialogue can be a crazy
eyes/brain/mouth puzzle to solve. For example, in one of the stories
there is a brief exchange between a Japanese character and a Russian
character. In an effort to improve their relationship, they occasionally
use words and phrases of the other's language. So as part of my audiobook preparation I have to practice sounding Japanese while using
Russian words and sounding Russian while using Japanese words! That is
(for me, anyway) a very counter-intuitive thing do to - and my little Pooh
Bear brain has been a tad resistant!
'SHORTER' DOESN'T MEAN LESS PREP I think the lesson here is that a shorter-length audiobook doesn't
necessarily mean less preparation time. You still need to:
It reminds me of a one-act play in relation to a full-length play. In
college, my teachers said since the play is much shorter you have less
time to communicate ideas, themes, character traits, etc. to the
audience - so you had to work a little harder and little faster in a
certain way. Despite the challenges, I love narrating short stories and I'm thankful for every one I get to narrate! ------------------ ABOUT TOM Over two decades, Tom Dheere has narrated thousands of projects for clients in over a dozen countries and voiced more than 40 audiobooks. He is also a voice over business consultant, coach at Edge Studio, was the marketing consultant for the Voice Over Virtual online conference, and is also writer/producer of the sci-fi action comic book Agent 1.22. Web: www.tomdheere.com Agent 1.22 SEE MORE HELPFUL ARTICLES ABOUT AUDIOBOOK NARRATION |
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However, by the end of my second novel, I found myself being more and more intrigued by the relationship between voice artist and the characters in what was a 6.5 hr finished read. The preparation was everything. I won't say I'm hooked, but the level of commitment to a book and its characters and story was both a humbling and an inspiring experience.
I wish you all the best. In my opinion, the value of a voice artist's talent and commitment is under appreciated, and dare I say it, underpaid.
Kind regards,
David Bateson