Go! Tell it on the mountain!

[zvi]

fandomfan asks what's so great about podfic?. I'm not sure that it's particularly useful to have that discussion with someone for whom the mere concept hits her embarrassment squick, but, in the more general case, why do you like podfic? Why do you like listening to it, why do you like making it, why do you like manipulating it (if you make covers or podbooks or work on one of the archives), why do you like teaching other people to do it, why do you like discussing it here?

And, even more so, what do you say when someone who doesn't already get it asks these questions?

Comments

[darkemeralds]

Like many others here, I've always enjoyed being read to. When I discovered pro-audiobooks a few years ago (the downloadable kind, as distinct from the old "books on tape" which cost a fortune and were hard to come by) I was in heaven, and I began to realize why: I'm a whole lot more auditory--and a lot less attentive--than I ever realized.

With audiobooks--and, by extension, podfic, which I experience in almost precisely the same way--I can "read" while doing something else, whereas I can rarely just read (with my eyes) because I don't have the attention span for it, and this problem grows worse as I get older.

As to the squick factor alluded to...nope. Just don't feel that at all. I like voices. I like the intimacy of hearing my fellow fans reading in their own voices, with their own interpretations. I don't have the faintest issue with hearing Adult-rated fic read aloud (although I find myself self-consciously double-checking that my earphones really are keeping it private in, say, a crowded elevator, because, talk about your classic most-embarrassing-moment!).

I find everything about podfic a real joy, and a huge added dimension of fandom that I can participate in.

[podcath]

I find myself self-consciously double-checking that my earphones really are keeping it private OMG, yes :)

I listen on my ipod, so that's not an issue (luckily!), but during podbang I was editing like crazy with my family around. And boy, was I constantly imagining the earplugs pulling out and suddenly my voice filling the room... :)

[fangirlism]

I was in heaven, and I began to realize why: I'm a whole lot more auditory--and a lot less attentive--than I ever realized.

THIS. I would have done so much better in my harder college classes if I had had a tape recorder.

[fandomfan]

I can "read" while doing something else

This one seems to be coming up a lot, and makes perfect sense to me.

It's funny, because I'm such a visual learner, I'm not able to listen to one thing with any sort of focus and do something else at the same time.

Though I must say I love the concept of listening to your favorite characters doing something R or NC-17 rated while in an office cubicle. Kind of 'stick it to the man' in a pleasing, counterculture way.

Thanks for the input.

[darkemeralds]

Oh my, yes! That IS an aspect of podfic that I've noticed and loved and forgot to mention--the subversiveness of it. I'm a gray-haired woman riding a bike around Portland, and it just tickles the shit out of me to be listening to something nobody would suspect me of.

Though, because I'm so very auditory, I can't do actual thinky-work and listen to stories (or even music) at the same time, because I think in sounds and they don't mix, so sadly, no direct sticking-it-to-the-man at work for me.

But non-thinky visual work (knitting, for instance) and non-thinky physical work (bike, housework, gardening) are perfect settings for story-listening.