From Roga

[zvi]

Roga would like to talk about re-editing and re-writing works for podficcing.

Would readers be interested in editing works for podficcing, whether for content (e.g. sex scenes), length, adding dialogue tags, etc.? Does "permission to record" cover a blanket "permission to adapt"?

How would authors feel about re-writing stories so they are easier to be read or to be understood orally? For instance, if your alien language just isn't pronounceable by human beings, or if you've written something in an experimental, visual structure.

And, Roga didn't ask this, but I would like to know, how would we, as listeners, react to getting a story that was changed from the text? How extensive would the changes have to be for you to want a heads up before you downloaded? Would you want the changes indicated in the metadata or also during the story reading?

Comments

[zvi]

Except that the position that every scene should contribute to the telling of a story is an aesthetic judgement, and one I agree with, but it's not a universal aesthetic value. And podfic is definitely not restricted to stories which I find aesthetically pleasing, or are formulated within the aesthetic frameworks I find relevant. (Also, there's nothing stopping someone from recording a story which is formulated according to my aesthetic standards, but badly. I mean, people make kitschy things on purpose sometimes.)

So, what if it's a story where it's clear that the sex scene was just written because "you've got to have pr0n or no one will read your fic"?

[podcath]

Of course :)

I still think there's an integrity of the text that i'm uncomfortable letting a reader change.

I may be kneejerking because the examples were about sex but OMG. Are we gonna bleep next?

If I like the story, I read the story. But I don't pick and choose which parts to read or not read. It's a Gesamtkunstwerk :)

I'm kinda equally respond to readerly addition of ratings etc. I'm fascinated with the fact that certain things can come across STRONGER in audio. Having a noncon scene spoken in your ear may be much more intense than reading and being able to skim it. I still would feel very uncomfortable in adding ratings or warnings if they aren't there. I guess one could have ADDITIONAL reader warnings. But...there's creative interpretation and evaluation. And adding a rape warning, for example, might5 be more the latter than the former. [I'm willing to be convinced otherwise on this one, however :) The editing the text to getting rid of the pr0n? Not so much so!]

[roga]

I may be kneejerking because the examples were about sex but OMG. Are we gonna bleep next?

That's not what I was getting at, and I don't think it's a case of a slippery slope of censorship or anything at all. I just posted a comment here that explains where I was coming from in bringing it up, and why I was interested in seeing it discussed.

[podcath]

Thanks for the longer explanation, but I'm not sure I am seeing a real difference between what you are describing and what censorship effectively is. You want to edit out parts that the author clearly found important enough to include in their published version. That to me is censoring (or, when asking the author to do it, maybe self-censoring?).

Now, if you want to ask the author to write a PG13 version of their story because that's what you want to read/hear, then it's up to them, clearly. But except in those cases where the pr0n is added on (and I know there are writers who offer different versions, so I know that for some people the sex really is not an intricate element of the narrative and characterization but sexy lagniappe), I'm not sure writers would want to do that to their story (or have it done to them).

I wonder if you could make an analogy to translation, where someone else authors a new version of the text and yet...I've gotta check with the fanfic translators I know if they delete sections or tone down things...that might be a useful analogy?

[roga]

First of all, yes, it would be self-censoring; I'd never even suggest doing it without the author's permission/approval.

I'm not sure writers would want to do that to their story (or have it done to them).

Definitely; again, author permission is necessary.

I'm not sure translation is the right analogy; it requires adaptation of a different kind, where it's still written word to written word. The difference in medium here matters, I think.

To be honest, though, the entire point is moot if it's just me who feels this way about podfic sex scenes. If the majority have no problem with it -- reading or writing -- then there's no reason to make such an adaptation anyway. Part of the reason I brought it up was also to see if there were others who felt the same way. I mean, I know that some do because I've talked to them, I just have no idea whether it's at all widespread.

And obviously, even if it is, that's not reason enough to change it; the reader has to want it too, and the author has to be okay with it. But I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that in some circumstances, all of those things would come together.

[esmenet]

I just want to step in here and say no, you're not the only one. It's a matter of personal taste, of course; but if a reader really, really wants to podfic something and feels uncomfortable with a few scenes, it's perfectly acceptable for them to ask the author about changing it.

[pandarus]

I think the term we're looking for here is Bowdlerisation.