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

[dodificus]

As a listener the idea of getting an abridged version of a story kind of freaks me out, if the reader mentioned it in the podfic post then I would definitely not download. Not every story can work as a podfic, not every story can be right for *you* to read as a podfic. If it isn't then I suggest you give it a miss, let someone else do it or leave it to be appreciated in text form only.

And I 100% believe that permission to record DOES NOT equal permission to adapt.

[podcath]

Oh, great way to phrase it: permission to record DOES NOT equal permission to adapt

Though I might say edit...because I think we do adapt, when we use different voices or use sound manips. But it's the changing of the words (or rather, entire paragraphs) that's the issue, right?

[dodificus]

I guess I always think of voices and sound manips as interpretation but yes, change 'adapt' to 'edit' and it's a good representation of how I feel.

But it's the changing of the words (or rather, entire paragraphs) that's the issue, right?

Definitely. Accidentally reading something incorrectly is a lot different from deciding that the sex scene is superfluous or that the flashback will confuse listeners or whatever.

Part of me is just confused by (what seems to me) to be the idea that the story must conform to the *readers* needs and not the other way round.

[podcath]

Right! Like, i'm a big opponent of readers being simply a tool, like a speech software, and i do think of reading as an interpretation and a form of transformative work. But I'm stuck on why I'd want to read a story that i so fundamentally disapprove of parts of (wow, that was awkward grammar :)

[anatsuno]

THIS. I understand that there are complexities (it's always more complicate etc) but my first reaction to this idea as a podfic artist, a writer and a podfic listener is a huge DO NOT WANT. It freaks me right out.