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

[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.