Publishing
Some scenes are perfectly fine on the page and then go limp the minute a narrator has to carry them aloud.
Audiobook production has a cruel way of exposing where the pacing was only pretending to work. A paragraph that reads briskly can sound oddly theatrical when spoken. A neat exchange can start dragging. Even the clever bits can feel like they’ve been dressed for a different room.
It’s a useful reminder, really. Prose has its own rhythm, but audio makes you hear the machinery.
Audiobook production has a cruel way of exposing where the pacing was only pretending to work. A paragraph that reads briskly can sound oddly theatrical when spoken. A neat exchange can start dragging. Even the clever bits can feel like they’ve been dressed for a different room.
It’s a useful reminder, really. Prose has its own rhythm, but audio makes you hear the machinery.
Audio is less forgiving of tidy habits. It also exposes anything that only works because the reader can skim past it. Repetition, over-explaining, dialogue that looks efficient but sounds like everyone’s waiting for their turn.
Some scenes need trimming for the ear, not the page. A lot of writers forget that speech has its own appetite.
Some scenes need trimming for the ear, not the page. A lot of writers forget that speech has its own appetite.