I had an interesting experience last night. As a writer, I write, right? That’s what I do. Well, that’s what I mostly do. The other thing we do as writers is edit. That can sometimes be the hardest part of writing. Granted, the very first edit I do is looking for typos and misspellings and missing words, but the next edit is always the toughest. That’s when the real revising begins. And it can be tough to do when you’re the writer: you’re so close to the material that it can be difficult — if not impossible! — to see where things need to be tweaked or changed or even cut. But, if you’re a writer, you probably don’t need me telling you this. It’s one of the first things you learn as a writer. You’re going to have to cut some of your favorite lines.
But, this post is not so much about that kind of editing. It’s about an edit that I didn’t even realize I needed. One of the ways we writers can get a better feel for things like dialog and pacing is to read our text out loud as we are editing. This allows your ears to do what your eyes cannot: you can hear what might be awkward or dissonant. And I’ve done that several times as I work through a piece of writing, be it a sentence, a paragraph, or even a whole chapter. But, I tried something new this past month that sent me back for another edit. I not only read my work aloud, I recorded it.
Technology has made it easier to do many things. In this case, I was thinking my technology might allow me to create my own audiobook. After all, I have the equipment (microphone, multitrack recorder, a nice quiet closet), so why not give it a try? One thing that concerned me was whether or not my audio would be even remotely tolerable. Do I have a voice for audiobooks? Well, in a previous job I had been called upon to record audio for some online learning, so I figured if it sounded good enough for them, it might be good enough for this task. What did I have to lose just trying it out? So, I climbed into my closet for several hours and recorded the entire thing on my MacBook using GarageBand (the multitrack recorder turned out to be too bulky for my tiny closet). Then I edited out the pauses and goofs and sneezes, etc., using GarageBand and let myself listen to the finished demo of myself.
What an incredibly interesting experience! Even as I was recording it, I made notes here and there to revisit some passages that were still a bit awkward. But, to then take the time to listen to the book in its entirety gave me a whole new perspective on it. Speaking is one thing but listening to it was something else. I found myself going back to the text as I was listening. So many tiny issues arose, issues that might not have affected the book much but were big enough to be noticed and even noticed by me, the person closest to the material.
All in all, it was a wonderful experiment and experience in editing. It can take some time, including the hours of recording and the hours of editing, but I think it is well worth it. You’ll be amazed at what you hear. And, not to brag, but I think I’ve got the vocal chops to make an audiobook work. That will be the task I attempt to conquer once I’ve got the print/ebook version ready to go.