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Podfic Thoughts...
I want to take a moment to talk about podfic (are you guys surprised?). Obviously, I'm a little obsessed with it; I love it to pieces. I know it hasn't caught on for a lot of fandoms and it's not every one's thing and that's ok. I'm not going to try and make anyone like it who doesn't.
But, the thing is, I've stumbled across quite a few conversations lately (mostly on LJ and Twitter) where people have been talking about why they don't like podfic. And, again, if you don't like podfic, you don't like podfic, I'm not going to try and convince you otherwise. However one of the reasons I keep seeing cited for not liking podfic is that they can read the fic faster in their heads than the podficer reads out loud.
Which is totally true, however it misses the point of podfic, and that's what I want to talk about. Because, I can read the lyrics of a song much faster (and sometimes with greater understanding) than I can listen to the song. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop listening to music. While the lyrics of a song are really important, they're only one part of a whole.
And the story is a much larger percentage of the whole of a podfic than the lyrics are of a song but my point is that listening to a podfic is a different experience than just reading a fic. Or, at least, as a podficer I hope that my readers are getting more than that. Podfic isn't just a format shift, it's not just an accessibility issue. If it were, you could just use a screen reader and be done with it, it would certainly be a lot less work.
And I get that if you're just sitting there listening to podfic, as you would sit to read, it can seem slow. But I would suggest to people who feel that way, to maybe try listening to it in other ways before giving up on it. Instead of just sitting there, do something while listening. Like knitting, data entry (god, podfic saved my life when I did data entry full time), cooking, cleaning or exercising. One of the biggest appeals of podfic, to me personally, is that it allows me to consume fanfic at times when I can't read.
And, you know, some people appreciate that podfic is slower. I've seen more than one person comment (myself included) that when listening at a slower pace, they pick up the nuances of a story that they missed as they sped through the text.
I guess I just want people to realize that podfic isn't an alternative to fic, it's something very different from it. So yeah, don't feel obligated to like podfic just because you like fic, but please, don't compare the two like they're the same thing either.
But, the thing is, I've stumbled across quite a few conversations lately (mostly on LJ and Twitter) where people have been talking about why they don't like podfic. And, again, if you don't like podfic, you don't like podfic, I'm not going to try and convince you otherwise. However one of the reasons I keep seeing cited for not liking podfic is that they can read the fic faster in their heads than the podficer reads out loud.
Which is totally true, however it misses the point of podfic, and that's what I want to talk about. Because, I can read the lyrics of a song much faster (and sometimes with greater understanding) than I can listen to the song. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop listening to music. While the lyrics of a song are really important, they're only one part of a whole.
And the story is a much larger percentage of the whole of a podfic than the lyrics are of a song but my point is that listening to a podfic is a different experience than just reading a fic. Or, at least, as a podficer I hope that my readers are getting more than that. Podfic isn't just a format shift, it's not just an accessibility issue. If it were, you could just use a screen reader and be done with it, it would certainly be a lot less work.
And I get that if you're just sitting there listening to podfic, as you would sit to read, it can seem slow. But I would suggest to people who feel that way, to maybe try listening to it in other ways before giving up on it. Instead of just sitting there, do something while listening. Like knitting, data entry (god, podfic saved my life when I did data entry full time), cooking, cleaning or exercising. One of the biggest appeals of podfic, to me personally, is that it allows me to consume fanfic at times when I can't read.
And, you know, some people appreciate that podfic is slower. I've seen more than one person comment (myself included) that when listening at a slower pace, they pick up the nuances of a story that they missed as they sped through the text.
I guess I just want people to realize that podfic isn't an alternative to fic, it's something very different from it. So yeah, don't feel obligated to like podfic just because you like fic, but please, don't compare the two like they're the same thing either.
no subject
I imagine that people who love any kind of books on tape or audiobooks would love podfic, and of course it's a wonderful thing in terms of accessibility too.
For myself, I don't listen to podfic because i don't want to split my attention. At all. I don't want to listen to fic while vacuuming or doing chores or exercising. I love the immersive, Calgon Take Me Away thing that happens when I read silently. I disappear into the story; I escape. And that's my favorite thing about reading.
i love radio -- I listen to NPR a lot and love getting news and information that way.
But fic? No.
But I'm delighted that other people enjoy it and that it works for them.
no subject
You'd think it'd be that easy a comparison for people but I'm constantly finding people talking about how weird and squicky podfic is. It's... I don't know, while I can understand the reasons why many people don't enjoy podfic, I really wish people would stop talking about it like it's wrong (which, I'm not saying you're doing, like at all, it's just, that kind of thing is what inspired this post).
I love the immersive, Calgon Take Me Away thing that happens when I read silently. I disappear into the story; I escape.
Wow, I soooo can't do that. I find I can't read paper books anymore because I constantly do other things, even when reading. I have to check my email and Twitter or I'll read more than one fic at a time. I'm always jumping all over the place. :S
I actually find that listening to podfic while I work helps me work better, because it'll distract me enough that I'm not jumping from project to project and can actually finish something before moving on.
Really, to each their own :)
no subject
:;shrugs::
Nothing wrong with that, but if you're conceptualising fanfic as a private sex fantasy, then having another person's voice - a person of your own gender too, at that - being involved in your fapping fantasy can probably be a bit of a headfuck. Particularly if you're straight.
I think that's where all this "it's squicky!" stuff comes from. Not the "I don't like podfic" thing - plenty of reasons for that. But finding it squicky? I think that's because they're not interested in narrative and storytelling, they're not thinking of fanfic as being something respectable, with integrity or compassion or what have you. They're parsing it as porn, and the non-porn bits as being lead up to porn. And within that mindset, the intimacy of having somebody read a story to you - somebody knowing what you're getting off to, somebody (presumably) getting off to it with you - is being seen as queer, and intrusive, and threatening.
That's what I think.
'Course, notwithstanding the fact that I do read & write porn, I'm not in it for the porn.
(And, God, the prospect of reading the sexy bits of my stories out loud to people IN PERSON was enough to make me flee screaming, the one time that fannish friends were all "Hey, Fay, read us the sexy girl porn from your story." Literally. Screaming. I'm still blushing at that one. But it's fine with podfic, because I just think of it as like acting, and lose myself in the story. It IS intimate, but still at one remove. In my head. Or something.)
no subject
That... is such a foreign concept to me. I mean, there are a select few fics that I read because they're hot but, like, 98% of the fics that I read have nothing to do with the porn. I'm totally happy with a fade-to-black. Actually, if a sex scene is just in a fic to be porny, I'll totally skim it.
Nothing wrong with that, but if you're conceptualising fanfic as a private sex fantasy, then having another person's voice - a person of your own gender too, at that - being involved in your fapping fantasy can probably be a bit of a headfuck. Particularly if you're straight.
That's definitely an angle I've never considered before. Thanks for bringing it forward.
That also helps explain something else that has bothered me in the past. I know a lot of girls will say they like slash "because it's hot" if an outsider asks them. I've always thought that was a bit of a cop out and it totally ignored why I find fandom and slash so amazing. But, I'm really not in it for the sex and I don't think I ever realized that other people could be into it so much for the sex.
(And, God, the prospect of reading the sexy bits of my stories out loud to people IN PERSON was enough to make me flee screaming, the one time that fannish friends were all "Hey, Fay, read us the sexy girl porn from your story." Literally. Screaming. I'm still blushing at that one.
Ha, you know, I don't think I'd have any problems reading podfic in person, even the sexy parts. But that's probably because I would never get off on it so it wouldn't occur to me that other people would. And, actually, I would probably still be ok with them getting off on it, but the minute it was something I would get off on, I think I'd totally freeze up. Even when it comes to podfic, I'm slowly working on this one podfic that falls into that 2% of fic that I read because it's hot and I'm blushing and flailing at the thought of putting it out there. Which, is kind of ridiculous since if I read porn, it's not like the listener is going to be able to tell which kind I, personally, enjoy. The probably assume I enjoy all of it. But, I blame my weird upbringing, with regards to sex, for this. Growing up it was totally ok to talk about sex in a clinical sense or as applied to other people but the minute someone started talking about their own experiences it was uncomfortable and off limits.