How much do you need to know the work?

[tgeller]

Hey, gang. I'm returning to Librivox reading after a few years away. Good to be back.

So -- I've just started doing fictional and dramatic works, and would like to do more. Here's the thing, though: I don't read fiction for fun. Reading through the entire work in order to voice one character -- even a major one -- would feel like a chore to me.

One workaround for plays and dramatic readings (where the BC/MC has color-coded the parts) is to read through only the bits the character says, and extrapolate an approach from that. But is it enough information? Or would you feel it's short-changing the work (and other volunteers)?

The other options are (a) read without preparation, and (b) don't read for such works. Right now I'm defaulting to (b).

[TriciaG]

I read without preparation.

I'll read the lines before my lines to get a feel for the emotion I'm supposed to convey, but that's about it.

Edit to add: You could also ask the PL or BC of the project to listen to your lines and give any directorial comments. If you ask for such feedback, you can feel more confident that it'll fit in with the rest of the story.

[tovarisch]

Hi Tom,

Good to have you back!

It's not a simple question to answer, or perhaps vice versa, simple if you accept "it depends" as the answer.

Let me ask you, if you don't "read fiction for fun", why did you start "doing fictional and dramatic works"? Even if you aspire to make your living reading those works, if it's not fun, it's going to be rather difficult, is it not?

As far as dramatic readings are concerned, you can always resort to reading small roles. They usually do not require to be extrapolated, a relatively brief look into the surrounding text should give you enough understanding of the character to present it reasonably well. And even if you miss something, the size of the role will reduce the effect of that on the entire performance. Reading larger roles, speaking from experience, can be supplied with information from other sources, like critical works on the entire play, scholarly articles, etc. That is, if reading just through role's lines does not give enough information.

As far as reading parts of plain fiction, pre-reading is not needed, IMHO, but getting familiar with names of people, of places, and getting an agreement with other readers is preferred (for names that aren't obvious).

I believe that your apprehension with "short-changing" is justified, and you should be thinking of the listener rather than of other volunteers. And, the way to resolve it is rather simple: just ask the BC.

[tgeller]

Let me ask you, if you don't "read fiction for fun", why did you start "doing fictional and dramatic works"? Even if you aspire to make your living reading those works, if it's not fun, it's going to be rather difficult, is it not?

That's a very fair question. But after some consideration, I have to say I don't feel a conflict in this regard. I feel more like a bartender who doesn't drink.

Thanks to you (and TriciaG) for the other thoughtful comments! Interested to hear others' thoughts.

[tovarisch]

Let me ask you, if you don't "read fiction for fun", why did you start "doing fictional and dramatic works"? Even if you aspire to make your living reading those works, if it's not fun, it's going to be rather difficult, is it not?

That's a very fair question. But after some consideration, I have to say I don't feel a conflict in this regard. I feel more like a bartender who doesn't drink.

That analogy does not work for me. You don't need to listen to audiobooks to be able to produce them, and if you have to strain yourself and it's not fun for you to read (you do read to make an audiobook, yes?)... The bartender does not need to drink what he mixes, but he better have fun while mixing drinks for others, otherwise it's just a chore, and he'll never do it well...

[TriciaG]

It's the reader's choice what they want to read. Of course the reader will record what they enjoy recording.

Let's not focus on that.

[tgeller]

That analogy does not work for me. You don't need to listen to audiobooks to be able to produce them, and if you have to strain yourself and it's not fun for you to read (you do read to make an audiobook, yes?)

At base, I enjoy the sound of my own voice. Reading aloud is more interesting to me than reading silently to myself.

Funny how "reading" means so many things! It could be:

1. Reading silently to oneself for pleasure
2. Reading silently to oneself for "work" (e.g. installation instructions)
3. Reading aloud to create a neutral/accessible record (e.g. some non-fiction works on LV)
4. Reading aloud to move the plot along (narrator)
5. Reading aloud to create a character

The experience is different for each type. My entire career (in writing and video) has been in nonfiction -- #2 and 3. Narrators are like reporters, so #4 is a sort of quasi-nonfiction.

Fiction is less familiar to me -- I'm still discovering how I relate to it as a (voice) reader/actor. That's really where my questions comes from.

[tgeller]

P.S. I've decided to take on Doctor D'avrigny in The Count of Monte Cristo. He's fairly minor, though. I wonder about possibly taking bigger characters without knowing the work better.

[kayray]

I read without prep. Always. No matter what. I enjoy the surprise of finding out what I will say next while I'm recording.

(Also I get bored easily )

[mightyfelix]

I agree with the "it depends" answer. When I first started here as a volunteer, I felt I had to read through everything in the story, at least up to the part where I'm reading, to know what's happened so far. I still think that's helpful in some ways. For instance, how do the characters feel about each other? Perhaps they're being polite to each other in the scene I'm reading, but the story has made it clear earlier that they secretly hate (or love) each other. Have any characters changed their opinion of one another since the story began? These are things that aren't always clear from reading only one scene or chapter. Several examples come to mind. In one play I did (Rollo's Wild Oat), some of my character's lines and behaviors make little sense until you realize that she is jealous of another girl whom she believes to be Rollo's lover (or at least, former lover). If I hadn't read the whole thing, I wouldn't have known to put the proper bite into those lines.

That being said, I don't always read everything all the way through anymore. Often I'll skim over large sections or even whole chapters, pausing now and then to read certain parts more closely if I think they may be more relevant. Usually I do read plays all the way through before I record, particularly if I have a large role. Dramatic book readings, much less so. If I'm only reading a chapter or two in a novel, I may or may not preread. It depends partly on the length of the book, partly on the difficulty of it, and partly on how I may be feeling on that particular day.

[JayKitty76]

I like to simply scan my reading material so I'm at least familiar with it, and I won't be as likely to stumble over a sentence. Like Devorah, I used to think I absolutely had to pre-read everything first...or else! But as I've progressed, I've realized that scanning/skimming works too, at least for me. Then again, if I'm just reading something short, I like to be surprised..and that surprise carries into my voice's emotions (especially if it's a part of a book where the characters are surprised) and that makes for better, more realistic reading. For dramatic readings, I usually don't pre-read my text. Like Devorah said, it depends. But personally, I usually scan my reading material.
Hope this helps!

[mightyfelix]

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention! One other benefit of at least scanning the chapter is that unfamiliar words will not catch you off guard as you record. Lots of Victorian novels, for instance, seem to include quite a few French phrases, as that was en vogue at the time. (See what I did there? ) Or, in a scientific work, you may run into scientific names of plants or animals. Scanning ahead of time allows you to look up pronunciations of those words/names/phrases and practice them off mic.

[tgeller]

Thanks again, all. For "Monte Cristo" I pre-read only my own lines, and the bits leading into them. For now, that's what I'll continue to do, although maybe in the future I'll feel more comfortable just plowing ahead. But from just that, I could get a sense of my character's motivations and arc. (In this case, he goes from casually dismissive to imploring to cold to cooperative.)

[kayray]

Not to beat a dead horse, here, but I just thought of something. Someone who reads a print book (or sees a play) doesn't know what happens next, doesn't know character motivations, story arcs, etc., -- the reader learns these things as the story unfolds and manages just fine -- so does it matter if the narrator knows these things in advance? Would too much advance information possibly lead a narrator to give something away that the reader isn't even supposed to know yet?

This is a totally rhetorical question -- everyone should pre-read or not pre-read as they prefer! That's what librivox is all about. But it was something that I had never thought of before.

[moniaqua]

Someone who reads a print book (or sees a play) doesn't know what happens next, doesn't know character motivations, story arcs, etc., -- the reader learns these things as the story unfolds and manages just fine -- so does it matter if the narrator knows these things in advance? Would too much advance information possibly lead a narrator to give something away that the reader isn't even supposed to know yet?

I think it all depends...

Not only on the reader, but also on the book. I found out that in dramas I like to read in advance, at least my parts and the ones around me, so that I can develop the character.

The technical and other non-fiction-stuff I read while recording. If I don't know a word, I can try different versions (and hopefully get the right one, too) and cut out the other ones. Also the software has that nice punch-in-thingy which I came to just love.

Novels I haven't read yet for LibriVox, but reading them twice only to prepare? I still can read a part a second time while recording if I desire, and I did do that on some texts.