You Can Hear Me Now: An Audiobook Story

As an avid listener to a wide variety of audiobooks, I have a greater appreciation for the medium now. I’ve spent the last few months recording my own. After receiving a fancy microphone for the holidays and downloading some recommended software, I set up a studio in my closet using drawers for a desk.

Since it took me a few months to even free the microphone from its box, I gave myself a deadline to finish my first recording. Quintessential Christmas is turning one at the end of June. What better way to celebrate than to launch an audio version! I figured, the book is short, it shouldn’t take that long. If I record at least one chapter a day, I could have it done in a month!

Hahaha.

Turns out, recording at the height of allergy season gives my voice a nasally, crackling quality. It also adds hours to editing out all the sniffles and coughs. While cutting these distractions, I also realized how much I breathe. Yes, breathing is essential to life, but it takes a special type of training to make it work around a voiceover. In this world, breathing is an art.

Some other interesting things I learned while recording the words I wrote:

• Some words and phrases are a lot easier to type than speak.

• I sound different in my head than I do on playback.

• My characters sound different in my mind than out loud.

• When you want the room to be quiet, your body will find a way to make the most interesting sounds, your dog will want your full attention, and your neighbor’s yard will need to be mowed.

After going through the entire book and editing out all the breaks, breaths, and bodily functions, I’m now going back and rerecording certain parts. Some didn’t sound right, others sounded like the same or the wrong character. While I’m not doing voices, I did want the characters to be discernible. This meant their voice also needed to be consistent.

Since starting this journey, I find I’m listening to audiobooks differently now too. I’m paying attention to when the narrator takes a breath. I’m noticing if/when they change their voice for characters. How fast or slow do they go? Even though I listen to books at a faster speed, I probably shouldn’t record it that way.

It’s all been an eye-opening process. Not only for learning a new medium, but I’ve also learned a lot about my characters and story. I was surprised when I started liking my antagonist more. I contemplated whether or not to rerecord the beginning because my main character sounded off, but then realized the tone fit her mood, which gradually shifted from burned out in the beginning to more enthusiastic at the end. This could have been me getting used to the recording process and/or listening to the sound of my own voice, but it also enhanced the story. If anyone asks, I meant to do that. It’s the power of storytelling.