semperfiona | Snowflake Challenge Day 11

Day 11

In your own space, talk about your creative process(es) — anything from the initial inspiration to how you feel after something’s done. Do you struggle with motivation or is it a smooth process? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to pull out when a fanwork isn’t cooperating? What is your level of planning to pantsing/winging it?

Well, I can't really speak about my creative process when it comes to writing, since I haven't written anything since 2012 or so, until this fic bit me on the night of 1/1. I can say that for this particular fic, I have been visualizing bits and pieces of it at night when going to sleep, and then putting down in pixels the next day whatever I thought of the night before. I've also just gone to my outline and picked a scene or section that I wanted to work on. I have no idea how long it will end up, or how long it will take to get there.

For podfic, though, I can be a lot more certain. Lately it's mostly been signing up for a challenge or fest, and then reading all the fic I can find that fits the stated parameters (recipient's Dear Creator letter, or the fest theme, or length requirements, whatever). I'll put three or four possibilities into a new tab on my Podfic Record spreadsheet, and after a couple-few days of pondering, choose one to do. That one gets added to the "Completed Podfics" page (yeah, even though it's not complete yet), with its due date and other assorted info about the fic and fest. The others, if I really like them, may go into the 'someday' tab on the spreadsheet. I read fics from that when I have time between tests, and sometimes also use it as a source for fest fics.

I usually record in the evenings after work, on whichever evening I don't have other scheduled plans. Sometimes on weekends. I have a small room in my house which is set up as an office that I use as a recording studio. I go in there, close out all the animals and other humans, turn off the air conditioner (if it's summer) and connect my mic to my computer.

I don't do a lot of the things that people recommend for podficcing. I don't pre-read the story out loud before I start recording, I don't mark up the text--I read off my kindle, so marking up is not possible. Reading off the kindle also means I don't have to worry about sentences and paragraphs that cross pages.

I am an edit-as-you-go podficcer. I read until I screw something up, whether it's a word I just can't seem to get my mouth to make, or I transposed some words, or left some out, or I just don't like the inflections or voice I used for the line. At that point, I reread the bad line until I get it right, then delete all the wrong versions. I also go back to the last time I stopped and listen to the recording of those sections as well, in case there are errors I failed to notice at the time, or outdoor street noises that got picked up, or--and hopefully this problem has been solved with my new mic-- there are weird buzzes behind my narration, making perfectly good recording into complete shit. If there are any of those problems, I fix them too.

Usually I can read and first-pass edit about an hour's worth of fic in an evening. Anything longer will take multiple sessions. (I have one half-complete project that I may have to start over if I don't want to complete it with the old mic.)

Once I complete the first draft reading, with all the initial edits as I went along, I send the recording to Auphonic for leveling and noise reduction. Depending on length, Auphonic might complete its processing almost immediately or take 24 hours.

Sometime in here I start collecting images for the cover art and music. If a specific song or piece is mentioned in the fic, I'll usually add at least a little of it. If not, I try to find something that evokes the same emotions as the fic, and use bits of that. I tend to use music or sound effects for section breaks rather than silence.

Then the project gets a final re-listen and edit. Sometimes I get a beta listener before my own final edit, sometimes I don't. Mostly this editing pass is for 1) removing any obvious noises that Auphonic didn't take out, such as obtrusive breathing or mouth clicks, 2) correcting any weird-length silences (too much or too little space between sentences or paragraphs--I do this by eye mostly, gauging the gaps in the waveform--and 3) adding any music. Of course, if there's any narration error, I'll fix those. I do the fixes as a separate Garageband project and send all 30 seconds or whatever off to Auphonic for the same audio processing, then cut&paste them in where they belong.

And then there's creating the cover art. That can take as long as the recording or final edit, sometimes, especially if I'm doing something tricksy and complicated with GIMP that I don't actually know how to do yet so I have to go find a tutorial and try it over and over until I get it right.