FICTION: Handing Over the Baby
Updated: Jun 5
(From Author to Narrator to Listener...Language is Slippery!)
As narrators, when we’re handed a manuscript, we try hard to understand the text and perform it appropriately. The best writers are fantastic at creating prose, dialogue, context, character development, etc. that allow millions of readers’ minds to interpret it in similar ways – however, this isn’t always the case. In fact, very often, readers (or listeners) may interpret a situation differently based on their mood, experiences, reality, etc. For instance, in The Great Gatsby.
The sentence: “Her voice is full of money.”
There’s debate about whether this was written cynically or romantically about Daisy. And it depends on who is reading, listening - or narrating! So, we can gather that even with classics and carefully placed context, readers are going to interpret the characters, their intentions, and their voices with subtle – and sometimes not-so-subtle – variations.
As a writer, I can understand the fear of handing over your “baby” to a narrator and hoping they can fully embody the voice in your head. But the beauty of writing, narrating, acting, and performing is that it’s OK for everyone to interpret the characters and even some situations, differently.
This is an important nuance of the narration industry. It’s our responsibility as performers to understand the text – but just like our example above with Daisy and Gatsby, the readers, narrators, and listeners may have very different internal interpretations of these characters, their emotions, and the situation.
A famous example of this in the narration, movie, and book industry is the Harry Potter series. Jim Dale and Stephen Fry were the first narrators to bring these characters to life. The first four books were narrated before production of the first movie. Even before this, millions of readers had already internalized this magical world – with voices, portraits, and scenes in their heads.
When Jim and Stephen’s versions were released, despite sounding different from what many fans, no doubt, imagined, they still pleased countless readers because they were amazing narrators.
Likewise, I’ve spoken with many people who were disgruntled by later versions, including aspects of the movies that they hadn’t quite heard or pictured in their minds while reading. (Of course, this happens all the time! We are very protective of our imaginations! That is our world! Ours and only ours! Right?) These projected images and performances can eventually overshadow our initial magical interpretation, and that can be difficult to digest.
Not to beat a dead horse, but the purpose of writing this is to explain that, as a writer, it’s OK to allow your characters – their voices and personalities – to be varied and unique in the minds of readers, listeners, and yes, even the narrator who will attempt to bring them to life.
Luna Lovegood and Professor Umbridge, for instance, in the Harry Potter movies, narration, and the new full-cast version are very different. But they are all still very Luna and very Umbridge. The performers took the context, the characters, and even the hard-to-ignore interpretations of previous performers and developed their own versions of these characters. They are all great – and they are all different.
I believe it’s one of the hardest things an author does: handing over their manuscript and not being able to hand over their imagination with it. Likewise, as narrators, it’s a challenge to be handed a baby and hope that your interpretation will at the very least, please the parent.
As narrators, we love your characters, too. We develop a very special and intimate relationship with the voices, scenes and plotlines as we get to know your story in the studio. However – and I don’t say “unfortunately” or “sadly” because I don’t think it’s unfortunate or sad – our interpretation will inevitably be different from yours and from the dozens, hundreds, or maybe millions of readers getting to know your story’s world.
It’s an important step in raising the “baby” to let it go… to let it be… to let it morph and develop into whatever beautiful creation it will become in the minds of its readers and listeners.
We are told repeatedly in our industry: do not mimic. We should not try to mimic the author’s voice, or the character who was their teacher, friend, uncle, or archenemy. An archenemy’s voice could be performed in a hundred different ways by different voices and still be a fantastic archenemy.
Something to keep in mind while you’re waiting patiently for narration: when reading a physical book, most readers skim past unnecessary words to devour the meaning, the emotion, the punch line, etc . They’re not reading robotically. As narrators, we strive to follow the text as closely as possible. However – humans read differently than they listen, and it’s a creative challenge to keep the listener engaged in the narration. Purely literal reading without performance nuance can feel less engaging in audio.
I’m not talking about changing the text in a way that alters the meaning or rewriting sentences. But understanding that in performance, the occasional gasp, natural contraction, or vocal reaction often helps improve the listener experience. Their mind isn’t getting stuck on awkward phrasing that, in real human communication, would naturally become a contraction. These tiny changes or additions might also enhance a character’s personality. We have to bring them to life without facial expressions or body movement; we’re essentially helping create images in the listener’s mind. Sometimes it helps to make small performance nuances to convey emotion or personality.
I’m currently working with Daryl Lott, a fantastic historical fiction author. While writing his second book in the Faith and Fiddle Series, Isobel’s Hidden Melody, he told me that after learning more about the narration process, he began ‘writing’ with a listener in mind. This approach can help the performance flow more naturally, and as narrators, we make these kinds of decisions in the studio every day.
I hope this was beneficial and maybe put some worries and fears to rest. The goal as a narrator is to take the text… digest it… understand it… and perform the very best versions of these characters that exist in our imaginations.
Comments