Other Voices
Being read aloud to is such a treat. Starting a new year with a new project is a tonic. I’m indulging in both.
Every book I read in silence to myself, comes freighted with the colours, echoes and images it conjures in my mind; and each character’s personality and voice carry something that my imagination subconsciously provides in response to the narrative. Hearing a story through an external narrator’s voice can set another whole layer of implications in play.
When it comes to writing a story, to check if my words carry the cargo of sights and sounds that I believe I’ve freighted them with, I’ll read some of it aloud to myself – and occasionally to others – to guage if it works, or not. Once published and out there on its own, however, the tale must navigate the magic filter of unknown readers’ imaginations, scrutiny and response.
So it’s been fascinating this winter to hear my entire novel narrated by someone else – an audiobook of ‘Felix Unbound’ that’s just come out, read by actor Colette Redgrave – and to experience the book anew from the outside-in through her voice, intonations and characterisations.
It’s my first audiobook foray as a novelist, so I’m a novice listener to my own words delivered through the trusted tones of an expert teller, and have loved the experience and the fresh light it throws on the story. Thank you, Colette.
Lots of lovely readers had told me they found the book very visual and could picture it as a film. What fun that would be, too! So I’ve decided to ‘zest’ the New Year with learning something brand new this January: a little about the art of screenwriting, to gain some insight into what’s involved there. First, a week’s ‘bootcamp’ looms, to grasp some basics and what these might imply for my characters and our tale, or future ones. I love a learning curve…