Brainstorming Post

[paraka]

In order for Podfic Bingo to be a success, we need a variety of prompts to put in the squares.

I've come up with two different categories of prompts (although, if you can think of another, feel free to suggest it): Reading prompts and Extras Production prompts. ETA: I've added a Fic Choice category.

Reading prompts affect how the podficcer reads their story. It can be emphasizing an emotion or adding a style to the reading.

Extas Production prompts are prompts that affect the editing stage or how you produce the podfic but don't directly affect how you read the story..

Examples of Reading prompts
-Read Angrily
-Read Sadly
-Read with a Smile
-Try an Accent
-Character Voices
-Read Animatedly
-Read Deadpan
-More Articulation (for you)
-Slur/Mumble
-Read Quickly (for you)
-Read Slowly (for you)
-Collaborate
-Read Sexy
-Record with your Body
-Record Standing Up
-Read While Laughing
-Read Quietly
-Read Loudly
-Record While Lying Down
-Read Drunkenly
-Read with Silence
-Sing
-Read Sleepily
-Read without Cues

Examples of Production prompts
-No Editing
-Incorporate Music
-Incorporate Sound Effects
-Collaborate
-Incorporate Verbal Effects
-Incorporate Physical Sound
-Record in a New Location
-Higher Pitch Effect
-Lower Pitch Effect
-Echo Effect
-Use a Speed Effect
-Splice Fics Together

Fic Choice
-2+ Hours Long
-<10 Minutes Long
-Unfamiliar Fandom
-Unfamiliar Genre
-Random Fic
-Crack
-Harlequin
-Action/Adventure
-Angst
-Read a Fic Cold
-Gen
-Slash
-Het
-Femslash
-Different Medium
-A Friends Fic
-Rare Pairing
-Yuletide
-Abrdige
-Mixed Media
-1st POV
-2nd POV
-Kinky
-Out of Order
-Minor Character
-Character of Colour
-Trans Character
-Disability
-Female Character
-Child Character
-Repod a Podfic
-Crossover/Fusion
-Non-English Language
-Fairy Tale
-Gossip
-Poetry

Comments

[choosetolive]

Hmm... read a fic from an unfamiliar fandom? I think it would be challenging to go into a fandom "cold" with no real concept of character relationships/significance and try to articulate a good fic reading.

Read from different/unfamiliar genres

Will try to come back with more ideas :)

[paraka]

I'm going to add "read from an unfamiliar fandom" I know from experience it can be challenging (see my recent bandom podfic). Not only because you don't have a feeling of the characters but sometimes you just don't know how to pronounce things. I had to re-record a whole section because I said Frank Iero's name wrong.

I like the genre idea, maybe we can expand it into specific genres. Like, crack, harlequin, action, angst, etc.

[choosetolive]

Yep! Re: genres, I was thinking PWP, but I have a feeling people would fall into the "I read it all the time" or the "I don't read it at all" categories, LOL Crack and harlequin are great options, though, and I don't see why it can't be any other more common genre, either :)

[paraka]

-record with your body
-co-record a story
-record while standing up
-read it sexy
-read while laughing

[brimtoast]

-Record a fic you haven't read before (you can pair up with someone and get them to pick a good one for you, maybe)
-Read quieter/closer to the mic than normal
-Read louder/farther from the mic than normal
-Be very physical (facial expressions, gestures) while reading
-Record a fic while lying down
-Record a fic drunk
-Create verbal sound effects or use objects to make sound effects during the recording session

There could also be a category for, like, kinds of podfics to do? Like, if this is a full-on bingo thing, people are probably not going to record the same fic multiple ways like we initially talked about, and in that case there can definitely be a category for, like, recording a fic with a chromatic character, or gen or femslash or crack or whatever.

[paraka]

Some great suggestions, I'm adding them to the list.

I think it'd be really interesting to record a fic cold. I'm actually sort of doing that with one of my podfics now. I've read most of the fic as it was a WIP but the author held off posting the last bit until it was done. I started recording the final version without reading the end (it's motivating me to get through the podficcing though).

Be very physical (facial expressions, gestures) while reading
I've added "read with your body" to try and cover that idea.

Record a fic while lying down
I remember watching an interview with Kris once where he described the recoding of "I Need to Know." He said that it was getting toward the end of the night, everyone was tired and he ended up lying down on the studio floor strumming his guitar and suddenly the song clicked. They rigged up the mics so they could catch the music without him moving and he recorded the song on his back on the floor of the studio.

I don't think I ever would have thought that without him talking about it but now, every time I hear that song, I can totally picture that scene. That song just has that lazy, sleepy sound to it and I can't help but notice the fact that he was lying down when recording.

Record a fic drunk
Hmm, I think to include this prompt I'd have to adjust it to "read drunkenly" because, while I think it would be amazingly awesome for someone to record drunk, I don't want to force someone to get drunk. Like, what if a minor got that? Or someone who didn't drink for religious or personal reasons? Awesome prompt though :D

[choosetolive]

I second everything you just said! (including the story re: Kris, LOL)

*hopes I get the "record a fic drunk" prompt 'cause that sounds like too much fun. However, also agree to have an option in case the person doesn't want to get actually drunk*

Also love the idea of recording a fic cold.

[brimtoast]

The I Need to Know thing is where I got the idea. I was deep in Idol fandom at the time and know the story very well.

Also, good call on the drunkenness thing.

A couple more:
-Vary pace within a story
-Read a story that involves singing
-Record a story at least 5 times and choose your favorite take to edit

[revolutionaryjo]

I've got to ponder and come up with some more ideas, but the one that springs to mind is to collaborate with one or more people on a podfic.

[paraka]

Added!

[blueyeti]

Read a fic from a different media than usual (usually do TV, then pick a book fandom etc)

Read a story by someone you know? (That could be problematic, but mostly I was thinking *nerve-wracking*.)

Read from a different writing genre (ie. read something which is letters, or has news reports, blogs, script format).

Read a new point of view (first person, second person etc)

Read the fic out of order.

Read a story about a minor character. (...not quite what I mean. Read for a character who doesn't have a strong voice in canon/fanon/other podfic.)

I completely second the idea to read in specific subgenres (crack, femslash etc). No reason we can't spread our wings in that way too.

(Also, I really want to try reading while drunk. It'd be hilarious.)

Edit: Read in a fandom which isn't entirely unfamiliar, but not one of your safe, stable fandoms where you know what's going on.

Read one of your own fics. (Again, problematic, but much with the nerves.)

[paraka]

I've added most of these. I wasn't sure about adding the one about reading a fic by someone you know, because what if someone's a lurker? But I think it can be stretched enough to work, however there are probably a lot more podficcers who aren't fic writers (like myself) so I left that one off.

I really like the "read out of order" one. I wonder if people would post it out of order too. I know diurnal almost did that for her multipodicity podfic.

Also, I really want to try reading while drunk. It'd be hilarious.
I would also like to see that prompt read. Possibly combined with the "post without editing" prompt. ;)

[blueyeti]

Yeah, I thought the reading your own/others was hard to manage. Like read another language, there'd be people who just *can't* do that square. (If I get that one, I'm so going to try that Latin fic from Yuletide 09. So much potential fail.)

Posting out of order would do my head in, I think. But reading would be interesting.

Oh, God, I fear getting the post without editing. Combined with the drunk, well, it could *work* in a terrifying way. I think I'd get more funny from the editing of the drunk reading than any other, so why withhold that pleasure?

[paraka]

Well, with the "other language" one, it wouldn't have to be completely another language. Like, I could read one where the main character visits China and there be a few lines of Chinese or something.

Actually, I think I'm going to go through and simplify a lot of the prompts so that they can be taken more generally (and will, you know, fit in a bingo square ;).

And yeah, posting without editing is scary. I have a podfic tutorial written (that I'll post sometime, I swear) and as part of it I offer a download for the unedited version of the example fic. Putting it out there... if feels a little like posting nude pictures or something. I definitely wouldn't want to post anything of length without editing. Especially since, when I stumble, I stumble a lot. I recently edited a 15 minute section down to 10 minutes :S

[blueyeti]

And now you've sent me on an Epic Quest to find that Doctor Who fic which had a few too many French lines for me to be entirely comfortable.

...now re-found. Not sure if it has enough French to qualify? I certainly have enough fear about French specifically for it to count as a challenge, though.

Ha, you think 15:10 is a bad stumble ratio? I recorded... 10:45:00 for my podbang, which ended up as 4:30:00. If I manage anything less than 50% cut out it's a good recording session. Unedited podfic is definitely nude pictures. I always cringe so hard when I hear podfic (from the early days, usually, or collaborative efforts for specific authors) which is unedited.

[cantarina]

What about "reading with silence"? You can read slowly without ever leaving much blank space on the audio, but it can also be a solid narrative tool. I'm not sure how to work that concisely while still carrying the meaning clearly.

Also, if we're looking at extending into genre prompts (femmeslash, crack, etc), what about stories featuring trans characters, characters with disabilities, characters of colour, or characters who fit more than one of those categories?

Read and put together a compilation
Record in a different location (an empty lecture hall, outdoors, etc)
Read a story that's been previously recorded
Read a crossover/fusion
Record in a language other than English (partially or fully, depending on fluency/comfort level)
Use a new/different editing program

I don't love "read while drunk" (I can't be the only one who doesn't drink!) If it makes the list, could there be a veto during sign-ups, or a swap later on?

[paraka]

I've added "read with silence" it can be a little hard for people to get but it could also be interesting to see how people interpret it.

Read and put together a compilation
Hmmm, but won't the bingo card sort of be a compilation on it's own? It might not have a theme, but people are already going to be doing 5-25 podfics for this, asking for a compilation seems a bit much....

Record in a language other than English (partially or fully, depending on fluency/comfort level)
Use a new/different editing program
Since, yeah, people could choose a fic with just a short non-English part, I've added "read another language" to the list (because trying to find a non-English fic if that's the only language you speak can be hard enough, let alone butchering your way through it. *winces*)
However I don't want to limit people too much and since there's only the one free, widely available editing program out there I don't want to add a prompt that might require someone to buy something.

I don't love "read while drunk" (I can't be the only one who doesn't drink!)
While I love the idea of listening to someone recording a podfic while drunk, the prompt I'm actually adding to the list is "read drunkenly" which may or may not involve booze on the podficcers part. I know there are people who don't drink for personal/religious/legal/social reasons and would never put someone in a position where they felt they had to.

If it makes the list, could there be a veto during sign-ups, or a swap later on?
Well, you don't actually have to do every square on your card (unless you're going for a black out) and even then, I'm allowing a lot of imagination when interpreting prompts so there's not going to be a veto/swap option.

[cantarina]

You make a great point about the bingo card itself being a compilation. Same about using another editing program; I'd forgotten that if you don't have access to a Mac, there's not much out there besides Audacity.

I wanted the language prompt to have flexibility. I'm trying to find stuff to read all in French and even mostly fluent, I'm having a hard time. I may or may not also be hoping it shows up on my card so I finally have to do it *whistles*

I was more worried about losing two potential lines right off of the bat over a "reading drunk" than losing the entirety of the card, which was why I suggested the veto/swap, but "reading drunkenly" is an awesome compromise. I mean, I'm still not completely comfortable with it, but this way, that's actually kind of the point. Thanks for your consideration about the issue!

[paraka]

I'd forgotten that if you don't have access to a Mac, there's not much out there besides Audacity.
Well, there's a lot out there (one of the great things about PCs is that there's never just 1 program to choose from, there's generally like 20+) it's just Audacity is the only quality freeware available to all that I know of (I don't use Audacity, but the program I used was included in a $75 software bundle).

I may or may not also be hoping it shows up on my card so I finally have to do it *whistles*
Well, my plan for assigning cards currently involves a random number generator and using that to come up with the cards so I won't be putting them together myself. But there is going to be a wild spot in the middle where people can choose whatever prompt they want so you could always force yourself that way. :)

[weimar27]

All of these ideas are good.

Most of these are for the Fic Choice category:

Maybe record a fic that's less than 1,000 words.

Pic a fic at random from you fandom's newsletter/favorite comm. So like pick the 10th fic posted.

Different pairing maybe? Or is that too close to different genre/fandom.

If you want to have a larger selection of fic choices, maybe see what the prompts are for the other bingos and pick from those.

Pick a fic by a little known author.

Record your favorite fic.

Record something you've written.


Also for read a harlequin, would it be the entire novel? Or just a chapter.

[paraka]

Maybe record a fic that's less than 1,000 words.
I'll add that one.

Pic a fic at random from you fandom's newsletter/favorite comm. So like pick the 10th fic posted.
Hmm, that might be hard, since not all fandoms have newsletters and there's no guarantee that the author will give permission... Maybe something like "pick a fic at random" instead?

Different pairing maybe? Or is that too close to different genre/fandom.
I did kind of try to cover that with some of the other prompts, but I think some thing like that could be included. Like "podfic a rare pairing" or! Something like "podfic a Yuletide fic" to be specific about rare fandoms.

Pick a fic by a little known author.
Hmm, I wonder if that might not be insulting to an author? Like some people acknowledge they're little known, but others might be hurt by having that label applied....

Record something you've written.
Someone else suggested this too but I think it's a little too demanding because there are a lot of people that don't write fic (myself, for example). I suppose it might encourage people to try writing but that's not really the focus of this comm and it's a lot of pressure for someone.

Also for read a harlequin, would it be the entire novel? Or just a chapter.
Ha, it never even occured to me that someone might think of podficcing an actual harlequin book. I was thinking more of a harlequin-style fic. There are a lot of harlequin style fic comms out there and a lot of fics that have harlequin themes like arranged marriage or general happy romance.

Although, now I want to add an "abridged" prompt.

[weimar27]

Ha, it never even occured to me that someone might think of podficcing an actual harlequin book.

Idk, i was thinking Georgette Heyer, not fanfiction for some really strange reason. Abridged would be cool though.

Like "podfic a rare pairing" or! Something like "podfic a Yuletide fic"
Both cool options.

re: random. I wasn't really sure how picking it would work. Might be kind of hard.

re: writing. I wasn't sure how many people who podfic write.

[paraka]

Idk, i was thinking Georgette Heyer, not fanfiction for some really strange reason.
I podficced a fic based on a Georgette Heyer story (I think it was based on April Lady? I don't know, I can't recall ever reading anything by Georgette Heyer, I'm just remembering the author's notes). :P

Abridged would be cool though.
Yeah, I've added it to the list. It'd be neat to see how people decide to abridge something.

I wasn't sure how many people who podfic write.
I'll be honest, I'm not sure either. There could be a large percentage that are writers, I guess I just have heard enough people get excited to podfic citing it as something they can do for fandom, since they aren't writers. It makes me not want to go there.

I'm super impressed with everyone's brainstorming though! I was worried I wouldn't have enough prompts and now we have over 60!

[weimar27]

Total thread highjack. But do you remember the ficn? I've thought about adapting some of her stuff so i'm curious how others have done it.

[paraka]

Yep, it was Unstuck by solvent.

The fic is more of a snap shot though rather than an entire fic.

[weimar27]

Thanks.

[weimar27]

That was cute. Nice reading.

[aphelant]

I think this is a really cool idea! I'm going to think of suggestions, but one thing I want to suggest is changing "Read with an accent" to "Read with an accent not your own" (I realize that most people will read it as such, but it is a touchy subject for a lot of people and I think specificity might be helpful).

[paraka]

Actually accent was the example I used in the FAQs of how prompts can be interpreted, stating that using your own accent wouldn't count (but non-fandom related accents are acceptable too. I think the example I used was reading an SPN fic with a French accent if you weren't French).

I don't want prompts to get too wordy (since these do have to fit in a bingo card square. I just went and shorted all the prompts down to get rid of the "read with"s and similar.

[aphelant]

Okay, but as this is the brainstorming page and not the actual bingo card (so length of phrase is irrelevant), and as you aren't adding a note next to the prompt saying "more details about this prompt here at the FAQ", I don't think it's reasonable to expect people who come to this post and have not read/seen any other posts but this one to assume that you mean "accent not your own" when you are just saying "accent".

(I do see now that you've changed it to 'try an accent', which works much better, thank you.)

[paraka]

I did change it to "try an accent" yes. The length of the prompts here is relevant because what's listed here is what's going on the bingo cards. That's why I shortened all of them - I was just adding them ad hoc while at work today but always planned on shortening them when I got home.

I specifically don't want there to be a "page of definitions" for the prompts, since I want people to be able to interpret prompts in interesting and different ways.

I do, however, expect people to read the rules so having the accent prompt clarified there should be better than having a note here explaining how the prompt was intended.

I do recognize that I invited non-participants to join in the brainstorming but the amendment should now help clarify the prompt.

[brimtoast]

This is a good point.

I know it's been resolved already, but another way to fix the space issue would be to just change it to "Accent not your own," which would be short enough, get the point across, and have less chance of accidentally implying the "some people have no accent" ridiculousness. Which I know nobody here believes, but enough people say it when talking about podfic that it definitely is something podfic fandom is extra sensitive to, I think.

[paraka]

Do you have any suggestions on how I can word the language prompt? Originally I had it as "Try a new language" but that's not really what I want to say. I want people to try podficcing in a language they don't normally podfic in. So, if someone's first language is, say, Korean but they normally podfic in English, they can do a podfic in Korean, they don't need to attempt some unknown language.

The only way I could really think to word that is "[try a]Non-English Language" but... I think that's safe. Most of the people in podfic fandom (as it applies to this comm) will probably be reading English podfics, I doubt anyone is going to do their entire Bingo card in Polish or anything.

I don't know, it just seems awkwardly worded (especially since I'm trying to keep prompts to 2-3 words)

[brimtoast]

I do not think non-English language is problematic in the context of this comm, which is written in English and posted at podfic communities where, AFAIK, nobody podfics primarily in non-English languages. There may be something I'm missing, but if there is a problem with it I don't see it.

I mean, there are plenty of other things on here that at least some people have done before, so it's not like by adding that you are ignoring the fact that some people here have podficced in non-English languages before. And then for those people, they can either do another in the language they've already done, or they can push themselves further and try a language they've never used for podfic so far.

How about "incorporate non-English language(s)," to stress that the whole podfic doesn't need to be in that language?

[lunchee]

What about "Incorporate LOTE" (Language other than english) ?

[paraka]

The only problem with that, is I don't know how common "LOTE" as a phrase is. I've certainly never heard of it before. And when I Google LOTE, the first hit I get is "Living on the Edge." And while I would actually find it pretty amusing if someone incorporated Aerosmith instead, I love the actual prompt so much I don't want there to be confusion. :-/

[jesse_the_k]

Wonderful list. I have the minor suggestion to change extra to production, since i think that's the common thread.

[paraka]

Fixed! When I set up the categories, I expected the misc. things to go there but then they all sort of fell under the new category, Fic Choice. Thanks for the clarification. :)