Ask How to Audio Drama: Say It Again

Last updated on March 3rd, 2021

This week in How to Audio Drama, we’re answering reader questions about feeling accomplished enough, how and when to use repetition, and what to do when you’re podcasting and broke.

Want to submit an anonymous question to How to Audio Drama? You can fill out our quick form here:

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I’m struggling to feel like an audio fiction creator, or frankly, creative at all lately. Some of this is because of this awful pandemic, but there are other factors at play. When I’m not working, I’m usually co-producing an audio fiction podcast, but I co-create it with someone who, due to legitimate reasons, can’t actively create right now, which has put the pin in our production for the moment. I’m spending most of my creative free time keeping up with marketing and other non-creative show obligations. I have ideas for other projects, but I’m almost afraid to tackle them, partly because it’s hard to balance keeping up with the first show in addition to other projects, and also because I worry about branching out on my own. I’ve thought about asking someone to co-create with me, but I worry I’ll always be dependent on someone, and also I’m not sure who to even approach. What’s the best way to balance multiple projects and still feel creative when my free creative time is unfortunately scarce?

Stuck in Sucktown

Hi, Stuck,

I know the feeling of creative stagnation all too well, and I know how frustrating it can be when you have other projects you could be working on. There’s a lot going on in this question–wanting to work on this project, wanting to work on others, not feeling creative in general, fear of branching out alone–but I think we can boil most of it down to one concern: balance.

Something I’ve experienced throughout my life, but more during the pandemic, is latching onto good days when I feel productive and doing as much as I can those days. It feels like if I have any spare time when I feel functional, I should use it to invest in future endeavors.

The problem is that equilibrium is really hard to find. In my experience, if I start another creative project on top of the one I’m already pursuing, I will eventually burn out when I start doing both at the same time. You’re in a pause for Project 1 for right now, but what will Future You do when they’re making Project 2 and Project 1 comes back?

In my opinion, this is a good time for independent, private creative projects where you aren’t being held accountable for progress. Maybe take this time to do world building and image gathering for Project 2. Maybe start a pitch document to help find collaborators. But I think that for now, you should take care of Current You and Future You by not taking on too much more.

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Wil you tell us a bit about the use of repetition in Fiction Podcasts? About repeating important details so a potentially distracted audience is comfortable not living poised over the backwards skip control. What types of repetition are available to creators, with examples?

Busy Hands, Busy Eyes

Hey, Busy! Hahaha . . . “Wil you.”

I am a huge fan of repetition in art. My favorite poetic structure is a villanelle, which includes two refrains and a repeating rhyme scheme. Villanelle is also my favorite TV villain, maybe, but that’s less about repetition and more about, y’know, unhinged women who could kill me and not think twice while wearing Alexander McQueen.

Something I think audio fiction creators forget is how much harder it is to remember character names, plot lines, etc. without visuals–at least, for seeing people. Mix that with voice actors sometimes sounding similar, and you’ve got an audience confused between two characters and why they’re taking the next step in the plot.

Repetition can help in a few ways here. First, I’m always a fan of using characters’ names as much as feels natural. Not only does this help the audience remember who’s in the scene, it’ll also be easier to connect the name to the voice. This is trickier with the plot, especially if you don’t have central characters who naturally would rehash events over and over. With events, I’ve found that a good way to use repetition is to have characters reflect on them when it seems natural, and doing it as unobtrusively as possible. Having someone say, “Oh yeah, like that time you broke your arm,” reminds the audience that someone broke their arm. You don’t need to go into all of the details, but a quick reminder helps.

And, of course, another use of repetition is to emphasize meaning–or change meaning. Let’s look at my favorite villanelle, Sylvia Plath’s “Mad Girl’s Love Song.” One of the two refrains is, “I think I made you up inside my head.” Here’s how the refrain is used early on in the poem:

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

It starts off a . . . wholesome-adjacent poem about the early thrills of love, being so enraptured you can’t believe the other person is real. As the poem goes on, though, the refrain takes on a new meaning:

I fancied you’d return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

Now, the narrator isn’t even sure the object of her affection was real in the first place. She’s been made to wait after they left, and she feels foolish for waiting but doesn’t know what else to do.

If you’ve watched Bojack Horseman, you might recognize this take on repetition from the second season’s repeat line, “What are you doing here?”

I’m a big fan of establishing a repetition and then using it to pull the rug out from under the audience’s feet. Changing the way a simple phrase means is a great way to play with expectations and display character development.

And, of course, a similar principle can be used for the music. Some light spoilers for VALENCE: I have a piece of music I use to signify the protagonist’s trauma and growth. The first time I use the song, it’s when the character is at perhaps his lowest low, when his best friend helps him stop spiraling. The theme is used at other important moments, but then plays the fullest again when the character has embraced the part of himself he hates the most–and he’s laughing, and genuinely joyous. Where did I learn this trick? Pixar.

Repetition is your friend. It can be used to help remind your audience of what’s going on and be employed for some big emotional punches. I recommend erring on the side of doing too much, and then editing down later if needed.

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I’m working on a FANtastic project that I know in my bones would be exponentially better for all the important reasons with more people making the decisions. The first problem is I’m both poor and not very social so therefore can’t wrangle hypothetical friends into working for free. Should I press ahead solo hoping strangers eventually jump in? or try to line up some funding first so I can hire good people who, you know, aren’t *just* me.

Single White & Kinda Female

Hi, SWkF,

I have, maybe, a controversial take here. Podcasts are seen as having a “low barrier of entry” or, more accurately, a “low barrier to publication,” but I don’t think this mindset is really that sustainable. If you’re going to be working with other people, I highly, highly recommend waiting until you can fairly compensate them.

Labor is labor, and to me, friendship should never be used as a reason not to compensate someone. Podcasting is more expensive than people realize, especially in fiction, and I wish more creators would take into account budgeting things like transcripts as well as paying their collaborators.

There is one way I think you can make your podcast without having to worry too much, though: just do it yourself. There are a ton of great podcasts that only have one voice actor, narrating each part. Take, for instance, Ivuoma Okoro’s Vega:

Or Morgan Givens’s Flyest Fables:

Both of these shows have wide audiences and have received plenty of critical acclaim–and at least for voices, they’re just one person. Vega does now work with, I believe, a producer and editor, to be clear. It didn’t always, though. If you want to create but can’t quite compensate others, I recommend seeing what you can do on your own. Then, you can start to figure out how much money you’d need to raise or save for the roles you can’t fulfill on your own.

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How to Audio Drama is our column documenting every piece of information you’d need to start your own audio drama (aka fiction podcast). The series can be read in full, or read volume by volume. You can use our table of contents to find each How to Audio Drama installment, and you can submit questions to our monthly How to Audio Drama advice column.