Writers Tricks of the Trade VOLUME 10 ISSUE 1 | Page 39

“I’d say it’s exactly the opposite,” he
says, smiling. “Writing is the really lonely
bit… This is getting me out in the world.
You get up to make a cup of tea and
there’s people all around. When I come in
in the morning, it feels like I have a job to
go to.”
I’ve done two more audiobooks since
– most recently, last spring – with the
gently increasing confidence that comes
of never, ever listening back to previous
recordings. The first time, I agreed to the
challenge only because I was assured it
was not unusual for a first-person, non-
fiction book to be read by its
inexperienced author. But I never met
anyone else like that in my three days at
the studio. I met only professionals.
A RE ALL NARRATORS ACTORS ?
Most professional readers are also
trained actors – as early as 2013,
Audible’s founder Donald Katz was
claiming his company was probably the
largest single employer of actors in the
New York area – but narration comes
with its own peculiar constraints. “What’s
different is, you’ve got to stay still,” says
Corbett. “When I first started, I was very
animated. I was told to stop.” Any
movement in the booth creates
extraneous noise: fabric rustling, chair
creaking, foot tapping. Before the
introduction of the iPad, even the turning
of pages was an editing headache.
Tania Rodrigues (left) and Clare Corbett, who has narrated about 300 audiobooks.
Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian
The Guardian article is so informative, that if you have more interest in audiobooks, you
should click this link and read the entire article. If I ever had any thoughts about narrating
one of my own books, I’m now convinced to leave it to the professionals.
W INTER 2020
P AGE 34
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE