The spoken word
by Steve
First, you need to head over to The Outspoken Omphaloskeptic and take a listen to his tale, Vardman Grows Up. You back? Good. Then let’s begin. I was really quite taken with the story and it has made me think further about forms of fiction, particularly on the internet, and how they are presented.
Long-form fiction just doesn’t seem to work well on a computer monitor. The likes of the Kindle and Instapaper may well counteract this in future, but as it stands, I think authors are pretty much restricted to shorter works, as these are the easiest to digest and will appeal most to the short attention span of Mr or Mrs Internet User.
In fact, in terms of popularity, it appears that the shorter the better. “Flash fiction” seems one of the most popular and accessible forms of fiction for authors to present, and readers to consume, on the internet. However, the brevity of flash fiction makes much of it unsatisfying.
My theory is shorter fiction is easier to write, but a whole lot harder to write well. A budding author can dash off 300 words in no time and post it on their blog. But to get a coherent and satisfying story across in, say, 300 words is not easy. It takes a lot of skill, and a lot of craft.
So, the above story was a refreshing surprise. And I think the way it was presented was key.
I generally have difficulty concentrating on fiction via audio, be it a spoken word book or a radio play. But publishing flash fiction in audio form is inspired. Even I can pay attention for three or four minutes. Plus, the accent, tone and pacing of the reader of the piece helps ‘flesh out’ a story no end. In many ways it is a handy shortcut, so that right away we are within the story and have a feel for the place and characters.
I still suspect that it is not easy to do well. The writer now not only needs to write a strong story, they also need to read it in a compelling way. But, I do think it gives flash fiction an added depth, and seems a much better fit for the online sphere. If there isn’t one already, I imagine an audio literary journal or short story anthology would be a pretty interesting medium.
I’m looking forward to hearing more tales now…
Wait until next year 
Funny and perhaps reassuring that shorter fiction is swinging back round again because of technological and cultural changes. In the late 19th century the short story took on new prominance and importance and became the mainstay of many upcoming magazines. The reason? It’s widely postulated that the availability of trains and the possibility of travelling to cities which might previously have taken days to reach, led to a need for shorter reading material for those riding in the carriages. Novels were too long for a train journey from Manchester to London, say, and short fiction became all the rage.
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I’m glad you liked the story Steve and flattered that you actually decided to start your post by talking about it.
You might be interested in having a listen to the stories over at fourthirtythree.com
Some of them can be pretty darn good.
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I haven’t had a chance to click through to the story yet, but I will. Oh, I will.
I also struggle to pay attention to spoken pieces, particularly when I’m driving: on my only audiobook roadtrip, I found I had to replay entire chapters at a time when the reader’s cadence synced up well with the scenery.
The audiofiction I’ve heard tends to be overly reliant on its written source material. Some passages of a story might read beautifully on the page, but they sound overlong or clunky when spoken. I’d like to see writers focus on a more artistic translation from page to mp3. Movie adaptations take artistic license all the time; shouldn’t audio adaptations do the same?
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Steven – Great piece of info, I like it!
MDS – Thanks for the link, I’ll have to check that out.
Mr Cottontail – I like the idea of artistic licence. I also like the idea of more stuff being written specifically to be read aloud. I’m sure there is some good work out there somewhere, it’s just hunting it out…
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