Silly little Behind the Scenes look at the slow process of making an audio

Taking a vocal break for a couple of hours after recording most of The Elf Queen's Favor and some of Rest Your Head in My Lap! Thought it might be fun to show you a little updated version of how I make audios these days. I think I've shared my old process before, but it's updated since then.

For me, audios now happen in these main phases! I've written just a bit about each one here. Both of the audios in these pictures are in step #6! When I get back from the trip I'm taking this weekend, I'll finish both of these up. <3

1. Title/seed idea

In this stage, I'm thinking of the core idea for the audio--I want an idea that I can condense down to a sentence or two, so that I can start daydreaming about it.

2. Tag selection

This is the stage where I start to incorporate tags you guys have chosen, as well as other tags that I think would fit well.

3. Daydreaming

This stage takes the longest sometimes. I sit with the idea, looking at the title and tags a couple of times a day and writing down potential plots/flows for the audio (usually in bullet points, since I rarely use scripts these days).

4. Fine-tuning for realism/flow

Here, I look over my bullet points and try to arrange them in an order that makes sense. I try to bridge any logic gaps. Usually the outline is very, very incomplete at this stage--I come up with most of the details on the spot. All I need are the basic story/sex scene beats.

5. Preliminary recording/voice finding

In this step, I start recording. I try out a couple of different voices that I think might fit the character. I listen back to them until I hit one that sounds best to me. I start thinking about any speech quirks this person might have and sprinkling those in so that I can listen back to them.

6. Actual recording

This step varies wildly on how long it takes. Sometimes I record in a single sitting, but most of the time I spread it out over a couple of days. Most often, I record the parts before the sex scene first, then the next day, I record the sex scene. This is mostly because the sex scene bits tend to be a bit harder on my voice, so I need to make sure I'm coming in as fresh as possible to avoid strain.

7. QC Listen-Through #1

I listen through the audio (usually skipping through and just listening to samples of different parts) to make sure there's no major sound issues. I try to eliminate any mistakes I find. I adjust volume levels to make them reasonable to listen to through earbuds, since that's how most people listen to audios.

8. Editing

I hunt for and add in sound effects and music if needed, and polish the audio so that it sounds smooth and flows naturally.

9. QC Listen-Through #2

I do a skip-through listen again to make sure everything sounds good!

10. Publish!

I give the audio to you guys!!