When you listen to an audiobook, the goal is to create an immersive, clear audio version of the story. This begins long before the actual recording occurs with the process of audiobook scripting. This is when the original text of the story is formatted in a specific manner to make it as easy as possible for the narrator to follow along where they are, see when a new character is speaking, and ensure that all words are pronounced correctly.

Why is scripting necessary?

This is an integral part of the production process because it makes it much easier for the narrator to correctly read the text while recording their narration, know when a new voice should be used for a new character, and how to pronounce words they might not be familiar with. The cleaner the audio is at the time of the recording, the easier future processes like retakes and audio editing will be, leading to a better experience for the listener! 

How does scripting work?

An audiobook script is usually based on the final, proofread version of the text. The only way it differs is in its formatting. The specific formatting is dependent on both the genre and perspective of the story, so the process described here is for a fictional, third-person narrative with multiple characters.

The first step to scripting this type of story is creating a key where each character is assigned a  specific color that will be used to alert the narrator to when they are speaking. Then, using the colored key, the character’s name, highlighted in their specific color, will be added into the text before the character’s line of dialogue. Once that character is finished speaking, the “narrator” tag will be used to help the audiobook narrator see where this switch happens.

The image above is an example of Thorn City’s audiobook script, created by fellow Oolies. 

What about pronunciation?

Accurate pronunciation is also a key aspect of a successful audiobook recording, which is why we also create a separate document—known as a pronunciation guide—where words that might be tricky to pronounce are documented, along with their phonetic spelling. The narrator can then easily refer to this guide when recording in case they come across any potentially unfamiliar terms. 

Although the scripting process might seem unnecessary at first glance, it is actually an essential part of audiobook production and helps us create a clean, crisp final product!

Written by Kari Olson.