FinalRune Academy

Learn Audio Fiction with Fred

  • My Stories
  • Learn Audio Fiction
  • Behind the Scenes
    • Behind the Scene: Of Fae & Fiends
    • Behind the Scenes: Recording Locke & Key
    • Behind the Scenes: The Troll of Stony Brook
  • Gear
    • Podtales 2019 Microphone Workshop Redux
    • Field Recording Adventures in Belize, OR Adventure Leisure with young children
    • Our South African Love: The Sony PCM-M10
  • Business of Podcasting
    • Fiction podcasters finally have their own category in Apple Podcasts
    • An SEO’s Perspective on Google Rankings for Podcasts
    • Audio Drama Needs a 21st Century Business Model
  • Resources
    • Sample Scripts
    • eBook Teaches Filmmaking without the Camera
  • Newsletter Signup
  • About Fred
  • Contact Fred
  • In Memoriam

What is Audio Fiction?

Our stories are the fictional counterpart of the non-fiction documentary, essays, and features you’ll hear on National Public Radio. Just like in the publishing world you’ll find memoir and biographies as distinct categories from novels and short story writing, audio fiction uses similar conventions but very different subject matter for its exploration of humanity and its issues. The basic litmus test: stories told through the medium of sound.

Why not radio drama? (Especially considering we have links to “radio drama” articles, and use the phrase elsewhere in the site?) Now here’s where things good tricky. Radio drama is a historic term with a rich history which we like to represent, but is not entirely emblematic of the modern art form — after all, 99% of you will hear this over the internet, and not on the radio.

The other alternative phrase, audio theater, is pretty good, but tends to only be used by audio insiders. Furthermore, it continues to perpetuate the perception that the stories are like plays, when they’re really more like short stories, novellas, and novels (well, we’re working on the latter two). While the stories are dramatized, they aren’t really “theater.”

While “audio fiction” still might have some weaknesses, the point is our work is more like what you’ll read in a literary rag than what you’ll hear on the radio. It’s the stories that get us out of bed in the morning, not the transmitters.

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Recent Posts

  • Audio Fiction with Fred – Week 5
  • Audio Fiction with Fred – Week 4
  • Audio Fiction with Fred – Week 3
  • Audio Fiction with Fred – Week 2
  • Audio Fiction with Fred – Week 1

Fred’s Production Company

Dagaz Media High End Audio Drama

Looking to hire Fred for an audio drama project? See the website for his award-winning production company, Dagaz Media, co-founded with audio drama legend William Dufris.