Character voices: Can you hear them?

Each day, I review the narrator's latest chapter recordings of The Unlived Lives of Raymond Quinn audiobook. I will finish the last ten this morning, the audiobook should be available by mid April at the latest. I will let you know when it is.

The last "audiobook" I listened to (I prefer to read books) was an audio tape of "Jurassic Park" I played in the car for the family while on vacation thirty-five years ago. I don't recall what I thought about it at the time.

I've read Raymond's story twenty plus times getting it ready for the editor, and now I'm listening to the narration of each chapter for the audiobook. A very different experience from what will be true for those hearing or reading the book.

When I read Raymond's story, and now the RQ unlived lives sequel drafts, in my head I "hear" the character's "voices". Literally!

Women speaking as women, men as men. Raymond and Shelly's voices slightly different depending on their age and the story line. All the characters "sound" different to me (again, in my head) in Antigua, Vietnam, Germany, the US, Switzerland, and Zimbabwe. My brain is creating those "voices" based on what my eyes read.

That doesn't happen nearly as much when I listen to the audio narration, nor are Raymond's thoughts, which in print are italicized, as clearly separated from what he says.

Subvocalization comes up when you search this topic, and much of what I find has to do with preventing it. I don't want to do that. I prefer imagining each character based both on what they say as well as their thoughts. "Hearing" those "voices" helps me do that.

Maybe this has to do with fiction versus nonfiction. With fiction there is dialog and character's thoughts. Nonfiction is a story told by the author with much less, if any, dialog or thoughts.

Do me a favor. If you read some books while listening to others as audiobooks, let me know if you've noticed anything similar.

​It is what it is; audiobooks can only present spoken words. But I am interested to know if book readers/listeners feel they miss any of the detail only hearing the story as opposed to reading it.