For the most part, garbage in creates garbage out. And when you're on a super tight schedule, the quality of that garbage becomes a matter of perspective. What would be an immediate re-record session suddenly becomes "good enough" when you don't have any time left.

But here's the revelation that I had when doing an audio drama this way: what you think is garbage turns out to be genius! I like to call them Happy Accidents - but I had so many of them that it starts to become art - good art! In fact, the more constraints you have, the better you get at becoming resourceful.

Before you know it, it's not garbage anymore - it's the best you could do with the resources and time you had. And the end result starts to take on a life of its own based on your individual voice and style.

That's when it hits you: Quality is subjective!

Introducing Part 8 of 13 parts in my Between the Pauses mini-series that explores my thoughts while making my first audio drama: PAUSE for Dramatic Effect! If you're interested in the complete first season of Pause for Dramatic Effect, you can download and listen to it for free at PAUSEforDramaticEffect.com or wherever you find your podcasts.

I would love for you to tell me how you think the story of Pause for Dramatic Effect turned out by giving it a rating and review or sending a Boost using one of the latest Podcast 2.0 apps, which you can find at Podcasting2.org. If you don't have a Podcast 2.0 app, I would highly recommend Podcastguru.io or Truefans.fm to get all the new podcast features you didn't know you were missing!

Meanwhile, I'm now the founder of a new podcasting education and technology company called Oncetold. If you're ready to tell your story and start your own podcast, then you need Oncetold at oncetold.com.

PAUSE for Dramatic Effect bonus episode #06 was originally published by Gagglepod on November 24th, 2019. Copyright © 2025. PAUSE for Dramatic Effect, Gagglepod, and Oncetold. All Rights Reserved.