Doing an audio reading of a story with a lot of horizontal line breaks for scene transitions. I initially was doing this with just extended silence wherever there would be a line break, but listening to it now, I think it sounds a bit awkward. Too similar to a pause for dramatic effect or even just unintended silence that got overlooked while editing. Is there a standard way people handle these in readings? I thought of maybe using a sound effect or something (maybe the sound of pages turning?), but I’d like to hear any other ideas anyone has

6347748
I don’t know of any standard ways myself, but usually I leave anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 seconds of complete silence for scene transitions. My dramatic pauses generally tend not to take that long, so the audio cue is distinct in meaning.

6347748 Well, what I like to do is play a sound effect to indicate the transition. Granted I also use music and sound effects in my readings, so it doesn't seem too unusual.

6348228
6347748
That's a good idea. Unfortunately, I don't use very many sound effects in my readings, so that option is not available to me.

6347934
Two seconds is what I was doing as well, which is longer than my dramatic pauses. It’s good to know that’s working for you, and I’m probably just worrying too much then

6348228
I like the idea of experimenting with sound effects more, but for this story, I didn’t really use any. I’ll keep that in mind for future readings though!

6348836
Good luck! I vary it sometimes depending on what feels right for the rhythm of the reading, but that sounds about right in most cases. It isn’t so long that it tends to disengage the listener.