So You Want To Write Radio Drama?

A practical guide to writing radio drama and getting it produced, by a leading radio dramatist and a hugely experienced radio drama producer who have both created award-winning dramas for the BBC. For writers, radio drama offers a remarkable degree of creative freedom, a unique relationship with an audience listening at home or on the move, and a wealth of opportunities to earn a living. But writing for radio is also a very particular craft, with its own distinctive conventions, techniques and pitfalls. And you need to know how the industry works to stand the best chance of getting your play commissioned. This book, written from the dual perspective of a writer and a radio drama producer, tells you all you need to know about: - What works well on radio, and what doesn't - How to hook listeners from the start, and how to keep them listening - How to format your script - How to research and contact the right producer for your play - What to expect after you've received a commission - What happens when you're in the recording studio - Full of practical advice, tips and invaluable inside information about the industry, it also includes extracts from many outstanding radio dramas and a series of writing exercises to help put ideas into practice. So You Want To Write Radio Drama? is an essential guide for anybody who wants to write a radio play, whether you're a ?rst-time writer or one currently working in a different medium. It will also be of help to those already involved in making radio drama, or who simply want an insight into how it is written and made. 'A useful new addition to NHB's eclectic So You Want series. A radio dramatist and a radio play producer, the authors take you step by step through the process, from defining what radio drama is and how it works, to creating your own and, most importantly, the practicalities of marketing your work. It's an inspiring book which left me thinking that perhaps during this bright, shiny new year I ought to hone my creative skills and have a go myself.' - The Stage 'A hands-on guide, ideal for aspiring radio writers. Representing two books in one, it tackles both the initial process of writing a script and the daunting progression to getting commissioned. The authors' passion for radio effervesces throughout and makes for a motivational read.' - Teaching Drama Magazine

Claire Grove, who died in 2013, was a Sony Radio Academy Award-winning radio producer who created over three hundred dramas for BBC Radio 4, Radio 3 and the World Service. She produced Classic Chandler, a landmark series dramatising all eight Philip Marlowe novels, and The Complete Ripley. Awards include: Sony Gold for A Woman in Waiting by Thembi Mtshali, the story of a South African domestic worker; Sony Gold for A Matter of Sex by Nick Stafford; and a Silver Sony for Banana Republic by Greig Coetzee, one of three plays to mark ten years since the first democratic election in South Africa. Career highlights include working with Mike Bartlett on Love Contract and Not Talking, and with Charlotte Jones on The Diva in Me; directing Gary Oldman in Walk Right By Me by Christopher Harris, and Sir Patrick Stewart in Stephen Wyatt's Double Jeopardy; and recording Nick Darke's drama-documentary Underground in a Cornish tin mine. Claire was posthumously awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Radio Drama Award in 2014.