There are some people who would suggest that really good radio is just an electronic version of a one-to-one conversation in an elaborate and mechanical form. The best radio is often just the best of story-telling. Radio in its basic form therefore, has its roots in the best of ancient story tellers, the old and time-honoured tradition of one person telling another person or an assembled crowd however big or small, a hopefully riveting or at least interesting story.
The Beginnings of Writing for Radio
Story-telling is as old as mankind itself and radio continues this tradition. A basic story, as every creative writing course will tell you, very simply should contain:
- A good and intriguing beginning
- Interesting and believable characters
- A plot that works to a conclusion.
- A good ending often with a unexpected twist.
Before the invention of radio, people told stories to each other, story tellers and poets were valued members of the community and good radio carries on that tradition.
The Elements of Radio Writing
The Gutenberg Printing Press may have opened up wide-spread mass communication through the printed word in the 15th Century, but once radio was invented in the 20th Century, the art of story-telling through the human voice and the new found audio medium become common place. Radio writers had to learn how to use this new media.
The elements of radio audio that these radio writers could use are:
- The Human Voice and Voice-trained actors
- Sound effects
- Music
- Atmosphere Sounds
- Silence.
The radio industry often cites radio in the too often quoted phrase as being “The Theatre of the Mind.” This tries to explain the impact of sounds on the human imagination. The sound of something, anything from a dog barking to a polar wind, can be recorded and re-created in the listeners mind simply by replaying the appropriate sound.
Tips to Set The Scene on Radio
The pictures on radio are often cited by research panels as being better than on any other media. The trick is in the mind of the listener. In the same way that reading a novel, produces different pictures to everyone who reads it and creates different pictures of the characters and the settings, radio audio has the same effect, but the writer can give the listener some clues. The radio writer can:
- Set the scene with words and bring them to life with sound effects.
- Use the strength of the voices and cast the actors accordingly.
- Use the absence of pictures, which means the pictures in the listeners mind is actually stronger.
- Sound effects can easily set the scene in very few words.
After the initial recording post-production can often add another layer of interest. Use your imagination; radio has absolutely no limits on where you can go, so let your imagination run free and then allow the listener use their imagination too.
Listen to Radio and Audio
Listening to radio, any radio is great place to start in writing good radio. As inspiration, listen to sound effects, music tracks, and voice over actors show reels even before the writing process starts; this is often a great place to start the whole writing process and will help the final audio production become clearer in your mind.
A good script and a good story is the best starting point for any good radio. An imaginative radio writer will hear and see the pictures of the finished audio in their head before the recording. By both seeing and hearing the finished production in the writing process in the writer’s head, it becomes easier to write down both the words and the production instructions, to create good radio, and a great story. It'll also help the listener both see and hear what they listen to in their own way, and in so doing create their own pictures.
Dan McCurdy - Dan McCurdy is a freelance writer producer creative and lecturer. Dan is one of the UK's most experienced radio writers and producers. ...
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