An Introduction to Writing for Audio and Radio Drama

An Introduction to Writing for Audio and Radio Drama

Part one of a series covering the essentials of writing for audio / radio drama led by Chris Gregory and Emily Inkpen of Alternative Stories

By Alternative Stories

Date and time

Monday, May 20 · 11am - 1pm PDT

Location

Online

Refund Policy

Contact the organizer to request a refund.
Eventbrite's fee is nonrefundable.

Agenda

Why write audio drama : The challenges and possibilities for writers

Writing dialogue for audio drama

An introduction to working without visuals

Openings and plot devices for your audio drama

Writing place and sound directions in your drama

Writing with actors in mind

Honing your script and working with a director

Pitching your audio drama script.

Questions and answer session

About this event

  • 2 hours

Overview

There has never been a better time to get involved in audio work. From podcasts to radio to paid services such as Amazon’s Audible platform, producers and content creators are searching for more material to meet demand from their listeners. In this series we’ll take writers through some of the different types of audio, from drama to fiction and poetry made specifically for listening audiences. We’ll look at the writing techniques you’ll need to learn in order to flourish in these areas and we’ll guide you through the opportunities for working in audio. Working alongside industry professionals including actors and writers with extensive audio experience our workshops will inform and entertain while hopefully inspiring attendees to have a go at getting into the world of audio.


Getting started in writing for audio drama

Audio drama has enjoyed a huge growth in popularity over the last few years. Whereas previously BBC Radio 4 might have been the only place you’d have heard radio drama, now the world of podcasting offers creators a platform for their talents. With major players like Spotify, Audible and Realm also commissioning their own original dramas there’s never been a better time for writers to have a go at creating an audio play. The topics we'll cover on this workshop will be


  • Why write audio drama : The challenges and possibilities for writers?
  • The different types of audio drama
  • Writing dialogue for audio drama
  • "Show, don't tell" isn't going to work in this game! An introduction to working without visuals
  • Openings and plot devices for your audio drama
  • Writing in sound - Writing place and sound directions in your drama
  • Working with actors - writing character directions and other things your actors will need to know (includes contributions from one of our actors)
  • Finishing touches - table reads and working with a director - the amendments a writer may want to make after this stage
  • Pitching your audio drama script. How and where to do it.
  • Questions and answer session


All attendees will receive an information pack and access to Alternative Stories Podcast series on creating audio drama

Frequently asked questions

I have never written audio drama before - is this workshop good for beginners

Yes! Whilst there might be useful content for people who have already had a go at writing audio drama this session is pitched at beginners and will cover basic concepts.

I've worked in theatre and film / TV scriptwriting. Will I find this workshop useful?

Yes! There are lots of techniques for writing radio drama that do not apply in other forms of visual scripted media. We'll go through these techniques and share lots of tips and tricks for working with listening audiences.

Are there techniques i'll learn on this workshop that will be good for my general writing?

Yes! Writing for audio drama will sharpen up your dialogue and help you to become more concise in your general writing. You'll also get an opportunity to think much more about voices, accents and descriptive language which you'll be able to transfer to prose and other writing

I know this workshop is aimed at beginners : Do you run more advanced workshps?

Yes! This workshop is part of a series in which we cover other audio drama writing skills. Look out for workshops on character, place, episodic writing, monologues and the process of taking a script into production.

Organized by

As well as making drama, poetry and fiction podcasts we work with writers, poets, actors and musicians to help them adapt their skills to working in spoken word audible media. We offer workshops in audio drama for writers and producers. We also offer sessions for poets looking to record themselves and distribute their work by means of podcasting. We coach actors in the techniques they'll need for working in audio drama or radio theatre and we work with sound professionals from other mediums such as music and TV production to help them acquire skills to work in podcasting.

£2.00 off applied
£20.21