We were very honoured to have a visit this week from David Neville at BBC Radio Drama, who gave up his valuable time to spend the afternoon at Erskine Writers.
It was fun, entertaining and very interesting, giving us a good insight into radio drama. David played an excerpt from two quite different plays and allowed us to make comments. He also asked leading questions which enabled us to think about the structure and story of the plays.
There was no doubt, however, that he wasn’t giving us false hopes about having plays published. Only the most experienced writers have a good chance of producing acceptable work, although they don’t refuse new writers; they just have to be very good! That’s fair enough, since it’s a very competitive market.
One of the best resources for keeping up to date with BBC drama is their excellent writersroom. In addition to lots of hints and tips, they provide examples of scripts, including correct layout.
And the overwhelming message? Writers actually have to listen to radio plays in order to write them. Just as in any other form of writing, it’s all about understanding what they want!
Rosemary
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