Tips for writing audio short stories
In my role as Producer of Short Story Radio I have read many hundreds of short stories. Here are some brief tips on things to consider and traps to avoid if you are writing specifically for radio or online audio.
1) You are writing your story with the aim of it being heard. As you are writing, read passages of
your work out loud to yourself. If possible, when it is completed read it out loud to someone else.
2) Short stories work best from the viewpoint of one character (or a conflict between two
characters).
3) Grab your listener's attention from the opening sentences of your story. People often listen to
stories while they are performing another task, they aren't as captive an audience as a reader.
4) Make your protagonist's voice distinctive. A successful short story will take us into a character's
mind and world.
5) Show don't tell. Reveal information or plot through your characters' dialogue, thoughts,
feelings and actions. Don't write a “shopping list” of “and then...” events.
6) Create a recognisable sense of place.
7) Think carefully about your ending. A short story doesn't need to have a happy ending or even a
definitive resolution for your characters, but the listener will want to feel that there is some sort of
conclusion to the story.
Things to avoid:
1) Too many characters
Your story will most likely be read by one actor. A good actor can interpret the voices of multiple
characters (including both sexes), but too many characters can become confusing for the listener.
Exceptions are “walk on” parts: characters who may have only one or two lines of dialogue and can
be easily characterised with a particular accent or speech pattern (e.g. a doctor gives some bad
news, a postman delivers a letter, a secretary take a message) but use them sparingly.
2) More than two characters speaking at any one time
A good actor can convey a conversation between two characters, but a conversation with more than
two voices can be difficult for the listener to follow.
3) Stories that rely on visual elements, such as layout or particular formatting
Some stories may rely on visual elements, such as layout, brief explanatory passages or footnotes,
for a particular effect. Clearly, this does not work on radio. This may seem to be stating the obvious, but I have read many such stories submitted for consideration to Short Story Radio!
4) Complicated plots
Don't try to cram all the action of a novel into your story. Be careful to make it a story not a
condensed novel or a synopsis. If you feel you have to much to say about your characters and/or
story to stay within the word limit, perhaps you should consider whether what you are writing is
really a short story at all, or if it is actually the germ of an idea for something longer.
© Ian Skillicorn
|
