2 days to go to ABBA deadline!
With only 2 days left to the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award deadline, I thought I'd share some closing thoughts on writing for radio drama as you pen your final words. Formatting - we are not completely rigorous when it comes to formatting. You won't be penalised for the wrongly placed word, or the odd straggly sentence, but you do need to present your work so that it is in a clear and readable script format. Use the Writersroom script formatting tool, or look at the radio drama scripts on the website and copy how they are formatted.
Sound effects and music - Sound effects are not stage directions, so keep them to a minimum. If they are essential e.g. a telephone ringing, then keep them in, but if, for example, your scene is set in a café, then we don't need to know what the two old ladies sat at the table behind your characters are saying, instead the sound directions 'a busy café' would be sufficient. Our team of fantastic sound designers will create the sound world for you, so keep the focus on your story.
If you want to specify certain music for your script then you can do, although ultimately the soundtrack of a play is up to the Producer, so you need to be aware that your suggestions are subject to change. Also don't worry about music copyright issues, this is something we sort out in production.
Cast of characters - Generally we never cast more than six actors in a single afternoon play, quite often it's less than that, so make sure that up to six actors could play your parts without having to play three or four characters each. As you put your finishing touches to your play it may be worth counting up your characters and cutting those who are not essential to the plot. Small parts especially add up, so check that you haven't got too many characters with just one or two lines.
Opening - Make sure you start your script in the right place. Throw us right into the heart of a scene, place us in the middle of a conversation or sentence, grab us straight away with your story. The first ten pages are crucial, hook us in, make us ask questions and pull us along with a strong narrative thread.
Last of all GOOD LUCK to everyone who enters, we look forward to reading your scripts!
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~20~RS~)
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Thank you, Charlotte.
Just a quick question. I sent a SAE as acknowledgement for receipt of my scripts. It did say you could do that in one part of the rules.
I haven't received the acknowledgements back, and neither has a friend. We were just wondering about this, because it states on another part of the rules that acknowlegements won't be sent out.
Can you shed any light on it?
Thanks in advance.
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Two days to the ABBA deadline, Mama Mia!
:)
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Gimme gimme gimme a break from these terrible puns, Mark!
:)
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Antoniablue: I've spoken to Charlotte, and the scripts are being logged now, so acknowledgements should be posted this week.
So you should hear quite soon, When All Is Said And Done.
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Thanks for that, Piers.
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How do you go about distributing scripts for readers in a competition like this? Do you wait for them all to come in, then log and distribute?
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@Antoniablue
They chuck them all in the bin then pick a few names at random. ;)
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@AspieBoy
Aha! Mine's written on bright orange paper, so might stand a chance.
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Assignment of scripts uses the same type of system as our standard one - everything gets logged, then sifted by our readers in the office here.
After that, successful scripts get assigned out to readers semi-randomly (by which I mean if someone read the first ten pages and is desperate to find out more, they'll get dibs on it, and we try to make sure that one reader doesn't have all the shorter scripts while another has all the long ones, and no-one has to read a genre they don't like) and taken away for a full read.
Scripts that impress the readers are then sent off to the judges and/or the organising department for final shortlisting and selection of the winner.
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Cheers, Piers.
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Hi
I sent in a script - no acknowledgement of receipt yet but I'm not worried about that.
Am I right we can only send in one at a time, yes? And expect a four month wait. What then, for a self styled prolific churner outer of ideas? 4 months is a void - writers approaching agents and publishers with full length novels are used to that. At least they can fire off their missives for the 38 rejection slip process in the meantime.
How to get feedback in the meantime? If hopefully - foolishly - dispatched Script 1, as is most likely, gets the thumbs down, is it hey ho, start again? Coming late to the literary (?) world it seems the grave beckons with more surety than acceptance. "Dear Mr van Gogh - there is not much call for sunflowers on the market at this time - we wish you..."
I say bah! to posthumous success and wish you would allow a follow on script to be accepted at one monthly intervals after the last - only one four month void wait followed by monthly rejections would maybe give an idea of whether to pursue this or not. TK2
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Hi. I have entered the ABBA comp, but still have had no acknowledgement of receipt of my script. Should I be worried or is the logging in process still in progress,
Thanks
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