I know we're an endangered species these days, but are there none on the forum at all? I'm beginning to feel like a dirty old man with a dark fetish. When I mention it to fellow writers I have The Look thrown back at me. Y'know, the one you'd get if you sought permission to shag their cat.

..Anyone?

Oooh,me and my friend are trying to write comedy scripts for radio and we're not exactly getting anywhere with it. Dialogue was never my strong point though.

Any tips of how to write for radio would be greatly appreciated.

Not what you wanted to here but I like to use this section likeasponge and soak up all the wonderful creativty to help me out.

Wilf

Thank God! Life on Mars!

Radio comedy, eh? Now there's a subject close to my heart. I've a couple of projects further down the line I'm very interested in following through. Having trouble with dialogue and you're penning radio drama?! That's a problem and a half, mate. There's no real secrets to writing good radio dialogue, just make it natural, read it out loud (even the best written dialogue can sound artificial and pompous when read aloud), and use the power of it to create striking visual images.

Sheffield City Libraries have some excellent books on writing for radio, and the BBC has a wonderful scripwriting section.

How much work have you have you completed?

Notmuch, as a scriptwriting duo we tend to get sidetracked form actual work by going down the pub. We see lots of life though and it doesn't half make us laugh, soemtimes we'll see something and you can see the cogs turning in our heads. one of us will write down the moment on their phone and we'll store it for later use.

Sadly later use never gets round cos we set aside consolidation of ideastime only we end up going down the pub, seeing real life etc

We're both students but have an understanding of eachother that means we write really well together.

As for stuff completed, theres not much really, we're working on a tv sitcom, a few radio sketches for the new student radio and then we both have our own pet projects we get enthused with.

Wilf

You're on the right tracks, Wilf. Knocking ideas around in a pub always produces results, though the quality of the results declines in direct proportion to the volume of alcohol consumed.

Radio sketches are an excellent way to start. But I'll warn you now, the chances of a tv company producing a new writer's sitcom are virtually nil. For some strange reason Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps was an exception. Never quite understood that - it hardly jumps out at you as an original idea, and the writing's on the juvenile side.

You're on the right tracks, Wilf. Knocking ideas around in a pub always produces results, though the quality of the results declines in direct proportion to the volume of alcohol consumed.

Radio sketches are an excellent way to start. But I'll warn you now, the chances of a tv company producing a new writer's sitcom are virtually nil. For some strange reason Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps was an exception. Never quite understood that - it hardly jumps out at you as an original idea, and the writing's on the juvinile side.

We're writing the tv sitcom more for fun. If it makes us laugh, we consider it a good product. We'renot writing to pitch the ideas just yet, we're just sharpening our wits and seeing what works and what doesn't from us as a team, tv sitcom seemed to be the best medium to do that it.

Wilf

I'd love to write a tv sitcom. Vulgar, brash and shocking. If it doesn't generate complaints by the sackful, it wont be worth writing. :hihi:

I'd love to write a tv sitcom. Vulgar, brash and shocking. If it doesn't generate complaints by the sackful, it wont be worth writing. :hihi:
I should imagine its one of the hardest things to write for t.v. or radio.As you say youve got to get your conversation pieces right.Im also sure they look it over for expense purposes(e.g.are there any outdoor scenes in it)as they cost more money to film.I should imagine they like things filmed in one room e.g.a pub, a sports club,a factory, the living room of a house.Im thinking for example "The Royle Family" (all in one room)

TV sitcoms are usually based around one primary set, one or two secondary sets, and as little outside shoots as possible. That's one of the reasons I prefer radio drama - it's as cheap to locate the action on Pluto as it is on a sofa in Chiswick.

The other reason I prefer writing for radio is that the standard of tv drama is so much higher. Radio is traditionally a training ground for tv dramatists, and you can make some relatively clumsy mistakes in a radio play that you wouldn't get away with on tv.

Scriptwriting is no more difficult than prose. I've a knack for dialogue and structuring, so it suits me down to the ground. Ask me to write the opening chapter of a novel or a short story and I'd make an arse of a job of it.

The downside is that the pay is substantially lower, and you have to keep in mind with every scene you write that it's predominantly a Middle England audience of middle aged housewives. No matter how much producers spout on about reaching new audiences and looking for new and exciting talent, if you submit a piece centering on the life of a prostitute in a massage parlour, you're probably in for a major disappointment. Radio drama and comedy is by and large still stuck in the 70s.

I used to love reading the goons and hancock scripts.

I'm a huge Goons fan myself, Spike Milligan worked his magic on his own seperate playing field. I always found there was far more to learn from Galton and Simpson though. Their plot construction, dialogue and characterisation were the best in the business.

The scripts from "A bit of fry and laurie" are an inspiration to me, the writer who has yet to write anything.

Milligan too, obviously.

Radio comedy needs a real kick in the arse. If I end up listening to another one of Andy Hamiltons pedestrian gag vehicles again, I'll claw me own eyes out. I mean, it's all very accomplished, but is it funny?

I'm a huge Goons fan myself, Spike Milligan worked his magic on his own seperate playing field. I always found there was far more to learn from Galton and Simpson though. Their plot construction, dialogue and characterisation were the best in the business.
Yes, I loved The Goons.Spike Milligan was also good on t.v.later on.Galton & Simpson were terrific writers.I loved "Steptoe & Son"

The Q series from milligoon was perfect for the radio and TV.

The Q series from milligoon was perfect for the radio and TV.
His type of humour,is my type of humour.Crazy.! :thumbsup:

His type of humour,is my type of humour.Crazy.! :thumbsup:
I have the Pakistani Dalek sketch on here somewhere. hilariously insane.

I have the Pakistani Dalek sketch on here somewhere. hilariously insane.
Funny thing is he was the same in real life,as when he was on t.v.or radio.He didnt really need a script. Tony Hancock was brilliant.I recently saw some old episodes of his on Sky.Makes you realise what crap script writers we have today.& he was fantastic when paired with Sid James.

I did a piece for university, 2 vesions of the same story, one writtern for film, the otehr for radio and I've actaully re-jigged it to post on here, but its a long short (or a short long!) piece of narrative.

one day I may get round to sharing it...!!

I do like writing radio plays, but for some reason seldom listen to ones produced!