Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama
Drama for the dinner table
THE CONVENTIONS OF SCRIPT PRESENTATION At the outset I should acknowledge that there are numerous conventions in use for script production and presentation. The ones I am writing about here are the conventions that I, personally, use most frequently. They are not original to me, having come by way of the very talented Tony Palermo […]
Below we present the complete text of “Into the Desert”, episode 3 of our new Weird Western; Where Death Comes Uninvited. This is a brand new (unpublished) series (featuring a brand new roster of heroes including Jim Wilkes – the Sheriff, Annie Deems – the Crack Shot, Speeding Elk – the Tracker, and Sally Turner – […]
What is Subtext Subtext is the message beneath the message. The meaning beneath the surface that, indirectly communicated, either amplifies, modifies, or contradicts the words that are spoken. It can either be subtractive (where you remove explicit dialog to hint at meaning) or additive (where you add extra meaning to the text). The aim is […]
ARCHETYPES CAN (BELIEVE IT OR NOT) HELP US WRITE A while ago I took some heavy fire in a conversation because I like using archetypes in my fiction… and while I’m happy to take it on the chin for not using them well, I remain pretty committed to the idea that they constitute a useful […]
CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT – A MODE OF TRAVEL, NOT A DESTINATION Wow, now there’s an arrogant headline. Or at least it would be if I thought I’d arrived at the destination rather than saw myself as a fellow traveller on the path. This article is my own take on the mindset and character traits necessary to improve […]
Below we present the complete text of “A New Deputy in Town”, episode 2 of our new Weird Western; Where Death Comes Uninvited. This is a brand new (unpublished) series (featuring a brand new roster of heroes including Jim Wilkes – the Sheriff, Annie Deems – the Crack Shot, Speeding Elk – the Tracker, and Sally […]
THE COUNTER-INTUITIVE WAY WE ACHIEVE IMMERSION I’m unlikely to make any friends with this week’s comments… and they probably belong more properly to a discussion of production rather than scripting – though I think writers need to understand some of these production issues in order to write effectively for the medium. To give them […]
Below we present the complete text of “A New Sheriff”, episode 1 of our new Weird Western; Where Death Comes Uninvited. This is a brand new (unpublished) series (featuring a brand new roster of heroes including Jim Wilkes – the Sheriff, Annie Deems – the Crack Shot, Speeding Elk – the Tracker, and Sally Turner – […]
Tips for Planning the Action I’m not particularly good at doing action scenes so a while back I did a bit of research and thinking in order to improve what I do. Here are some general principles for designing action scenes that I arrived at. They help me to be a bit more deliberate about […]
The Elements of Pacing Here’s some general advice I’ve pulled together from a variety of sources to help me manage the pacing in my scripts. Pacing is concerned with the way we control time in a narrative (both time as it passes in the story, but also the way we control the audience’s time as […]
Below we present the complete text of “Return to Changed Circumstances”, episode 8 (and the final episode) of our new Space Opera; Singularity. This is a brand new (unpublished) series (featuring Sarah Tanner and Jeff Chase). If you would like to see these new stories advance from being drafts into polished publications then please consider […]
The Elements of a Good Beginning How we begin matters. The beginning of the story needs to establish two essential things. Firstly, we must introduce our protagonist/s in terms of the life they experience as normal (I’ll explain that in a minute). Secondly, we must introduce an event that upsets and overturns that sense of […]
