The Way to Write Radio Drama

by William Ash

This is a guide to writing for radio drama. It discusses plot, theme, character and dialogue and gives practical advice on preparing and submitting a script, and on what happens when it is accepted for broadcast.

144 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1985

About the author

Born in Dallas in 1917, WILLIAM ASH worked his way through school and college during the Great Depression, graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, to the heights of elevator operator, then Hobo.

At the outbreak of war in Europe he rode the rails to Canada and enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940. A Spitfire pilot, he saw action over England and France. He was shot down near Calais in March 1942 and evaded the German forces for months with help from the French Resistance but was captured and badly beaten by the Gestapo.

Bill was sent to a succession of POW camps in Occupied Europe from which he escaped on a regular basis, becoming one of the greatest escapers of the war. At war's end, he was awarded an MBE for his escaping activities and went on to work for the BBC in India and Britain. He became a writer and a past Chair of the Writers Guild (GB). Married to the academic Ranjana Ash, he lives in London where he stayed after the war.

This account of his wartime adventures became a best-seller in the UK and Tunnel King Ash observed "I've discovered the secret of success - all you have to do is dig a hole and wait seventy years". He celebrated his 95th birthday in November 2012 with the publication of the first paperback edition in North America.

Reviews

[Salli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so want to give this book a five as I think its analysis of radio and how to write it is the best and clearest I have ever read. I learnt so much from reading it. It was published in 1985 and the examples really show it, and that is what lets it down, such a pity it came before The Hitchhiker's guide and Spoonface Steinberg.

[Justin K. Rivers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slim but useful analysis of radio drama writing techniques, oriented specifically at the BBC radio house style. If that's what you are looking for, this book is very helpful, and the information remains pertinent.

This is NOT a book that has anything to do with "the golden age of radio" or any of those cheesy american productions, or War of the Worlds, etc. Ash's radio touchstones are Pinter, John Arden, Rose Tremain, Don Haworth, and others in the vein of contemporary British drama. It's pretty much the only book that focuses on writing this type of format. Ash was, for a long time, in the script department for BBC Radio.

There are a few minor drawbacks to this book. It is rather slim. Although it touches on all the important aspects of writing radio drama, I felt that it could go into deeper, more specific analysis if given the space to do so. There are, towards the end of the book, a good number of excerpts from contemporary radio plays held up as positive examples. But I think Ash's points would be illustrated better if he had included at least one radio script in its entirety, and perhaps gone into a deeper critique of the excerpts included.