As a Creative Writing student, one of the worst things about my course is being exposed to new mediums. Not that I dislike discovering new mediums - I just don’t like discovering new mediums, getting excited about them, then hitting the inevitable stumbling block of having no good ideas and no time to do anything anyway.
I knew nothing about radio drama apart from that it existed, until a lecture by BBC radio producer Peter Leslie Wild in November. Little did I know that radio drama is, as Roger Wood described yesterday, “the open door to new writing”, in a presentation that inspired me, as a student with aspirations of writing for a living, that I could enter a field with real opportunities.
Wood’s presentation focused mainly on pitching radio dramas to producers. I’m not planning on pitching any soon, but like anything in life, knowing the details makes it more approachable and real. Especially details like the lowest fee first-time writers can expect from a radio play (around £34 per minute).
Whilst I may never write a radio play of any description, knowing that a high-profile employer such as the BBC is supporting first-time writers through operations like Writers Room is greatly encouraging, not only to me, but to anybody who hopes to make a life out of writing.
Illustration by Red Imlah (2011)
Elliot Speight
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