Radio Script Writing Guidelines and Practices

1. Today’s question • Name at least one of the two grade levels you should seek to write at for your scripts in this class, as measured by the Flesch-Kinkaid formula. No extra credit for naming both. • As always, direct your browsers to www.cmat131.wordpress.com and click on “leave a comment” on the top post. Put your first and last names followed by your answer.

2. Let’s get writing (for radio) CMAT 131 Feb. 9, 2012

3. Formatting for radio • Turn to page 152 in Hilliard and let’s take a look at that script • Let’s use that format. • One column • Whenever you speak, label it “ANNCR:” (sans quotation marks, of course) • Whenever you use a quote, label it “TAPE:” (again, forgoing quotation marks) • Always double-space • Use ellipses (...) to indicate pauses but use sparingly

4. Repurposing wire content • Wire stories are written to be read, not necessarily heard • So you need to rewrite the copy, using the guidelines discussed in previous lectures (i.e. shorter sentences, “visual” language, conversational tone) • Note I said “rewrite,” not “recopy.” If you don’t change much, you are doing a disservice to your listeners. • Take the best quote and use it as your “TAPE” segment • Remember: Hey, you, see, so

5. Let’s practice • Turn this story into a 100-word radio update • Choose one and ONLY ONE quote for the TAPE portion. • The quote does not count toward your 100 words • Here’s the address: http://tinyurl.com/cmatradio

6. Think you’re getting it? • Let’s do four more for homework. All the same rules apply. • The story links are: • http://tinyurl.com/cmatradio2 • http://tinyurl.com/cmatradio3 • http://tinyurl.com/cmatradio4 • http://tinyurl.com/cmatradio5