Last updated: July 8 2023

How To Write Radio Plays

Tony in 2004 with his mentor, Norman Corwin, the poet-laureate of radio

Articles and tutorials about Radio Play-writing by Tony Palermo. See Tony's repertoire page for samples of his radio scripts.

•  Adapting William Shakespeare for Radio and other radio writing tips - an essay on radio writing.

•  A Method for Writing Radio Drama -- a more detailed look at the craft.

•  Toward a Radio Drama 101 -- notes on how to get started creating radio drama.

•  MS Word Template for Radio Scripts -- my generic template for formatting radio scripts.

•  How to Write Radio Play Script Cues -- advice on writing radio drama scripts with cues having clarity and precision.

•  Formatting Radio Drama Scripts for Fast Rehearsals -- a formatting method with an example script.

•  Writing Children's Radio Drama -- advice on this unique genre.

•  Writing Radio Horror Stories -- advice on creating horror that works on radio.

•  Using the Narrator in Radio Drama Scripting -- issues related to the narrator device in radio drama.

Links to radio writing advice by others

•  The Principles of Writing Radio Drama - Tim Crook's outline for this unique medium.

•  The Old Time Radio Script Collection - producible scripts available on-line.

•  Scripts from the Golden Age of Radio - more scripts from famous OTR shows.

•  Jack Mann's OTR Scripts Page - has HTML versions of a several new (not OTR) scripts.

•  Interview with Yuri Rasovsky - the prize winning audio dramatist comments on the craft and its future

•  Willamette Radio Workshop - some scripts and links