Writing for radio

The essentials

Radio is heard once and cannot be "read again". Listeners may be cooking, driving or working while they listen. So radio writing is writing for the ear: it must be clear at first hearing, sound natural when spoken and help listeners picture what they cannot see.

Key points

• Use conversational language, as if talking to one listener.
• Prefer short, simple sentences with one idea each.
• Use the active voice: "Police arrested two men" rather than "Two men were arrested by the police".
• Use imagery (word pictures) and sound effects to create scenes in the listener's mind.
• Round off numbers: "nearly five lakh" is easier to follow than "4,98,763".
• Repeat key information such as names or phone numbers, since listeners may miss them the first time.
• Avoid abbreviations that are hard to say, difficult words and confusing sound-alike words.
• Put attribution before the statement: "The Health Minister said..." then the quote.
• Read the script aloud while writing to check how it sounds.

Exam tips

Questions often give two versions of a sentence and ask which suits radio. Choose the one that is shorter, active, conversational and easy to picture.

Common mistakes

Radio writing is not the same as newspaper writing. Complex sentences and exact figures that work in print confuse listeners.