How to Write a Radio Serial Drama for Social Development- PDF

More documents

Recommendations

Info

70 Chapter Five: Character Development personality traits bring harm to other characters and impede the progress of the story. 1. The evil villain. This character opposes the major hero or heroine openly and dramatically. He or she usually does have evil intentions, will probably remain evil throughout the serial, and ultimately will come to a bad end. 2. The doubter or skeptic. This character is intelligent enough to understand the value of the new ideas being promoted but is so egotistical that he or she believes that no one else’s ideas can be equal to his or her own. Consequently, the doubter tries to point out every little thing that might go wrong with adopting the new behavior and blocks its adoption by others. This character, who frequently becomes the most popular in the story, is especially valuable in an Enter-Educate serial because he or she expresses the doubts and fears that may nag listeners. The eventual conversion of the doubter, who ultimately supports and begins to practice the new behaviors, creates trust and belief in the listeners. Because the doubter is not inherently evil and does not deliberately hurt other people, listeners instinctively are attracted to him or her and find themselves silently cheering for his or her success. Perhaps the truth is that most people are skeptical or stubborn about some things in life, and this allows listeners to feel a little better about their own weaknesses. The character of Littlejohn in Life in Hopeful Village (see Chapter 12) is a classic example of the skeptic who attracts the sympathy of the audience. 3. The young couple starting out in life without mutual trust and respect. This young man and woman blame everyone and everything for their troubles. They are particularly antagonistic to a neighboring young couple who are working together on life’s problems. They demonstrate to the audience what happens to those who refuse or are slow to adopt the new behaviors. 4. The wayward youngster. The rashness of youth leads this character to challenge traditional beliefs and to make mistakes, sometimes with serious negative results for other people. This character gains wisdom slowly, if somewhat painfully. By the end of the story, the wayward youth has become a hero or heroine. While heroes and heroines may attract the sympathy of the listeners, the audience probably will enjoy some of the villains more. A converted villain frequently makes a more convincing role model than does a near-perfect heroine. Most people identify more easily with the imperfections of a villain than with the flawlessness of a hero or heroine. Remembering this, the writer should create one major character who is attractive in spite of somewhat negative attitudes and behaviors.
Chapter Five: Character Development 71 Creating Characters and Profiles Every story in the world revolves around a major character, who is sometimes referred to as the “protagonist” (from two Greek words, “protos” meaning “first” and “agonistes” meaning “actor”). Other characters will be involved, directly and indirectly, with this person and with the action of the story, but it is the protagonist who experiences the main action, dramatic conflict, and climax. The personality and behavior of the protagonist, therefore, is of paramount importance to the development and success of the story. The protagonist of the main plot—whether or not that person also serves as the central uniting character—is also critical to the serial’s ability to attract and hold an audience. To make the major character, and the other characters, come alive for listeners, the writer first must become familiar with every detail of their lives. One of the surest ways to gain this familiarity is by drawing up a profile for each one. A profile is a detailed, written description of the character. Some writers keep this information on file cards; others use a notebook or computer. Each profile should contain at least the following information about the character: • Position in the family, e.g., sister, in-law, or grandparent • Job • Life ambition • Level of education • Time lived in the present place, e.g., all his/her life or recent arrival • Age • Religious beliefs • Attitude toward change and new ideas • Appearance, including height, weight, color of eyes, hair color and style, and other physical characteristics • Interests or hobbies (even in poor communities, people develop special interests, e.g., in music, painting, or growing flowers) • Pets and farm animals owned • Favorite food(s) • Favorite color(s) • Habits, e.g., smoking, drinking, oversleeping, laughing a lot, or leaving the keys in the car • Personality trait or weakness that distinguishes the character and conflicts with the personalities of other characters • Personal fear or dislike, e.g., hates insects, scared of deep water, or afraid of the dark • Speech characteristics, e.g., speaks quickly, drawls, stutters, or speaks in brief, broken sentences • Commonly used remark or “catch phrase,” e.g., the catch phrase of the famous American cartoon character, Bugs Bunny: “Er...what’s up, Doc” Having a character habitually repeat some phrase is especially helpful in the creation of comic characters. 5
Page 1 and 2:
How To Write a Radio Serial Drama f
Page 3:
Using This Book This book is a prac
Page 6 and 7:
vi Contents Chapter Two 13 Writing
Page 8 and 9:
viii Contents Chapter Seven 99 Writ
Page 10 and 11:
x Contents Chapter Thirteen 181 The
Page 12 and 13:
xii Prologue 1. Individual-level co
Page 14 and 15:
xiv Prologue Source factors are the
Page 16 and 17:
xvi Prologue perform a particular d
Page 18 and 19:
xviii Prologue aware that it is pos
Page 21 and 22:
Chapter One Introduction to the Use
Page 23 and 24:
Chapter One: Introduction to the Us
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Chapter Two Writing Begins: The Wri
Page 35 and 36:
Chapter Two: Writing Begins: The Wr
Page 37 and 38:
Chapter Two: Writing Begins: The Wr
Page 39 and 40: Chapter Two: Writing Begins: The Wr
Page 47: Chapter Two: Writing Begins: The Wr
Page 50 and 51: 30 Chapter Three: Characteristics o
Page 68 and 69: 48 Chapter Four: Blending Story and
Page 84 and 85: 64 Chapter Five: Character Developm
Page 107 and 108: Chapter Six Developing the Setting
Page 109 and 110: Chapter Six: Developing the Setting
Page 119: Chapter Six: Developing the Setting
Page 122 and 123: 102 Chapter Seven: Writing for the
Page 138 and 139: 118 Chapter Eight: Scene Developmen
Page 140 and 141:
120 Chapter Eight: Scene Developmen
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 153 and 154:
Chapter Nine Interactivity and Ente
Page 155 and 156:
Chapter Nine: Interactivity and Ent
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165:
Page 168 and 169:
148 Chapter Ten: Testing the Pilot
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 175 and 176:
Chapter Eleven Script Presentation
Page 177 and 178:
Chapter Eleven: Script Presentation
Page 179 and 180:
Page 181 and 182:
Page 183 and 184:
Page 185:
Page 188 and 189:
168 Chapter Twelve: The Finished Sc
Page 190 and 191:
Page 192 and 193:
Page 194 and 195:
Page 196 and 197:
Page 198 and 199:
Page 200 and 201:
Page 203 and 204:
Chapter Thirteen The Value of Editi
Page 205 and 206:
Chapter Thirteen: The Value of Edit
Page 207 and 208:
Page 209 and 210:
Page 211 and 212:
Page 213 and 214:
Page 215 and 216:
Page 217 and 218:
Page 219 and 220:
Page 221 and 222:
Page 223 and 224:
Page 225 and 226:
Page 227 and 228:
Page 229 and 230:
Page 231 and 232:
Glossary This list defines the word
Page 233 and 234:
Glossary 211 Four Ts of Teaching FX
Page 235 and 236:
Glossary 213 scene script script he
Page 237 and 238:
Index of Script Excerpts and Other
Page 239:
Bibliography/references 217 Bibliog
show all

How to Write a Radio Serial Drama for Social Development- PDF

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?