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

Chapter Five: Character Development 79
EXAMPLE
12. ESAU: (RUNNING IN) It’s over... it’s all over. The president has been
overthrown. Civil war has broken out.
13. FATHER: (SCREAMING) All is lost. Help me...help me...Oh my God... even
the gods cannot help. We are finished.
14. ESAU: (AFRAID) What shall we do Where can we go I must get my
money. All my money. I’m not going to let them get that. Help
me...get some bags and help me get the money.
15. FATHER: (WAILING) Help us someone...help us...We will be killed.
Oooooh.
16. BONGANI: Wait. Be quiet, my father...We will find an answer. But we must
think. We must work out a way.
17. FATHER: (WAILING) There is no way... we are all finished. Ooooh.
18. ESAU: Stop preaching, Bongani. They’re going to rob us...steal everything
we have. I’m not listening to you. I’m getting my money out of
here.
19. BONGANI: (FIRMLY) Be quiet, brother. Listen to me. I know a place where we
can go. I have prepared this place for just such an event. Now,
listen, all of you.
5
Revealing a character’s personality in a natural manner through
dialogue—either the personal dialogue of the character or the dialogue of
others speaking about that character—is a challenging task. It is much easier
when writers know their characters well, which points once again to the
importance of detailed profiles.
Non-Characters
Sometimes people who are not characters in the plots of the serial also appear
in the radio program. These non-characters include the narrator and the
host.
The Use of a Narrator
Writers frequently face the question of whether or not to include a narrator
in a radio serial. A narrator is a person who tells, or narrates, a story. In a
story that is not dramatized, such as a novel, the characters’ lives are revealed
for them by the narrator. It is part of the very definition of a drama,
however, that the characters tell their own stories. Therefore, it can be
confusing for a drama to employ a narrator. Typically on radio, as was
discussed in Chapter 3, the narrator speaks only at the beginning and end of
each episode to remind listeners of past action, introduce the coming
episode, and alert them about what to anticipate the next time they tune in.