How to Audio Drama: Finishing Your First Script

Last updated on November 2nd, 2020

Congratulations! You’ve finished your first script for your first audio drama!

Additionally: oh no, I’m so sorry! You’ve just finished your first script for your first audio drama!

Finishing your first script is a triumph, but it’s also often a very emotional accomplishment. Let’s talk through what to do on a practical level, and then let’s talk about how to deal with the emotions therein.

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Do not edit

Right now, you should not be editing your first script for content. This is probably going to be difficult to avoid, but try your absolute hardest. As you look over your script, don’t delete anything. If you’re using Google Docs, turn on suggesting mode instead of revision mode. If you’re using anything else, use a strikethrough instead of deleting. Don’t delete things. Even if something feels like it doesn’t work in this draft, it might flourish into something later on–a process Natalie Goldberg calls “composting” in Writing Down the Bones:

If we continue to work with this raw matter, it will draw us deeper and deeper into ourselves, but not in a neurotic way. We will begin to see the rich garden we have inside us and use that for writing. [. . .] Understanding this process cultivates patience and produces less anxiety. We aren’t running everything, not even the writing we do.

Natalie Goldberg

Eliminate the idea that your first draft should be good before you even open the document back up. All your first draft needs to do is exist. If it exists, it’s a good first draft. Everything can be composted for later use, so make sure to treasure this first pass at a script. We’ll get to editing the content later, when editing will actually be beneficial.

Check it once

When you have set aside the urge to edit for content, open the document back up, and read over it for the most basic types of editing. Here’s a quick checklist you should look for:

• Check for typos, but don’t go into sentence structure or syntax
• Check over your formatting to make sure it’s consistent
• Make sure you’ve got page numbers
• Check things like character names and location names for consistency and spelling
• Make sure each new scene is formatted clearly, and make sure you’ve included time of day, setting, etc.

Your first pass should be extremely basic, almost cosmetic. This is just a pass to make sure you’ve got your ducks in a row.

Check it twice

Put down that red pen. It’s still not time to edit. It’s time to comment. With as much kindness as you can manage, read through the content of your script and start commenting with questions and notes on things to edit later. Still don’t delete anything. Add more strikethroughs sparingly. Just try to focus on comments.

Another list of things to check on this pass:

• Where is each character during each scene? Do characters seem to appear and disappear?
• How did the characters get from one setting to the next? How long did it take?
• How long are the spaces between each scene? Do more than a few hours pass? How is that established?
• Do the characters’ actions follow their motivations in each scene, and across the episode? What is each character’s goal in each conversation or moment of action?
• How is each setting established?
• How are transitions between scenes conveyed?

And before you start looking for “plot holes,” please, I implore you, watch this video about what plot holes really are and why most “plot holes” don’t matter:

And then have someone else check it

If you feel comfortable with sharing your draft, I recommend doing so at this point. Share it with someone you trust deeply. You can share it with your co-writers, but make sure you’re very, very clear about what kind of feedback you want.

Because right now–trust me on this–you do not want criticism, no matter how constructive. I cannot stand the stigma against asking for compliments. I am of the belief that we need to advocate for kindness from others for ourselves, and that there are times for improvement and times for praise. When you send off this draft, don’t ask anyone to lie–just ask them to be kind, and to tell you what they liked about it.

When I send drafts off to my team before our editing process, we have a rule. Before they give me any criticism, I just want to be told I did a good job. I don’t need glowing praise. I don’t need anyone telling me it’s perfect. I just need to be told I did a good job so I can go into editing with kindness towards myself.

Sharing your work, especially your raw work, is a tremendously vulnerable experience. There’s a chance that this won’t apply to you, that you’re very confident about this draft, or that you think criticism without kindness won’t sting. If that’s you, kudos! But don’t you deserve some validation regardless? Embrace asking for praise.

And then gear up to edit

Your next step in making your audio drama will be really digging in and editing your first draft for content, for pacing, for syntax for theme, for everything. It might be brutal; it might not. Either way, make sure you’re armed with the most important tool for a writer: honesty.

Be honest with yourself. Look back on anything you’ve edited in the past, even a high school essay. What did the editing process look like to you? How did you respond to anyone who left comments on your work? What made you feel motivated? What made you feel empowered to keep creating better and better? What made you feel discouraged, like you might as well quit?

Take note of these things. Be honest with yourself. Know what editing looks like for yourself, and know what tools you’ll need to make it as smooth a process as possible.

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How to Audio Drama is our weekly column documenting every piece of information you’d need to start your own audio drama (aka fiction podcast). The series can be read in full, or read volume by volume. You can use our table of contents to find each How to Audio Drama installment, and you can submit questions to our monthly How to Audio Drama advice column.