Writing a script... For one?

One the outlines and alter ego were in place, it was time for the meat and potatoes of the whole project; the script.  Most of my experience in writing has been in short stories or the occasional play-style script, and radio turned out to be a different monster entirely.

The first of many requirements of the script was that it had to sound natural.  Radio hosts are seldom scripted in what they say, and generally go with the flow of the conversation, or talk about points of interest.  At most, they have guidelines or a schedule to follow, but never read anything verbatim, other than a direct quote.  The use of pauses (sometimes awkward) or slang gives the script a natural feel, and will hopefully keep the listener from thinking that everything has been pre-written.

The bulk of my research for the script was essentially a part of my daily routine.  I'm a bit of a radio addict, especially talk shows.  101.5 Bob Rocks is by far my favorite, and the easy and somewhat comical style that they interact with each other and more importantly the audience (more on that later) inspired my own Rick Nelson character, and his laid back attitude.

By far the most difficult part about writing the script was doing how the dialogue would flow without another person in the room.  Other than a couple phone calls and an interview, the vast majority of the radio show will be Rick talking to the unseen and unheard audience.  I had to write in such a way to keep things interesting, and involve the listener in what's going on.  Using phrases like "you guys" and other ways of addressing the audience directly will (hopefully) do the trick.

Crafting an Alter Ego

Once the outline for the 5 radio broadcasts had been penned, and a timeline had been written out, the first major step towards making a believable (but ultimately fictional) radio broadcast was to create a living person.  This may sound like some kind of mad science experiment, but was more an exorcise in literary strength.  This individual, the host of the radio show, needed to be as real as possible.  Every last thing about him needed to be unremarkable enough to pass off as real, but interesting enough to grab the readers attention and inspire empathy.

But first, a name.  I knew the host was going to be a man (I'm doing the voice, and I can't very well be a woman), and his name needed to be short, concise, and have a quality that rolled well off the tongue so it would be easy and natural to say over the airwaves.  John is good, but too stereotypical.  My own name is a little awkward sounding, so I settled on Rick.  It sounds like a casual nickname for a casual show, and follows all the requirements I needed it to.  Since I had a first name with one syllable, I wanted a last name with two.  Nelson offset the hard consonants of Rick, and when said together sounded fluid and easy.

The name and sex were out of the way, so now it was on to the place of residence.  This area had to be near enough to a major city that a zombie outbreak would be a threat after a week or so, but far enough away to buy some time.  Furthermore, this area couldn't be too close to Washington D.C., as military action would be immediate.  It was for these reasons that I chose Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It's a nice suburban area with a thriving radio scene, and is only a few hours out from Detroit.

The rest of the information was required to add depth and a sense of empathy to Rick.  Most characters in movies that the director wants to make more sympathetic have dogs, so mentioning that he has a Shiloh Shepherd named Aragorn gets that job done.  A wife and unborn child complete the picture, creating a person who you would want to meet, and who you feel sorry for in the end.