A Broadcaster's View

Every rule can be broken if the writing or the characters are strong enough. However a successful short story - whether read or heard - needs to be more than a snapshot of a moment and to convey more than it covers.

Three days a week, fifty two weeks a year, at 3.30, the BBC broadcasts a short story on Radio 4; there are more to be found on weekend evenings, some are dramatized for play slots such as the Afternoon Play, others appear in the concert intervals on Radio 3.

BBC RADIO 4 is the world's biggest single commissioner of short stories.  Stories are broadcast weekly and usually reach more than a million listeners. About 40 per cent of Radio 4's short stories are special commissions, mainly from leading authors and approximately 35 per cent are from already published material - contemporary and classic - and include stories broadcast to broadly coincide with publication - such as Jhumpa Lahiri's stunning collection Unaccustomed Earth. Unsolicited stories and those not published by mainstream publishers make up at least a further 25 per cent of output.

With the decrease in the numbers of printed outlets for short story writers, the BBC has increasingly become the most prolific sponsor of the form.

Our output ranges from the best classic and recently published works, to newly commissioned stories on a vast range of subjects and from all points of the globe.

Given that the stories go out across three days in the middle of the week they usually come in trios, either by a single author (often taken from a recent collection) or linked by a theme, which is used as a springboard for commissioning work by three different writers.

The themes are as varied as the writers approached; our audience has had the chance to hear a bedazzling and wide-ranging selection of both content and names.

For instance, in 2008 alone stories came from writers such as Beryl Bainbridge, Frank Cotterell Bryce and Paul Farley who wrote about Liverpool’s   famous and forgotten places, and a writer's residency on the Isle of Jura, led to stories about the island from Will Self, Janice Galloway and Philip Gourevitch.  Enchanting tales about love in the afternoon were written by some of the country's best-selling romantic novelists Maeve Binchy, Penny Vicenzi and Josephine Cox.  The metaphysical poets inspired compelling stories by Michele Roberts, Helen Dunmore and Ruth Thomas.

Most of the stories are single-voice readings recorded in a studio, often read by some of the greatest names in British theatre, occasionally by the author, but always produced with great sympathy for each voice. Sometimes locations take a role: in 'Scene of the Crime' writers were asked to write a story inspired and set in a specific place allowing for recordings in a Soho square, and the Greenwich foot tunnel. Among the writers were Anthony Horowitz and Stella Duffy.

The literary festivals among them Hay on Wye, Bath and Latitude have been broadcast forums for writers including AL Kennedy, Hattie Naylor and Fay Weldon.

The story slots on Radio 4 run to fourteen minutes, which means stories are either written to a specific length - approximately 2000 words - or abridged if already published. The fees for writers are small but the exposure is large.

What kind of story works best? It's hard to be definitive. Every rule can be broken if the writing or the characters are strong enough. However a successful short story - whether read or heard - needs to be more than a snapshot of a moment and to convey more than it covers.

As Alice Munro, a doyenne of the art, has written, the short story is 'a world seen in a quick glancing light.' For radio, it is perhaps worth bearing in mind that the audience cannot look back to the beginning, and so the plot needs to be clear and the characters not too numerous.

Jumps in time and place can be hard to negotiate for even the most skilled reader; remember too that unbroken though beautifully lyrical prose can wash over the audience, who will probably be busy doing other things at the same time.

Dialogue is often the ideal way to break up long passages and re-capture the audience's attention. Finally bear in mind that our stories are on air in the middle of the afternoon, when children may be listening and that the BBC will not broadcast anything offensive or unsuitable in content or language for a daytime audience.

A word on BBC National Short Story Award which Radio 4 is proud to support. Given Radio 4's commitment to writing and to the short story form in particular, this award offers a wonderful opportunity to encourage writers, readers and listeners to recognize the extraordinary power of a story to create a whole world in a matter of minutes.

Radio 4 intends to broadcast the five finalists to coincide with the Award. Clearly the stories submitted may well be longer than the word-count we require in which case they will need to be abridged to a suitable length.

This will be done with our usual sensitivity to the writing and by highly experienced abridgers. Given our ongoing commitment to the short story we are delighted and excited to add our voice to the fanfare surrounding the BBC National Short Story Award.

Di Speirs

Di Speirs

Di Speirs is Editor Readings, BBC Radio Drama. She has recommended a previously unpublished short story by Trezza Azzopardi for this web site. Find out more and download this short story

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