The document outlines 13 rules for writing for radio, including writing as if talking to a friend using contractions, including the 6 W's, keeping things simple with one idea per sentence and avoiding commas, using 2-3 sentences for cues and 4 for stories, writing out numbers, describing ages, summarizing rather than reporting dialogue, writing names phonetically, rounding statistics, avoiding "today" in lead sentences, limiting quotes in scripts, and avoiding abbreviations unless common.

1. Writing for radio
By Sam Greenwood

2. The rules…
• Rule 1:write as though you are talking to a friend. Use contractions e.g. I’m, they’re.
• Rule 2: the 6 w’s Who, What, When, Where, Why and how.
• Rule 3: K.I.S.S- keep it simple, stupid
simple sentences, one idea one sentence
avoid using commas.
• Rule 4: 2 or 3 sentences for a cue, 4 for a copy story.
• Rule 5: writing number as words, e.g., 2010 becomes ‘two thousand and ten’ or ‘twenty ten’.
• Rule 6: you would write ‘Joe Bloggs, 17, from Newport’ would be ‘Seventeen-year-old Joe
Bloggs from Newport’.

3. The rules…
• Rule 7: Don’t report what is said in the clip when writing a cue.. Sum up what is going to be said.
• Rule 8: Write the names of people phonetically, if they aren’t said how they’re spelt.
• Rule 9: Round up statistics. E.g. 260,000 hectares would be ‘the size of 3 football pitches.
• Rule 10: Don’t use the word ‘today’ in the top line of your story. You can use ‘this morning’.
• Rule 11: Don’t use quotes in the newsreaders script. But u can sometimes use short snippets.
• Rule 12: Avoid abbreviations unless they are common and well- known. E.g. NATO or UN
• Rule 13: Read aloud because some words look fine when they are written down.