Project: Radio Drama
In the last week, I have been invited to go to a couple of awards ceremonies - the Sony Radio awards and the One World Media awards.
There I had a chance to see - or rather to hear - for myself the kind of radio that is making the greatest impact.
Breaking news and political reports from the world's hot spots are as important as ever, but the lives of ordinary people across the planet told by a compassionate voice are valued not just by the juries of awards ceremonies, but also by millions of listeners.
Stories such as Dancing Boys of Afghanistan - made by my colleague Rustam Qobil - got the recognition it deserved and was awarded Bronze and Silver prizes at those ceremonies.
Nothing is more inspiring than witnessing excellence.
Other accolades went to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ drama productions including Every Child Matters and Murder in Samarkand, which got me thinking about you - my friends and audience around the world.
Why - I thought - don't we write a radio drama together?
We have written together a short story, an ode, even a newspaper of dreams, so why not the radio drama?
But before outlining our project in more detail, let me introduce you to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Writersroom.
They describe themselves thus: "³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Writersroom is always on the lookout for fresh, new, talented writers for a changing Britain.
"When we find them, we do everything we can to get their voice heard and their work produced for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ film, TV and radio - for drama, comedy, and children's programmes.
"If you have talent, an original voice, and stories to tell, then ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Writersroom wants to know about you."
Let's forget for a moment the bit about Britain and let's open it up to a wider audience.
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Writersroom gives some tips how to write different genres.
Have a look at the writing radio drama tips. See what you think.
What I want you to do next is to post below:
1) a location - bear in mind that we need to aim for something that is universal - that all nations share - which is common to all of us (village, town, airport, ship, coach, etc)
2) an event/ or "conflict" - again, this situation should be universal and should be understood from Nigeria to New Zealand;
3) main conflicting characters - there should be no more than three
4) a resolution - or how the "conflict"/situation is resolved
5) a sample of dialogue from any part of the drama.
We'll aim to write together a radio drama, which we can pass on to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Writersroom.
Let's try to impress them, so that one day perhaps our drama may be played out on the airwaves of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.