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After finishing ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Drama Room (now called Scripted), one of my key ambitions was to write more radio-drama. I had loved writing an 8-minute short for The Verb as one of the Drama Room opportunities, and was keen to learn more. I love the constraints and opportunities radio offers - the ability to show what’s going on inside a character’s head compared to what they’re saying.

Even though I love big gutsy plots, I’ve also always been drawn to exploring the everyday, smaller, internal stories that most of us spend our lives experiencing. After playing around with some ideas, I started to develop WHOLESOME. I started with Sally - a woman who was nearing retirement, lived alone, and didn’t have a plan. Sally was also pissed off with rising rents and greedy land-lords. So, she invites Lizzie (a manifesting, goal-setting 22-year-old) to be her lodger. There was also a talking spider in the original synopsis…

Having figured out the rough idea, I sent a couple of paragraphs to Lorna Newman (Producer, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Studios Audio) who had produced my piece ADULTING for The Verb, to get her thoughts. Luckily, Lorna liked the idea (apart from the spider, who got squashed… RIP Bernard). The next round to pitch wasn’t until summer, so over the next few months, I developed the idea – writing scene-by-scenes (where you bullet point out the plot). I tried to soak up as many radio-dramas as I could to get a feel for the tone I wanted to hit – some of my favourites were Lemonade Lads by fellow Drama Room-er Faebian Averies and Eat and Run by Paolo Chianta.

To be upfront, I was developing this idea on spec – there was no guarantee that I would get the commission (money and broadcast credit) for the work I was doing. That’s not me complaining, just being transparent. I was happy to be working with Lorna and developing my ability to work out plot, even if it hadn’t been commissioned, I knew I would have improved through the experience. Eventually we agreed on a pitch, which included a plot summary, along with why I wanted to write it. After that, I just had to endure the three months wait!

A week or so before Christmas, Lorna called me – we had got the commission! I was over the moon, this was an idea I genuinely loved, and was excited to write. Plus, it didn’t hurt to have something to be able to say when the dreaded ‘how’s the writing going?’ question appeared at Christmas gatherings.

Over the next few months, I did several drafts of the script, with Lorna feeding back on the drafts. Lorna is brilliant because she is generous with her enthusiasm and praise, but she also will make sure you justify your decisions. Through conversations and redrafts we were able to uncover Sally’s key motivations, fears and the journey she needed to go on.

Sally faces a potential diagnosis of dementia in the story, something I’d been keen to explore due to personal experience of a family member with dementia. I had time to research, and contacted doctors and charities to make sure the symptoms I was exploring were accurate. The people I contacted were incredibly generous with their time and stopped me making some clumsy mistakes as well as being completely fascinating. I felt like I could have written a whole series on some of the different issues we ended up discussing.

We finally got to recording day – my favourite bit! Lorna and I had spent a long time thinking about who to cast, and I was thrilled with the actors we had. The quality of team meant that I could largely sit back and just enjoy watching them work. There was also the painful job of having to make cuts – this was a useful life lesson; it’s better to be ruthless before you hear great actors record lines, it’s harder to cut them after.

On the broadcast day, my family friends had arranged a listening party. It’s tempting not to listen to your own work, or watch it – but I massively recommend fully celebrating these wins as much as you can. The best thing has been getting messages from friends and family who have enjoyed it and found it relatable. Plus, I’ve got my copy of the Radio Times with my name on the listing for the next rainy day! The whole process has taught me to keep pushing forward with the ideas that matter to me, to enjoy the development as much as the result, and to keep writing radio!