If you can imagine a beach in winter, what do you see and hear? What colour is the sea? Is it windy or calm - are the waves gentle or wild? Everyone's answer is likely to be different, which is what makes radio broadcasting so powerful.
"The more mind pictures you can make, the easier it is for listeners to concentrate," Catherine Adams told attendees at a recent Year of the Writer Programme event at the University of Nottingham's Arts Graduate Centre.
Adams, who lectures in radio at Nottingham Trent University and works for BBC radio, said that if anyone doubted the power of radio to persuade, they should listen to the original broadcast of H.G. Wells' story War of the Worlds, which sent American listeners rushing for the hills.
Radio writing uses a wide range of effects, from direct reporting, to interviews, sound effects and live action material. Adams asked attendees to write a simple news story, making sure that all of the important details were present in the first line. Later they wrote a short "package," which is a piece using multiple sources of information.
She advised those aspiring to a career in radio news journalism to work in a newsroom for at least a year. The BBC's Writers' Room offers advice to those looking to write drama.
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