Deathscribe Deadline Approaching....here are some ideas

So the deadline is looming...it is breathing down the back of your neck right.  A hot fetid breath.  Whenever you turn around it just disappears....but the smell and feeling linger on.

How do you make this feeling go away?  You write.  Consider it an exorcism.

Maybe you don't have an idea?  Well here are a few suggestions to get the juices flowing:

1. Review the format...make sure you know how to write a radio play.  It is not a screenplay.  Check out the BBC writers room for more specifics.
2. Listen to some old Deathscribes to get a feel for previous winning entries.
3. Try one of the many writing prompt websites out there...just search "writing prompt" and you will find a jillion.  Here's one for you: http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/  and one for horror writers:  http://nighthagscorner.blogspot.com/2011/02/writing-prompts-for-horror-writers.html
4. Find a newspaper article and use it...
5. Find a picture and write the story behind it.
6. Go sit on a park bench in a busy place...I guarantee you that you will hear something weird that will get you started.
7. Write about something terrifying that happened to you.
8. Write about what terrifies you about yourself...explore the inner monster.
9. Just write.  Don't edit until it is done.  Just get ten pages out and then you can go back and do it again.
10. Don't forget it is an audio drama!  All of the information is delivered via words and sound effects.  You need to be descriptive and SPECIFIC...and think about what is achievable.  It is very hard to communicate the sound of a person jumping off a building and splatting...unless you also add a line like "oh my god don't jump"...and then I destroy a watermelon on stage.  Without that key piece of info, it does not work.  You get me?  It is not film.  When you are done, read it out loud to someone and if they cannot follow the story, then you need to add a few things.  Also, you often need to repeat character names frequently.  Again, since it is NOT A VISUAL MEDIUM...the listener needs more info.  If you have a scene with five male voices...it might take a bit to distinguish between them.  Help them out.
11. Have fun.  The only important requirements are that is be a radio play, no more than ten minutes (about ten pages), and that it be horror.  It can be funny, it can be scary, it can be sad, it can be uplifting, it can be disgusting.  It can be all of those things.  Send it in.  Submit.  And then come watch the results on December 3rd.  
12. Don't give up.  If you don't get in the first time, keep trying.  If you have submitted before and are feeling discouraged, keep trying.   Keep writing.  Always keep writing.  We need your messed up little brains.

Deathscribe Submissions...Open for business! Submit!

Accepting Submissions for WildClaw Theatre’s

DEATHSCRIBE 2011

June 15, 2011:  WildClaw Theatre’s DEATHSCRIBE 2011, the Forth Annual International Festival of Radio Horror Plays, is accepting radio script submissions, to be will be presented at The Mayne Stage, 1328 W. Morse Avenue, on Monday, December 5th.  The deadline for DEATHSCRIBE 2011 Submissions is September 15, 2011.

We are looking for 10-minute radio scripts that are genuinely scary, imaginative, chilling, intelligent, suspenseful, horrific, or downright grotesque.   There are no restrictions as to content or tone, but keep in mind that WildClaw is a Horror Theatre.  We take our horror seriously, and so should you.  We want stories about serial killers, insects, distorted squirrels, cannibals, deep ones, plagues, demonic possessions, dogfish howlers, werewolves, vampires, zombies, aliens, and of course, the monster within.

Calling all twisted tales, bone-chilling nightmares and horrific urban legends - WildClaw’s Deathscribe 2011 needs you!

Visit http://www.wildclawtheatre.com for submission rules, regulations, and recordings of previous shows.  This festival is open to all, and there is no fee for submission. Students are welcome and encouraged.  Submission deadline is September 15, 2011.

Shape your fear into a 10-minute radio play and send it to WildClaw at deathscribe2011@gmail.com.  5 finalists will be selected, and their scripts performed live at Chicago’s Mayne Stage, on Monday, December 5th.  The author of the best of the festival will be awarded the coveted Bloody Axe award.  It is one-night-only extravaganza of original short radio plays, written by horror enthusiasts from around the globe, produced by some of Chicago’s finest actors, directors, musicians, sound effects artists, and special guest stars, plus a celebrity panel to judge the best of the fest!

Please visit http://www.wildclawtheatre.com for submission rules and regulations.  Please feel free to pass this information along to any interested party.

Strawdog's Plea Circus featuring Radio Plays Written by Me & Deathscribe Winner Chris Hainsworth!

Finally, a theatre company shameless enough finish out a season with a fundraising telethon.

Over two nights, four programs of our best original late-night material (and you don't have to stay up past midnight)! Our engaging and intriguing Hit Factory radio plays, original music from our shows, and personal essays, all mixed up with the most absurd and heartfelt pleas for money we can think of. And each night at 11pm, a new episode of Strawdog’s own Theatre Wars! Root for your favorite theatre companies as they compete for bragging rights and an ad in our program!

FRIDAY:
Features the Hit Factory pieces 'The Jazz Man of Jackson Square' by Aly Greaves and 'Remembrance' by Chris Hainsworth (both directed by Artistic Director Nic Dimond) as well as the personal essays 'One For Sorrow' by Anita Deely and 'How I Became A Robot' by Sean Mallary.

SATURDAY:
Features the Hit Factory pieces 'Schrodinger's Box' by Aly Greaves and 'Teeth' by Chris Hainsworth (both directed by Ensemble Member Jenny Avery) as well as the personal essays 'The Amazons' by Michaela Petro and 'Wheels of Steel' by Gregor Mortis.

Space is limited, so if you want to see it (and you do), get your tickets now!

If you don't live in Chicago, stay tuned for information on how to enjoy this event live on the internet! And if you can't attend but would like to help us keep doing what we do, please make a donation through Network for Good.

We'll have more updates soon! To make sure you've got all the latest news, add your name to the guest list on Facebook!