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Deus Ex Machinas

Two different people emailed me on Friday and asked me what a Deus Ex Machina was ‘cos apparently they’d both had feedback from course tutors saying they had one in their scripts and they were too embarrassed to say they hadn’t a fig what that tutor was talking about. Jinx or what! Now they are both under my power, *evil laugh*. However, because I am feeling charitable, before I make them dance down the street in their underwear, here is my article from the old blog* that I wrote last year. ——————————————————————————–I’ve said before that my lad is a chip… Read More »Deus Ex Machinas

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Grammar Revisited

Since there has been the second outing of the tri-annual scrap about grammar on Shooting People this week and since the lovely Lianne requested it, now seems an opportune time to revisit an article on grammar from the old blog. Enjoy.—————————————————————————— The two things I correct most in people’s drafts are grammar and spelling. That’s the nature of script reading as far as I’m concerned and I’m happy to do it (maybe I’m an anal retentive). However, in the past on various writing initiatives in particular (my private clients usually do not do this, thank goodness) I have had to… Read More »Grammar Revisited

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Cyber Weirdoes Strike: Episode 3

How exactly does one spell the plural of “weirdo”? This is a matter of hot debate within my tiny mind, so I consulted my many grammar books. The good news is, no one knows. One school of thought (and the one I think looks best) says a writer should add “e” as in “do” becoming “does”, though of course “does” is not actually a plural but a past tense of the verb “do” and “weirdo” is a noun. Another school of thought says it should be spelt “weirdo’s” with an apostrophe, since it could be argued that it is in… Read More »Cyber Weirdoes Strike: Episode 3

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The Main Plot and The Sub Plot

I see a lot of scripts that are what I call, King Lear Drafts. King Lear drafts are screenplays with essentially two main plots: for those of you who have not read King Lear (shame on you!), we follow the fates of – unsurprisingly – a King called Lear whom is arrogant and proud and casts his good daughter Cordelia out of his kingdom for speaking her mind, keeping his evil daughters Goneril and Regan who plot to bring about his downfall. Pretty stern stuff one might think, but oh no: Shakespeare is a little worried perhaps we might not… Read More »The Main Plot and The Sub Plot

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Goodie Bags

Blogging is a great advertising tool, but I decided to start my new tax year with a “push forward” on the script reading front now I’m retiring from teaching for good (Yay!). So, if like me, you salivate at stationary (I know the lovely Mark Greig certainly does), then I am offering the FIRST THREE PEOPLE TO EMAIL ME the chance to win a Bang2write Goodie Bag! In it are Bang2write post-it notes (oooooh), a magnet (aaaah), acknowledgement postcards (wooooh), stickers and even a discount voucher for script reading (eeeee)! So, first three then, email me with your snail mail… Read More »Goodie Bags

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Debating

When I was growing up I had to live in a cardboard box! Luxury! When I was growing up, I had to walk three hundred miles to school and then do a full day’s work down the coal mine! Luxury! When I was growing up, my father killed us before we were even born! Aaaah. Ol’ Monty P there, but I love a good scrap, me (who’d have thought it??), so if you do too, click here and tell me your thoughts about the state of education today. Go on, you know you want to…

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Grammar – Again

Another debate on grammar is raging on the Screenwriters’ Bulletin of Shooting People. It’s funny, but it seems nothing like the machinations of the English Language get us writers talking more: there have been so many interesting, controversial and bizarre questions regarding actual screenwriting posed on that list, yet the average poster is lucky if they get two replies… Unless they post about grammar. Then the floodgates open: insults, accusations and assertions fly with abandon. It’s extraordinary. Regular Readers know that I’m a bit of a Grammarian. I think when you send your work out it should be the best… Read More »Grammar – Again

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Q & A: The Accidental Script Reader

If you’re wondering what I’m up to and I’m sure you are judging by the amount of emails I’ve had in the last week asking if I’m “still here” since I’ve “hardly written anything”, then I can assure you, my lovely bloggers that indeed I am. Just stressed. And ill, thanks to James Moran. No, we’re not having an affair, it’s his blasted Space Virus. Somehow he’s managed to transmit it over the radiowaves (or whatever the internet works on) and on to me. Cheers. Mate. The lovely Anya, whom I read for recently, emailed with a few questions about… Read More »Q & A: The Accidental Script Reader

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Parenthood

So my little boy comes home from school last night, minus his Tamagotchi. For those of you who don’t know, these creatures are allowed in school now because they can be “paused” (in other words, manufacturers wised up to the fact kids had to leave them at home all day with parents who couldn’t work them so they died and kids lost interest, it seems). They evolve too: Susan grew up, had a baby Keith which evolved to become Ned who had his own baby called Flib (Ned and Susan are in the old folks’ home: Flib can visit them… Read More »Parenthood

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