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Are You Schrödinger’s Writer? Here’s How To Break Out Of This Destructive Mindset

Schrödinger’s Cat Versus Writers Schrödinger’s Cat is a thought experiment devised by the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger, which he designed to illustrate a paradox of quantum superposition. In this famous paradox, a hypothetical cat may be considered both alive and dead simultaneously because its fate is linked to a random event that may (or may not) occur. Over time, Schrodinger’s cat has been linked to any number of hypothetical situations – erroneously or not – in which something may or may not happen, concurrently or not. I found myself talking about ‘Schrodinger’s writer’ recently with a number of Bang2writers. During these… Read More »Are You Schrödinger’s Writer? Here’s How To Break Out Of This Destructive Mindset

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22 Industry Pros Share Their Advice On What They DON’T Want

What’s In the Spec Pile Don’t know what to write? It can be difficult to understand what the industry wants, so sometimes it’s easier to work out what they DON’T want! When human beings prize novelty, standing out from the rest can be half the battle for writers … Equally, so can utilising a tried-and-tested trope or character in a unique way. But what IS unique? I rounded up 20 Industry Pros I know and asked them: What types of stories, tropes, characters, genres, story worlds (etc) feel stale, cliched or overused to you at the moment? The Industry Pros… Read More »22 Industry Pros Share Their Advice On What They DON’T Want

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6 Things Writers Can Learn From The Handmaid’s Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale, Adapted The Handmaid’s Tale is that rare beast, both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. Just two series in and it’s obvious it will go down in television history. More importantly, countless Bang2writers tell me they want to write something ‘just like it’, that ‘says something’ … But how? At London Screenwriters’ Festival last weekend, I lead a talk titled What Writers Can Learn From The Handmaid’s Tale. It was a brilliant session, with some great questions and observations from the switched-on delegates. Obviously I can’t cover all everything we talked about in one blog post, sadly. But here’s… Read More »6 Things Writers Can Learn From The Handmaid’s Tale

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How To Write An Awesome Lone Wolf Character

We Love Lone Wolves! Every day, the Google search term ‘lone wolf’ brings Bang2writers to this blog … First though, let’s hear what author G X Todd has to say about her own ideas and inspiration behind her Lone Wolf character, Pilgrim from her bestseller book Defender: “I quickly realised that I wouldn’t be happy writing about a lone man who experiences so little human contact; I also feared it would bore readers to death.  I decided that Pilgrim would unconsciously create a coping mechanism to deal with being all alone in this new world; a coping mechanism that would… Read More »How To Write An Awesome Lone Wolf Character

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5 Ways Filmmaking Will Make You A Better Writer

MANY, many thanks to David today for his filmmaking insights and how it impacts on your writing … I agree with everything he says here!! Some of you may recognise David as one of our rockstar volunteers at LondonSWF, plus his film started out as a Create50: THE IMPACT script!! So even if you can’t donate to his crowd fund campaign, PLEASE press the buttons at the bottom of the post and SHARESHARESHARE!!! Writing screenplays is great. But getting them made is better. And if no-one else will make them, then do it yourself! Make a short (or few) and… Read More »5 Ways Filmmaking Will Make You A Better Writer

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A Look In The Spec Pile: @Create50, THE IMPACT

Following on from Wednesday’s brilliant post by @ShoreScripts on spec screenwriting clichés, here’s a look inside in the Create50 “lock-in” for LondonSWF’s second crowd-sourced feature film, THE IMPACT. Basically, Team LSF – and some very knowledgeable guests – locked themselves inside Ealing Studios during bank holiday weekend. Over the course of the two days, we re-read and deliberated over the finalists in extreme detail. From there, we created The Impact’s storyworld and built a preliminary story arc of 50 final screenplays, so filmmakers can make their choices in phase 2 of the project. An announcement re: the final 50 will… Read More »A Look In The Spec Pile: @Create50, THE IMPACT

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5 Tips For Screenwriters To Find A Producer (And 3 More On Why You’re Failing)

Find Out How It Works So I don’t have to go far on internet-land before I find one of these guys: WRITER: Tell me how to get a producer??? ME: Sure. Come up with a great concept, make sure you know your audience. WRITER: ERM, YOU DIDN’T TELL ME ANYTHING! ME: Le sigh. OK, find out what is possible for what £££, then you’re more likely to hit the mark. WRITER: Fuck that. That’s the producer’s job. ME: OMFG, fine. Start networking, create some relationships. Find them that way. WRITER: WTAF??? But I only want to write!!! So this is… Read More »5 Tips For Screenwriters To Find A Producer (And 3 More On Why You’re Failing)

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6 Ways To Build An Audience

 I had an idea for a character. A character without a story. Being a fan of Twitter, I thought it might be interesting to set up an account in his name and use it as a testing ground for material to see if anything like a plot would emerge. Two years later, it had over 25,000 Twitter followers; appeared briefly in GQ magazine and Time, we made a short film (How To Be Dead); I quoted Yoda on stage to a large audience and had a whole lot of fun. I am now writing The Death Guide To Life as… Read More »6 Ways To Build An Audience

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5 Tips For Writing Period Movies

I love being transported by movies, not just entertained, but transported, moved up the ladder to a different reality. I love walking out of the cinema with a story and storyworld still sticking to me, like napalm in the morning. This explains why I’m attracted to period pieces (and “period piece” also includes science fiction films, which are period pieces that look forward rather than backward). A lot of my screenwriting – paid gigs and spec work both – has focused on slips up or down the timeline. So here are a few guideposts that have been helpful to me… Read More »5 Tips For Writing Period Movies

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5 Reasons Why Writing Commissions Go Awry

Welcome to Dumpsville, population: you. Getting fired from a writing gig – or being told they won’t be commissioning you again – is never fun. Sometimes the end is a blessed relief after weeks or months of miserable, fruitless toil. Other times it’s a bolt from the blue, and that’s much worse. Some freelancers just get months of radio silence and delays until, eventually, they realise there isn’t another job coming their way. I’ve been fired from a writing gig, but I’ve also been a commissioning editor, dispensing with the services of other creatives. So, why do writing commissions go… Read More »5 Reasons Why Writing Commissions Go Awry

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Breaking Into Theatre By Carla Grauls

Many thanks to Bang2writer Carla for sharing her insights on breaking into theatre – some really good advice here. Enjoy! The first play I wrote was a dark comedy except that it wasn’t a comedy. It was just dark. After that first play written at university, I have been involved in developing a new play with a theatre, a dark comedy. This time I have taken steps to ensure it is funny…not just disturbing. My play Occupied will be previewed at Theatre 503 in July this year as part of Labfest: a season of new writing. I was invited to… Read More »Breaking Into Theatre By Carla Grauls

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Zombies!

What a week. We’re not only all gonna get infected with Swine Flu, some wag has made a BBC page with “breaking news” that there is a new Zombie Strain! Excellent. It would seem the Aporkalypse really is here, arf. So in the meantime, I’m going to prepare for the Zombie outbreak over at cool site Lost Zombies, who are making a documentary about the End of Days and enter their 24 hour writing challenge, WHICH STARTS NOW. See you there! UPDATE: Oh, and if a Zombie writing challenge is not your “thang”, maybe a short story contest involving musical… Read More »Zombies!

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