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How To Assign A Character’s Race In A Screenplay

Race, Variety & Authenticity It’s important for writers to think about race, because representation matters. It’s part of the B2W remit. If you follow me on social media, you’ll know one of my books is titled, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film. In the course of my research for the book, I talked to a multitude of producers, literary agents, filmmakers, publishers, authors and even actors for their thoughts on this issue, from ALL types of backgrounds, which has been a real eye-opener. I’ve also put my own thoughts under the microscope about what ‘diversity’ really means when it comes… Read More »How To Assign A Character’s Race In A Screenplay

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Adaptation Showdown: which is better, the book or the film?

If you’ve been hiding under a rock or been away in outer space, you may have missed that last year I launched my own author site for my novel writing at www.lucyvhayauthor.com! I decided to combine my love of movies AND books and create a ‘Book Versus Film’ feature over there … So far we’ve had some BRILLIANT case studies and some surprising conclusions, written by moi and some other excellent contributors. If you want to read them, CLICK HERE. Don’t forget to follow me as @LucyVHayAuthor on Twitter for interviews with crime writers, reading recommendations and round ups of… Read More »Adaptation Showdown: which is better, the book or the film?

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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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How To Write Daytime TV Drama

 Three TV Writers What do Rachel Flowerday (co-creator & writer of “Father Brown” with Tahsin Guner and writer of The Moonstone”with Sasha Hails), Roland Moore (creator & writer of Land Girls) and Sally Abbott (creator & writer of The Coroner) have in common? All three of these writers got their big break writing for Doctors. From there on their paths diverged. It took Sally five years to get a second gig writing for Doctors, proving that you should never give up! Eventually she found her way into continuing drama, which is also the route Rachel took. Roland meanwhile continued writing… Read More »How To Write Daytime TV Drama

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4 Easy Tips On Writing An Awesome Disabled Character

B2W tries to shine a light on marginalised characters wherever possible, so I’m thrilled to welcome Owen Kent to the blog today with some GREAT thoughts on writing disabled characters. What I love about his insights is they are so simple and easy to implement in our research and writing, whether we’re writing screenplays or books. Be sure to check out Owen’s work via in the links at the end of the post. Enjoy … Writing a character with a disability is something that anyone can do, but doing it right is another question. These are my 4 tips to consider… Read More »4 Easy Tips On Writing An Awesome Disabled Character

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Top 5 Diversity Mistakes Writers Make

Writing diverse characters isn’t just trendy, it’s becoming more and more necessary if you want your scripts to get read and commissioned. Nothing wrong with  heterosexual cisgendered white men – my very longterm partner is one and he’s just the best! – but there are a lot of other exciting stories to tell, and a lot of other compelling types of characters to create. The good news is, more and more writers are including more inclusivity in their scripts; the bad news is since this is new territory for many, there are a lot of common mistakes writers make that… Read More »Top 5 Diversity Mistakes Writers Make

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13 Questions On Cultural Appropriation You Need To Ask Right Now

1) Why are we talking about cultural appropriation? Is there such a thing as cultural appropriation? The novelist Lionel Shriver certainly doesn’t think so. Her recent speech has had writers of all colours and persuasions furious and outraged, while others are just straight up confused. Here’s some accounts of cultural appropriation, smackdowns to that speech, as well as other responses … NY Times: Lionel Shriver’s Address On Cultural Appropriation Roils A Writers Festival Medium: As Lionel Shriver Made Light Of Identity, I Had No Choice But To Walk Out On Her Guardian: Identity Politics does not deserve Lionel Shriver’s contempt, but it is… Read More »13 Questions On Cultural Appropriation You Need To Ask Right Now

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5 Problems With All-Female Casts

Hey guys, I don’t know about you but I’m kinda worried about Ocean’s Ocho, despite the spectacular line up of stars appearing in it. I’m just not sure an all-female heist movie can work! Here’s why … 1) Everyone knows women are solitary creatures If you’ve ever been privileged to see a female in the wild, you’ll know they just don’t tend to band together in single-sex groups like men do. I mean, C’MON: when was the last time you saw a group of women working or eating together; going on outings; fundraising; staging events; having meetings; building stuff metaphorical and… Read More »5 Problems With All-Female Casts

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Top 7 Things Screenwriters Can Do To Improve Diversity And Inclusion

I LOVE this from Kirk and Deron at the Hollywood Inclusive podcast … These guys really know what they’re talking about! Unlike many sites (coughTWITTERcough) which have become an extended whinefest every time the word ‘diversity’ comes up, Kirk and Deron offer REALISTIC and yet powerful solutions to this issue that we writers can put into practice at page level. So, make sure you give it a read and pass this on to your writery friends – but also accept there’s a limit to what writers can do, too. We have to tell the best stories we can with what’s available and as… Read More »Top 7 Things Screenwriters Can Do To Improve Diversity And Inclusion

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4 Top Lessons On Writing Children

As I mention in my book, Writing & Selling Thriller Screenplays, I frequently see child and teen characters in specscreenplays that ‘feel’ like ‘movie kids’ rather than rounded, three dimensional characters. So I was delighted to read the excellent WATERBABIES by Writer/Director Andy Simpson, which doesn’t make this basic mistake! When Andy suggested writing a guest post on this subject for B2W,  I jumped at the chance … His script tips are contrasted with his directing experience, so Bang2writers get the ‘full picture’ of going BEYOND the page, too. Invaluable!! Over to you, Andy … Are there children in your script?… Read More »4 Top Lessons On Writing Children

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