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5 Things Screenwriters Can Learn From Musicals

Whether it’s the sequins in Chicago or the corpses in Sweeney Todd, there’s something for everyone in the extraordinary world of musicals. But did you know that your secret, or not-so-secret, indulgence in this most over-the-top of artforms could also be good for your writing? Here are five lessons that musicals can teach screenwriters. And it’s a double whammy: you get to kick back and soak up some classic show tunes while improving your writing technique in the process. Overture and beginners, please … 1) Structure It’s even more true for musicals than for almost any other kind of script:… Read More »5 Things Screenwriters Can Learn From Musicals

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8 Ways You Can Fit Writing Into Your Life (Even Though You Think You Can’t)

How To Fit In Writing ‘How to fit writing into my life’ is a Google search all writers need to make. Look, time is tight, motivation is hard, and writing – actually sitting down and getting the effing ideas out of your head and onto the Big White Page Of Doom – is utterly terrifying. We get it. But you have to! Because – and here’s the big thing – if you don’t?? Then you’re not a novelist, or a scriptwriter, or any other kind of writer … You’re just the person at the party who bangs on about Graham… Read More »8 Ways You Can Fit Writing Into Your Life (Even Though You Think You Can’t)

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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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15 Quotes From Children’s Books Every Writer Should Know

Children’s books have a lot of complex thoughts and ideas in them, they’re just disguised as child’s play. Once you recognise the complexity of these books, you’ll realise how often they apply your own work as a writer. For more writers’ quotes on B2W, CLICK HERE, or click the pic below. To prove it, here are a number of quotes from kids’ books that every writer should know — enjoy! 1) “We all can dance,” he said, “if we find the music that we love.” – Giraffes Can’t Dance, Giles Andreae. This quote embraces the inner desire to follow your… Read More »15 Quotes From Children’s Books Every Writer Should Know

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20 Game-Changing Love Interests And Why They’re So Important

Love is a powerful motivator Most of us want to be loved, so I’ve found it a trifle bizarre just how much the love interest role function gets the boot in modern critique. Obviously no one wants cardboard cut out characters, but far from love interest characters automatically being two dimensional, we can often see they’re more nuanced than given credit for, or melded with other interesting role functions. Many thanks to my glam assistant Olivia aka @LivSFB for this GREAT round up and reminder that love interest characters CAN be great, as well as informing plot! Enjoy … It… Read More »20 Game-Changing Love Interests And Why They’re So Important

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9 Female Movie Screenwriters Worth Watching

It’s widely known that television is much more likely to be the female screenwriter’s stomping ground, with Tinsel Town in particular a super deluxe sausagefest. But I’m glad to say there ARE women in the man’s world of film! Whilst the likes of Diablo Cody and Nora Ephron may be two of the best known female screenwriters at the moment, I’m going to take a look at some of the female names we may not know quite as well … Let’s hear it for the girls! 1) Leslie Dixon, Limitless. Dixon has had a long and fruitful screenwriting career, but it was 2011’s… Read More »9 Female Movie Screenwriters Worth Watching

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5 Arguments Against A Female-Centric GHOSTBUSTERS

So this week, we had an announcement: the cast for the much anticipated female Ghostbusters reboot. See the actresses picked and read more about it in this article, “Why Studios Want More Female-Led Blockbusters”. I’d say it’s a pretty solid list and I for one can’t wait, though apparently the rest of the internet CAN, ‘cos when I say “much anticipated” what I really mean is a neverending outpouring of complaints and condemnation of a movie NO ONE has actually seen yet*. But hey, why let something like REALITY get in the way of Twitter-and-Facebook-facilitated outrage??? (*While I’m on the subject… Read More »5 Arguments Against A Female-Centric GHOSTBUSTERS

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Audiences & Ownership OR The REAL Reason You Reacted Badly To News of TOY STORY 4

I love sausages (quiet at the back). Seriously, I do. TBH I’m fairly ambivalent about eating them myself (arf) but as the working mother of three kids, sausages are handy as hell: they’re relatively cheap (always handy when you’re a broke writer) and during the week my brain is invariably distracted by the Bang2writers and their stories, so I nearly always forget to defrost meat in time (I haaaate microwave defrosting). But you can cook these little beauties from frozen and whip up some mash and boil some veg in no time. What’s more, sausages are pretty much the only thing… Read More »Audiences & Ownership OR The REAL Reason You Reacted Badly To News of TOY STORY 4

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5 Reasons “Missing” Female Characters Might Not Actually Be Missing After All (Plus What Writers Can Do Instead)

So this week, Twitter broke two pieces of news. Sheffield Theatres here in the UK are pledging to have an equal split of male and female roles in plays developed in-house: their artistic director (a man, by the way) says it’s “not just about numbers, but also about the scope and range of parts female actors get to play”. On the very same day, it was announced that Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn will be helming series 2 of HBO’s TRUE DETECTIVE. It would be fair to say a minor avalanche of tweets erupted in my TL and @ box  at both announcements. I didn’t… Read More »5 Reasons “Missing” Female Characters Might Not Actually Be Missing After All (Plus What Writers Can Do Instead)

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Top 6 Reversals In Movies

FYI – SPOILERS! I’ve said only recently I don’t read enough reversals in spec screenplays, in ANY genre. I thought it time to offer up some examples of those I’ve watched that I felt were effective. Before we get going however, here is the definition of ‘reversals’ I am using for the purposes of this post … “A place in the plot where a character achieves the opposite of his aim, resulting in a change from good fortune to bad fortune.” You may also want to read THIS POST, which contains a definition of what screenplay reversals are. There’s also a great… Read More »Top 6 Reversals In Movies

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5 Weird Things We’ve Done To “Kickstart” Our Film Off The Page

I’m a big fan of Tim Clague and Danny Stack AND kids’ movies, so when I saw they’re currently crowdfunding for their kids’ feature Who Killed Nelson Nutmeg?, it was a no-brainer: I HAD to have them on B2W to share their delicious brains with you lot!! There’s some BRILLIANT advice here that **anyone** can achieve, so don’t get down in the dumps about getting nowhere, think about how you can MAKE IT HAPPEN, just like Tim and Danny. And then show your appreciation by backing them! Check out their Kickstarter page, or click the pic below. Hi Bang2Writers. Tim… Read More »5 Weird Things We’ve Done To “Kickstart” Our Film Off The Page

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6 Reasons To Follow The Decision

So I’ve written a lot online about teen pregnancy (especially on Twitter, via #teenpreg & #FeminismIsForTeenMomsToo), as well as  my prochoice novel, THE DECISION: LIZZIE’S STORY, not to mention my own experience of becoming a mother as a teenager. Lizzie’s Story is out this year sometime in English, having been published in the German Language last year … And she’s a character that just won’t stay confined to the pages of the novel, ‘cos she’s JUMPED OUT and got her own Facebook page and Twitter account! Follow her here, as LizziesDecision, tweeting about the ins and outs of #prochoice matters,… Read More »6 Reasons To Follow The Decision

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