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No, Your Female Characters Don’t Just Need More Dialogue

Wanted: More Dialogue More dialogue is something screenwriters always seem to want – chains and chains of it, in fact. I’ve written many, many times that too much dialogue is a HUGE problem in the spec pile. Yet it would appear film researchers and commentators ALSO want more dialogue … especially when it comes to female characters. So, you don’t have to go far online to discover studies and articles galore about how male characters talk more than female characters generally. You may have seen this pic (below) doing the rounds of Facebook recently, which backs this assertion up: Male as… Read More »No, Your Female Characters Don’t Just Need More Dialogue

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5 Things I Learned About Going Viral on Twitter

B2W likes to offer perspectives from writers on the ‘X Things I Learned’ series, not just about writing or careers, but also some of the weirder things our lives may include from time to time … Cue children’s author Maz Evans, who went SUPER viral on Twitter recently! If you’re on there, you may have seen this play out in real-time, like me. Here’s what Maz learnt during a crazy 72 hours and I’m sure it’ll pop up in her writing at some point. It’s all material! Over to you Maz … It was no big deal. I was awaiting… Read More »5 Things I Learned About Going Viral on Twitter

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Why PADDINGTON 2 Is The Best-Written Family Sequel, Ever

Paddington 2 Love Have you seen Paddington 2? I did, over the Christmas break (which seems like a MILLION years ago now! Waaah!). In fact, I ended up seeing it TWICE! But unusually, I had no issues watching Paddington 2 a second time because it was so damn good — a script editor’s dream, in fact! I actually think it improves on the first Paddington in pretty much every way. Here’s why, plus what writers can learn from it as ‘Top Tips’ to take away. Ready? Let’s go … 1) The plot has a MacGuffin A MacGuffin is ‘a plot device in… Read More »Why PADDINGTON 2 Is The Best-Written Family Sequel, Ever

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How To Write Young People That Are Actually Realistic

Young People Wanted Young people hardly ever turn up in the spec pile. Yet young people characters are BOUND to get a script reader’s spidey-senses going (and not in a good way). Why? Because too often representations of  young people are TERRIBLE and two dimensional! To ensure YOU don’t fall into the trap of writing a dud, chew on these pointers for size: 1) Don’t make them sound too young First up, the obvious. The typical child in a spec screenplay is nearly always wildly ‘off’ in tone, especially if they’re toddlers up to the age of approximately eight. They’ll sound… Read More »How To Write Young People That Are Actually Realistic

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The Truth About Success: 30 Top Creatives Who Broke In Late

It’s Never Too Late I get SOS messages, tweets and emails from writers all the time, but what they frequently boil down to is, ‘I worry it’s TOO LATE for me!’ NEWSFLASH – it is never too late. Now, I don’t want to put a downer on proceedings, but the facts are,  any one of us could die at literally any moment. So really, it doesn’t matter if you’re 19 or 90! We probably won’t die though, so in which case USE YOUR TIME WISELY. This means, if you want to be a writer?? EFFING WRITE. Go for it. Why wouldn’t… Read More »The Truth About Success: 30 Top Creatives Who Broke In Late

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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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