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5 Reasons To Write **Where** You Know

Everyone’s familiar with the writing adage “Write WHAT You Know”, but not everyone thinks about how WHERE they know can help their writing, too. So when Richard suggested looking at storyworld in this way, I jumped at the chance for a guest post … Over to you, Richard! Reason Number 1: The setting is your story’s principal supporting character Traditional writing wisdom says writers should write **what** they know. ‘What’ you know informs the storyline of what you write. But that maxim overlooks the fact that the action (and the inaction) of any story occurs in a setting. That setting often… Read More »5 Reasons To Write **Where** You 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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7 Things Agents, Producers & Filmmakers Can Tell From Your Pitch

Newsflash! There is no “right” way to pitch, just multiple WRONG ways … true story! When it comes to pitching, whether via documents like one pagers or face to face (or both!), writers tend to freak out very easily. It’s not hard to see why. After all, what makes a ‘good’ pitch?? Well, a good pitch is that irritating thing – you know it when you hear it! That said, there ARE some good guidelines to adhere to in the actual pitching situation. Here’s B2W’s take on what makes a BAD and GOOD pitch … Ready? Let’s go … Written Pitches… Read More »7 Things Agents, Producers & Filmmakers Can Tell From Your Pitch

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5 Great Story Twists

It’s the Britcrime Festival this weekend, a free ONLINE event – and it’s going on right now! Get over to the Facebook page and DIVE IN! You can like the page & participate in panel discussions, HERE. To celebrate this great event, I’m delighted to host the amazing @AlexSokoloff on B2W, talking twists in the tale. Alexandra is both a novelist and screenwriter and has some GREAT writing insights, so make sure you check out her website & follow her on Twitter. Needless to say, this post is SPOILERIFIC and then some, but if you haven’t seen these classic movies… Read More »5 Great Story Twists

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Win 10 Great British Crime Fiction Novels!

PLEASE NOTE: The contest is now closed  To celebrate the launch of BritCrime’s first free online crime fiction festival, 11-13 July, I have teamed up with @BritCrime authors to give away one fabulous prize. You could win a gift bundle of ten print books, including new releases by Colette McBeth and Sarah Hilary, and MJ McGrath’s Gold Dagger longlisted White Heat. This giveaway is open internationally. One lucky winner will win all ten books. Please complete the entries in the Rafflecopter before midnight 10th July for a chance to win. Click HERE or the big shiny red button at the… Read More »Win 10 Great British Crime Fiction Novels!

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13 Experts Share What They’d Like To See Next In Diverse Literature

Check out the official site of #WeNeedDiverseBooks, HERE. After yesterday’s post where our experts gave us a GREAT reading list of diverse books to get stuck into, I asked them what they’d like to see NEXT from diverse books … Enjoy! 1) Jessica Reid, Legend Press. For more of diverse books to get noticed and receive the praise they deserve! 2) Oli Munson, Literary Agent, AM Heath. I’d like to see more literature representing the modern African experience IN Africa, not just the diaspora. Genuine African settings which avoid clichés LIKE THESE. 3) Paula Daly, Author. I would love to see a… Read More »13 Experts Share What They’d Like To See Next In Diverse Literature

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8 Mistakes That Will Kill Your Thriller Screenplay DEAD

Writing Your Thriller Screenplay If you’re writing a thriller screenplay, there are some pitfalls you might want to avoid. Ready? Let’s go … 1) Unclear concept Not sure what your concept in your thriller screenplay is? Congratulations, then no one else does either! A clear concept is a must for ALL writing but *especially* Thrillers, as typically the narrative is driven by the antagonist’s “evil plan” which sucks the protagonist in. MORE: 4 Reasons Your Concept Counts Above All Else 2) Copycat concept Reckon audiences will like your spec because they liked X produced Thriller? Great … AS LONG AS it’s not… Read More »8 Mistakes That Will Kill Your Thriller Screenplay DEAD

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How To Package Your Screenplay For Investors And Money People

All About The Package The Package is basically a set of notes that goes out with a feature screenplay. The Package is usually sent by a producer, either to help make the film or for some other reason (ie. secure distribution). As far as I know, there is no “industry standard” for these documents. That said, I’ve found they usually run between 5 and 10 pages, though I have seen much longer. Examples of the package are notoriously difficult to get hold of (oooh matron!). However, like spec TV series bibles, if you see -n enough of them like B2W does!… Read More »How To Package Your Screenplay For Investors And Money People

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4 Great Gifs from ASSASSIN

So we’re gearing up for ASSASSIN’s release next week (March 9th, 2015; pre-order HERE) and we’ve got some great stuff going up online. Here’s some .Gifs, created especially from the movie, exclusive to Bang2write – please share, far and wide! Don’t forget, you can watch ASSASSIN’s trailer HERE, as well as a a clip exclusive to Britflicks, HERE. Follow as @AssassinFilm on Twitter and LIKE the official FB page. Grab the chance to win a copy of ASSASSIN via these two great contests: FromPage2Screen Caption Comp (deadline Monday March 9th) Britflicks Super Easy Q Comp (deadline Sunday March 15th)

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5 Things To Remember When Writing A Mystery Or Thriller

Honoured to have bestselling author Paula Daly on the blog today, sharing her tips about Mystery and Thriller. Paula is the writer of Just What Kind Of Mother Are You? (Transworld), one of my favourite mystery books of the last couple of years, so make sure you check it out if you haven’t already. I think Paula’s tips are equally useful to screenwriters as well and as you will notice, Paula mixes books and TV/movies in her examples, so enjoy … Over to you, Paula! 1) It’s All About The Premise Publishers are after the same but different. They want… Read More »5 Things To Remember When Writing A Mystery Or Thriller

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25 Female-Centric TV Pilots Coming To A Screen Near You

Following my round up posts on female characters at the weekend, I’m delighted to say Hollywood Development Exec Steve La Rue decided to let me know how TV Pilot season is coming … and it’s going female centric, which is GREAT news! Check out these 25 loglines for size … Will be really interesting to see which ones make the cut through the infamous US “Pilot Season”! I’m gratified to see a fair amount of diversity to the list, with careers ranking as highly as parenthood … Plus of the “usual” roles (ie. Mom), we’re seeing characterisation left of the… Read More »25 Female-Centric TV Pilots Coming To A Screen Near You

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33 Experts Share What They Want Next From Female Characters

Personality first, gender second? The Bang2writers are writing more and more female characters now, but it’s not just as simple as that. We can ALL fall into “the usual” representations, or screw up and write trite, incorrect or two dimensional stereotypes. It’s also important to note any one of us can do this regardless of our experience with writing, or even if we *are* women ourselves! As I often say, I have seen NO correlation between gender of writer and how bad OR well they write female characters, yet I’ve literally read thousands  of screenplays over the last decade and… Read More »33 Experts Share What They Want Next From Female Characters

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