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FOCUS ON FORMAT – When To Use Captions

What is a caption? On a screenplay, ‘captions’ are those bits of text you may see flash up on screen – i.e.: 24 HOURS EARLIER NEW YORK DAY 32 COLONY 1, THE MOON BAGHDAD, IRAQ INSIDE DEREK’S LOWER INTESTINE You know the ones. You will have seen them countless times whilst watching movies, TV dramas, sitcoms, documentaries and even short films, web series, sketches, YouTube reviews etc. Lots of Bang2writers ask me how to format these. Well, it’s pretty simple. You just need to write: SUPER: [Caption you want to put in] Apparently, ‘Super’ is short for ‘Super impose’. This… Read More »FOCUS ON FORMAT – When To Use Captions

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38 Good Reasons Your Script Might Get Rejected

Has Your Script Been Rejected? If your script has been rejected, you may be feeling confused and despondent right now. Often it’s hard to know why your script did not advance … especially when we compare our scripts to friends’ work, or produced stuff. You may remember this infographic from when it was doing the rounds three or four years back. I thought I’d revisit it and see if anything has radically changed in how I view it from B2W’s POV as a script reader and script editor. Since this blog always posits there’s no ‘right’ way to write (just… Read More »38 Good Reasons Your Script Might Get Rejected

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INFOGRAPHIC: Everything You Need To Know About The Screenplay

So, we have a new infographic on B2W today that will hopefully kickstart your new screenplay and/or keep it going, so you can get it written and revised and sent out. Let’s check it out … What Should You Write About? There’s some great tips here on adaptation. Though most screenwriters aren’t going to have the money for options on adapting bestselling books, they can still collaborate with authors (especially self published ones, though literary agents may pair scriptwriters with authors too – always worth asking! ). Beyond adaptation, it’s always worth doing lots of work on your central concept… Read More »INFOGRAPHIC: Everything You Need To Know About The Screenplay

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The Art Of The Unspoken: Give Your Reader A Chance To Fill In The Rest

If you want your readers to NOT get bored with a stereotypical ending and/or to keep them hooked, then it is high time for you to learn about The Art of the Unspoken! This technique can be hard to grasp and utilise effectively at first, but it means you will give your readers chance to fill in the rest WITHOUT you needing to be ‘on the nose’ with it. These 7 tips will make your journey to creating the breathtaking mysterious atmosphere easier. Chew on these for size: 1) Pacing With a purpose to create a mystery you need to control… Read More »The Art Of The Unspoken: Give Your Reader A Chance To Fill In The Rest

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How To Create A Memorable Antagonist

What’s a story without a masterful villain? A boring thing that gets no one’s attention, right? Great stories are based on conflicts between good and evil, meaning that a memorable antagonist is just as important as the story’s protagonist! But how exactly do you create an outstanding antagonist? Check out these tips  to understand the essential characteristics of a memorable antagonist. The imperfection of a perfect villain Name few of the most powerful antagonists you can think of. Is there a violent and psychotic gangster, a murderer, or sociopath among them? Are some of them a simple guy next-door ?… Read More »How To Create A Memorable Antagonist

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3 Important Tips About Theme And Story

1) Theme – A Definition Many thanks to Robert Maitland who asks: I’ve written a screenplay and I am struggling to define the theme. I thought I had understood what the theme/premise was, but on sending it to someone they disagreed. I was wondering if you could offer any advice? If we look up ‘theme’ in the dictionary, you’ll see key words from the definition in the graphic above: ‘subject‘, ‘topic’, ‘idea‘, ‘recurs’ and ‘pervade‘. In layman’s terms then, theme is what your story is ‘REALLY ABOUT’ at foundation level. 2) The Importance of Theme Some writers attach a lot… Read More »3 Important Tips About Theme And Story

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Top 5 Story Mistakes Even Good Writers Make

Good Writers CAN and DO Screw Up, Too Good writers are everywhere, but that doesn’t mean they do everything perfectly.  B2W is known as a blog that recognises it’s probably easier to figure out what NOT to do as a writer … So it’s no accident my ‘Top 5 Mistakes’ series is so popular! From craft issues and loglines, through to female characters, research and more, I’ve been trying to outline the numerous ways we COULD trip up. Here’s the top 5 story mistakes even GOOD writers make … Recognise any of these?? GOGOGO: 1) Not planning or outlining beforehand Look,… Read More »Top 5 Story Mistakes Even Good Writers Make

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INFOGRAPHIC: All About Dialogue – A Periodic Table

So, I’ve written A LOT on this blog about how writers obsess over their dialogue and why they shouldn’t. This is because too often, writers fall in love with their dialogue and end up telling the story via talk alone. Nooooooooooo! However, if you writers *are* going to obsess on dialogue, then you could do a lot worse than finding out exactly what dialogue really IS. Shockingly, many writers don’t differentiate their characters’ speech patterns enough, so what they *think* is cool and interesting, is actually samey and boring to read. If we consider a book like The Maze Runner… Read More »INFOGRAPHIC: All About Dialogue – A Periodic Table

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The 1 Thing That Makes Stories Crash And Burn

A little recap So, at base level, we know we need to be able to identify our story concepts. If we can’t do that as the writer, no one else can either. In short, without an identifiable concept, we got nuthin’! What’s more, we all know our story concepts need to be marketable, if we’re going to stand our best chance of our scripts and novels getting produced or published. But how do we make sure? Well, we road test our concepts of course! But–But–But … … Sometimes it still goes wrong, even if we’ve tried doing the above. Supersadface.… Read More »The 1 Thing That Makes Stories Crash And Burn

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11 Questions To Ask when Starting Your Screenplay

Many thanks to Aaron Mendolsohn who’s sharing a 20% discount with you lucky Bang2writers on his book, The 11 Fundamental Questions: A Guide To A Better Screenplay. Now, I’ve read Aaron’s book and what I like about it is how it’s so short and to the point, yet breaks down some really valuable pointers for any writer putting their concept under the microscope. It’s just 41 pages and illustrated, so not a tough read; plus it also relates all Aaron’s pointers to produced content, both recent and classic, so you can see his advice ‘in action’. I’ve written about the… Read More »11 Questions To Ask when Starting Your Screenplay

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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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Top 10 Killer Words That Make Readers Switch Off

Killer Words Killer words are those bits of prose that creep into scripts and novels and KILL my interest.  When you’re reading all day, every day, for work AND for pleasure you tend to notice how killer words slip by unchallenged, even into produced and published works. So here’s B2W’s official top 10 of killer words that MOST make me, “WTF??” Ready? Let’s go … 1) Obviously One of the worst killer words of all time, imho. This is a huge screenwriting no-no in scene description, but I see it pretty much every day, usually describing something we’re supposed to… Read More »Top 10 Killer Words That Make Readers Switch Off

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