Skip to content

features

Why Bias Against Male Secondary Characters Is Super Revealing

Wives & Girlfriends The standard in storytelling is the male character gets to be the protagonist AND the antagonist … Very often, a good portion of the group will be male too. As I’ve mentioned multiple times on this blog and in my writing books, female secondary characters are frequently sidelined to ‘The Girl Character’ or even worse, the dreaded ‘WAG’ – wives and girlfriends. However, it should be noted the role function of being the Wife or Girlfriend is not AUTOMATICALLY a problem. There have been some fantastic, nuanced female characters that have also been WAGs over the years. Consider… Read More »Why Bias Against Male Secondary Characters Is Super Revealing

Share this:

10 Lessons On Writing Women From Phoebe Waller-Bridge

About Phoebe Waller-Bridge If you’ve never heard of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, my first question is where have you been???  She is, of course, the English actress and writer who created, wrote, and starred in the BBC tragicomedy series Fleabag. Phoebe was also the showrunner and executive producer for the first series of the BBC America thriller series Killing Eve. More recently, she signed on to ‘spice up’ the new James Bond movie, No Time To Die. So it’s fair to say this is a creative who knows her stuff! With all this in mind, Bang2write took a look at her thoughts on… Read More »10 Lessons On Writing Women From Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Share this:

4 Quick Screenwriting Tips From Novelists

Screenwriting Tips From Novelists A surprising number of famous novelists have also worked as screenwriters. It’s understandable that many writers would choose to express themselves in both ways. After all, the fundamentals are similar. Tell a story. Create engaging characters. Touch people emotionally. Although the formats may be different, screenwriting and novel writing have a lot in common. Personally, I always find it fascinating to learn from creative people who practice more than one form of art. Often, insights from one area can be applied to another. Novelists can offer unique perspectives on screenwriting. Today, I’d like to share four… Read More »4 Quick Screenwriting Tips From Novelists

Share this:

In JOKER, The Big Lesson Is There Is No Point

What’s The Point If you’ve seen JOKER (or even if you haven’t), you will be aware of the trillion articles, thinkpieces, tweets, statuses etc arguing about its point. I don’t think it’s unfair to say the reaction of the storytelling blogosphere and social media has been profoundly negative … Yet at the same time the movie has also reached dizzying heights of critical acclaim, also generating $290m in its first week. So what gives? Myself, I’ve never been a fan of the Joker as a character. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the poster boy for the stigmatising ‘psycho-killer’ trope in… Read More »In JOKER, The Big Lesson Is There Is No Point

Share this:

The Truth About Male Writers And Awful Female Characters

Gender Divide Can male writers write female characters? Yes, of course. Some of my favourite female characters have been written by men. I have  also written countless articles on this subject on this very blog. I also draw attention to some great examples in the B2W free eBook, many of which are written by male writers. That said, there’s an awful lot of crappy female characters out there. This has lead to an explosion of commentary online about this phenomenon … Which in turn has prompted various panels at literary festivals like THIS ONE. So why are we talking about this?… Read More »The Truth About Male Writers And Awful Female Characters

Share this:

10 Quick Tips On Entering Screenplay Competitions

Ann Marie Williams is the author of Screenplay Competitions: Tools and Insights to Help You Choose the Best Screenwriting Contests for You and Your Script. I read this book recently and was impressed by its detail and strategies. Please check out her book at the bottom of the post and grab your B2W discount. Over to you, Ann Marie — Here’s 10 quick tips on entering screenplay competitions. 1) Decide what you want out of the competition process Before you start researching screenwriting competitions, decide what you hope to gain from entering.  Do you want a competition that will launch your… Read More »10 Quick Tips On Entering Screenplay Competitions

Share this:

Top 15 Genius Creatives And What Writers Can Learn From Them

Want to be thought of as a GENIUS in this writing lark? Then you need to check out what’s gone before … But also crucially, who’s trod the path before you, too! Many thanks to Michael for this brilliant dose of inspiration in this very diverse list. Whilst you may not have enjoyed every piece of work these creatives have produced, fact is they’re at the top of their game. There’s lots we can learn from them in our own writing journeys. Enjoy! Genius Creatives If you want to become a genius creative yourself, it’s a good idea to try… Read More »Top 15 Genius Creatives And What Writers Can Learn From Them

Share this:

What Marvel Can Teach Us About Writing Powerful Villains

Marvel Villains Every hero needs an opposing villain. They go together. Plus you can’t get more heroic or iconic than the notion of a SUPER hero! There have always been stories of these special kinds of hero, in every culture. There’s always talk of ‘superhero fatigue’ online, but the reality is audiences can’t get enough. It’s no accident that studios like Marvel have been doing so well with superheroes. Marvel knows what entertains their target audience and they have provided it. AVENGERS ENDGAME finally usurped TITANIC at second place on the biggest box office smashes of all time recently.  Love or loathe… Read More »What Marvel Can Teach Us About Writing Powerful Villains

Share this:

3 Tech Clichés That Will Kill Your Writing DEAD

High Tech World We live in a high tech world, which means tech inevitably impacts on storytelling. Writers often have to find ways to ‘get rid’ of tech, but this can lead to a plethora of cheesy tropes and writing fails. But what if I told you tech was like anything else in storytelling? You CAN use it whenever you want, however want … You just have to make it authentic and twist it, so it works. Let’s go. 1) Facebook & Twitter In my other life as an author, I write crime fiction in the domestic noir subgenre. For… Read More »3 Tech Clichés That Will Kill Your Writing DEAD

Share this:

Hampton Fancher: ‘99% Of Scripts Are Intolerable.’ Here’s Why

The Wall Will Tell You  I had the pleasure of chatting with Hampton Fancher recently. He’s the screenwriter of the iconic sci fi movie Blade Runner (1982) and its sequel, Blade Runner 2049, which was one of my fave movies of 2017. I am one lucky blogger! Hampton is quite the raconteur, so our conversation was everything I hoped it would be. I had so much fun; I think he started interviewing ME at one point! Hampton’s book,  The Wall Will Tell You came out last week. It is not your classic screenwriting book, but something quite special. I like to… Read More »Hampton Fancher: ‘99% Of Scripts Are Intolerable.’ Here’s Why

Share this:
infographic version of how to write TV series bibles

What No One Is Talking About In The Great Screenplay Format Debate

The Debate Every year or so, what I call ‘The Great Screenplay Format Debate’ pops up. Some years it’s just once, others it’s multiple times. It never gets more heated than on Twitter, where produced screenwriters will  insist over and over it’s about ‘great writing’, NOT ‘great format’. Mic drop. Debate over. So, are these guys right? Of course. B2W also bangs on about this, after all. As far as I’m concerned, the notion of great writing ultimately comes down to just three things (that’s concept, characters and structure, for anyone wondering). OF COURSE there’s a bunch of other stuff… Read More »What No One Is Talking About In The Great Screenplay Format Debate

Share this:

Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make Writing Scenes

All About Writing Scenes In my new book, The Craft of Scene Writing: Beat by Beat to a Better Script, I complement the overwhelming amount of material on story and structure for screenwriters by focusing on craft. In fact, avoid these common 5 Scene Mistakes and improve your script today! 1) Scenes That Ignore The Story’s Concept A scene that doesn’t link its surprise to the concept is a non-sequitur. It’s generic. Avoid scenes that could work in other films. Dance with the one that brought you: your concept. Stay true to it and reap many rewards. The main conceit… Read More »Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make Writing Scenes

Share this: