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How To Structure Your Writing: 9 Top Tips On Acts

All About Acts People have been writing about story structure since the days of Aristotle’s tragedies. Though some of us resist structure in life, for writing screenplays it really serves an important purpose. More often than not, The Three Acts is the one most screenwriters choose to employ in creating the roadmap of their narrative so the reader doesn’t get lost. How does it work and what do these three acts need? Let’s start putting the pieces of the puzzle together. All About Act 1 SHORT VERSION: This sets up the story and hits the who, what, where, why and… Read More »How To Structure Your Writing: 9 Top Tips On Acts

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What 22 Industry Pros DO Want From Your Writing

Wanted: Great Stories & Fresh Voices What we all want is a ‘good story, well told’. That’s a given. But what does this really mean? In part 2 of my expert panel this week, I asked the industry pros a second question … What types of stories, tropes, characters, genres, story worlds (etc) would you like to see MORE of in 2019? Here’s what they replied with, below. Again, as you will no doubt see, these are not the prescriptive demands many writers believe they need to ‘sell out’ to. As with the previous post, diversity, new takes on genre… Read More »What 22 Industry Pros DO Want From Your Writing

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The B2W Ultimate Guide To Structure

B2W Guide To Structure Why do we need a guide to this stuff? Well, writers get structure WRONG all the time! Yes, even when they are not newbies! We all know that structure is what holds your story together. If you don’t nail it your work will fall apart and you’ll end up rewriting until your eyeballs fall out and your fingers bleed. True story. So, without further ado, here’s the B2W ultimate guide on everything you need to know about structure. Let’s go … 1) 5 Problems with Structure ALL Writers Have Yes, even you! You might not be… Read More »The B2W Ultimate Guide To Structure

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How To Write Great Openers That Grab The Reader

All About Openers Openers are a very, very important part of the spec screenplay. Screenwriting is a visual medium, so this makes sense. But as noted in this previous post on openers, too often writers end up using repetitive opening images … Worse still, they may not even use them at all. Eeek! But it can be difficult to source screenplays with good examples of visuals in. If they are produced, the filmmaker might have put their own stamp on it. Or we may be reading a much earlier draft or transcript. It can be really hard to tell. But here’s the… Read More »How To Write Great Openers That Grab The Reader

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Top 10 Links To Make Sure Your Idea Kicks Ass

All About Your Idea Your Idea, Premise, Concept, ‘Seed of the story’ … What is this? Why do we need it? How to we make sure our idea kicks ass? So many writers start a project thinking they have a killer concept only to find out it’s a fun idea at best. What’s even more distressing is that they usually find this out halfway through a project. Ouch. Bon Appétit, recycling bin! Here’s a round-up of everything you need to know about concept and ensure your idea kicks ass. Ready? Let’s go … 1) How Your Concept Can Kill Your Writing… Read More »Top 10 Links To Make Sure Your Idea Kicks Ass

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7 Casting Debates That Need To Die The Death

Casting Trouble Casting controversy … It seems hardly a month goes by without some! The same-old arguments and responses get wheeled out every time. Sometimes, writers may have trouble separating their own feelings about various casting troubles from the realities of the industry … Plus other times, the realities of industry actively entrench those same-old problems. Now what?? Well, here’s a round-up of the consistent casting mistakes, misgivings and confusions writers have when diverse characters and the actors who play them intersect. Enjoy! 1) “It should be the ‘best actor for the job’ You’re right, it absolutely should – so… Read More »7 Casting Debates That Need To Die The Death

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Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make With Low Budget Horror

Low budget horror has been all the rage for YEARS now. But don’t take my word for it  — I’ve drafted in an expert, Samantha Horley, an ex sales agent. Sam used to work at such companies as Salt and Summit Entertainment, so really knows her onions – she even helped make the commercial success that was The Blair Witch Project. Over to you, Sam! Low Budget Mistakes I get approached regularly by investors, sales companies and distributors, directors and producers, looking for low budget horror films. Some of them even  have that rare beast – the cash to fully… Read More »Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make With Low Budget Horror

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The Truth About People Of Colour In Historical Stories

Living Colour NEWSFLASH: people of colour lived in Europe in medieval times and beyond. In some cases, they were born and died here, too. Who knew? Well, people of colour living in Europe in medieval times of course, because they were VERY DEFINITELY here. Not to mention all my British and European Bang2writers here today who are descendants of said people.  Doh! Where does this ridiculous assumption come from? Well, white people of course, some of whom appear to assume the first migrants who made it to Britain were The Windrush Generation (currently in the news, if you’ve noticed). Not only is this… Read More »The Truth About People Of Colour In Historical Stories

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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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3 Absurd Screenwriting Myths To Forget Right Now

Writing Myths Myths are everywhere in screenwriting, but it’s real success that attracts you. First, you watch GET OUT. Then, you watch the Academy Awards 2018 to see GET OUT winning its Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. And you think: ” I’ll become the next big shot Hollywood screenwriter! After all, I write screenplays, don’t I?” Yes, you do. You know all the screenwriting techniques; you understand that a stellar script is the result of hard work; plus you’ve read all the books like Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! and you know a hero’s journey inside out. And yet, your Oscar… Read More »3 Absurd Screenwriting Myths To Forget Right Now

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6 Important Writing Reminders From THE SHAPE OF WATER

Right now, diversity is the name of the game in storytelling, so it’s no accident a movie like THE SHAPE OF WATER won ‘Best Picture’ at The Oscars last week. (Whilst Jordan Peele’s GET OUT was technically more ‘deserving’ of the so-called diverse tag, it is still a genre movie … Whereas historically, The Oscars have always been more appreciative of drama movies, even ones with sci fi elements like TSOW). I won’t pretend THE SHAPE OF WATER was my favourite movie of the year because it wasn’t, but there’s still plenty for writers to learn here. Let’s go: 1)… Read More »6 Important Writing Reminders From THE SHAPE OF WATER

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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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