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How Intercut Can Help Tell Your Story In Just 8 pictures

All About Intercut Whether you’re writing a screenplay or a novel, intercut can help you tell your story. An intercut is a storytelling technique used to rapidly switch back and forth between two different locations. This might be during a phone call, text message conversation, or parallel action. An intercut frequently plays around with the sense of time in your story, too. They may reference something that has happened in the past. However, intercuts can also reference to the future, to different versions of ‘now’ (whatever that means), or even thoughts and feelings. When Intercuts Go Wrong While intercuts are… Read More »How Intercut Can Help Tell Your Story In Just 8 pictures

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Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make With Short Films

Short Film Mistakes Writing short films is exceptionally difficult. In recent years, many film festivals have started to prioritise short films that are ten minutes or under. Telling a story in such a short timeframe is a big challenge. As a script editor, I’ve spent a lot of time in the world of short films. In the past 20+ years I have been … Involved with numerous produced films, including award winners & nominated ones A judge for Shore Scripts’ Short Film Fund A mentor on numerous screen agency short film schemes, including BFI New Voices Part of the steering… Read More »Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make With Short Films

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How To Write An Interrogation Scene (And What Most Writers Get Wrong)

All About Interrogation Scenes Interrogation scenes can be exceptionally powerful in our stories. They can be tense, adding to cause and effect, escalating the story towards the showdown. They can also be the moment one character – on either side of the table! – can move from one state of being to another (whatever that means for the story). When writers hear the word “interrogation”, most of us immediately think of police procedurals. Detectives sitting under fluorescent lights trying to get a suspect to crack. Yet interrogation scenes crop up in virtually every genre and type of story imaginable! Such… Read More »How To Write An Interrogation Scene (And What Most Writers Get Wrong)

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Why Your Screenwriting Career Is Stalling (And How To Fix It)

Feel like you’re stalling? If you feel like your screenwriting career is stalling, you’re not alone. The past ten years have created huge problems for the industry. Screenwriting circa 2026 is more challenging than it has ever been. Industry pros have left in record levels, with those that remain telling me it’s the worst they’ve ever seen it. But the point of this post is not to make you feel despondent. Instead, it’s designed to help you stop stalling and get your best chance of getting out of the spec script trenches. Ready? Let’s go … 1) Concept still sells!… Read More »Why Your Screenwriting Career Is Stalling (And How To Fix It)

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Why Most Spec Scripts Fail (It’s Not The Idea – It’s The Execution)

It’s All In The Execution? Most scripts don’t fail because the idea is bad – they fail because the execution is not doing the work. But how can we tell if our execution is not cutting it? Here’s 8 common pitfalls I see regularly in spec screenplays. Ready? Let’s go … 1) A situation is not a story A cool idea or set-up isn’t enough. Your concept at the heart of your story needs to be road-tested at foundation level. A story = movement. This means your story requires escalation, cause & effect, and a protagonist driving towards a clear… Read More »Why Most Spec Scripts Fail (It’s Not The Idea – It’s The Execution)

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What Writers Can Learn From The Short Film That Launched a $1 Billion Franchise

Selling, Not Selling Out ‘Write me a low-budget screenplay that launches a $1 billion dollar franchise.’  A producer said this in a room full of writers I was in, back at the very beginning of my career. To say it landed with me BIG TIME is an understatement. It made me realise that story is not the only thing writers must contend with. As a collaborative medium, it’s also our job to come up with ideas that SELL. Of course, this is where writers might say: ‘But I don’t want to sell out!’ I totally get this. It can seem… Read More »What Writers Can Learn From The Short Film That Launched a $1 Billion Franchise

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Boy Meets Girl: How To Write Romance That Impacts Your Reader

All About Boy Meets Girl ‘Boy Meets Girl’ is a plotting archetype that underpins probably 90% of romance stories. Across all subgenres and cross-genres of romance, we can see it in action because that’s what our readers and viewers WANT. I thought I would trace this powerful archetype and what makes it hit so hard. Ready? Let’s go … ‘Boy Meets Girl’, Beat for Beat 1)  The Set Up Like all stories across all mediums and genres, this archetype begins with the set up. We join the protagonist in their normal life and understand what missing there on an emotional… Read More »Boy Meets Girl: How To Write Romance That Impacts Your Reader

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5 Reasons Why You Should Build Fear Into Your Story’s Turning Points

Why You Should Build Fear into Your Turning Points When it comes to storytelling, fear is more than a feeling; it’s an underlying force that runs through multiple story elements. Influencing plot, character arc and development, conflict, and theme, fear draws readers in and makes the story feel human and authentic. This emotion is at its most potent when plot and character arc dovetail to create the question readers most want to answer: Will the character surrender to their fear or master it? Using Turning Points to Plot a Character’s Fear Journey Turning points – those pivotal events or complications… Read More »5 Reasons Why You Should Build Fear Into Your Story’s Turning Points

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5 Top Tips For Writing Romantasy That Bites Back

How To Write Romantasy That Bites Back I was at London Screenwriters Festival this weekend just past, where I did a masterclass on writing romantasy. This subgenre has exploded in the past three or four years across all media, yet many people get it wrong on why it’s so popular. Romantasy is NOT just fantasy with some kissing. The romance angle powers the story, while giving us brutal worlds, high stakes and love that complicates everything. It is all about danger and desire, fused. Ultimately, good romantasy is all about that core promise: if it doesn’t hurt, it’s not romantasy.… Read More »5 Top Tips For Writing Romantasy That Bites Back

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10 Quick Tips To Writing Romance In The 2020s

All About Writing Romance So, you want to write romance in 2026, huh? Good. But before you roll your eyes at another “boy meets girl” idea, let me stop you. Romance isn’t dead, it’s thriving … and if you want to write it without looking like a clueless dinosaur, here’s what you need to know. Ready? Let’s go … 1) Romance goes with EVERYTHING! Yep … Everything. Thrillers? Romance. Dark fantasy? Romance. Even your grim post-apocalyptic world needs a smidge of “OMG, they might die but also maybe get together?” Humans crave relationships, so don’t ignore them. 2) Diversity isn’t… Read More »10 Quick Tips To Writing Romance In The 2020s

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5 Male Tropes Audiences And Readers Just Can’t Get Enough Of

Male Tropes To Watch Out For This blog may be known for critique of female characterisation, but that doesn’t mean male tropes don’t get a look in! I’ve been working on a new novel for 2026, so I’ve been researching male characterisation A LOT recently. Ready? Let’s go … 1) The Gentle Monster Example: Kofun in See (Apple TV+) Kofun is an outsider in his own world. He is physically powerful, raised in violence, but seeks connection over destruction. He is deeply sensitive and doesn’t want to harm anyone. Kofun’s refusal to lean into brutality makes him quietly radical in… Read More »5 Male Tropes Audiences And Readers Just Can’t Get Enough Of

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The Genius of THE SHINING: Foreshadowing and Dramatic Irony Done Right

Happy Halloween From B2W The Shining is one of my favourite movies of all time. You may have noticed my fab poster in the background of my Zooms, livestreams and selfies (below). One of the reasons it is one of my favourites is because it was part of my own writing journey. I first watched the movie when I was a teenager. I was a strange kid who loved to watch things over and over in a loop. In doing so, I realised there were a variety of ‘giveaways’ of what would happen in the story. I was confused at… Read More »The Genius of THE SHINING: Foreshadowing and Dramatic Irony Done Right

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