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low budget screenplay

What Do I Do If My Book or Script Is A ‘Hard Sell’?

Help! What If My Story Is A ‘Hard Sell’? Every week I hear from Bang2writers who say their stories are a ‘hard sell’ and they don’t know what to do. That’s right … EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK! With this in mind, I broke down the process into steps to help. Ready? Let’s go … STEP 1: Get REAL First things first, what makes your story a ‘hard sell’? Do you know for certain … Or are you just guessing? I always find it very interesting (but not surprising) that lots of new writers pretend to themselves their story is a ‘hard… Read More »What Do I Do If My Book or Script Is A ‘Hard Sell’?

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5 Top Tips From The Black Phone Writers Can Learn

Watch & Read The Black Phone Now The Black Phone is a movie adaptation of the 2004 short story of the same title by Joe Hill. Directed by Scott Derrickson, the screenplay is written by Derrickson and his long-time collaborator C. Robert Cargill. I’m a HUGE fan of both Hill and this duo’s previous output including Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, so I was keen to watch the movie regardless. The logline for The Black Phone on imdb reads, “After being abducted by a child killer and locked in a soundproof basement, a 13-year-old boy starts receiving calls… Read More »5 Top Tips From The Black Phone Writers Can Learn

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5 Simple Steps To Getting Your Draft Written

Writing The First Draft Feeling stressed because you can’t move forwards towards your draft? You’re not alone. When we first conceive of an idea for a screenplay or novel, we often falter. This is because we are not used to being able to write whatever we want. This means we can get overwhelmed quickly. In addition, if no one is waiting on our draft, it can be hard to focus. This is one of the reasons I pulled together The B2W Screenwriter’s Roadmap (though you can use it to write novels too – I do!). But Bangers got in touch… Read More »5 Simple Steps To Getting Your Draft Written

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5 Uncomfortable Facts You Must Face If You Want Your Scripts Made

OR: Why There’s NOT ‘Loads’ Of Great Spec Scripts Waiting To Be Made If you want to get your scripts made, you’re not alone. It seems everyone is working on a spec screenplay! I love to see it too … Nothing makes me happier than hearing about the stories Bang2writers are working on. Whenever people talk about screenwriting though, it doesn’t take long before someone drops this claim … ‘There’s LOADS of great spec scripts just waiting to be made.’  They usually say this when a new movie reboot is announced, or a favourite TV series has jumped the shark.… Read More »5 Uncomfortable Facts You Must Face If You Want Your Scripts Made

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How To Become A Writer Without An Expensive University Course

Expensive University Courses If you want to become a writer but worry about how expensive university courses are, save your money. Learn what they teach you on a Creative Writing degree, without the expensive debt. Here are the top 5 things they teach on a Creative Writing BA … Ready? Let’s go! 1) Think like a writer It might sound strange but the first thing they teach you on a Creative Writing BA is how to “think like a writer”. That should go without saying you might think, but here are some handy tips they taught us … Make sure… Read More »How To Become A Writer Without An Expensive University Course

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5 Things I Learned From Being A Script Reader At A Film Festival

Film Festival Script Reader Twelve months I began reading scripts for a film festival. What started as a volunteer script reader gig of maybe 4-5 scripts per week, eventually morphed into an average of 9 scripts per day. This became just under 450 scripts in the last eight months alone. So what did I learn in that time? Quite a bit. 1) There are No Mistakes So let’s start with the first lesson I learned as a film festival script reader. First up, there’s arguably no such thing as a mistake in storytelling. There have been times where I have… Read More »5 Things I Learned From Being A Script Reader At A Film Festival

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10 Quick Tips About Writing Non Linear Stories

Non Linear Stories My non linear novel, Never Have I Ever, is out this week. To celebrate, I thought I’d put non linearity under the microscope, since Bang2writers LOVE to write books and screenplays with this much misunderstood craft element. Ready? Then let’s go … 1) It’s all about story, not stylistics If you want to write a non linear story because it’s ‘cool’, STOP. Does your story *need* to be non linear?? This is one of the questions I ask as a script editor … and 9/10, the answer is NO. Don’t think stylistics, but STORY here – concept… Read More »10 Quick Tips About Writing Non Linear Stories

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22 Industry Pros Share Their Advice On What They DON’T Want

What’s In the Spec Pile Don’t know what to write? It can be difficult to understand what the industry wants, so sometimes it’s easier to work out what they DON’T want! When human beings prize novelty, standing out from the rest can be half the battle for writers … Equally, so can utilising a tried-and-tested trope or character in a unique way. But what IS unique? I rounded up 20 Industry Pros I know and asked them: What types of stories, tropes, characters, genres, story worlds (etc) feel stale, cliched or overused to you at the moment? The Industry Pros… Read More »22 Industry Pros Share Their Advice On What They DON’T Want

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4 Things I Learned from SOLO! Screenwriter Jonathan Hall

Jonathan Hall is not only a member of the Bang2write community, but also a seasoned screenwriter with credits such as BBC’s Doctors, as well as award-winning short films In The Mood and Mr Thornton’s Change of Heart. Jonathan’s recent feature SOLO! is an inspiring story for all filmmakers – it’s the ultimate example of making it happen on your own. SOLO!  is a musical, romantic comedy and was shot over in Valencia, Spain and recently selected for the Marbella Film Festival.  If you’re struggling to imagine your ideas off the page, then Jonathan’s interview and tips are not to be missed!… Read More »4 Things I Learned from SOLO! Screenwriter Jonathan Hall

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5 Things I’ve Learned As A Professional Writer

Be Professional Want to be a professional writer? Well, here’s Bang2writer Ewen Glass with the skinny on what he’s learned along the way on his own journey … Enjoy! 1) Find your voice So, yeah, we’re not exactly starting with an easy one. In fact, this is probably the hardest thing on this list, precisely because it’s the most important. Structure, character-creation, world-building, effective writing on the page, formatting… it can all be learned to some degree. What really makes you stand out as a writer is you. Your background, your point-of-view, your voice. What do you offer that nobody… Read More »5 Things I’ve Learned As A Professional Writer

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How Your Concept Can Kill Your Writing DEAD

What’s The Concept? Concept, premise, controlling idea, seed of the story … Whatever you want to call it, you need that THING at foundation level in your story to be clear and compelling, otherwise your story is SUNK. Put simply, if you don’t have a great concept at the foundation of your screenplay or novel? YOU GOT NUTHIN’! Supersadface. It can’t be true … can it?? How Concepts Kill Spec Scripts & Unpublished Novels YES! It is true. The short version: if your concept STINKS? Your pitch won’t work. You will never get off the starter blocks – no one will like… Read More »How Your Concept Can Kill Your Writing DEAD

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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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