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9 Ways To Celebrate The Progress Of Female Characters, Writers & Makers

Great news, Bang2writers: I think we can safely say 2013 was a good year for female characters. Why? Well check this out:  And this: Aaaaaaand this:  [If you want to read more, click on the pics.] The three movies above were not the only big budget fare this year to feature unusual female characters; THE WOLVERINE featured not just one, but TWO Women of Colour in prominent roles; PACIFIC RIM also featured a WoC in a prominent role: Mako Mori, who was widely praised for her representation by feminist commentators. In addition, there has been a veritable EXPLOSION of commentary about… Read More »9 Ways To Celebrate The Progress Of Female Characters, Writers & Makers

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12 Things To Think About Before Rushing Into Self Publishing

“So, you’re a writer. And what exactly do you write? Ah, interesting, so you write a little like…?” OMG, has your heart just sunk? How many times have you gone into a meeting, all pumped up and ready to sell your soul? And then it comes, that sneaky little searching question, the answer to which tells the publisher or producer – whoever – whether you have that original voice that makes them want to work with you. Standing out from the writing crowd is hard. Standing out and making a living from it is even harder. So the lure of… Read More »12 Things To Think About Before Rushing Into Self Publishing

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Is “Good” Characterisation Really About Change?

Characters SHOULD change? At first glance, it would seem the answer to this question about character change is obvious. It’s oft said so-called “good” characterisation is about change by writing Gurus, script readers, editors and educators. It’s said that a character – usually the protagonist – must make a personal realisation or change something physical (or indeed, both), whilst DOING something else (usually the situation apparent). What’s more, the notion of  “arc” and “character development” is drummed  into writers of ALL descriptions, but especially screenwriters. Since the advent of transmedia and convergence of all the mediums then, it makes sense that novelists… Read More »Is “Good” Characterisation Really About Change?

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B2W is on Ask.Fm: Answering Your Writing Qs

FYI, B2W is now on Ask.FM as well as all the usual channels, for longer questions and for those Bang2writers who prefer to ask about writing Qs anonymously. Here is a round up of a few I’ve answered recently. See you there! 1) How do you get representation as a writer, without previous work under your belt? I have scripts that I would love to get out, but I don’t know where to start with getting my work out there. Any advice?  I get asked how to get representation all the time, so here’s my post on the subject. Generally speaking… Read More »B2W is on Ask.Fm: Answering Your Writing Qs

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9 Ways To Write Great Characters

Great Characters Wanted Great characterisation is layered and complicated – y’know, like REAL people. This is why  characterisation is the hard bit of writing. Yet over the years I’ve been working with  writers, I’ve found many will too often plump for the first character that comes into their mind and then add all those distractions on top for decoration. People are more than the way they look, act or seem. We all *know* this. So why don’t spec screenplays and novels reflect it? I don’t believe in creating character profiles, or questionnaires. I don’t care what your character had for breakfast, went… Read More »9 Ways To Write Great Characters

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How To Make It As A Writer (HINT: This Shit Ain’t Accidental)

DYK? Success is NOT Accidental So, if there’s one thing that drives me batshit crazy, it’s when people think success is somehow accidental. Those people will say: “It’s DIFFERENT for you.” But yeah, okay: fine. Let’s run with that. Yes, it WAS different for me …  I was a very young single Mum, with no money. I lived literally in the middle of nowhere, with no childcare. Social media had not been invented yet! There were very few books, courses or whatever … And the ones that *were* around I couldn’t afford or weren’t relevant to me anyway (waaaah). … In other words?… Read More »How To Make It As A Writer (HINT: This Shit Ain’t Accidental)

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12 Top Tips For Taking Writing Meetings

All About Meetings I’m delighted to say the hardcore contingent of the Bang2writers are taking meetings more and more often now. These writers getting meetings are most often those with … A specific writing strategy (more on these, HERE) Know ‘where’ they are in creating their own careers Stick to their writing goals, but also review and re-evaluate them too However, this also means these writers are asking me more and more often what is the “right” way to take meetings! With this in mind, I thought it was time for a post on the subject. First things first, it… Read More »12 Top Tips For Taking Writing Meetings

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6 Reasons NOT To Have A Prologue In Your Novel

So I’ve been reading a lot of spec novels via the Bang2write script reading service and downloading various free self published works for my Kindle app on my shiny new iPad (why the hell didn’t I get one years ago? Oh yeah, no money and the whole technophobia thing). Anyway, of the many spec or self published works that have crossed my radar in recent weeks, I’ve noticed some similar issues, all relating to prologues. Here are my thoughts on  NOT having one and why: 6. Your story starts too early. All too often, prologues in spec novels are boring… Read More »6 Reasons NOT To Have A Prologue In Your Novel

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Writing THE DECISION: LIZZIE’S STORY # 3 – Description & Characters

I run the Bang2write script consultancy, so read lots of spec novels every year as writers get them ready to either self publish, or show agents and publishers. The two elements that cause the most issues then in these novels are description and character. This is no surprise, since these are probably the most important elements of a novel, as readers perhaps notice them “most”. So here is a rundown of the issues I frequently see with description and character and how I tackled them myself in writing THE DECISION: LIZZIE’S STORY: DESCRIPTION 1) Grammar, punctuation, spelling. No one minds… Read More »Writing THE DECISION: LIZZIE’S STORY # 3 – Description & Characters

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Das Schreiben von BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG # 3: Beschreibung und Charaktere

Durch die Arbeit in meiner Drehbuchberatung Bang2write, lese ich jedes Jahr zahlreiche Romanideen (in Form von spekulativen Romanen ähnlich einem „spec script“), während ihre Autoren darauf hinarbeiten, sie entweder selbst zu verlegen oder sie Agenten und Verlagen zu präsentieren. Die zwei Elemente, die am häufigsten Probleme bereiten sind die Beschreibung sowie die Charaktere. Dies kommt mitnichten als Überraschung, da sie wahrscheinlich die wichtigsten Elemente eines Romans sind und Leser sie am ehesten bemerken. Aus diesem Grund kannst du im Folgenden einige übliche Probleme finden, wie sie mir häufig in Beschreibung und Charakteren begegnen, sowie eine Erklärung, wie ich an diese… Read More »Das Schreiben von BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG # 3: Beschreibung und Charaktere

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Writing THE DECISION: LIZZIE’S STORY # 2 – The Pitch

When writing a novel, a good pitch is worth its weight in gold. Not only is it a good document to grab the interest of agents and publishers, it can help if you are self publishing too as it helps you stay “on track”. I had tried writing novels before, but always ran out of steam. Previously I had written only loose outlines, so when approaching LIZZIE’S STORY I decided to write a detailed pitch. I actually spent as long on the pitch as writing the manuscript (nearly four months!), but I didn’t regret it. Here’s how I did mine:… Read More »Writing THE DECISION: LIZZIE’S STORY # 2 – The Pitch

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Das Schreiben von BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG # 2: Das Pitch

Wenn man einen Roman schreibt, ist ein gutes Pitch sein Gewicht in Gold wert. Es ist nicht nur ein gutes Dokument, um das Interesse von Agenten und Verlagen zu wecken, sondern auch falls man eigenständig verlegen möchte, da es einem hilft „am Ball“ zu bleiben. Ich hatte mich bereits zuvor an Romane gewagt, aber mir ist jedes Mal der Dampf ausgegangen. In der Vergangenheit hatte ich immer nur grobe Umrisse geschrieben. Aus diesem Grund entschied ich mich, für BAUCHENTSCHEIDUNG ein detailliertes Pitch schreiben. Tatsächlich habe ich ebenso viel Zeit mit dem Pitch wie mit dem Schreiben des Manuskripts verbracht (fast… Read More »Das Schreiben von BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG # 2: Das Pitch

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