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My Writing Story

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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Writing THE DECISION # 1: LIZZIE’S STORY – Why This Story?

 I’ve written before on this website about my reasons for writing THE DECISION: I was a teenage mother myself and I became frustrated a long time ago about the representation of young parents in the media. Too frequently, young parents – particularly young Mums – are represented as having babies “for” the welfare payments available, taking tax payers’ hard-earned money and then sitting on their backsides. Too often, fictional teen parents in soap operas, TV series or movies are selfish and feckless, having babies and then dumping them on long-suffering relatives. At the same time, women and girls who have abortions… Read More »Writing THE DECISION # 1: LIZZIE’S STORY – Why This Story?

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Das Schreiben von BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG # 1: Warum diese Story?

Ich habe auf dieser Webseite bereits in der Vergangenheit meine Gründe genannt, BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG zu schreiben: Ich war selbst als Teenager Mutter und bin seit langem über das Bild junger Eltern in den Medien frustriert. Zu häufig werden junge Eltern – und insbesondere junge Mütter – dargestellt, als würden sie Babys bekommen, „nur“ um Sozialhilfe zu beziehen, vom Geld hart arbeitender Steuerzahler zu leben und faul auf ihren Hintern zu sitzen. Zu häufig sind fiktive Teenager-Eltern selbstsüchtig und schwach, bekommen Kinder und überlassen diese dann geduldigen Verwandten. Gleichzeitig werden Frauen und Mädchen, die abtreiben, auch häufig als selbstsüchtig, ja sogar herzlos,… Read More »Das Schreiben von BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG # 1: Warum diese Story?

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7 Big Mistakes In Unpublished Novels

Unpublished Novels I’m reading more and more unpublished novels these days for Bang2writers. Just like the screenplays, I’m seeing lots of the same mistakes. So, here’s a round up of things to check out, so you can avoid those common pitfalls when you make your submissions: 7. Consistency of Tense & Mixed Tenses When I read unpublished novels for Bang2writers, one of the biggest issues is consistency of tense. This means the writer will chop and change from tense to tense, seemingly on a whim. Whilst this is not automatically incorrect, it frequently is … Particularly if you’re swapping tenses… Read More »7 Big Mistakes In Unpublished Novels

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Published!

My first novel is out! It’s YA and about the fates of Elizabeth, a teen girl who is presented with ALL the scenarios of what *could* happen should she continue with her unplanned pregnancy … or not. Think SLIDING DOORS with a teen girl at the helm who has to make the biggest decision of her life! The English Title was BUT WHAT NEXT? but my German publishers Rowohlt have called it BAUCH-ENTSCHEIDUNG or GUT DECISION, which I love. I could’t be happier with the cover, either. German speaker? Then buy it on Amazon, today via this link or click… Read More »Published!

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The Best Worst Year

There are only so many days of your life. We all know this. But we don’t KNOW it … Not until it smacks us in the face. And if you’re lucky, then you will still have chance to have more days – because of the efforts of clever people like doctors & nurses; or because a hero or heroine has stepped in and saved the day. And you will be okay after all and you thank God or fate or just plain luck for it. But in those moments of realisation – I could have died just then – there… Read More »The Best Worst Year

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Stuck In A Rut: 7 Ways You’re Sabotaging Yourself (And 1 Thing That Will Set You Free!)

Stuck In A Rut Is your writing stuck in a rut? You’re not alone. It’s  been a week since I posted *that* post about avoiding low budget depressing drama & high budget science fiction/fantasy spec scripts if you want to stand out from the crowd … And what a week! Some writers have been expressing: AMAZEBALLS! I TOTALLY GET IT! INVEST IN IDEAS! YAAAY! Others have been decidedly lukewarm: *Grumble grumble* MY SCRIPT IS ONE OF THOSE AND I HAVEN’T GOT ANY LEADS SO I “SPOSE” YOU “COULD” BE RIGHT *Grumble* … And others have said, point-blank: YOU’RE TOTALLY WRONG, GET… Read More »Stuck In A Rut: 7 Ways You’re Sabotaging Yourself (And 1 Thing That Will Set You Free!)

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Use of Symbolism In Novels

I’ve written before about symbolism with regards to screenwriting, referencing ALIEN and the use of the name Kane as a representation of Cain, from the Biblical story Cain and Abel. Symbolism MUST be simple in screenwriting – there simply isn’t the time to indulge it in great detail. This is why names of characters are often used a “short cut” to symbolism in movies and TV: there’s a Cain in EMMERDALE too, symbolic of trouble – in fact, Cain and Edmund (the troublesome son in KING LEAR) are probably the two most often-used names in movies and spec scripts to… Read More »Use of Symbolism In Novels

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Novel Writing: Characters, First/Third Person, Slang, Adaptation, Self Publishing

Many thanks to the Bang2writers who sent in these questions via Twitter, email and Facebook over the last two weeks regarding actual novel writing and its side interests, such as adaptation. Jennie asks: How many characters “should” be in a novel? In direct contrast to screenwriting, novels can have as many characters as they want. Novels don’t even have to stay with the same protagonist; they don’t necessarily need an antagonist; they can have a huge cast of characters to focus on; they can have an unreliable narrator – YOU NAME IT. This is the freeing – and often very… Read More »Novel Writing: Characters, First/Third Person, Slang, Adaptation, Self Publishing

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Are You On The Write Path?

When I was a child, I wrote to the journalist Julie Burchill and told her I wanted to be a writer. She wrote back with: Are you sure? Better to be a vet.  I thought she was nuts and promptly forgot all about it. Later, I decided I wanted to be a screenwriter. I did the BA (Hons) Scriptwriting for Film and Television at Bournemouth University and during the course of my dissertation, I interviewed a stack of working screenwriters at various stages of their careers. Each time I asked them the question, “Why be a screenwriter?” every single last… Read More »Are You On The Write Path?

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Guest Post: Self Publishing & Ebooks by Lucy V Morgan, Part 1

Bang2writers are venturing into self-publishing more and more, so I asked uber-self-pubber and fellow writer and name-sharer Lucy V Morgan her top tips on self publishing and ebooks. Enjoy!—————————–Help! I want to self publish. I think. Maybe. Or I dunno, actually. All the cool kidz iz doing it. I want to stick it to the man. But how do I stick it, and where? Do I really want to do this? I can write 90,000 words of pure awesome, but am SUDDENLY INCAPABLE OF MAKING THIS DECISION! [Facepalm] Calm down, now. Deep breaths. Soothing owl noises. Twit twoooo. Here’s some… Read More »Guest Post: Self Publishing & Ebooks by Lucy V Morgan, Part 1

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Happy New Year: Highs & Low

It’s been a great year – London Screenwriters Festival was bigger and better than its first year; Deviation, the thriller I associate-produced, sold to Revolver Entertainment for distribution in the new year and BUT WHAT NEXT? my first YA novel, sold to Rowohlt Publishers in Berlin and continues to be considered by a number of prominent UK publishers. And of course there was the arrival of our beloved Wee Girl # 2, who has found her voice and makes her feelings known every chance she gets – just like her elder siblings, the Wee Girl and The Male Spawn, both… Read More »Happy New Year: Highs & Low

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