Skip to content

novels

5 Important Elements of Writing a Romantic Comedy

Romantic Comedies Rock So, you want to write a romantic comedy … You’ve grabbed your pen or your laptop, and you’ve decided that it’s time to finally write. If only it were that simple! Not just anyone can sit down and spew out something funny, compelling and believable. At the very least, you need to keep some things in mind. Read on to find out more to find out what you need to make YOURS work … 1) Something Fresh One of the problems with romantic comedies these days is that they all seem to be exactly the same. Therefore,… Read More »5 Important Elements of Writing a Romantic Comedy

Share this:

6 Stock Characters That Need Retiring By Writers NOW

All About Stock Characters A stock character is a stereotypical fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film. Stock characters are immediately recognisable because they occur so frequently. I put it to you there are the stock characters infecting – yes, infecting – the spec pile. We must attempt to treat this disease with a huge dose of Spec Writing Salve, so we might cut off these tired tropes and offensive myths, rather than perpetuate them in our novels and screenplays! But where do we start??? 6) ‘Magical Queer’   AKA The “Gay… Read More »6 Stock Characters That Need Retiring By Writers NOW

Share this:

3 Reasons Why “Show, Don’t Tell It” Is Bad Writing Advice

“Show it, don’t tell it” is probably the most frequently quoted screenwriting advice (though you’ll hear it for novels and short stories too). And at its heart, yes it’s good stuff: OF COURSE we want to “show” our viewers and readers things; OF COURSE we don’t want to be “on the nose”, but use subtext instead; and OF COURSE we want to be thought of as “good” writers. Durr. But on surface level, “Show it, don’t tell it” is NOT good advice, especially for those writers struggling. Here’s 3 reasons why: 1. … The phrase has become redundant and/or unhelpful.  Anyone… Read More »3 Reasons Why “Show, Don’t Tell It” Is Bad Writing Advice

Share this:

Submission Horror Stories: 29 Ways NOT To Submit To An Agent

Submission Horror Stories ‘How NOT to submit to agents’ is one of the top searches leading to this blog! It should be noted there’s no ‘right’ way to submit writing, but there *are* multiple wrong ways, so check this post out. There are some real submission horror stories here … Many thanks to Carole Blake from the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency for providing a VERY comprehensive list on how NOT to submit to an agent. This is a fab list and  I have actually had a number 27 myself!! Maybe it was the same lady??? Eeek. This post is in… Read More »Submission Horror Stories: 29 Ways NOT To Submit To An Agent

Share this:

5 Tips For Writing Period Movies

I love being transported by movies, not just entertained, but transported, moved up the ladder to a different reality. I love walking out of the cinema with a story and storyworld still sticking to me, like napalm in the morning. This explains why I’m attracted to period pieces (and “period piece” also includes science fiction films, which are period pieces that look forward rather than backward). A lot of my screenwriting – paid gigs and spec work both – has focused on slips up or down the timeline. So here are a few guideposts that have been helpful to me… Read More »5 Tips For Writing Period Movies

Share this:

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

Share this:

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

Share this:

Bang2write Resources

FYI, there’s now dedicated B2W Resources AND Free Downloads pages at the top of this blog, under the banner! Or click > HERE I get lots of questions about One Page Pitches, such as how “best” to lay them out, what to put in them etc, so have created a new resource at The B2W Required Reading List. Download The One Page Pitch Reference Guide as a PDF here … And as a .doc here. Here’s another 6 Tips on writing a one page pitch for your script or novel. Other B2W resources that may be of interest: The B2W… Read More »Bang2write Resources

Share this:

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

Share this:

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

Share this:

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?

Share this:

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?

Share this: