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novels

No Matter What

I was one of those odd children. I wrote to professional writers. A lot. Mostly I asked them things like, “What’s it like, being a writer?” and “How can I be a writer?” Most of them didn’t reply. Then one day I got a reply. It was from Jimmy McGovern. It read simply, “Lucy: if you want to write, you will write.” I was about fourteen. I read it multiple times, sure I must be missing something. But I couldn’t figure out what it was, so like a typical teen I got the rage. He hadn’t told me anything! Then… Read More »No Matter What

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The Business Side Of Book Selling: Creating Book Trailers by Karen Smith

Self-publishing has become increasingly more popular over the years, but there’s one rather difficult aspect some authors might not consider when deciding to go the self-published route: self-marketing. Consumers won’t purchase your book if they don’t know it exists, but hiring a team of professional marketers can get pretty pricey. Using free marketing tools like social media, on the other hand, (and simply using the power of word-of-mouth) can draw some attention, but it might not be enough. One marketing technique that can help your book go viral and increase sales is to create a “book trailer.” Book trailers, similar… Read More »The Business Side Of Book Selling: Creating Book Trailers by Karen Smith

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Novels Vs Screenplays: Differences Writing Them

Many thanks to Mya, who asks about writing a screenplay when one is used to writing novels. I was a novelist after writing my own screenplays, but I feel I can answer this question from my script reading experience, as I have noted some significant pitfalls novelists *may* fall into when I’ve worked with Bang2writers trying to make the switch: Too much scene description. This is the obvious one. Used to writing lots of prose, the average novelist is often easy to pick out in the script pile because they write OODLES of scene description, often in big black chunks,… Read More »Novels Vs Screenplays: Differences Writing Them

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Identifying With Characters

Orwell prize-winning novelist Andrea Gillies drew attention to the rash of Amazon reviewers who, claiming they were “unable” to identify with the characters in books, marked them down in terms of the stars they gave. Andrea then went on to claim many classic narratives had no character one could *really* identify with, yet this did not stop them being great literature. I have to say I agree with Andrea. Though her original point was about novels, we see this issue in scriptwriting a lot. Readers will often claim they cannot identify with characters, thus question a script’s characterisation from a… Read More »Identifying With Characters

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An Interview with Mark Leigh by Samuel Caine

All this talking about 50 Shades has stirred up some very interesting questions about the future of publishing and e-books. Although I’d be more than happy to speak about the shifts in the publishing industry, I felt it’d be better to hear from someone a little more qualified. I donned the internet equivalent of a safari helmet and set off into the wilds, where I found Mark Leigh. He’s been writing since the late 1980s and published a whopping 45 books. He’s been extremely helpful and agreed to answer my questions about writing, publishing and the future of e-books. Sam… Read More »An Interview with Mark Leigh by Samuel Caine

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50 Shades Of Elitism by Samuel Caine

Oh, yes. This post is going exactly where you think. I’m going to talk about the much discussed 50 Shades of Grey, but I’ll confess now – I’ve not read it. This is not a critical analysis, or an endorsement of any kind. I am not defending the divisive contents of the book, which raise all sorts of issues about the glorification of consensual sexual violence, but it is a defence of sorts: it is a defence of the author and the book’s readers against the elitist demons in all of us…especially me. Over the past few months, as the… Read More »50 Shades Of Elitism by Samuel Caine

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Authorship For Screenwriters? By Samuel Caine

I want you to take a moment to think about the poor scriptwriter: Imagine a sad little scriptwriter face, the eyes moist with recently shed tears. They’re trying to contain the sobs but they just can’t. Why? Because they’re going to have a very hard time ever being dubbed an ‘author’. ‘And?’ I can almost hear you say… take a seat, and allow to me explain. Authorship is a pretty old idea (biblical, in fact), and one that I’d argue doesn’t actually sit too comfortably with film/television making. An author is usually defined as the person SOLELY responsible for the… Read More »Authorship For Screenwriters? By Samuel Caine

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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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How To Get The Most Out Of A Writer’s Group by Lisa Shoreland

Writer’s groups are a great way to get feedback about your work and learn how to improve your writing. They also provide you with the inspiration and motivation you likely need to keep writing and stay on track. Plus, they’re a great way to meet other writers and to form long-lasting friendships. However, as with any group, writer’s groups can easily lose focus and turn into unproductive social hours where you’re just chatting about the latest books you read or movies you saw. Even if you manage to stay on topic about writing, these groups can devolve into personal attacks… Read More »How To Get The Most Out Of A Writer’s Group by Lisa Shoreland

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Novel Submissions

It’s novel writing week over at Bang2writers, so here is a round up of questions I received on the Facebook page, via Twitter and email, all of which centered on novel submissions. Do I submit to an agent or a publisher in the first instance? Whilst some publishers take direct approaches from writers, I recommend submitting novels to agents in the first instance. Why? Because they have a huge amount of contacts, not only in getting English deals but foreign sales too as well as selling other things like movie rights. In other words, it’s their JOB, they know that… Read More »Novel Submissions

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Theme

I recently asked Bang2writers to get in touch with their thoughts on narrative function, so Ben W emailed me this: “I was in a meeting recently and the producer kept going on about how much she liked my theme of “Anti-Capitalism taking on big corporations”. I just nodded and said “thanks” but to be honest, I didn’t really know what she meant because I never really thought about any of that writing it … To me, it’s just a Zombie movie! So who’s right?” The dictionary defines the word “theme” as an “implicit or recurrent idea”. Typical themes in movies… Read More »Theme

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