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Guest Post: 5 Films That Just Don’t *Get* The Book

When Mark from LocateTV asked me if one of his team could write a guest post for the blog, I was only too happy to oblige! Melissa Campbell writes here about adaptation and how books don’t always *get* what the source material was truly about. For those of you who don’t know, on LocateTV you can check local TV listings throughout the US, the UK and Ireland, and you can set up email alerts to let you know when your favourite show or actor is on. Enjoy…———–We often groan when we hear a film is based on a best-selling novel.… Read More »Guest Post: 5 Films That Just Don’t *Get* The Book

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Guest Post: Why Not Write A Novel? By Helen Smith

With my own novel still underway, now seemed a great time to hear about Helen’s thoughts on novel writing. Enjoy!———————————-Are you a writer? You’ve got a brilliant idea for a film or a TV series? You’re wondering how to get it into the hands of Hollywood film producers or senior commissioning executives at the BBC or other TV networks? Well, keep reading because I may have a solution for you, my friend. Welcome to Lucy’s blog. I will be your guest blogger for today. I write novels, poetry, plays, screenplays and children’s books. I’m a member of the Writers’ Guild… Read More »Guest Post: Why Not Write A Novel? By Helen Smith

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Guest Post: Conversations With My Idea by Alison Bond

Novelist and screenwriter Alison Bond shares with us her wrangles with writing… Enjoy! ————————————— I wrote my first book. It got published. Five stars in Heat Magazine and the tabs and some rather sexy posters on the London Underground. It sold nothing. If forty five thousand copies is nothing. Which apparently it is. I wrote another book, in fact I wrote two. More good reviews, blah blah blah. And now it is time to think about the next story. Luckily I have an idea that speaks to me. WRITE ME. I start writing it as usual and then I stop,… Read More »Guest Post: Conversations With My Idea by Alison Bond

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The London Book Fair, Monday Apr 19th – Notes

I attended the London Book Fair this Monday just past… Here’s what I learned in three seminars there. Enjoy!——————————Assess Your Manuscript – Rebecca Swift, The Literary Consultancy Several Bang2writers have used this service for their own novels and spoken highly of it, so I was keen to hear what Rebecca had to say. I was a little disappointed to hear what I felt was essentially a extended sales pitch for the full half hour: I’d have liked to hear about Rebecca’s own experiences with the slush pile and HOW she might assess a person’s manuscript (as the title of the… Read More »The London Book Fair, Monday Apr 19th – Notes

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Nanowrimo Special: Julian Friedmann at the SWF 09 "A Novel Approach"

I’ve been saving this to post up when the wind went out of my sails on Nanowrimo – which is right now. If you are too, check out Julian’s thoughts below, might give you the push you need!———————————————-Novelists turn to screenwriting and vice versa, but this often fails. Why? We are all STORYTELLERS. But to write a 100,000 word novel typically takes 6 – 9 months, which can be very off-putting. Nevertheless, Julian believes writing prose is a very serious compliment to screenwriting. Six Reasons to Write Books As Well As Scripts: – You’ve probably read more novels than scripts… Read More »Nanowrimo Special: Julian Friedmann at the SWF 09 "A Novel Approach"

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Guest Post: Once Upon A Time… Children’s Stories By Katie McCullough

After being commissioned to adapt an open air production of “Alice in Wonderland” it got me thinking about the power of children’s stories. We’re all born natural storytellers. We know when something is a beginning, a middle and an end and we can also tell stories as we reinvent, elaborate and regale to parents, friends and colleagues. But what keeps the appeal especially when we grow up? The flux of cinematic children’s stories such as the upcoming “Alice in Wonderland”, “Fantastic Mr Fox” and “Where The Wild Things Are” just reiterate the excitement for all ages a child’s tale can… Read More »Guest Post: Once Upon A Time… Children’s Stories By Katie McCullough

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The Frustrated Novelist

So one day a little girl saw a bookcase and decided to be a writer. Said bookcase was full of novels with titles like SHADOWFIRES, MIDNIGHT, CABAL, WEAVEWORLD, IMAJICA, CARRIE and FIRESTARTER. Later the little girl would discover her mother had got them via one of those book clubs where you get them by post whether you like it or not and can’t return them. Mother didn’t even like horror *that much*, yet entirely by accident would influence her daughter’s genre choice. But for the little girl, the paperbacks in that big bookcase in the spooky corridor near the bathroom… Read More »The Frustrated Novelist

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WTF? On Film 3: Van Helsing

SPOILERS DELUXE I can just imagine the Execs who commissioned VAN HELSING: “Get me a screenwriter who can deliver a script based on the Dracula myth… but make it new and make sure there’s some like, ninja stars/mini buzz saws in it. Oh: and Frankenstein. And Jekyll & Hyde. And monks. And hell! Let’s shove some werewolves in too, why not? But make sure there’s a reason FOR ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IN IT – except maybe the ninja star/buzz saws, we’ll let them off that one. And call Hugh Jackman, he looks good with his shirt off, maybe he carry long… Read More »WTF? On Film 3: Van Helsing

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URGENT: Don’t Make Me Write My Own Scripts!!!

So, I’m almost to the bottom of *that* script-pile that’s been forcing its way through my letterbox and onto my desktop CONSTANTLY for the last few months. By my calculations, I may even have – gasp! – NOTHING TO READ by Tuesday this week!!! WTF?? I know most of you will be counting the pennies this close to Chrstmas, so here’s an incentive for you… Book a slot with me (oo er) before December 1st* (*you needn’t take up the slot BEFORE Dec 1st, though I’m happy to proceed ASAP!) and you can get: – The Overview Report: Your short… Read More »URGENT: Don’t Make Me Write My Own Scripts!!!

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Bang2write’s Most Frequently Asked Questions

I get loads of emails from people and some get repeated quite frequently, from stuff about my reading services, to craft and even “agony aunt”-style advice, so I thought I would compose a list of my most frequently asked questions via email. Enjoy!——————————————————————————– Just so you don’t go boss-eyed, I’ve listed and numbered the questions for easy referral. I wanted to link them so they went up and down the page so you needn’t scroll too much, but I’m afraid I don’t know how to do it. Soz! When I do, I’ll change it for you. Enjoy… ON SCRIPT READING:… Read More »Bang2write’s Most Frequently Asked Questions

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Cover Letters: The Write Way And The Wrong Way

The marvellous Becky asks my thoughts on cover letters today. I’ve read a lot of cover letters over the years that accompany scripts. I know a lot of agents’ assistants, readers, etc don’t bother but I’ve always found them very illuminating. What a writer does (or doesn’t) put in their cover letter can say A LOT about the script’s quality, believe it or not, in that the weirder or more badly written a cover letter is, *generally speaking* the weirder and more badly written the actual script is. A simple equation, really. So here’s a quick breakdown of my thoughts… Read More »Cover Letters: The Write Way And The Wrong Way

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Head Exploding. Back… Later.

I feel at the moment as if my head is beset with stories. On the one hand, I have my RPP entry. It’s going pretty well: I have a full draft, I’ve had lots of feedback and yesterday I had a read-through with some lovely actors. They offered me lots of great suggestions, thoughts and points of view for improving the script, though they did suggest I might need to re-align the beginning. I actually agree with them, but of course I’ve already sent my ten pages off. However I couldn’t have had this epiphany BEFORE this point and it’s… Read More »Head Exploding. Back… Later.

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