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How To Write A Great Story Arc For Your Character (With Examples)

A Great Story Arc Needs Conflict Every great story has a beginning, middle, and end, also known as a story arc. In order to keep your audience engaged, your story should have a clear story arc with a conflict that is resolved by the end. Le duh! But what is a story arc? As you may guess, it’s the narrative structure of a story. How that story arc works will depend on the story being told. Characters may deal with problems – aka conflict – in order to make changes in their lives or important realisations. The most common of these… Read More »How To Write A Great Story Arc For Your Character (With Examples)

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10 Superb Writing Reminders From Sally Wainwright

About Sally Wainwright So, the long-awaited third series of Happy Valley by Sally Wainwright on BBC1/iPlayer concluded last night. Wow! I thought it would be a great idea to check out what Sally has to say about writing … and I found some GOLD for you Bangers! But first up, all about Sally Wainwright! She is an English television writer, producer, and director from Yorkshire. Starting out first as a playwright, she also worked on the classic serial radio drama The Archers. She created her first original drama series At Home With The Braithwaites, which ran 2000-2003. Other TV series Sally… Read More »10 Superb Writing Reminders From Sally Wainwright

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6 Things I Learned Writing A Fantasy Novel

Writing Your Own Fantasy Novel The rules of good writing apply to every fictional genre and a fantasy novel is no different … You need to: Put your protagonist through the wringer, facing ever greater dangers and tougher dilemmas Build the story, tie in the subplots, and construct a satisfying resolution Do all this in clear and comprehensible prose! I’m Glyn Carter. When I was writing my own fantasy novel Gog-Magog, I realised the fantasy genre offers writers specific opportunities and challenges. Here are six ways in which fantasy has its own demands. 1) Characters need a ‘reason to live’… Read More »6 Things I Learned Writing A Fantasy Novel

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5 Top Tips From The Black Phone Writers Can Learn

Watch & Read The Black Phone Now The Black Phone is a movie adaptation of the 2004 short story of the same title by Joe Hill. Directed by Scott Derrickson, the screenplay is written by Derrickson and his long-time collaborator C. Robert Cargill. I’m a HUGE fan of both Hill and this duo’s previous output including Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, so I was keen to watch the movie regardless. The logline for The Black Phone on imdb reads, “After being abducted by a child killer and locked in a soundproof basement, a 13-year-old boy starts receiving calls… Read More »5 Top Tips From The Black Phone Writers Can Learn

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It’s Never ONLY About The Story In Screenwriting – And That’s A GOOD Thing

‘It should ONLY be about the story!’ I often talk to writers about the commercial aspects of screenwriting. As someone who has seen lots of deals happen, I know that money talks. The industry is NOT a patron of the arts. It follows the $$$ because it’s ‘show BUSINESS’ after all. This means … Remakes and reboots are here to stay Great TV shows get cancelled if they don’t get enough views in the first few weeks (yes, really!) Why badly-written movies may still earn stacks Or why indie productions can sink without a trace if they don’t have enough… Read More »It’s Never ONLY About The Story In Screenwriting – And That’s A GOOD Thing

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3 Steps To Writing A Complex Structure In Your Story

Are you writing a complex structure? As veteran Bangers know, I’m a huge fan of  a complex structure in both novels and screenplays … So when creator of Atomic Blonde Antony Johnston got in contact offering a guest post about writing his own complex structure, I bit his hand off! So if you’re struggling with your own complex structure, check out Antony’s tips and insights. Enjoy and over to you, Antony … Books are like magic tricks   Books require sleight of hand, misdirection, and a grand reveal. But the truth behind any trick is often quite dull … The famous… Read More »3 Steps To Writing A Complex Structure In Your Story

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10 Important DON’Ts You Must Think About When Writing Your Story

Important DON’Ts Storytelling is much harder than it looks, so I have composed a list of DON’Ts to think about when writing your story. If you find this post useful, please pass it on to your writer friends and followers. Ready? Let’s go … 1) DON’T: Start Too Early If you begin too early in your story, you end up with a ‘top-heavy’ draft. This is no good, because modern readers and viewers do NOT want to wait for your story to start. But how do we avoid starting too early? Well, think about beginning with some kind of EVENT… Read More »10 Important DON’Ts You Must Think About When Writing Your Story

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Finding Your Emotional Truth: 3 Tips from the Trenches

How To Write With Emotional Truth In the household I grew up in, showing emotions was a weakness. Naturally, my first reaction when learning that I need to “write with emotional truth” was to run for the hills. When I calmed down and came back, I started a long and exhausting process of figuring out what my emotional truth is. It took me a long time to figure out how to start the process. So, here are a few things that helped me get going. TIP 1) Explore and Excavate Emotions The first step is to figure out how you… Read More »Finding Your Emotional Truth: 3 Tips from the Trenches

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3 Steps To Writing, Editing & Submitting Your Novel

Writing, Editing AND Submitting (Or Self-Publishing!) Your Novel  B2W is best known for its screenwriting advice, but being a novelist and author myself, I also love to write and read about the art of novel writing, too. So, with lots of you Bang2writers out there resolving to write a novel then, here’s my top tips on getting yours written, edited AND out there! Enjoy … 1) Writing Your Novel DYK? Writing a novel is HARD! Le duh. The good news is, there’s a plethora of help online to get us through the process. Here’s some popular B2W articles with the… Read More »3 Steps To Writing, Editing & Submitting Your Novel

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Top 5 Solutions When You’re Stuck on Your Novel

How To Get Unstuck On Your Novel Are you stuck on your novel? Have you tried several different approaches, only to end up stuck again? I experienced this with my most recent novel, The Beached Ones. It took me years to get past that stuck place. Talk about frustrating! I thought I was going to have to give up on the story. You may be feeling the same way. If so, I’m here to tell you: I got through that stuck place and went on to win a publishing contract for the book. You can too. When You’re Stuck on Your… Read More »Top 5 Solutions When You’re Stuck on Your Novel

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5 Examples of Story Structure You Should Know About

All About Story Structure Whether you’re writing a novel or screenplay, story structure matters. Building a story structure is like crafting a backbone for your narrative. It helps the audience understand the timeline and meaning of each event, keeping them engaged until the very end. All too often writers focus solely on describing their characters rather than the story’s overall architecture. This has a knock-on effect and an under-developed story structure can literally ruin your characterisation. The truth is that plot building is just as important, if not more, than the protagonist’s quirks and conflicts. So you’ll need to become… Read More »5 Examples of Story Structure You Should Know About

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The Birthday Party: A Genius Analogy To Help Writers Introduce Their Stories

Feeling Awkward We’ve all been to a party where we don’t know anyone. We stand in the corner, feeling lost. Or where we are introduced to 27 people in 3 minutes and know we will never EVER remember who any of them are. It’s a horrible feeling, isn’t it … … So why would you do that to your own readers? Why??? The Birthday Party Analogy I have an analogy I use when thinking about how to start a script. I like to imagine that my audience/reader is someone I have invited to the birthday party of a friend of… Read More »The Birthday Party: A Genius Analogy To Help Writers Introduce Their Stories

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