Skip to content

plot construction

5 Things I Learned About Plotting From THE SERPENT on BBC1

The Serpent on BBC1 The Serpent is a 2021 BBC limited series about a real-life serial killer Charles Sobhraj who befriended, robbed and murdered dozens of young western backpackers in Asia in the 1970s. Its eight 60 minute episodes got 6-8m views when it first aired in 2021 and it seems to be developing a cult following. It spans decades, crosses continents, and involves multiple cases of mistaken and stolen identities. It could so easily be baffling,  yet it is effortlessly bingeable and often has an almost hypnotic, dreamlike feel. Five examples of top-class craft in the pilot episode of… Read More »5 Things I Learned About Plotting From THE SERPENT on BBC1

Share this:

Create50: 3 Tips For An Awesome Horror Short Story (Plus 3 Tips On Feedback)

What is Create50? Can you write a short horror story in time for the Halloween launch event? If you can, you should get involved in Twisted50 from Create50.  It is a competition-like initiative from the London Screenwriters Festival with two very simple aims … Platform talent from as many emerging writers in one hit. For us that’s 50 writers who will get a huge boost in about 12 weeks now. Encourage writers to both write and give feedback, often in genres they don’t normally write for. Keeping it under 2,000 words for short stories means the bar to entry is… Read More »Create50: 3 Tips For An Awesome Horror Short Story (Plus 3 Tips On Feedback)

Share this:

What Writers Can Learn From Jason Bateman: 6 Of His Top Roles

All About Jason Bateman Jason Bateman has long been a famous face in Hollywood, known for his various acting abilities and compelling performances. As a respected character actor, he is well-known for his versatility like his fellow A-Lister Ryan Gosling. I always recommend Bang2writers study their favourite actors’ work. This is because too many screenwriters forget actors are not just ‘meat puppets’. Actors choose stories that appeal to them, plus they work very hard at interpreting their roles. Actors also frequently have a very good eye for ‘the hook’ that will get viewers through the door of the cinema, or… Read More »What Writers Can Learn From Jason Bateman: 6 Of His Top Roles

Share this:

Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make With Their Fantasy Stories

How NOT to Write Fantasy Stories Fantasy stories are brilliant because technically, we can write whatever we want … but the bad news is, we can write whatever we want! For a lot of writers this can lead to feeling overwhelmed, which in turn can mean big mistakes. So if we can do whatever we want, perhaps it’s better to concentrate on what NOT to do?? Here’s my advice on how NOT to write fantasy stories (whether screenplay or novel). Ready? Let’s go … 1) Lack of Originality Yes, we don’t want anything TOO original … we need to be able… Read More »Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make With Their Fantasy Stories

Share this:

Spotlight on Structure: How To Use The Rashomon Storytelling Technique

What Is The Rashomon Storytelling Technique? If you haven’t heard of the Rashomon storytelling technique, you’ve almost certainly watched a movie or TV show or read a book that uses it. Named after the 1950 Japanese film by Akira Kurosawa’s groundbreaking Rashomon, this technique is known for its use of multiple perspectives to tell a single story. By allowing different characters to share their individual versions of events, the truth becomes subjective and open to interpretation. Examples of films and TV shows that use the Rashomon technique are … Pulp Fiction (1994) The Usual Suspects (1995) The Simpsons, Trilogy of… Read More »Spotlight on Structure: How To Use The Rashomon Storytelling Technique

Share this:

An Epic Rant On Why Your Spec Script Is Doomed (Unless You Avoid This)

So, You Want Your Spec Script To Get Noticed? Writing a spec script is hard, but getting a sale for that spec script is even harder. No screenwriter’s journey is the same, plus this crazy industry is not transparent AT ALL. That’s one of the reasons I began this blog in the first place. I wanted to help writers AVOID their scripts being doomed before they even got off the starter blocks!! So what’s the number 1 problem standing in too many new writers’ way? Themselves. They doom their OWN scripts from the get-go. Yup, you read that right. Supersadface.… Read More »An Epic Rant On Why Your Spec Script Is Doomed (Unless You Avoid This)

Share this:

10 Ways Tarot Archetypes Can Help You Write Your Story

Many thanks to writer and B2W Academy member Pamela PerryGoulardt who has written today’s post about Tarot archetypes … AND created these fantastic cards herself. Wow! I am blown away by how gorgeous the images are. The lady is a talent! Writers often ask me ‘how’ to write great characters visually, so when Pamela suggested Tarot I was all ears. Whilst I have been aware of the practice for decades, I’d never thought of using Tarot cards as a writing aid. So, over to you Pamela! Write Stories That Are Off The Charts! Tarot is a detailed system of numbers… Read More »10 Ways Tarot Archetypes Can Help You Write Your Story

Share this:

The #1 Question Writers Need To Ask Of Their Writing (Do It!!)

The Question You Need To Ask So a couple of weeks ago, I published an article, Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make On Their Page 1 Of Their Screenplays. In the article I gave two examples of (fake) screenplays that had issues. I also posted these script examples to the B2W social media, asking the Bang2writers ‘What’s wrong with THIS page 1?’ (below). Here’s what the Bangers said … ‘Not enough details about Katie – is she the protagonist? If so, what is she wearing? What music is she listening to?’ ‘Missing character descriptions’ ‘It says INT when it should be… Read More »The #1 Question Writers Need To Ask Of Their Writing (Do It!!)

Share this:

Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make On Page 1 Of Their Screenplays

The Page 1 Test Page 1 is THE most important page in your entire screenplay. You have to start as you mean to go on. Most spec screenwriters know they have up to 10 pages to impress the script reader … but few realise it’s page 1 that really needs to rock FIRST. So, to make sure your first page doesn’t sink your chances, read on. Let’s go! 1) Starting with something DULL on page 1 Dull is in the eye of the beholder of course … but there’s plenty of pitfalls we can commit with the very first sentence… Read More »Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make On Page 1 Of Their Screenplays

Share this:

Plotting 101: Top 10 Tips For Crafting Compelling Stories

Plotting Like a Pro One of the most searched-for terms on this blog is ‘help with plotting’. Plot – aka structure if you’re a screenwriter – can be a tricky beast. Despite it being fashionable to claim plotting is ‘easy’ to fix, this is utter BILGE … which is why it’s a good idea to try and ensure you don’t tie yourself up in knots at foundation level! So, whether you’re a novelist looking for help plotting your book, or a screenwriter who needs guidance on structuring your script, these quick tips should help. Ready? Let’s go … 1) It’s… Read More »Plotting 101: Top 10 Tips For Crafting Compelling Stories

Share this:

Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make With Character Introductions

On Character Introductions Character introductions are super-important in good writing, whether it’s a novel or screenplay. A well-crafted character introduction provides context and relevance, which means the audience can connect with the characters on a deeper level. What’s not to like? Unfortunately, character introductions are often where writers stumble, which in turn affects the rest of the story. For the five biggest mistakes writers make with character introductions, check out the following … ready? Let’s go! 1) Laundry List Intros This is probably one of my ultimate pet peeve character introductions in both scripts and unpublished novels because it’s SO… Read More »Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make With Character Introductions

Share this:

No, Your Characters DON’T Have To Change In Your Novel Or Screenplay. Here’s Why

Do Characters ‘Have’ To Change? In any conversation online about characterisation, it’s never long before somebody pops up proclaiming characters HAVE to change. They may even insist that a character who doesn’t change has ‘no arc’. Calling the department of WRONG! No, characters do NOT have to change. I can’t stress this enough. In fact, sometimes it’s desirable they DON’T change. Have I blown your mind? If I have, I’m not surprised. Writing gurus – especially in screenwriting circles – have been SO didactic about this topic in the last thirty or forty years. As a result, generations of writers… Read More »No, Your Characters DON’T Have To Change In Your Novel Or Screenplay. Here’s Why

Share this: