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10 Quick Tips To Self-Edit Your Screenplay Or Novel

How To Self-Edit Your Screenplay Or Novel I’m a big believer in the self-edit for my drafts. I don’t see the point in sending my novels or screenplays out – even just to peer reviewers – without giving my writing a good polish first. I also recommend Bang2writers self-edit before paying for feedback, too! However, I’ve worked with writers now for over twenty years. I’ve noticed that many writers don’t know what an effective self-edit entails. They’ll tend to hyper-focus on itty-bitty things that don’t matter. Then they’ll move words around the page randomly. Waaaah. So, if you’re keen to… Read More »10 Quick Tips To Self-Edit Your Screenplay Or Novel

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1 Weird Trick To Avoid Using The Passive Voice In Your Writing

What Is The Passive Voice? The passive voice is a grammatical construction in which the subject of a sentence is acted upon by the verb, rather than performing the action itself. This results in a less direct, often more ambiguous sentence structure. This does NOT mean the passive voice is automatically ‘wrong’, but when it comes to writing fiction, it might not be desirable. But what does it look like? Here you go … Passive Voice example: The book was written by Lucy V Hay (By the way, it’s not tense-dependent. It would still be passive if it said, ‘The… Read More »1 Weird Trick To Avoid Using The Passive Voice In Your Writing

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How To Write A Great Cover Letter That Gets Results

Why do writers need to write cover letters? It’s the 2020s and the digital era, so why do writers need to worry about cover letters? Well, these days cover letters are most likely cover EMAILS … but you’ll still need the basics of how to write them. The only thing that’s changed is the delivery, basically. This means you’ll usually write cover letters as part of your submission process. This will frequently be a requirement, even if you’re using an online submissions portal such as CoverFly, Submittable or QueryTracker. Other times you may be expected to use cover letters is… Read More »How To Write A Great Cover Letter That Gets Results

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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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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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10 Words You Need To Stop Misspelling

Need Help With Misspelling? Misspelling words come with the territory when you’re a writer … Hell, I discovered when writing this headline *I* have been misspelling this word as ‘mispell’!! FML. There are lots of common words writers misspell frequently, too. The infographic below lists some of the most common misspelled words with some amusing explanations to keep them in mind. Whilst B2W believes that grammar, spelling and punctuation purists can go F themselves, it’s still wise to work out which words give us consistent trouble. This way, we can find strategies to ensure they don’t trip us up in… Read More »10 Words You Need To Stop Misspelling

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10 Simple Steps For Revising Your Draft

So, You’ve Finished Your Draft! Congratulations, but you still have work to do: revising it!! But where to start?? If you are feeling overwhelmed, then check out these 10 revision pointers for novels or screenplays. They can act as a handy checklist for revising your draft. Good luck … 1) Wait! First up, do NOTHING. That’s right … Just let that novel sit in a drawer or on your computer’s desktop. Do absolutely zilch with it, for a couple of days (minimum) or weeks (preferred) or months (maximum). Let your subconscious bubble away, revising any of your story’s problems as… Read More »10 Simple Steps For Revising Your Draft

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Top 5 Grammar Mistakes Writers Make

All About Grammar Mistakes There’s one thing that stands in the way standing in the way of great content: grammar mistakes. We can all attest to reading badly written content. Sometimes it leaves us wondering whether they even passed their English exams at all. Of course, we all make grammar mistakes. No writer is perfect, plus we don’t need to be total purists to write flawless content. That said, you can transform your writing skills by becoming aware of the most common grammar mistakes. Not only will you save time proofreading, but the content readability will improve. Plus, you can engage with your… Read More »Top 5 Grammar Mistakes Writers Make

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Top 20 Screenplay Contest Tips From Scriptapalooza

Screenplay Contest Tips From Scriptapalooza Many thanks to The Scriptapalooza Screenplay competition for today’s post. There’s some straightforward gold here that can provide a powerful reset and act as a really useful checklist. If you’re planning on entering contests this season, be sure to check out Scriptapalooza at the bottom of the post. Ready? Then let’s go … 1) Read the Submissions Guidelines Each competition has its own guidelines/rules. Make sure you read them and submit exactly what each competition suggests. 2) Always spell check your script Nothing is more frustrating than a producer reading your script and seeing mistake… Read More »Top 20 Screenplay Contest Tips From Scriptapalooza

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Top 5 Edits Mistakes Writers Make

All About Edits Do you love edits, or loathe them? Since I am a script editor, luckily I love them! That said, I recognise it can be a daunting process for many writers. Often this is because they just don’t know where to start, or whether they’re doing it ‘right’. I have worked with LOADS of writers now, both screenwriters and novelists. Here’s the top 5 mistakes I see writers make on edits all the time, plus what to do about them. Let’s go … 1) Starting Micro (Instead Of Macro) Too many writers sweat the small stuff on their… Read More »Top 5 Edits Mistakes Writers Make

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Want Your Script To Get F***ing Read? Do This

F***ing Learn From This Ten years ago, screenwriter Josh Olson wrote ‘I Will Not Read Your F***ing Script’. ​In it, he outlines being asked to read an acquaintance’s boyfriend’s synopsis and ‘be honest’ with him. To say the article lit up the blogosphere back then is an understatement. Seemingly EVERYONE had an opinion on whether Olson was right, wrong or just an asshole. B2W empathised with both sides of the debate at the time. After all, I work with writers and can see why they’d value an opinion like Olson’s. If you can include a pro writer in your beta… Read More »Want Your Script To Get F***ing Read? Do This

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Top 5 Novel Writing Mistakes Authors Make

All About Novel Writing Writing a novel can be very challenging. Every writer has different struggles, but there are very common mistakes many writers make. Knowing what these mistakes are can be half the battle. Here are some things that you can avoid them from the start. Ready? Let’s go! 1) Doing It All Alone Novel writing is rewarding and can be amazing, but not if you push yourself too hard. Don’t cut everyone out of your life and chain yourself to your computer’s keyboard. Writing does not require a vow of silence! Many newbie writers push themselves to the… Read More »Top 5 Novel Writing Mistakes Authors Make

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