Skip to content

proof reading

5 Ways To Use Feedback Effectively On Your Screenplay or Novel

So, you’ve got some feedback on your writing … Maybe it’s great … Yay! Or maybe it’s bad. Boo. Or maybe it’s both? OMFG. Whatever: you need to use that feedback effectively in order to rewrite. You know this. But what next? This is often where writers come unstuck … ‘Cos they don’t know how to use feedback effectively, even with GOOD notes!!! Sometimes it’s because there seems like too much choice … Other times it’s because problems with a draft seem insurmountable, or life gets in the way. Sometimes all of the above – or something else. Ack. CUE WRITER… Read More »5 Ways To Use Feedback Effectively On Your Screenplay or Novel

Share this:

Submission Horror Stories: 29 Ways NOT To Submit To An Agent

Submission Horror Stories ‘How NOT to submit to agents’ is one of the top searches leading to this blog! It should be noted there’s no ‘right’ way to submit writing, but there *are* multiple wrong ways, so check this post out. There are some real submission horror stories here … Many thanks to Carole Blake from the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency for providing a VERY comprehensive list on how NOT to submit to an agent. This is a fab list and  I have actually had a number 27 myself!! Maybe it was the same lady??? Eeek. This post is in… Read More »Submission Horror Stories: 29 Ways NOT To Submit To An Agent

Share this:

10 Ways To Conquer Your Scene Description

All About Scene Description Scene description is arguably the most problematic, yet most important, element of your screenplay. You probably write more of it than anything else (that’s right … even if you subscribe to the notion “less is more”!). I’ve been writing a fair bit about scene description lately in notes for people lately. I thought I would write a dedicated post about the pesky things that can interrupt the “flow” of the story and/or make the page look messy. So, good scene description should: Push the story forward Reveal character Do a bit of both Well, durr, etc.… Read More »10 Ways To Conquer Your Scene Description

Share this:

5 Killer Errors That Will Sink Your Reputation … And Ways You Can Fix Them!

Killer Errors No one likes to think about spelling and punctuation errors in their writing. It’s the story that’s important. No-one’s gonna care about typos when it’s the content that counts. It’ll get corrected when it’s typeset. Yada yada yada. You can make excuses until you’re blue in the face, but the fact remains that literary professionals (including script readers) like to read well written English and if you’ve got pesky errors you will set off their grammar police sirens. Thing is, though, these mistakes are far easier to check for and to correct than you think. It just takes… Read More »5 Killer Errors That Will Sink Your Reputation … And Ways You Can Fix Them!

Share this:

7 Big Mistakes In Unpublished Novels

Unpublished Novels I’m reading more and more unpublished novels these days for Bang2writers. Just like the screenplays, I’m seeing lots of the same mistakes. So, here’s a round up of things to check out, so you can avoid those common pitfalls when you make your submissions: 7) Consistency of Tense & Mixed Tenses When I read unpublished novels for Bang2writers, one of the biggest issues is consistency of tense. This means the writer will chop and change from tense to tense, seemingly on a whim. Whilst this is not automatically incorrect, it frequently is … Particularly if you’re swapping tenses… Read More »7 Big Mistakes In Unpublished Novels

Share this:

Your Book Is Movie …

… I heard this advice at a seminar at London Book Fair 2010. It was a real watershed moment for me. It was quite literally the best advice I ever heard, because it finally unlocked the idea in my head that had been percolating for about five years, which enabled me to craft my novel so that it sold. But what does it mean? Seems to me there’s two ways of thinking about “your book is a movie”: Your book will want to “unlock” all possible markets … In other words, if your book can be easily adapted INTO a… Read More »Your Book Is Movie …

Share this:

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

Share this:

Screenplay Format – The B2W One Stop Shop

Updated for the 2020s Good Format Is … … Not getting BUSTED! Screenplay format is top of the pile when work experience kids read our work (and they are!). Unfortunately, screenplay format is what they understand and latch onto. Whilst any writer can obviously do what they want, there are obvious and basic things a writer can avoid/cut/change to make sure their script is less likely to get thrown aside when it’s plucked out of the spec pile. Top 5 Format Mistakes Wondering what are the FIVE most made mistakes when it comes to screenplay format?? CLICK HERE. Free Format 1… Read More »Screenplay Format – The B2W One Stop Shop

Share this: