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10 Top Tips About Bad Reviews

On Bad Reviews All writers suffer bad reviews. If you’ve got one or more from readers, viewers or places you’ve submitted (such as film festivals, agents, publishers, or elsewhere) you will know this heartache. You’re hurt, confused and probably can’t stop obsessing about them. Those bad reviews may be all you can think about, even at the expense of the good ones. This is NORMAL. Our stories are our babies. We’ve spent oodles of our time on them. We’ve probably made all kinds of sacrifices to get them written, submitted, published or produced. Supersadface. So how to deal with these… Read More »10 Top Tips About Bad Reviews

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5 Times It’s Okay To Write Stereotypes (Really!)

Writing Stereotypes So it’s accepted modern writing wisdom that writers should never, ever, ever, ever write stereotypes. A stereotype is a simplification, a short-hand if you will. It’s generally thought nowadays that only BAD writers use stereotypes. But what if I told you stereotypes are a writing TOOL like any other … it just depends how that tool is USED??? Really!! Writers can use stereotypes whenever they want … as long as it’s ON PURPOSE, not by accident. But what does ‘on purpose’ mean? Check out the below and pass it on to your writer friends and followers. Let’s go! 1) For… Read More »5 Times It’s Okay To Write Stereotypes (Really!)

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Why Novelists Should Write Outlines Just Like Screenwriters

Outlines: For Or Against?  It seems every writer has an opinion on outlines! But often writers will fall into two camps … Those who do write outlines and those who don’t. Generally speaking, novelists who do outline tend to advocate the practice as the ‘common sense’ approach. Their outlines may be super-detailed or broad strokes.  The uber-organised authors may even use spreadsheets to keep track of every minute detail in their book … or they may use bullet points, notes to self or similar instead. In contrast, novelists who don’t outline are often very loud online. Such writers like Stephen… Read More »Why Novelists Should Write Outlines Just Like Screenwriters

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5 Telltale Signs You’re a Writer at Heart

Telltale Signs There are telltale signs you are a writer at heart. If putting pen to paper to churn out books, screenplays or articles feels like something you’ve always been destined to do, you could be right! Check out our compiled list of telltale signs that could indicate the art of writing flows in your blood. Ready? Let’s go … 1) You Just Have to Write Down Ideas Way before I started writing full time, I always found myself coming up with new ideas for stories and articles. It was happening so regularly I found myself always carrying a notebook… Read More »5 Telltale Signs You’re a Writer at Heart

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How To Write A Protagonist Who Is A Total Asshole

Asshole, NOT Antihero So, you want to write a protagonist for your screenplay or novel that is a total asshole. There’s nothing wrong with doing this … but first, let’s identify what actually makes up an asshole protagonist. I’d first say an asshole character is NOT an antihero. As we know, antiheroes are in demand in the 2020s, both for male and female protagonists. An antihero is defined in the dictionary as simply ‘lacking traditional heroic attributes’. What this means is left open to interpretation. That said, since The Hero’s Journey is still super-popular, we can assume those traditional attributes are… Read More »How To Write A Protagonist Who Is A Total Asshole

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How To Build Your Self-Esteem As A Writer: 5 Top Tips

How To Build Your Self-Esteem You may think building your self-esteem as a writer is very difficult. Working as a professional writer can be challenging as there are so many talented writers all over the world. Being confident in what you do is one of the most important things you will need to excel. This means you need to build your self-esteem as quickly as possible. To help you overcome this feeling, here are some important steps to follow. These can help you you’re your self-esteem and become more confident in your writing skills. Ready? Let’s go … 1) Get… Read More »How To Build Your Self-Esteem As A Writer: 5 Top Tips

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15 Words You Never Knew Came From Literature

Literary words Did you know a lot of the words we use came from literature? That’s right, writers don’t just use words, sometimes they INVENT them too! I’m a big fan of made-up words (though aren’t all words made up??).  I always look forward to hearing about the additions to the English dictionary. Last year ‘hellacious’ made it in, which I absolutely love … 2020 sure was that! Of course, we don’t always know where the words come from … but sometimes authors coin a word that is so fitting, it ends up part of our culutral lexicon. Check out the… Read More »15 Words You Never Knew Came From Literature

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Feel The Power: Top 10 Witches In Books, Movies and TV

All about Witches So unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ll know my latest book The Coven (as Lizzie Fry) is about witches … and the paperback is out TODAY! I’ve been delighted by how the hardback and ebook have been received so far. Even actual witches have told me they’ve loved it. Thanks so much my witchy sisters, it means so much you feel my representation is authentic! The Coven is set in a parallel world just like our own but where witchcraft is slightly different to what we might expect. 50% of women have some form of magic… Read More »Feel The Power: Top 10 Witches In Books, Movies and TV

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10 Quick Tips From TV Showrunner Ashley Pharoah

About Ashley Pharoah  Ashley Pharoah is a British screenwriter and television producer. He is best known as the co-creator/writer of TV classic drama LIFE ON MARS and creator/writer of the family drama WILD AT HEART, BONEKICKERS and THE LIVING AND THE DEAD. He’s currently working on an adaptation of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS with David Tennant playing Phileas Fogg. Lots of you Bang2writers love genre and television, so I thought I’d ask Ashley for his top tips on getting ahead. Ready? Let’s go! 1) Concept is key This is a tip after B2W’s heart … After all, as… Read More »10 Quick Tips From TV Showrunner Ashley Pharoah

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10 Excruciating Mistakes Even Experienced Writers Make

Excruciating Mistakes So, you’ve been writing a while but there are still some excruciating mistakes you might make that could trip you up … Why ‘excruciating’? Because they’re SO EASY to avoid! 1) Weak Beginning First up, an obvious excruciating mistake … You need to START as you mean to go on! First impressions really count. If you’re a screenwriter, you may know you only have 10 pages maximum to pique a reader’s interest … What you may not know is you need to grab them from page 1, FIRST! This means you need a great opening image. Check out… Read More »10 Excruciating Mistakes Even Experienced Writers Make

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How To Banish Impostor Syndrome From Your Writing Life For Good

What Is Impostor Syndrome? Impostor Syndrome is defined in the dictionary as … ‘the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills.’ It’s not difficult to see why writers fall foul of impostor syndrome so much. When you are a creative, your efforts are frequently forgotten, underestimated or simply not acknowledged … Even by the people we care about! As a result we can internalise this invalidation and turn it on ourselves. Before we know it, even if we are successful we’re caught in the… Read More »How To Banish Impostor Syndrome From Your Writing Life For Good

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5 Things You Must Do To Level Up As A Writer

How To Level Up  You must always be ready to level up your game as a writer. No one can write an acceptable screenplay or novel without learning the craft. You must write and be as professional as you possibly can … but how?? Check out these five tips. Go! 1) Pay Attention To Formatting Formatting must become second nature to you. So, go get some screenwriting software. If you are serious splash out and buy Final Draft, which is the industry standard. This will take out a lot of the pain of formatting, but not all. Get some books… Read More »5 Things You Must Do To Level Up As A Writer

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