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Because You Never Know When You Might Need Random Info

So I’m mega busy and most of you lot are off to the SWF (damn you), so now seems the perfect time to indulge my love of lists and links and random stuff. I’m not a big fan of the whole “Write What You Know” thang: too much background info distracts from your story and it can be great to sacrifice facts for drama at times – but I’m always surprised by how crazy scripts can be – and it’s usually the *small* details that can let the whole story down, like a slow puncture in a beach ball. The… Read More »Because You Never Know When You Might Need Random Info

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Research Or Die # 1: Politics & War

How The UK Government Works How The US Senate Works How Elections Work In The UK How Elections Work In The US Intelligence Organisations In The UK [PDF] British Police Acronyms, Rank & Phonetic Alphabet How To Behave In Polite Society (Now, with an emphasis on Teens) and in Victorian Times How To Take Over The World The Northern Ireland “Troubles” The War On Terror [PDF] World War One: basic summary including dates and more in-depth research site World War Two Vietnam The Falklands War (The UK vs. Argentina) The American War For Independence The Spanish War For Independence The… Read More »Research Or Die # 1: Politics & War

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Do Your Preparation: How To Write Outlines, Beat Sheets And Treatments

You should do your preparation! Bang2writers often ask me what is the “best” way to go about writing a screenplay or novel. My answer? There is no “best” way. But it’s definitely going to help if you’ve done your preparation first in the form of an outline, beat sheet and/or treatment. Here’s why preparation work helps you get rid of all the obvious pitfalls and crap FIRST, as it … GIVES your brain time to “breathe” and work out all the machinations of the plot and the character motivations and themes etc concurrently STOPS you writing a load of junk… Read More »Do Your Preparation: How To Write Outlines, Beat Sheets And Treatments

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How To Use Plot Devices – Voiceover, Flashback, Montage, Intercut and Dream Sequence

Plot Devices With A Bad Name … There are lots of plot devices in scriptwriting we hear are “frowned on”. We shouldn’t use voiceover or flashback is the usual (or voiceover WITH flashback!). I’ve also heard montage maligned in a similar fashion, as well as intercut and dream sequence. This is a load of rot as far as I’m concerned. You can use what you like. These accusations we see levied like “flashback is a lazy way of telling a story” is just another generalisation. Flashback can be an amazingly dramatic way to tell a story. … For A REASON!!… Read More »How To Use Plot Devices – Voiceover, Flashback, Montage, Intercut and Dream Sequence

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