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6 Things I Learned Writing A Fantasy Novel

Writing Your Own Fantasy Novel The rules of good writing apply to every fictional genre and a fantasy novel is no different … You need to: Put your protagonist through the wringer, facing ever greater dangers and tougher dilemmas Build the story, tie in the subplots, and construct a satisfying resolution Do all this in clear and comprehensible prose! I’m Glyn Carter. When I was writing my own fantasy novel Gog-Magog, I realised the fantasy genre offers writers specific opportunities and challenges. Here are six ways in which fantasy has its own demands. 1) Characters need a ‘reason to live’… Read More »6 Things I Learned Writing A Fantasy Novel

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What Do I Do If My Book or Script Is A ‘Hard Sell’?

Help! What If My Story Is A ‘Hard Sell’? Every week I hear from Bang2writers who say their stories are a ‘hard sell’ and they don’t know what to do. That’s right … EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK! With this in mind, I broke down the process into steps to help. Ready? Let’s go … STEP 1: Get REAL First things first, what makes your story a ‘hard sell’? Do you know for certain … Or are you just guessing? I always find it very interesting (but not surprising) that lots of new writers pretend to themselves their story is a ‘hard… Read More »What Do I Do If My Book or Script Is A ‘Hard Sell’?

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It’s Never ONLY About The Story In Screenwriting – And That’s A GOOD Thing

‘It should ONLY be about the story!’ I often talk to writers about the commercial aspects of screenwriting. As someone who has seen lots of deals happen, I know that money talks. The industry is NOT a patron of the arts. It follows the $$$ because it’s ‘show BUSINESS’ after all. This means … Remakes and reboots are here to stay Great TV shows get cancelled if they don’t get enough views in the first few weeks (yes, really!) Why badly-written movies may still earn stacks Or why indie productions can sink without a trace if they don’t have enough… Read More »It’s Never ONLY About The Story In Screenwriting – And That’s A GOOD Thing

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5 Top Tips For Converting Your Screenplay Into A Novel

Screenplays –> Novels So you’ve written a screenplay, then bust a gut to get it financed and produced … But two years later you’re still no further on. Don’t give up just yet! You’ve created characters and a story so why not use this as your template and convert your script to a novel? Here are five tips to help and inspire you converting yours. Ready? Let’s go …  1) Take Back Control  A film is a story told in pictures and a screenplay is really a set of short-hand instructions rather than a complete work of art. Film is… Read More »5 Top Tips For Converting Your Screenplay Into A Novel

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The Witcher: 7 Important Lessons In Adaptation

The Witcher On Netflix  The Witcher is an epic fantasy adventure filled with magic, monsters, and romance. It is based on books written by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowskiare, as well as a video game series. It’s an excellent example of how to adapt an original source. Here are 7 adaptation lessons from The Witcher … Enjoy! (SPOILER ALERT – If you have not watched or read the books, be aware there may be some in this post). LESSON #1: Add more PoVs to Make It More Interesting Geralt of Rivia is the main character of The Witcher, both in… Read More »The Witcher: 7 Important Lessons In Adaptation

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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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Finding Your Emotional Truth: 3 Tips from the Trenches

How To Write With Emotional Truth In the household I grew up in, showing emotions was a weakness. Naturally, my first reaction when learning that I need to “write with emotional truth” was to run for the hills. When I calmed down and came back, I started a long and exhausting process of figuring out what my emotional truth is. It took me a long time to figure out how to start the process. So, here are a few things that helped me get going. TIP 1) Explore and Excavate Emotions The first step is to figure out how you… Read More »Finding Your Emotional Truth: 3 Tips from the Trenches

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5 Simple Steps To Getting Your Draft Written

Writing The First Draft Feeling stressed because you can’t move forwards towards your draft? You’re not alone. When we first conceive of an idea for a screenplay or novel, we often falter. This is because we are not used to being able to write whatever we want. This means we can get overwhelmed quickly. In addition, if no one is waiting on our draft, it can be hard to focus. This is one of the reasons I pulled together The B2W Screenwriter’s Roadmap (though you can use it to write novels too – I do!). But Bangers got in touch… Read More »5 Simple Steps To Getting Your Draft Written

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Is Your Story A Mystery, Horror or Thriller? Here’s How To Tell

Mystery, Thriller or Horror? Mystery, Thriller and Horror novels and screenplays do BIG business as they have high ‘adaptability’. Readers and viewers love them … plus there’s a lot of convergence between them. This is because the Mystery, Horror and Thriller genres have lots of elements that cross over. However, lots of writers run into trouble because they’re not really sure what their story *is* at foundation level. Whilst many writers know mystery usually involves some kind of twist, they often don’t know how to get there. As a result, writers may make their mystery too easy to guess, or… Read More »Is Your Story A Mystery, Horror or Thriller? Here’s How To Tell

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Top 10 Tips On How To Break In As A Screenwriter This Year

How To Break In As A Screenwriter If you want to break in as a screenwriter, you’re not alone. ‘How to break in’ is probably one of the top Google searches that leads to this blog, in fact. Whilst it’s true B2W believes we need to build our careers over a sustained period (rather than the break in being just ONE act), we all have to start somewhere. I was joined in a B2W livestream recently by comedy writer Amanda Graham (@AGComedy). Amanda specialises in rebellious, irreverent, female leads going against nonsensical power structures. She has various projects in development (including with… Read More »Top 10 Tips On How To Break In As A Screenwriter This Year

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5 Uncomfortable Facts You Must Face If You Want Your Scripts Made

OR: Why There’s NOT ‘Loads’ Of Great Spec Scripts Waiting To Be Made If you want to get your scripts made, you’re not alone. It seems everyone is working on a spec screenplay! I love to see it too … Nothing makes me happier than hearing about the stories Bang2writers are working on. Whenever people talk about screenwriting though, it doesn’t take long before someone drops this claim … ‘There’s LOADS of great spec scripts just waiting to be made.’  They usually say this when a new movie reboot is announced, or a favourite TV series has jumped the shark.… Read More »5 Uncomfortable Facts You Must Face If You Want Your Scripts Made

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5 Examples of Story Structure You Should Know About

All About Story Structure Whether you’re writing a novel or screenplay, story structure matters. Building a story structure is like crafting a backbone for your narrative. It helps the audience understand the timeline and meaning of each event, keeping them engaged until the very end. All too often writers focus solely on describing their characters rather than the story’s overall architecture. This has a knock-on effect and an under-developed story structure can literally ruin your characterisation. The truth is that plot building is just as important, if not more, than the protagonist’s quirks and conflicts. So you’ll need to become… Read More »5 Examples of Story Structure You Should Know About

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