Skip to content

scene description

Why Most Spec Scripts Fail (It’s Not The Idea – It’s The Execution)

It’s All In The Execution? Most scripts don’t fail because the idea is bad – they fail because the execution is not doing the work. But how can we tell if our execution is not cutting it? Here’s 8 common pitfalls I see regularly in spec screenplays. Ready? Let’s go … 1) A situation is not a story A cool idea or set-up isn’t enough. Your concept at the heart of your story needs to be road-tested at foundation level. A story = movement. This means your story requires escalation, cause & effect, and a protagonist driving towards a clear… Read More »Why Most Spec Scripts Fail (It’s Not The Idea – It’s The Execution)

Share this:

The #1 Killer Opener Mistake That Nearly All Screenwriters Make

Killer Script Opener Mistakes There are lots of killer opener mistakes your spec screenplay needs to avoid. The beginning of your spec screenplay needs to do some serious heavy lifting for your story – not just for your characters, but the plot as well. This means screenwriters simply must do the following in their spec screenplays … Start with a strong, visual opener. Spec screenplays need to start with a visual that places us in the storyworld, genre and tone of your story. For more on this (including screenshots of opening images from produced TV shows, CLICK HERE). Introduce us to… Read More »The #1 Killer Opener Mistake That Nearly All Screenwriters Make

Share this:

How Great Visual Writing Works In Your Screenplay Or Novel

You’ve Heard It All Before: ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ Whether you’re writing a screenplay or a novel, visual storytelling is your secret weapon. Why? Because readers and viewers don’t connect with lists of facts. They connect with images, action and emotion. But how do we write these three things? Well, I’m putting them under the microscope in this blog post with 5 top tips to concentrate on. Ready? Let’s go! Let’s explore how to write visually and bring your scenes – and your characters – to life. 1) Think: Scene Description = Scene Action In screenplays, scene description *is* what we… Read More »How Great Visual Writing Works In Your Screenplay Or Novel

Share this:

How To Write A Great Story Arc For Your Character (With Examples)

A Great Story Arc Needs Conflict Every great story has a beginning, middle, and end, also known as a story arc. In order to keep your audience engaged, your story should have a clear story arc with a conflict that is resolved by the end. Le duh! But what is a story arc? As you may guess, it’s the narrative structure of a story. How that story arc works will depend on the story being told. Characters may deal with problems – aka conflict – in order to make changes in their lives or important realisations. The most common of these… Read More »How To Write A Great Story Arc For Your Character (With Examples)

Share this:

10 Quick And Easy Tips To Boost Your Writing

  How To Boost Your Writing If you want to give your writing a quick and easy boost, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s a top 10 of writing tips I give most often. What I love about these is they’re straightforward and easy to implement. You can start doing them all TODAY!  Ready? Let’s go … 1) Start Anywhere Writing a whole screenplay or novel from start to finish can seem insurmountable. But what if I told you that you DON’T have to write in chronological order? Just start anywhere. GOGOGO! 2) Bullet Point It Lots of writers… Read More »10 Quick And Easy Tips To Boost Your Writing

Share this:

FOCUS ON FORMAT – When To Use Captions

What is a caption? On a screenplay, ‘captions’ are those bits of text you may see flash up on screen – i.e.: 24 HOURS EARLIER NEW YORK DAY 32 COLONY 1, THE MOON BAGHDAD, IRAQ INSIDE DEREK’S LOWER INTESTINE You know the ones. You will have seen them countless times whilst watching movies, TV dramas, sitcoms, documentaries and even short films, web series, sketches, YouTube reviews etc. Lots of Bang2writers ask me how to format these. Well, it’s pretty simple. You just need to write: SUPER: [Caption you want to put in] Apparently, ‘Super’ is short for ‘Super impose’. This… Read More »FOCUS ON FORMAT – When To Use Captions

Share this:

5 Ways To Stand Out In The Script Pile

One of the top searches on B2W is ‘How to get an agent or manager’ – so if this is you? Then make sure you check out this brilliant initiative from Coverage Ink! They’re a US company that offers quality screenwriting reports – I should know, ‘cos B2W reads for em (and so, incidentally, does B2W sistren Write So Fluid). What I love about Get Repped Now is that it’s a win-win situation for writers: get that feted CONSIDER, a bona fide literary manager will check out your writing … But even if you don’t,  you get a detailed script report… Read More »5 Ways To Stand Out In The Script Pile

Share this:

1 Wrong Belief That Is Destroying Your Scene Description

NEWSFLASH: ‘Description’ is the wrong word! One wrong belief many screenwriters have is  that ‘description’ is really the wrong word when it comes to those pesky prose bits of our screenplays. This wrong belief that we have to DESCRIBE everything in a scene is literally holding us back! It ends up making us do these script killers …  ‘Set dressing’ when it comes to things physically in it that have no bearing on story (yawn!) ‘False movement’ aka a list of moving body parts (especially shrugging, raised eyebrows and other fillers) Pointless and extraneous details like what characters are wearing… Read More »1 Wrong Belief That Is Destroying Your Scene Description

Share this:

The ONLY 3 Things You’ll Need For Great Writing

So, fresh off my Live Script Edit at LondonSWF 2017, I’m going to be talking about WRITING CRAFT today. By ‘craft’ I mean the actual mechanics of writing – what’s physically there on the page. I always think of writing craft as something we BUILD, kind of like a wall or house – we lay the foundations first, then pile one brick on top of the other, until we get to the top and finish. As writers, somewhat unsurprisingly, when it comes to craft we’re judged by what is on the page (or not, as the case may be). From… Read More »The ONLY 3 Things You’ll Need For Great Writing

Share this:

Top 5 Screenwriting Mistakes Writers Make

Screenwriting shouldn’t be that hard. You have a story, and you turn it into a script. You just have to follow a precise format that’s easy to read. Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complex than that! The script has to paint a picture for the reader. If you want to get it on the desks of producers, directors, actors, and all other important people in the process of making a movie, you have to make things right. Everything starts by critiquing your own work. No matter how good you are, you’ll still notice mistakes when you’re careful enough!  We’ll list… Read More »Top 5 Screenwriting Mistakes Writers Make

Share this:

INFOGRAPHIC: All About Dialogue – A Periodic Table

So, I’ve written A LOT on this blog about how writers obsess over their dialogue and why they shouldn’t. This is because too often, writers fall in love with their dialogue and end up telling the story via talk alone. Nooooooooooo! However, if you writers *are* going to obsess on dialogue, then you could do a lot worse than finding out exactly what dialogue really IS. Shockingly, many writers don’t differentiate their characters’ speech patterns enough, so what they *think* is cool and interesting, is actually samey and boring to read. If we consider a book like The Maze Runner… Read More »INFOGRAPHIC: All About Dialogue – A Periodic Table

Share this:

10 More Writer Fails (And How To Avoid Them)

Two of the most searched Google terms on this blog are, ‘writer mistakes’ and ‘writer fails’, so I thought I would take a look at you actual WRITERS and what you might doing to kill your screenplay dead. Ready?? Brace yourselves you lot … ‘cos here’s how you’re MURDERING your chances! 1) By … Waiting for inspiration Novelist W. Somerset Maugham said (though some attribute it to Peter De Vries and other writers) “I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.” I love this quote (whomever said it) because it gets straight to… Read More »10 More Writer Fails (And How To Avoid Them)

Share this: