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How To Write Tight And Visual Scene Description

So, You Want To Write A Screenplay? If you want to write tight and visual scene description, you’ve come to the right place.  About four years ago, I decided that I wanted to add screenwriting to the tools in my arsenal. Knowing nothing about the craft, I simply ‘adapted’ some prose from my books and thought it would fly. It didn’t. The problem wasn’t so much the dialogue because that works pretty much the same in either discipline. The issue was narrative vs. action. In short I just wasn’t VISUAL enough! Us vs. Them Movies and TV are both visual… Read More »How To Write Tight And Visual Scene Description

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Top 5 Screenplay Format Mistakes

How’s your screenplay format? Screenplay format gets a bad rap and is often conflated with writing craft. Whilst sometimes the two things DO cross over, this post will deal predominantly with **how** your script looks ON THE PAGE. Continuing in the Top 5 Mistakes series, I’ll be concentrating on screenplay format today. (I’m assuming your layout, spelling, punctuation and grammar are awesome already. If not, you can check here: 10 Common Errors In Your Writing You Need To Fix Right Now.) Ready, then? Let’s go … 1) Overly long sluglines (aka ‘scene headers’) A slugline or scene header in a… Read More »Top 5 Screenplay Format Mistakes

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3 Steps To Reader Proof Your Screenplay

Reader-Proof Your Screenplay I always recommend Bang2writers reader-proof their scripts. Whilst there are no rules in this screenwriting malarkey, but there are best practices. It should be noted I am talking principally about writing CRAFT here. (There are also lots of format niggly pet peeves that really wind script readers up, which is why I list them all HERE). But what do I mean when I say writers need to reader-proof their script? More, next. STEP 1) Wanted: Good Stories, Well Told First things first. If we want to beat the gatekeepers, it’s very simple. We have to give the… Read More »3 Steps To Reader Proof Your Screenplay

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8 Things Script Readers Want From Your Screenplay

What Script Readers Want Script readers often get a raw deal. Writers frequently assume script readers don’t really care about the scripts they read … but in my experience this is NOT true. Fact is, script readers WANT every script they open to be AWESOME. When I find a script that truly impresses me, I am always overjoyed. My script reading colleagues are the same, too. Honest guv! But what does ‘awesome’ mean? Well obviously that’s a ‘piece of string’-type question, but I’ve managed to boil it down to 8 craft-related elements I want from a great script. Ready? Let’s… Read More »8 Things Script Readers Want From Your Screenplay

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The Screenwriter’s Toolbox

London Screenwriters’ Festival is here again! It’s LondonSWF time here at Bang2Write and we thought, what better way to celebrate than be fully prepared for your writing, networking and pitching … Here’s where the Screenwriter’s Toolbox comes in handy! Here’s 20 links you should definitely check out, full of helpful hints and tips that will come in handy for LSF and beyond, so make sure you bookmark this page! Don’t forget you can find many more free writing links and downloads on The B2W Resources Page, plus you can subscribe to this site HERE and get a free 28 page… Read More »The Screenwriter’s Toolbox

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10 Common Errors In Your Writing You Need To Fix Right Now

Common Writing Errors When it comes to common writing errors, there are PLENTY doing the rounds in the spec pile. Rightly or wrongly, this is how ‘professional writing’ is perceived … Professional formatting + Professional layout + Professional grammar, spelling & punctuation = Professional writing. It’s not rocket science. Look, the odd mistake or typo will always slip through. NO reader, agent, producer or assistant worth their salt will ever care about that. What we’re talking about are the CONSISTENT CLANGERS that can get you marked down, or worse, thrown in the dreaded OUT tray! So here’s a list of those… Read More »10 Common Errors In Your Writing You Need To Fix Right Now

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Set Design: does your story have enough ROOM?

See what I did there?? It’s the way I tell ’em 😉 So I’ve just been at London Screenwriters’ Festival, where I spent two hours doing a live script edit, looking at pages from writers’ screenplays and working through various craft elements and what they can do to make their work stand out in the spec pile. Suffice it to say: I spent A LOT of time talking about scene description with screenwriters at the event. Why? Well, it’s simple – there’s two things screenwriters generally do when it comes to scene description in their spec screenplays: i) They write… Read More »Set Design: does your story have enough ROOM?

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Top 6 Reversals In Movies

FYI – SPOILERS! I’ve said only recently I don’t read enough reversals in spec screenplays, in ANY genre. I thought it time to offer up some examples of those I’ve watched that I felt were effective. Before we get going however, here is the definition of ‘reversals’ I am using for the purposes of this post … “A place in the plot where a character achieves the opposite of his aim, resulting in a change from good fortune to bad fortune.” You may also want to read THIS POST, which contains a definition of what screenplay reversals are. There’s also a great… Read More »Top 6 Reversals In Movies

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How To Avoid Killer Errors In Your Screenplay’s Scenes

Killer Scenes I’ve been working my way through a GIGANTIC pile of Bang2writers’ screenplays of late and noticed a common theme between most of them: their individual scenes needed work (as well as overarching story & characterisation). Since screenplays are the sum of ALL their parts, there’s plenty that could be CHOPPED. Here’s a complete rundown of all the potential issues scenes can have individually to help you be ruthless. So, ready?? It’s a LOOOOOOONG list! Let’s go … 1) Starting too early The classic. Every time you write scenes – and I mean every single time – ask yourself:… Read More »How To Avoid Killer Errors In Your Screenplay’s Scenes

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How Does Exposition Work? AKA 9 Common Exposition Qs Answered

All about Exposition I’ve been talking a lot recently with Bang2writers about exposition and its place within their stories, whether novel or screenplay. As I’ve heard some common misconceptions, I thought it useful to put exposition under the microscope and really consider WHAT exposition is and HOW we can use it, framed as questions to answer. Enjoy! 1) Isn’t exposition a **bad** thing? No. Exposition in all stories – whether novels or screenplays (or something else) – is 100% necessary. Exposition is basically just the background information a reader or viewer needs in order to be able to understand the… Read More »How Does Exposition Work? AKA 9 Common Exposition Qs Answered

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What Script Editors Do AKA 5 Tips To Edit Your Own Screenplay

How To Edit Your Own Screenplay ‘How to edit my own screenplay’ brings writers to this blog every single day. So, when a plucky Banger threw down the gauntlet and challenged me to edit his pages here, I jumped at the chance! Ready? Then let’s go … To Download**: 1) First up, here is the original scene the writer sent me. 2) Secondly, here is the scene, with my notes on the actual page for clarity’s sake. 3) Thirdly, here is a “clean” version of the rewritten scene, based on my notes. (FYI – It’s really important to note these are not… Read More »What Script Editors Do AKA 5 Tips To Edit Your Own Screenplay

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10 Of The Worst Screenplay & Novel “Fillers”

Okkkkkkkkkk, so we all know “scene description is scene action” in our screenplays and that we should be kickstarting the prose in our novels, right? RIGHT??? Um, no. We don’t it seems, which is why there’s a stack of scripts and novels with what I call “Fillers” in them … those “actions” and moments that AREN’T REALLY ACTIONS AT ALL, but just a way of breaking up dialogue in screenplays, or filling up space in novels, just for the sake of it rather than any “real” character or story-based reason. Now, we’re ALL guilty of shoving a “Filler” in an… Read More »10 Of The Worst Screenplay & Novel “Fillers”

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