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5 Tips For Writing Period Movies

I love being transported by movies, not just entertained, but transported, moved up the ladder to a different reality. I love walking out of the cinema with a story and storyworld still sticking to me, like napalm in the morning. This explains why I’m attracted to period pieces (and “period piece” also includes science fiction films, which are period pieces that look forward rather than backward). A lot of my screenwriting – paid gigs and spec work both – has focused on slips up or down the timeline. So here are a few guideposts that have been helpful to me… Read More »5 Tips For Writing Period Movies

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3 Tips For Getting Rid of Static Scenes

  Screenplays are all about ACTION. As writers, we all *know* this. Yet the average screenplay in the spec pile has very little action in it. Instead those scripts contain what I call Static Scenes. What is a Static Scene? Well, basically: characters aren’t *doing* very much – and they’re probably talking too much, too.  This then has a negative impact on the structure of your script as a whole, because the story slows down and the forward momentum ends up lacking. Talk about an own goal, but also easily done. So how does the spec screenwriter get rid of Static… Read More »3 Tips For Getting Rid of Static Scenes

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Pitch Me … Full Reads

NB. PITCH ME IS NOW CLOSED  If you recall, back in November 2012 I ran Pitch Me, where I invited writers to send me their loglines for their features, TV pilots and sitcoms, according to a list of what I was and wasn’t looking for. It was an interesting script call, with over 100 writers submitting. Here’s a run down of how I found the first round. No B2W-led script call would be complete without my announcing who made it all the way … Here’s the 5 lucky writers/teams who have made it through to a full read: 1) Dan &… Read More »Pitch Me … Full Reads

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Novels Vs Screenplays: Differences Writing Them

Many thanks to Mya, who asks about writing a screenplay when one is used to writing novels. I was a novelist after writing my own screenplays, but I feel I can answer this question from my script reading experience, as I have noted some significant pitfalls novelists *may* fall into when I’ve worked with Bang2writers trying to make the switch: Too much scene description. This is the obvious one. Used to writing lots of prose, the average novelist is often easy to pick out in the script pile because they write OODLES of scene description, often in big black chunks,… Read More »Novels Vs Screenplays: Differences Writing Them

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#scriptchat @Londonswf 50 Kisses Comp #5: Scene Description

The “50 Kisses” contest is NOT just a writing contest – potentially, your script could be made by filmmakers. If you want your script to be picked first by the reader, then by the filmmaker, yours has to STAND OUT and one really easy, quick-fire way of doing this is to ensure your scene description ROCKS. Most scene description is bland at best, yet good scene description knows it is SCENE ACTION. Everything you write as scene description should be about moving the story forward and revealing character. A lot of writers get uppity and say the above cuts out… Read More »#scriptchat @Londonswf 50 Kisses Comp #5: Scene Description

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Guest Post: Raising the game – How Fluid Descriptions Can Fuel Your Script

Here’s a guest post by the lovely Michelle Goode of Writesofluid – helping you write so fluidly! Since launching proofreading services alongside script reading services, I’ve begun to appreciate format and style on a whole new level. It’s about more than just spotting a few typos and correcting a few misplaced apostrophes; proofreading your script can highlight some really interesting issues.Repetition. For example, you may not be aware that you are repeating words or phrases throughout your entire script. Your characters may have a penchant for picking up their bag or sitting down. Sure, picking up a bag may be… Read More »Guest Post: Raising the game – How Fluid Descriptions Can Fuel Your Script

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Screenwriting Tip: Audio Description For The Blind By Eleanor Ball

I’ve just discovered a brilliant new source of writerly inspiration. And if you’ve not already discovered it yourself, I recommend you plunge right in: Audio description for the blind.It happened the other day when I was checking out old episodes of The Apprentice (yep, I’m still livin’ large and workin’ hard). The recent series is the first I’ve ever seen, and I’d noticed no sign of Alan Sugar being anywhere near as abrasive as people warned me, so I thought maybe he was worse in previous series and wanted to sample this for myself. Anyway, it took me a few… Read More »Screenwriting Tip: Audio Description For The Blind By Eleanor Ball

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How To Introduce A Character In A Screenplay

How To Introduce A Character If you are thinking about how best to introduce a character, you are not alone. This is one of the questions I get most often from Bang2writers. Many thanks to writer @davidbishop who asks: How best to introduce characters … Should we list 3 attributes, a single sentence, or let their actions [and words] speak for themselves? First up, I’m going to be really annoying and saying there’s no best” way, just people’s opinions. That said, David’s suggestions are all great in theory. How they work out on the page however can be different! This… Read More »How To Introduce A Character In A Screenplay

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Guest Post: Writing The Shots by Pauline Kiernan

I’ll be back next week with my own dose of bloggy-goodness, so thanks once again to another lovely Bang2writer Pauline Kiernan, writer and all-round scripty Guru for stepping in with some excellent thoughts from her new book. Enjoy! ———————————————————Many of my students asked me to include advice on Writing the Shots in a script when I was writing my new book. I thought I’d post something here as it’s an aspect of screenwriting that doesn’t get much attention. Writing the shots was something I had quite a lot of problems with when I started writing screenplays. What helped was when… Read More »Guest Post: Writing The Shots by Pauline Kiernan

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What’s The "Right" Length? (For A Script! Quiet At The Back)

It seems every time I think The Format One Stop Shop (a list of all the format/script convention issues I see most at Bang2write) is finished, someone comes up with a question or I get a bunch of queries that make it necessary to update it again. Just recently I’ve had some enquiries about what I think of as MONSTER screenplays – the shortest was approximately 142 pages; the longest over 300 pages. Now, whilst most writers know nowadays a feature length MOVIE script is *typically* between 90 and 120 pages, but the confusion appears to have arisen here regarding… Read More »What’s The "Right" Length? (For A Script! Quiet At The Back)

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Two Things: Media Parents Meets Tiger Aspect & Free Screenwriting E-Book

MEDIA PARENTS EVENT First off, top gal Amy Walker of Media Parents has been in touch to let Bang2writers know about her new event, Tiger Aspect Meets Media Parents. Media Parents took part in one of my sessions at London Screenwriters Festival, with media veterans and parents TV writer Marc Pye and director Rebecca Gatward. I think Media Parents is a brilliant initiative and Amy works tirelessly to connect people with the industry. Check it out now. Tiger Aspect is a GIANT of the industry and I for one think it’s really exciting they want to meet and become involved… Read More »Two Things: Media Parents Meets Tiger Aspect & Free Screenwriting E-Book

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Screenplay Tips # 4: Scene Description

It all comes down to this: I have never seen a screenplay that has benefited from MORE scene description. Good scene description pushes the story forward and/or reveals character – in as few words as possible. Scene description is not just about DESCRIBING, it’s about doing – because scene description is scene action. That’s just the way it is. So remember the whole “less is more” thing? However you write it in the first draft, cut it by HALF in the second draft. At least. And make sure every word of scene description in subsequent drafts is performing a proper… Read More »Screenplay Tips # 4: Scene Description

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