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55 Top Tips Bang2writers Already Know … Do You?

Don’t Miss Out Bang2writers this year have swarmed all over this website … With 35K+ hits per month this year,  they’ve absorbed its delicious writing-tip-goodness like the 1950s version of The Blob. Wow! But this means NON-regular Bang2writers might be at a disadvantage. You see, this blog has been going for a looooong time now. So if you’ve not read the most popular articles on this site? You are literally missing out on the knowledge your competition already knows!! But you know B2W will always have you covered. So I’ve rounded up the top 55 articles Bang2writers hit consistently this… Read More »55 Top Tips Bang2writers Already Know … Do You?

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8 Tips For Perfect Pitches & Super Selling Documents

Selling Documents If you want to sell your writing, you need to understand what selling items/ documents you need. These are invariably … A great, pithy longline (aka ‘short pitch’ if you’re a novelist)  A One Page Pitch or Synopsis A 3-4 page treatment (aka ‘extended pitch’ aka ‘sizzler’) I spend a lot of time reading and hearing project pitches, both at work and in my own time. I read even more on social media and various message boards and bulletins. Inevitably, I see scribes repeating the same mistakes, over and over. So here are my thoughts for you on grabbing… Read More »8 Tips For Perfect Pitches & Super Selling Documents

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6 Ways To Make Hollywood Fall In Love With Your Pitch

Pitching is just like being the nervous suitor asking for a date. Is she or he going to like you? Do you have an exciting or intriguing personality? Do you have passion? This is where initial appearances do matter. Here are 6 ways to make sure you go home with them at the end of the evening. 1. Google, Facebook and IMDB them. i.e. Do your research. How promiscuous are they? How many projects have they done and what genres do they like? Pitching horror to someone who does comedy is a sure way to go home alone. 2. Don’t… Read More »6 Ways To Make Hollywood Fall In Love With Your Pitch

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Submissions Insanity: Demystifying The Spec Pile

One weapon in writers’ armoury is KNOWING how best to approach agents, publishers and filmmakers – but also, how others before them have screwed up! This is why I attempt to demystify the spec pile wherever possible. On this basis, I’m a Script Magazine columnist. My monthly advice page is called – you guessed it – Submissions Insanity! Check out some of the articles posted already: The Basics Of Online Submissions Familiar Ideas To Avoid  How To Win Or Place Highly In Screenwriting Contests And keep an eye on my Scriptmag Author Page, here for more articles, updated every month. Also, check out my tweets… Read More »Submissions Insanity: Demystifying The Spec Pile

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Can I Pitch My Unfinished Projects?

  Unfinished Projects Many thanks to Bang2writer Jon Ryan, who asks this question on the FB page: “I often speak to journalists about a story I’m working on and if they’re interested, they say to ‘check in’ later when it’s closer to being ready for them to cover. Is it ever worth doing that with a producer? I’m thinking of at LondonSWF if you don’t have a final draft. Or do they get so many pitches that it would be wasting their time? You often say concept is king – if that is rock solid, can it hurt to pitch… Read More »Can I Pitch My Unfinished Projects?

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How To Get The Most Out of #Londonswf: BE PREPARED!!

So 95 days until London Screenwriters’ Festival. That’s loooooooooads of time, right? No need to think about all that stuff right … … OMFG ARE YOU SERIOUS?? Dudes, if you want to get the most of the fest this October? You gotta be prepared. And I mean SERIOUSLY prepared. To the max. And you gotta get started NOW, like an uber-efficient girl or boy scout that never sleeps Zombie-style but is a lean mean writing machine like that bloke out of that thing. TBH I was never in the scouts, but had I been, I would have been an EVIL SCOUT and… Read More »How To Get The Most Out of #Londonswf: BE PREPARED!!

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29 Ways To Find A Literary Agent

Many thanks to Harry from Agent Hunter for today’s guest post – some absolute submissions GOLD here, not just for novelists but screenwriters too. Enjoy – and pass on to all your writery friends! Since super-agent Carole Blake recently advised on how not to get an agent, I thought it might be helpful to suggest some good ways to secure one. Truth is, only the first few of these tips really matter, so readers with attention deficit issues can just read the opening items, then move swiftly on to playing computer games or swallowing food additives, or whatever else helps… Read More »29 Ways To Find A Literary Agent

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Bang2write Resources

FYI, there’s now dedicated B2W Resources AND Free Downloads pages at the top of this blog, under the banner! Or click > HERE I get lots of questions about One Page Pitches, such as how “best” to lay them out, what to put in them etc, so have created a new resource at The B2W Required Reading List. Download The One Page Pitch Reference Guide as a PDF here … And as a .doc here. Here’s another 6 Tips on writing a one page pitch for your script or novel. Other B2W resources that may be of interest: The B2W… Read More »Bang2write Resources

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Das Schreiben von BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG # 2: Das Pitch

Wenn man einen Roman schreibt, ist ein gutes Pitch sein Gewicht in Gold wert. Es ist nicht nur ein gutes Dokument, um das Interesse von Agenten und Verlagen zu wecken, sondern auch falls man eigenständig verlegen möchte, da es einem hilft „am Ball“ zu bleiben. Ich hatte mich bereits zuvor an Romane gewagt, aber mir ist jedes Mal der Dampf ausgegangen. In der Vergangenheit hatte ich immer nur grobe Umrisse geschrieben. Aus diesem Grund entschied ich mich, für BAUCHENTSCHEIDUNG ein detailliertes Pitch schreiben. Tatsächlich habe ich ebenso viel Zeit mit dem Pitch wie mit dem Schreiben des Manuskripts verbracht (fast… Read More »Das Schreiben von BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG # 2: Das Pitch

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Writing THE DECISION # 1: LIZZIE’S STORY – Why This Story?

 I’ve written before on this website about my reasons for writing THE DECISION: I was a teenage mother myself and I became frustrated a long time ago about the representation of young parents in the media. Too frequently, young parents – particularly young Mums – are represented as having babies “for” the welfare payments available, taking tax payers’ hard-earned money and then sitting on their backsides. Too often, fictional teen parents in soap operas, TV series or movies are selfish and feckless, having babies and then dumping them on long-suffering relatives. At the same time, women and girls who have abortions… Read More »Writing THE DECISION # 1: LIZZIE’S STORY – Why This Story?

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Das Schreiben von BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG # 1: Warum diese Story?

Ich habe auf dieser Webseite bereits in der Vergangenheit meine Gründe genannt, BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG zu schreiben: Ich war selbst als Teenager Mutter und bin seit langem über das Bild junger Eltern in den Medien frustriert. Zu häufig werden junge Eltern – und insbesondere junge Mütter – dargestellt, als würden sie Babys bekommen, „nur“ um Sozialhilfe zu beziehen, vom Geld hart arbeitender Steuerzahler zu leben und faul auf ihren Hintern zu sitzen. Zu häufig sind fiktive Teenager-Eltern selbstsüchtig und schwach, bekommen Kinder und überlassen diese dann geduldigen Verwandten. Gleichzeitig werden Frauen und Mädchen, die abtreiben, auch häufig als selbstsüchtig, ja sogar herzlos,… Read More »Das Schreiben von BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG # 1: Warum diese Story?

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On Writing: The 3 Cs Versus The 3 Ps

Bang2writers ask me quite frequently for my “top tips” on  surviving the writing process and this industry. Before now I always felt that it depends on the person, what they’re doing, how they work and who with. But actually, having worked on a variety of projects now with various people over the last ten years, I think there are 6 things all writers of ALL formats need to know and live by, whether they’re screenwriters, novelists, playwrights, journalists, transmedia writers, the works. That’s right – just 6. But they mean SO much – literally everything. 1. THE WRITING You need the… Read More »On Writing: The 3 Cs Versus The 3 Ps

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