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In The Spotlight: Billy Wilder’s Top 10 Writing Tips

All About Billy Wilder Billy Wilder’s considered one of the best screenwriters and filmmakers in film history. Working with other greats like Raymond Chandler during the golden era of Hollywood, Wilder co-wrote and directed such classics as Sunset Boulevard, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, and Double Indemnity. In short, Wilder’s the bee’s knees and screenwriting royalty! I re-posted his top 10 writing tips to the Bang2write instagram recently and it went WILD. Which one is your favourite and why? Let us know! 1) ‘The audience is fickle.’ Notice Wilder says ‘fickle’, NOT stupid. It’s very fashionable for writers to… Read More »In The Spotlight: Billy Wilder’s Top 10 Writing Tips

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5 Questions To Help You Write A Killer Treatment

All About Treatments A treatment is a document that includes everything that will happen in the script, in the order it will appear on the script – usually without dialogue. A treatment should not be confused with a one page pitch. For details of ‘scriptments’ (with dialogue), ‘extended pitches’, or ‘sizzlers’ (super-short treatments), CLICK HERE. Why You Need A Treatment A treatment is a tool to ensure you DO NOT FOOL YOURSELF. A treatment is the essence of the drama. If the treatment is not good, I guarantee your script won’t be good either. It is much harder to take… Read More »5 Questions To Help You Write A Killer Treatment

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In The Spotlight: Kirsten Smith’s Top 10 Writing Rules

All About Kirsten Smith Kirsten Smith and her co-writer Karen McCullah are trailblazers in the Rom-Com genre. They are the screenwriting duo behind classic teen movies Legally Blonde and 10 Things I Hate About You, to name just a few. But just what is the secret behind their success? What are the rules, tips or best practices they swear by?Smith in particular has been open with her advice for screenwriters. Here’s what she has to share … Enjoy! 1) Conflict is key “Conflict, conflict, conflict between characters. Although we try to avoid it in life, it’s essential to embrace it in… Read More »In The Spotlight: Kirsten Smith’s Top 10 Writing Rules

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How To ‘Break Story’ To Write Something Great!

Break Story – A Definition I love the term ‘break story’ to describe the process of testing a new idea. (It’s borrowed from the building world, where you ‘break ground’ to lay the foundations of a building). Though I learned this in the screenwriting world, I discovered it works with all ideas. Now it does not matter if I am writing a script, novel or short story … I always break story. Whilst every writer has their own individual process, most do it to check the story ‘stands up’ at concept level … Such as: Premise – does it ‘stand… Read More »How To ‘Break Story’ To Write Something Great!

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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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5 Things I’ve Learned As A Professional Writer

Be Professional Want to be a professional writer? Well, here’s Bang2writer Ewen Glass with the skinny on what he’s learned along the way on his own journey … Enjoy! 1) Find your voice So, yeah, we’re not exactly starting with an easy one. In fact, this is probably the hardest thing on this list, precisely because it’s the most important. Structure, character-creation, world-building, effective writing on the page, formatting… it can all be learned to some degree. What really makes you stand out as a writer is you. Your background, your point-of-view, your voice. What do you offer that nobody… Read More »5 Things I’ve Learned As A Professional Writer

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10 Lies Writers Tell Themselves About New Projects (And How To Embrace Them)

If you’re a writer with a blank sheet of paper in front of you, chances are you’re currently optimistic. The possibilities stretch out in front of you, and the world you are about to craft begs to be written. But a word of warning. If you want to finish the story, you’re going to have to manage those expectations. This might seem like a negative post – but don’t read it that way! For all these lies, there are ways to fix them! 1) ‘This will be easy’ At the beginning of a story you’re convinced that you’ll get through… Read More »10 Lies Writers Tell Themselves About New Projects (And How To Embrace Them)

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An Epic Rant On Why You NEED Writing Craft

Rules, Schmules Writing craft gets a bad rap. After all, it’s  just ‘rules’ right?? And rules are made to be broken! NO. A million times, multiplied by infinity crossed with eternity into Dante’s 7 circles of Hell — NO!! Writing craft is NOT about rules. Hell, writing craft is not even about guidelines. These things are non-negotiables and frankly, THE VERY LEAST YOU CAN DO. But do YOU know which parts of craft you’re missing, under-utilising or plain misunderstanding in terms of your writing craft? Do you know what to do about it? Do you understand how thee craft elements… Read More »An Epic Rant On Why You NEED Writing Craft

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Help! My Story Is Unclear – What Do I Do???

Every week I come across a writer who is confused and despondent about their draft. This is more often than not because their story is unclear on the actual page, yet it’s clear in their head. There will be a disconnect between what they want to write and it hitting the ‘bull’s eye’ for the reader. Supersadface. Nine times out of ten, a draft’s story is unclear because the writer has some kind of craft problem. This will usually relate to concept, character and structure. Basically, these are the ‘holy trinity’ in terms of making your potential audience UNDERSTAND what… Read More »Help! My Story Is Unclear – What Do I Do???

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5 Things I Learned From Story Expert John Yorke

If you haven’t heard the name John Yorke or his book Into the Woods, then you NEED to listen up because you’re missing out! Not only is he an author of an Amazon bestseller (a FANTASTIC read, you can buy your copy HERE), but he’s worked as a script editor, story consultant and producer on shows such as EastEnders, Casualty, Shameless, Skins, The Archers, Life on Mars and Robin Hood to name a few. John has made a career out of writing great drama and creating interesting characters. He’s the man who created the iconic Kat Slater, and has been… Read More »5 Things I Learned From Story Expert John Yorke

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Are You A Binge Writer, Or Do You Write Every Day?

Out in the blogosphere, there’s often a lot of discussion around the idea of writers being ‘plotters’ or ‘pantsers’ (for the uninitiated, the former is a writer who plots everything out, knowing the ending in advance; whereas the latter will just begin and see where the story takes them, the idea being they ‘fly by the seat of their pants’, hence the ‘pantser’ epitaph). As any veteran Bang2writer knows, B2W advocates being a plotter, especially if you’re a screenwriter. Structure is key in screenwriting, so starting without an end point in mind can land you in what I call The… Read More »Are You A Binge Writer, Or Do You Write Every Day?

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12 Quick Tips To Improve Your Writing Right Now

As a writer, you are often judged solely by what is on the page or the screen. This means you need to ensure you know exactly what you are doing! Here’s 12 quick tricks to take your writing to the next level and increase your confidence: 1)    Brush up on the basics The least you can do before you submit or publish is check for basic errors in spelling and grammar. Before you even begin an important writing task, read up on basic grammar rules and sentence structure, and never submit anything without running it through a spell-checker first. 2)   … Read More »12 Quick Tips To Improve Your Writing Right Now

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