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A Masterclass In Secondary Characters (Or Why Trent Crimm Matters In TED LASSO)

Trent Crimm in Ted Lasso Trent Crimm is one of my favourite queer characters of the last five years or so. He has an incredible arc for a secondary character! So imagine my surprise – and indignation – when I saw Twitter pontificating Trent ‘serves no real purpose’ in Ted Lasso! (Yes, yes the finale was superb … we all know this, everybody loved it, now: RANT INCOMING!). The fact that anyone – least of all wannabe screenwriters! LE GASP – think Trent is ‘pointless’ shows how little people understand the purpose of secondary characters in screenwriting. Sure, they *think*… Read More »A Masterclass In Secondary Characters (Or Why Trent Crimm Matters In TED LASSO)

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Top 10 Myths about Sensitivity Readers (And Why They’re Wrong)

About Sensitivity Readers Sensitivity readers are never far from the news these days. There’s been countless articles and threads online decrying them, citing ‘cancel culture’ and ‘offended snowflakes’ supposedly ‘ruining’ writing in the 2020s. A sensitivity reader is someone who reads a literary work, looking for perceived offensive content, accidental stereotypes and bias. They then create a report for a writer, publisher or another industry pro with suggested changes. No more, no less. FYI, I actually don’t like the term ‘sensitivity reader’. I feel it plays into (some) writers’ belief the job is ‘pandering’ to various communities or cultures. These… Read More »Top 10 Myths about Sensitivity Readers (And Why They’re Wrong)

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Go Woke, Go Broke? Yeah, Go Fuck Yourself (And More Adventures In Diverse Storytelling)

A Little Reminder You can say you ‘support diverse storytelling’ all you want, but if you ALSO say it’s ‘not bigotry’ to actively prefer white actors to BIPOC or LGBTQ ones?? Guess what: you DON’T support diverse storytelling!   C’mon, this is basic. Sigh.  Another week, yet another casting controversy … This time, it’s about Cleopatra being cast as a black actor in the upcoming Netflix drama in May. If you’re yet to catch up, here are just some of the various takes: VARIETY: ‘Queen Cleopatra Director Slams Criticism of Casting Black Cleopatra THE SPECTATOR: Why is Netflix Pretending That Cleopatra… Read More »Go Woke, Go Broke? Yeah, Go Fuck Yourself (And More Adventures In Diverse Storytelling)

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Javier Grillo-Marxuach: ‘Lost Was NOT Purgatory’ (And Other Tales)

About Javier Grillo-Marxuach Javier Grillo-Marxuach is a screenwriter and producer. He has the kind of resumé most Bang2writers would kill for, including iconic shows like Charmed and Lost. He’s continued with fantastic modern TV such as The Witcher, The 100 and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance as well. Wow! I was delighted to Zoom with Javier recently. I love high concept, dystopian and post-apocalyptic story worlds. He’s literally worked on some of my favourite shows that have influenced my own writing! Javier also wrote the AMAZING 11 Laws of show running, an online essay/memo which really requires its own post.… Read More »Javier Grillo-Marxuach: ‘Lost Was NOT Purgatory’ (And Other Tales)

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5 Simple Gender Flips To Freshen Up Your Story

All About Gender Flips Traditionally, ‘gender flips’ refer to when a character’s gender is changed through an adaptation. For example, if a character is male in the book but is made female in the movie or TV version. Over time, ‘gender flipping’ has expanded beyond specific characters and begun to include character tropes as well. A character trope is a recurring idea in fiction. The concept of the hero or villain are traditional character tropes, as well as archetypes. You can read more about tropes HERE. Flipping ‘Eck Gender flips have been in discussion across B2W lately because of remarks made… Read More »5 Simple Gender Flips To Freshen Up Your Story

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5 Lies Writers Torture Themselves With About Their Projects

Writing Torture Do you torture yourself as a writer? If you do, you’re not alone. Working with writers, I hear about all kinds of worries and insecurities they have on a DAILY basis. Hell, sometimes hourly! Obviously the kinds of things writers torture themselves about will depend on the individual. That said, I have noted some significant patterns over the years. Writers may even say the same phrases, again and again. With this in mind, I have rounded up the top five lies writers torture themselves with about their projects. Ready? then let’s go … 1) ‘I’m being STOPPED from… Read More »5 Lies Writers Torture Themselves With About Their Projects

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10 Arguments Against Content Warnings … And Why They’re Wrong

All About Content Warnings Content warnings (sometimes conflated with trigger warnings) are those missives that suggest some viewers should exercise caution with watching or reading the story and characters of a book, TV show or movie. Here are some standard content warnings we have all seen … ‘Contains scenes that some viewers may find disturbing’ ‘Parental advisory: explicit content’ ‘Contains scenes of a sexual nature’ ‘Contains strong language.’ ‘Includes sexual violence or dubious consent’ Of course, for some people, content warnings have the opposite effect and make them MORE eager to read or watch something. This is why others may… Read More »10 Arguments Against Content Warnings … And Why They’re Wrong

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HOST – How To Write, Make And Sell A Horror Movie

All About Host Host (2020) is a low budget British Horror movie that IMDB describes as, ‘Six friends hire a medium to hold a séance via Zoom during lockdown, but they get far more than they bargained for as things quickly go wrong.’  Receiving rave reviews and a whopping 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, Host was conceived and shot in Lockdown! That’s right, Host did not exist even in its creators’ minds BEFORE March 23rd, 2020. In fact, had the pandemic not happened, this horror movie may never have been written and produced at all. So I met the… Read More »HOST – How To Write, Make And Sell A Horror Movie

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Yes, Male Writers CAN Write Fantastic Female Characters

Not ALL Male Writers It’s true, male writers can get a bum rap when writing about female characters. As the headline of this article suggests, OF COURSE male writers can write great female characters. In fact, some of my all-time favourites have literally been written by male writers!!! From my time as a script reader, I’d venture there’s no correlation between gender and talent of writers. This obviously means there will be GREAT writers who happen to be female … But it ALSO means a female writer will not automatically write a great female character too. No one knows where talent comes… Read More »Yes, Male Writers CAN Write Fantastic Female Characters

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No, Woke Culture Is NOT ‘The Death Of Storytelling’

On ‘Woke Culture’ Hardly a week goes by without some (white) guy lamenting some version of the ‘death of storytelling’. Recently it was film director Todd Phillips’ turn, saying ‘Woke Culture’ is Killing Comedy Movies. Another director, Adam Hertz also chimed in on this saying American Pie wouldn’t get made today. (His position was slightly more nuanced than Phillips’ however, ultimately conceding that’s ‘probably a good thing’.) This is the cruncher though: TIMES CHANGE. This is how the industry works. It is not ‘woke’, it’s just good business sense. What is popular in one decade, is not in another. What’s more, audiences are becoming… Read More »No, Woke Culture Is NOT ‘The Death Of Storytelling’

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1 Important Thing To Remember About Rejection

All About Rejection The thing about rejection is, IT STINGS. When we put all our hopes and dreams into a piece of writing and it gets rejected, it can feel devastating. What’s more, rejection happens to ALL writers. It’s not something that ever magically goes away. Even if a successful pro writer gets most of his or her projects greenlit, there’s still some that will fall through the net. Also, there’s no guarantee of success with target audiences! Pro writers’ work may fail at the box office, bookshops or streaming. That’s just the way it is. Basically, rejection is part… Read More »1 Important Thing To Remember About Rejection

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infographic version of how to write TV series bibles

What No One Is Talking About In The Great Screenplay Format Debate

The Debate Every year or so, what I call ‘The Great Screenplay Format Debate’ pops up. Some years it’s just once, others it’s multiple times. It never gets more heated than on Twitter, where produced screenwriters will  insist over and over it’s about ‘great writing’, NOT ‘great format’. Mic drop. Debate over. So, are these guys right? Of course. B2W also bangs on about this, after all. As far as I’m concerned, the notion of great writing ultimately comes down to just three things (that’s concept, characters and structure, for anyone wondering). OF COURSE there’s a bunch of other stuff… Read More »What No One Is Talking About In The Great Screenplay Format Debate

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