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Women & Writing

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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3 Quick Tips On Writing Diverse Characters

Want To Write Great Diverse Characters? Every day I hear from Bang2writers who want to write great female leads, characters of colour, or characters from the LGBT and disabled communities … but they’re scared of ‘getting it wrong’. If this is you as well, I have great news. It’s possible to write great diverse characters AND avoid the mistakes that worry you in advance. So let’s skip the fluff and go straight to those actionable quick tips that you can implement immediately. Quick Tip # 1: Avoid those ‘samey’ stories for diverse characters When writers want to attempt a diverse… Read More »3 Quick Tips On Writing Diverse Characters

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Dorothy Koomson: ‘No one Is Being Censored or Stopped From Writing’

About Dorothy Koomson Dorothy Koomson is a British novelist who has been described as “Britain’s biggest selling black author of adult fiction”. She’s also the writer of a whopping sixteen books! CHECK OUT HER WEBSITE. I think I’ve read a good chunk of Dorothy’s books (my faves are The Ice Cream Girls and The Brighton Mermaid). I was thrilled when she agreed to chat to B2W about writing. Check out her top tips for writers! 1) Emotion is key Dorothy calls her books ‘emotional thrillers’. The crime is secondary – it’s more about HOW the crime affects the characters. ‘So many whodunnits… Read More »Dorothy Koomson: ‘No one Is Being Censored or Stopped From Writing’

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15 Awesome Tips For Cutting Down Your Page Count

All About Cutting Down Page Count Cutting down scripts is an essential tool of the trade for writers. Last week I had to cut a script down from 138 pages to the required 104. Losing 34 pages is no mean feat, but most of us will have to do this at some point … Some writers will find themselves cutting down even more! I’m a writer who continually overwrites (I’d rather have too much than too little). This means cutting down page count is a skill I’ve developed over the last few years. Here’s my top tips on how to do… Read More »15 Awesome Tips For Cutting Down Your Page Count

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Brit Marling Is Wrong On ‘Strong Female Characters’. Here’s Why

All About Brit Marling I’ll confess I hadn’t heard of Brit Marling before last weekend. Like a good portion of blogging writers, the first I knew of her was her opinion piece in the NY Times, ‘I Don’t Want To Be the Strong Female Lead’. It’s fair to say this article really lit up social media. Since B2W is known for its own commentary on female characterisation, I thought I’d throw my own thoughts out on it. But first, credit where it’s due. Brit Marling is an American actress and screenwriter. She’s starred in films such as Sound of My Voice (2011), Another… Read More »Brit Marling Is Wrong On ‘Strong Female Characters’. Here’s Why

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10 Lessons On Writing Women From Phoebe Waller-Bridge

About Phoebe Waller-Bridge If you’ve never heard of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, my first question is where have you been???  She is, of course, the English actress and writer who created, wrote, and starred in the BBC tragicomedy series Fleabag. Phoebe was also the showrunner and executive producer for the first series of the BBC America thriller series Killing Eve. More recently, she signed on to ‘spice up’ the new James Bond movie, No Time To Die. So it’s fair to say this is a creative who knows her stuff! With all this in mind, Bang2write took a look at her thoughts on… Read More »10 Lessons On Writing Women From Phoebe Waller-Bridge

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How To Find Your Writer’s Voice

What Is Writer’s Voice? Wikipedia defines ‘Writer’s Voice’ as the following … ‘The writer’s voice is the individual writing style of an author, a combination of idiotypical usage of syntax, diction, punctuation, character development, dialogue, etc., within a given body of text (or across several works). Voice can be thought of in terms of the uniqueness of a vocal voice machine. As a trumpet has a different voice than a tuba or a violin has a different voice than a cello, so the words of one author have a different sound than the words of another. One author may have a voice that is light… Read More »How To Find Your Writer’s Voice

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Top 10 Badass Female Antiheroes You Need To Know

All About Antiheroes Lots of writers believe antiheroes ‘have’ to be protagonists, but this is not the case. Antiheroes are defined in the dictionary as the following … A central character in a story, film, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes, eg. “with the age of the antihero, baddies and goodies became less distinguishable from one another”. Myself, I love an enigmatic female lead!! With all this in mind then, I am going to look at some badass female antiheroes, plus what writers can learn from them. Ready? Let’s go! 1) Aunt Lydia, The Handmaid’s Tale Aunt Lydia in The… Read More »Top 10 Badass Female Antiheroes You Need To Know

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30 Quotes Writers Need To Know To Keep Motivated

Keeping Motivated Keeping motivated is hard … Whether you are stuck on the last chapter of your novel, or you’re just sitting down to write the first, a little motivation can go a long way. If you need a little extra help in staying motivated, this is just the article for you. Below are some of the best quotes from your fellow writers to inspire you to set aside self-doubt and just keep writing. 1) Anne Lamott “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” MORE: 7 Motivational Quotes From Shonda Rhimes  2) Mary Lee Settle… Read More »30 Quotes Writers Need To Know To Keep Motivated

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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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In The Spotlight: Shonda Rhimes’ Top 10 Writing Rules

Learn From Shonda Rhimes! So, B2W is the first to say there are no writing rules … But there ARE things we can learn from the best writers working today. TV writing goddess Shonda Rhimes is obviously one of them! So whether you call them ‘rules’, ‘best practices’, ‘guidelines’ or something else, she has plenty of great writing advice for us. B2W’s new intern Alice has rounded up some classic Shonda for us to consider in honing our craft and getting our own writing off the ground. Enjoy! All About Shonda Rhimes Shonda Rhimes is one of the most successful… Read More »In The Spotlight: Shonda Rhimes’ Top 10 Writing Rules

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No Writers, You’re Not Being ‘Excluded’

On Being Excluded Feeling excluded from the industry? You’re not alone. It seems a lot of writers feel this way. If you’re part of the B2W Facebook group, you may have seen several mini-spats in there this week. These things always seem to jump up at the same time, because feelings run high and writers have A LOT of feelz. The purpose of this post is to address why writers might feel excluded, but also why this is not necessarily the issue they think. Ready? Let’s go. The BBC Drama Writers’ Scheme The first one revolved around the new BBC TV… Read More »No Writers, You’re Not Being ‘Excluded’

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