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Writing GUT DECISION series

7 Things Agents, Producers & Filmmakers Can Tell From Your Pitch

With LondonSWF around the corner, I thought it would be a good idea to put pitching under the microscope, both written and face-to-face. When it comes to pitching, whether via documents like one pagers or face to face (or both!), writers tend to freak out very easily. It’s not hard to see why. After all, what’s the “right” way to pitch?? NEWSFLASH: there is no “right” way, just multiple WRONG ways. So to avoid the latter, here’s what dodgy pitches can mean to the people whose attention you want … Written Pitches 1) You haven’t a clue what you’re doing This… Read More »7 Things Agents, Producers & Filmmakers Can Tell From Your Pitch

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The Blog Tour: 4 Qs, My As …

Many thanks to Rob Stickler for tagging me in this blog tour about my writing. Everyone gets the same 4 questions, so here are my 4 answers! 1) What Am I Working On? I’m currently working on my second non fiction book, which as the name  suggests is about drama screenplays. This time, the book will be rather different to WRITING AND SELLING THRILLER SCREENPLAYS, because whilst drama might have certain sub categories, a drama **can** literally be ANYTHING. So I’m approaching the notion of what *makes* drama “satisfying” in terms of storytelling, using detailed case studies and for which I’m… Read More »The Blog Tour: 4 Qs, My As …

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5 Steps To Writing A Novel: A Beginner’s Guide

Some great steps from Cressida today for those of you considering writing a novel for the first time. Thanks Cressida and good luck everybody who takes on the challenge! NOVEL FACTS The word “novel” is derived from Italian word “novella” which means “new”. The history of novel writing can be traced back to the medieval period, when novella was a more popular form of fiction writing. Novel has been a popular genre of fiction writing since its inception. This style of writing has been adopted by the likes of H.G Wells and Isaac Asimov. Check out The B2W Novel Writing Pinterest… Read More »5 Steps To Writing A Novel: A Beginner’s Guide

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7 Reasons Why Being A Teenage Parent Made My Career

I Was A Teenage Parent I stick up for teenage parents every chance I get. If you’ve followed this blog a while, you’ll know I was a teenage Mum ‘back in the day’. Far from apologising for this, or thinking it’s any way shameful, I actually celebrate this. Yes you read that right. I’m proud I was a teenage parent. My pride is not just because I went up against some pretty exceptional odds and became a professional writer ‘despite’ having my son young. **I**  am not exceptional, either. I know LOADS of brilliant teenage parents who are kicking ass… Read More »7 Reasons Why Being A Teenage Parent Made My Career

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Writing THE DECISION: LIZZIE’S STORY # 3 – Description & Characters

I run the Bang2write script consultancy, so read lots of spec novels every year as writers get them ready to either self publish, or show agents and publishers. The two elements that cause the most issues then in these novels are description and character. This is no surprise, since these are probably the most important elements of a novel, as readers perhaps notice them “most”. So here is a rundown of the issues I frequently see with description and character and how I tackled them myself in writing THE DECISION: LIZZIE’S STORY: DESCRIPTION 1) Grammar, punctuation, spelling. No one minds… Read More »Writing THE DECISION: LIZZIE’S STORY # 3 – Description & Characters

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Das Schreiben von BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG # 3: Beschreibung und Charaktere

Durch die Arbeit in meiner Drehbuchberatung Bang2write, lese ich jedes Jahr zahlreiche Romanideen (in Form von spekulativen Romanen ähnlich einem „spec script“), während ihre Autoren darauf hinarbeiten, sie entweder selbst zu verlegen oder sie Agenten und Verlagen zu präsentieren. Die zwei Elemente, die am häufigsten Probleme bereiten sind die Beschreibung sowie die Charaktere. Dies kommt mitnichten als Überraschung, da sie wahrscheinlich die wichtigsten Elemente eines Romans sind und Leser sie am ehesten bemerken. Aus diesem Grund kannst du im Folgenden einige übliche Probleme finden, wie sie mir häufig in Beschreibung und Charakteren begegnen, sowie eine Erklärung, wie ich an diese… Read More »Das Schreiben von BAUCHTENSCHEIDUNG # 3: Beschreibung und Charaktere

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Writing THE DECISION: LIZZIE’S STORY # 2 – The Pitch

When writing a novel, a good pitch is worth its weight in gold. Not only is it a good document to grab the interest of agents and publishers, it can help if you are self publishing too as it helps you stay “on track”. I had tried writing novels before, but always ran out of steam. Previously I had written only loose outlines, so when approaching LIZZIE’S STORY I decided to write a detailed pitch. I actually spent as long on the pitch as writing the manuscript (nearly four months!), but I didn’t regret it. Here’s how I did mine:… Read More »Writing THE DECISION: LIZZIE’S STORY # 2 – The Pitch

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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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