Write treatments with style
I’ve written before that good screenwriters often get tangled up writing treatments. One major reason is that they are simply using the wrong style.
Sometimes the work goes slowly
Back from holiday, ready to get back to the writing and everything slowed down. I felt ill, my back hurt, I was lethargic, my head spun, my brain felt full of fog. I had a hundred reasons for why I couldn’t get down to it.
Writing Tip For Creating Rich and Surprising Characters
I’ve got many ways that I use when I’m stuck, some wonderful tools for character development that I’ve picked up over the years. Here’s a very simple method which can have very profound and surprising results.
What is it about research?
What is it about research? I know that every minute spent on research is worth an hour doing anything else. Talking to people, in person, on the phone; reading books; checking out web sites; watching documentaries – it’s all part of the job. And yet something stops me.
Deep Language – Free Tip
In screenwriting we don’t talk much about language. Yet, once these have been sorted, what do we have to work with other than words? We need to understand how language works at its deepest levels – for it is these that profoundly affect the way we hear and understand – these deep structures can either create the strongest emotional effects… or ruin them!
Power Pitching Tips 2
Here’s a strange thought. When most people pitch their projects, the question they never ask themselves is why.
A tip to help you with the mental game of creative success
The more I write, and the more I work with writers, the more I am sure it’s the same. You need to work on your skills, and equally you need to work on your mental game. The trouble is, very few people teach us how to do this.
How to create a great structure – and avoid the decoration
Don’t get hung up on the Acts and Pinch Points, and don’t ignore them either. The structure of your script is how you tell your story in the most enthralling way…
Money, Money, Money…
I want to talk about a small strategy that may seem simple and yet if you use it has the power to push the sales of your scripts/films/novels/etc through the roof. It’s one that’s so easy it almost feels like cheating and yet when it’s done well it’s highly artistic and connects very directly with your audience.
Writing Treatments – Get Out Of First Gear
Treatments are essential both for developing and for marketing your scripts – and yet many good screenwriters fail to write good treatments.
It took me a long time to realise why.
Ultra-short Pitching Competition – The Answers
A few days ago, I wrote about the industry’s most famous pitch – a mere three words – “Jaws in Space.” It was the original pitch for Alien. And I promised to tell you about a two word and a one word pitch – the only ones I know of.
Power Pitching Tips
Can you imagine being able to grab the attention of industry professionals in just a few words?
Actually, that’s an essential if you want to succeed as a writer, director or producer in film or TV.
It’s the first and most important tip:
Cheltenham Fun and Danger
Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival – Give me some good solid iconoclasm, more incendiary offensiveness. Stop telling people that all you need is to believe in yourself and tell them to get off their arses and break some windows.
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