What’s bad – and good – in The Odyssey
It’s one of the greatest films of the year. It’s a travesty. Is Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey worth the hype?
Into the Unknown with Oliver Johnson
Thriller writer Oliver Johnson speaks to me about writing, editing and dreams TEN MINUTE READ Listen to the full interview or read the edited transcript below. I was looking forward greatly to interviewing Oliver Johnson.…
Can you help me with my research?
I believe good research is the backbone of a good novel. For previous and upcoming books, I’ve gone undercover in police stations, tabloid newsrooms, hospitals and arms manufacturers, among many other secretive places. What I’ve…
Oy veh! Jewface casting?
There was a massive fuss this autumn when a major Hollywood movie came out. A white actor played Martin Luther King in blackface. No, of course he didn’t. It would never happen. Blackface casting no…
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The 5 Best True Crime Books of 2019
For the first post of the year, I’m delighted to welcome guest-blogger Desiree Villena, a lifelong true crime aficionado. Today she puts her passion and knowledge to use by choosing her best true crime books…
Paris by noir – Review: Clementina by Simon Cann
Last week I wrote about honesty in writing – how it is the difference that makes the difference. No amount of clever plotting or literary fireworks will make up for a lack of truth. Today…
What I learned from the World Cup
Bored with the World Cup? Take another look. Football has probably taught me more about people and psychology than anything else ever has. I mentioned the World Cup to a friend of mine last week.…
Darkness in the Pacific: Review – Black Water by Louise Doughty
Agents, publishers, books on writing tell you to write about nice characters who grow and learn. Louise Doughty clearly missed that memo. Her characters are troubled, rarely nice, placed in dark situations. Nazi mass killing…
How to avoid the crime fiction trap
Crime is the post popular genre in fiction and on screen today, but many writers fall into the crime fiction trap. Understanding the crime fiction trap The big trap in crime movies and novels is that the…
Writing a gripping thriller
I’m delighted to be talking about Writing a Gripping Thriller for Hayley McKenzie’s blog ScriptAngel. You can read the full article below. Hayley is a great person and script consultant, who’s based in the Midlands. So…
Review: Straight White Male
Straight White Male by John Niven My rating: 4 of 5 stars How do you succeed in creating a difficult central character, indeed a quite obnoxious one, and yet persuade your readers to fall in…
Use the Bake Off rule to improve your scripts
Bake Off is back. But is there something we can learn from the series’ success? Aside from how to bake a better cup-cake. What is it that makes Bake Off so successful? It’s clearly not complexity of plot.…
What the World Cup taught me about screenwriting
I have to confess: much of what I know about life, let alone screenwriting, has come from football, and in particular the World Cup. There, I’ve said it. Feel free to shun me and pass…
How do writers come up with character names for their scripts?
Could you do more when it comes to naming characters in your scripts? Top of my list of faults are names that are bland, cliché, too similar, or just plain wrong. But how do the…
How to express yourself without killing your screenwriting career
There’s a phrase that’s popular among writing courses at the moment – we’re all expected to “express ourselves”. Self-expression is the thing. And it certainly is, if you want to kill your career stone dead.…
Two simple ways to add power to your pitching
If you want to pitch with power, here are two powerful ingredients that are often forgotten by script gurus although they are used to powerful effect in almost every successful TV drama or cinema film.
How to make your script editor-friendly
A big welcome to experienced producer, script-editor and writer Yvonne Grace, who drops in from Scriptadvice.com to talk about the best way to work with a script editor. I am often asked by my writers…
8 ways to make your characters come vividly to life
To create living, interesting characters, you need to draw on your experience of life, and add to it. Or to put it another way, bring us your unique take on people. Here are 8 ways…