Not The Oscars 2026 – Part One
Yes, it’s that time of year again. The time when we trip down the digital red carpet to deliver the Not The Oscars for 2026. The top 12 films which should have been at the…
Want help adapting a book for screen?
This week I have two new resources for you if you want help adapting a book for film or TV, or are a reader/viewer who’s interested in seeing how writers set about transforming works for…
7 best snow movies
I can’t guarantee a White Christmas, but we can slump in front of the TV to watch a snow movie. Snow movies inspired the main story of my psychological mystery thriller Room 15, which takes…
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…
Why most people are crap at persuading
GETTING GOOD AT PERSUADING This message was intended solely for writers and film-makers, until I realised that pitching and persuading is something that everyone in the media has to get good at. And then I…
Are writing courses worth it?
The world seems to be full of courses offering to teach you how to write. I should know, I’ve attended some and taught many. This week, Jeff, fellow writer and follower of my email list…
How the gurus who teach “show don’t tell” could ruin your treatment
All screenwriting gurus teach “Show don’t tell” – it’s one of the few things they all agree on. How can it possibly be bad? And yet, what they don’t tell you is sticking to “show…
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.…
Screenplay reality bites… avoiding the reality kiss of death
Which is the greater problem with a screenplay, reality or lack of it? Tim Crouch has a very interesting article in today’s Guardian about how much reality works on stage, and how much it doesn’t.…
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 to help you do exactly that.
Four simple steps for writing a gripping treatment
Do you find it difficult to structure a treatmentso that it grips the reader as strongly as the full script? Join the club. I don’t think any writer enjoys distilling their exquisitely crafted scripts down…
3 Ways to Make Sure Your Script Stands Out
Despite what most writers think, most scripts fail to sell not because they are too different, but because they are not different enough. Many writers, including advanced writers, believe that their cinema or TV script…
Six Things You Need To Know About Treatments
If you want to write for film or TV, then treatments, outlines, synopses (the terms are interchangeable in the industry) are something you have to get good at. And to write good treatments there are six things you’ll need to know.
Give your flashbacks the kiss of life
There are a thousand myths about flashbacks in scripts. Some people say you shouldn’t ever write them. Some people say you must – that fractured narrative is the only way forward in screenwriting (or should…
Why do some scripts sell, and some don’t?
Many people ask me if they should learn about selling and pitching scripts before they start writing, or after they’ve finished a draft. My answer is: either and both – and while in the middle…
Good movie? Where did it come from?
Cameron wants us to make blockbusters. David Cameron, that is, not James. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9006675/Ken-Loach-pouring-lottery-money-into-blockbusters-is-a-travesty.html Speaking as a film director, and director of Euroscript, I’m sad that nobody I’ve heard or read so far has mentioned script.…
How to land a top star and the BBC with one treatment
Most people hate writing treatments. Not me, I love them. This is how I used a treatment to hook a top star comedian and the BBC in just five pages – and how you can too.
Want to succeed? Maybe do the opposite.
Have you heard of Kelly Marcel? If not yet, you soon will. You’ll probably, if you’re like me, be deeply and painfully jealous. And something she said recently might teach us something important.