What is the BBC biased against and why?
BBC bias – Every week, it seems, the BBC is under attack from one side or another. Most recently they’re in a twist over pay for women. Just this week came the weird spectacle of…
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.
The Detective Trap
When I started writing crime and police scripts and novels I received great feedback. They were well written, strongly structured, highly visual. But there was a problem. Once I solved that problem…
Ways to be a Great Writer: #3
Today we have an attribute that I didn’t recognise for a long time. When great artists of all kinds are discussed we usually get a load of blah about originality and spontaneity as if great…
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.
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!
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.