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…
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How to write visually for cinema and TV
The pressure to write visually can feel frightening, especially if you’re new to writing or have written for other media, such as novels and plays. What generally happens is that the writer overcompensates, filling the…
Top 5 screenwriting clichés of the year awards
The Charles Harris Screen Imitation Gold Wellington Boot Awards for the top screenwriting clichés of the year.
Four steps to starting a compelling script
People often ask how to get ideas. Of course ideas are all around. What they mean is where do you find ideas you know will work. Ideas that will stay alive and grow. Nothing is…
Three things you need to improve your script sales
Back from hols and the first thing on my to-do list is to go out and start selling the script I finished last month. Of course as a true artist I should have no truck…
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.…
Give your future readers a Christmas present
Christmas is coming and the writers are getting twitchy. Are you planning to use the glorious break from everyday life to do some serious writing on that long-delayed script or novel? Give yourself and your…
Is your script predictable?
I’ve read hundreds of scripts by very competent writers, and very few have ever given me a single moment of surprise. Yet all the great scripts I’ve read are constantly surprising. So what’s going wrong?…
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.
How to become a better writer? You may be surprised by the answer.
They all say practice makes perfect. But does it help you become a better screenwriter? Maybe it doesn’t help as much as everyone thinks. Or maybe there’s another issue here that you need to address…
Why do we call them Screen – Plays?
Want your script to stand out from the crowd? Want it to be read from cover to cover and passed from hand to hand? It’s time to discover your inner playfulness. Playfulness is not the…
A Clever, Sneaky Way To Hide Exposition
The ability to handle exposition really sorts the professionals from the wannabes, and I’m going to share one of my top exposition techniques with you here.
Modelling for Writers (not like Naomi Campbell)
Few books on writing ever deal with the mental game of writing, but getting your mental game right is crucial. Today’s post gives you one of the most powerful and far-reaching tools I’ve discovered for…
Nothing beats the lessons of production
You can’t beat what you learn when your script actually goes in front of the camera. Check out Tom Williams’ blog article on the filming of his script Chalet Girl – http://tomwilliamsscreenwriter.blogspot.com/2011/01/lessons-from-production.html Great article.
Wave Your Wooden Leg
Here’s a screenwriting tip that will make your life so much easier. And before I get to it, just a word about difficulty. Many screenwriting books seem to want to make screenwriting hard – and…
Ways to be a Great Writer: #2
No writer can survive without it. It’s that crucial device that sits just between your ears and tells you when you’re coming up with crap.
How to be a screenwriting success – Not just 10,000 hours part 2
All great artists – writers, film-makers, musicians, etc – think outside the box. They learn the rules, and then they learn to master them and break them. They break them so effectively that they make…
Tips from Linda Aronson
It was great seeing so many people last night at Euroscript for the conversation I had with Linda Aronson (writer and guru!) – she was in good form and full of useful advice on all…