Post-Christmas Tip: Everything counts
Aiming to get a little writing done now that the holidays are over – or even a lot of writing – here’s a tip that will immediately improve your productivity: Count what you do. It’s…
writing
Utter Folly by Paul Bassett Davies – review
I was expecting great things from Utter Folly and I wasn’t disappointed. Great energetic fun.
What do you do next? Procrastinate?
Last Monday I talked about finishing. So after you’ve finished – what do you do next? Do you push on straight to your next project, or what? I once invited psychologist Andrea Perry to come…
Are we there yet?
There must be something in the air: I’m in the mood for finishing things. I just finished writing a novel after a mammoth three years – and just finished the latest Euroscript Screen-PLAY Summer School…
How you can use not knowing to write better scripts
The strange realisation hit me the other day: the more I write, the less sure I become about all my theories about writing. One day, with luck, I’ll be sure about nothing at all. This…
Bye Ray
Sad departure of Ray Bradbury. He who should always be revered, not least for standing up for the value of books and writing. Read about his advice to a young would-be writer – A man…
Why sometimes you have to write a bad scene
This may sound strange, but did you know that writing a good scene may not be right for your script – sometimes only a bad scene will do. This week I reached a climactic point…
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…
Writing successfully in a recession
I’m thinking a good deal about creativity at the moment, as I prepare for the launch of my next novel. In particular I’m aware that these are difficult times to let yourself go and be…
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…
How not to sell your script
Last night I got a call from a company who I’d bought from before. The previous time, I spent good money with them – this time I put the phone down after a minute. What…
Writers’ Resolutions
Have you made a New Year’s Resolution? To start that script? Or finish it? To start selling the novel you finished? To get proper feedback? To write more? Or less? Do you really think you’re…
Apologies for being unable to complain
I write to apologise for my complete unpreparedness for the current winter weather winge. Owing to my failure to plan ahead, I have had no ability to write letters of complaint or grouse to my…
Planning to write over the holidays? Here’s a Christmas tip.
Many writers put aside time to write over the holidays. It can be a great idea, and it can also be a quick way to get writers block! The problem is that squeezing all your…
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.
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…