Professional script advice from a working screenwriter.
With two young nieces, there was only one thing I was going to be doing this weekend. When Frozen came out in 2013, I didn’t get around to seeing it at all in the cinema (despite working in a cinema at that time). Fast forward to 2019, and I was in the cinema at 10am … Continue reading The Writing Journal #56
The nights are getting darker and the winds are getting colder. There’s no denying that winter is coming. The speed with which winter is coming, however, has certainly caught me off guard, and I can’t believe there are only two weeks left before we kick into December and the inevitably manic run up to Christmas. … Continue reading The Writing Journal #55
Only a whistle-stop visit to the Writing Journal this week after some exciting new developments on the feature side of things, thanks to the (now completed) visual mood-board. It’s very early days and certainly nothing to get carried away with right now, but enough to take priority over this week’s entry into the journal, at … Continue reading The Writing Journal #54
His Dark Materials got off to a wonderful start last night and promises to be an exhilarating Sunday night treat to carry us into Christmas. There are many reasons for me to be excited by this, not least the fact that it was filmed just down the road from me and demonstrates, once again, the … Continue reading The Writing Journal #53
I watched The Shining for the first time last night. Some readers will recoil in horror (pun intended) that a screenwriter of seven years could go so long without seeing such a seminal film, and I don’t blame you – it’s quite a big axe-hewn hole to have in my cinema knowledge! I suppose I … Continue reading The Writing Journal #52
This past weekend, I finished reading the first book in the Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series. I deliberately held out on reading them until the TV series was at an end so as to avoid any sort of spoilers for the show – I enjoyed the sheer shock of seeing the … Continue reading The Writing Journal #51
Before I start on the Writing Journal proper this week, I would like to take a moment to ask a favour of you, my dear and esteemed readers, to help with one of my projects that could do with a little boost in the weeks ahead. Poor Uncle Dave has had a wonderful start to … Continue reading The Writing Journal #50
Honey, I’m home! After a mini-break away from the Writing Journal last week, this Monday I return full of vim and vigour, ready to throw myself back into fray with gusto (and a new thesaurus, apparently…) Last week’s London trip was a lovely refresher, and it was great to spend time catching up with the … Continue reading The Writing Journal #48
Wise people often say that practice makes perfect. Since I’ve always believed that there’s no such thing as perfect in screenwriting/filmmaking (despite Richard Curtis’ best efforts), it might be wiser to revise it down to the slightly less catchy “practice makes better” when referring to screenplays; something I discovered quite plainly in my own work … Continue reading The Writing Journal #47
It’s been fifty years since Monty Python’s Flying Circus debuted on British televisions, and to mark the occasion there was an evening of shows on the BBC, including a re-run of the very first episode from way back when. Monty Python and Messrs Cleese, Jones, Idle, Palin, Chapman and Gilliam have always been a massive … Continue reading The Writing Journal #46
Script & Polish 