A look back on my main writing achievements for 2018.
How Do You ‘Find Your Voice’ As A Writer?
On the destructive myth of a writer’s ‘voice’, and what ‘finding your voice’ actually means.
Speed Pitching! Things To Consider
The delightful Holly Lyons, screenwriting lecturer at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, and maven behind script assessment service Screenwriting Scriptease, invited me along last week to a speed pitching session for her screenwriting students. Along with some fellow industry peeps, we lined ourselves up for an onslaught of pitches from emerging writers and filmmakers […]
5 Ways To Improve Gender Representation In Your Kids TV Concept
You can click here to jump straight to the checklist! As writers, we’re told to think outside the box. We strive to look beyond genre conventions, to make interesting connections so our concepts feel ‘fresh’ and ‘unique’. We scout for intriguing ways into our stories, and look to develop characters with traits and motivations that […]
Advice To New And Emerging Screenwriters (And Script Editors)
So, I write for television and I get paid for it. It literally pays my bills and keeps me fed. I don’t earn an outrageous living, far from it, but I earn enough to maintain independence and sanity. I don’t have to dig wells, sell shoes or wait tables* to keep myself afloat. AND I […]
The Power of Predictive Poetry
It all started (for me at least) when I saw this tweet from J.K. Rowling: The tweet was in response to sports blogger Bradley Geiser’s (aka NBA Kurt Vonnegut @therealbradg) request for people to write their autobiography using only predictive text, starting with the words ‘I was born’. This blew my mind! How amazing, and […]
What’s The Point (Of Scene)? How The One Liner Changed How I See Stories
If writing is re-writing, scriptwriting is script editing. And one of the most basic tools of script editing is the One Liner, which focuses you on POS (point of scene). As a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed trainee script editor, my boss assigned me some practise. After I’d mangled my way through a set of off-balance notes, […]
3 Reasons Why I Recommend The NYC Midnight Writing Challenges
About a year ago, I came across a group called NYC Midnight that run a slate of online writing competitions. I’m usually pretty suspicious of these sorts of things, and to be honest I’m not someone who regularly enters competitions. But after poking about their website, I thought, why not? I’ll try it once, and […]
Ann Hood’s Top Ten Tips On How To Write A Kick-Ass Essay
I came across this fantastic podcast the other day via Tin House and featuring writer Ann Hood who shares her ten rules on how to write a ‘kick-ass’ essay. It is excellent and I urge you to listen to it immediately! The podcast is a recording of Hood’s lecture given during Tin House’s 2014 Summer Writer’s Workshop. Hood is […]
