STORY TROPES & CLICHE – AN APPRECIATION?
Hi There, In this newsletter, I want to look at the issue of – FAMILIAR STORYTELLING TROPES By which I mean – all those devices that we, who have watched so many thousands of hours of screen drama and comedy, instantly recognise for their familiarity. Here is a somewhat random and incomplete checklist of those […]
QUOTES & NOTES FROM 4SCREENWRITING WEEKEND 1
Hi There, This week, a series of quotes and notes from the guest talks from a number of eminent and excellent writers, producers, script editors, agents, commissioning executives on the 1st weekend (back in January) of the 2022 Channel 4 screenwriting course. These are just a few of the things that were said, that resonated […]
ANN HAWKER writes about her script AN AUSTRIAN HOLIDAY
Hi There, This is the first in an occasional series – written by writers about their scripts in my SCRIPT LIBRARY. Clearly the reason I wanted to include the scripts in my library is because I think they’re great – so that I hope they will prove enjoyable, instructive and inspiring for you to […]
CHANNEL 4 SCREENWRITING COURSE 2023
Hi There, CHANNEL 4 SCREENWRITING COURSE 2023 I hope you’ve all had a good summer and are ready for a successful and creative autumn. One of my summer highlights was the industry drinks evening for the Channel 4 screenwriting course in July, the first time we’ve been able to hold it since 2019, where the […]
SCREENWRITING – CHARACTER PROMPTS & OTHER STORYTELLING IDEAS
Hi There, This fortnight a random selection of thoughts about different aspects of screenwriting. CREATING CHARACTERS PERSON PLACE PROP A character exercise based on observing real people. I was on a train journey and I observed – A young East Asian man with a Dyson hoover. A 60 year old white woman with a […]
WHAT DEFINES GOOD WRITING?
WHAT IS GOOD WRITING? I recently read the novel Sorrow And Bliss by Meg Mason. It’s a wonderful book. The writing gave me such pleasure. On almost every page there is a sentence that gives me joy, that makes me think – what lovely writing. Such a clarity and truth to the writing but also […]
GENERAL MEETINGS FOR SCREENWRITERS
Hi There, This fortnight I’m doing something I haven’t done before – recycling an old newsletter. So this is an adapted / extended version of a newsletter I sent out in 2018, which I’d completely forgotten I’d written – before a writer told me that her agent had sent a copy of it to her! […]
Storytelling lessons from THE RESCUE
Hi There, One of the most memorable films I have seen in the last few months, one that has really stuck with me, was a documentary, THE RESCUE. I was so excited by this film – it is the most wonderful piece of storytelling. I actually watched the film during the process of reading […]
TRAINING FOR SCREENWRITERS – your responses
Hi There, A huge thank you to everyone who took the time and trouble to respond to LILY SHAHMOON’S newsletter 2 weeks ago about the tricky issues around creative writing university courses and about the pros and cons of various different forms of training for screenwriters. Today, I have collated some of these responses (I […]
MA OR NOT MA? TRAINING FOR DRAMATIC WRITING – LILY SHAHMOON
Hi There, This week, a guest blog from writer / script editor LILY SHAHMOON. Lily has been a script reader and shadow script editor on the Channel 4 screenwriting course and is also a very talented dramatic writer (she had an excellent play on at the Southwark Playhouse in 2020 – unfortunately for her just […]