World Building: Crafting Screenplays Readers Can Step Into Thursday, November 19, 2015 A world-building script is defined as a screenplay where the writer introduces a new world that has different customs and rules that must be explained. World-building scripts  are most often associated with science fiction and fantasy genres because the settings,  environments and elements of how the world works and functions, are so completely  different from what we experience in our everyday lives. Arguably, every script is a world-building script because the reader is entering the screenwriter's imagination  and must learn the rules of your characters' realm. Writing a successful screenplay  requires a complete understanding of the reality of the fictional world you are creating.  Readers need to suspend disbelief and jump into your screenplay with full understanding  and awesome wonder. This course will offer specific tips for creating and implementing advice on building the  world of your screenplay. Research advice and tips, strengthening visual storytelling  in action paragraphs, developing and implementing settings, examining character  and plot conflict as it relates to your settings, and genre consistency, will also be  covered in this class. Original and unique worlds will set your script apart from the other screenplays, vying for attention from film executives; this course will also  discuss understanding film industry folks' expectations without compromising your vision and creativity. REGISTER NOW

Susan Kouguell    Susan Kouguell, award-winning screenwriter and  filmmaker, is the author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! A comprehensive guide to crafting winning characters with film analyses and  screenwriting exercises and The Savvy  Screenwriter: How to Sell Your Screenplay  (and Yourself) Without Selling Out! She is a regular contributor to IndieWire/SydneysBuzz,  Script Magazine, The Script Lab, Screenwriters  Utopia, NewEnglandFilm.com, and wrote a chapter in NOW WRITE! Screenwriting: Exercises by Today's Best Screenwriters, Teachers and Consultants.  Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at SUNY  Purchase, and presents international seminars. Register Now

Writing That Great Teen Novel!

Hello, readers!

Here is a copy of an email I got this morning. If you are interested in learning how to organize your ideas for your Middle Grade of Young Adult novel, two hot markets, check out these tutorials.



Writing the Breakout Teen or Middle Grade Novel, Part 2

SUE JOHNSON Writer's Digest Tutorials

Hi everyone!

Anyone can tell you that the young adult (YA) and middle grade (MG) publishing industry is hot, with new debut authors getting deals each week. But with this market success comes more competition than ever. So what can you do to stand out? This presentation gives you a literary agent's insider insight to what's in, what's out, and what you can expect along the road to publication in this exciting and booming segment of the publishing marketplace.

From establishing a knowledge base of the category, to crafting that perfect concept and fine-tuning your voice, to researching smarter and refining your querying strategies, literary agent Holly Root gives you an agent's eye view of the current landscape-with plenty of straight talk about what's real, what's hype, and how to thrive in one of the most exciting areas of the publishing business.

In this 48-minute tutorial, you will learn:

• How to reconcile your art and the realities of the business
• How to “think like an agent” in crafting a query that will get noticed
• How to research smarter when targeting agents or publishers-targeting the best people for your work

This is part two of a two-part tutorial. Click here to view part one.

Preview: Writing the Breakout Teen or Middle Grade Novel, Part 2 >

Writer's Digest Tutorials Members enjoy full access to all tutorials featured in this newsletter, as well as every tutorial on the tutorials site. For only $199 you gain access to all Writer's Digest's writing tutorials for an entire year. That means you have access to all 246+ current tutorials and all the new tutorials created throughout the year. With the addition of at least one new tutorial every week you have access to a minimum of another 52 educational tutorials. Watch every video whenever you like, as often as you would like . . . and be the first to watch the new tutorial we post each week!

Haven't taken advantage of the wisdom bestowed through the WD tutorials yet? Why not try it out today and see all that our WD tutorials have to offer! You can try WD Tutorials for only $25/month! You will enjoy instant access to 246+ tutorials, including at least one new tutorial added weekly. Also, there are many new tutorials still in development. Feel free to preview the many tutorials immediately available to you through the WD Tutorials site.

Wishing you a happy and healthy week!

~ Sue Johnson~

P.S. If you missed the last newsletter (or two), be sure to watch these new and featured tutorials:

• Writing the Breakout Teen or Middle Grade Novel, Part 1
• Pumping Up: Applying the Rules of the Gym to Your Writing Career, Part 2
• Pumping Up: Applying the Rules of the Gym to Your Writing Career, Part 1
• How to Keep an Agent Reading: Write an Attention-Grabbing First Chapter
• How to Pre-Plot and Complete a Novel or Memoir in a Month, Part 2
• How to Pre-Plot and Complete a Novel or Memoir in a Month, Part 1

For quick and easy access to all WD Tutorials available to you, use this link:

View All WD Tutorials >

Script Writing Opportunities

Hello, readers,

Below is an email I received from Screenwriter's Goldmine. It's offering a script contest and an internship as a script editor for a production in London. If you are interested in these, check them out.





Hi,

We still need your scripts. The competition still has four weeks left to enter, and the deadline for standard submissions is next Thursday. After that we move to Late Submissions, with doors closing finally on December 10th.

This competition can kick start your career, so if you have a script that you have entered elsewhere, then why not send it to us too?

More here: http://awards.screenwritinggoldmine.com

Enter here: http://awards.screenwritinggoldmine.com/the-awards

'The Dumping Ground' celebrations

You may be interested to hear that the series of The Dumping Ground on which I was script-editor has been nominated for two Childrens' BAFTAs. It's up for 'Best Drama', and 'Interactive' - huge congratulations to all involved!

More here: http://awards.bafta.org/award/2015/childrens

What does a script editor actually do?

If you've ever wondered what a script editor does, I've written an in-depth blog post that explains some of it.

More here: http://awards.screenwritinggoldmine.com/what-do-script-editors-do

Trainee script editor internship at ITV Studios

Having read that blog post, if you fancy a go at it yourself, ITV Studios are currently offering fantastic opportunity to intern as a script editor on ITV’s Jekyll and Hyde.

I don't know when the doors close, so don't delay if you fancy it. It's a golden opportunity to enter the industry if you fit their entry requirements. (All roles advertised through Creative Access are only open to UK nationals from a black, Asian or non-white ethnic minority, and you will need a degree.)

More here: http://creativeaccess.org.uk/opportunities/trainee-script-editor-internship-at-itv-studios

Variety's Funniest Films

Variety have posted a list of the WGA's member's choice of the funniest films of all time.

More here: http://variety.com/2015/film/news/annie-hall-funniest-screenplay-writers-guild-1201639002/

They seem to have left out Withnail and I but included Blazing Saddles. Clearly an administrative mix-up.

Robert McKee in London

Tomorrow is Robert McKee day in London. Ten hours of lectures on story structure as it applies to TV series drama, with special reference to Breaking Bad. I can't wait. It's sold out now, but if you are coming along do look me up and say hello.

Till next time,

Philip

 
 

Tradejammer Ltd, 63 Lansdowne Place, Hove, E. Sussex, BN3 1FL, United Kingdom 

Horror Story Setting: The White House

We all love a good horror story. I've seen a lot of them. The other day I got to thinking about the setting of horror stories. They're all typically in an old house, a castle, an old building, anything abandoned. The characters involved are usual nobles,  rich people, families, single woman, children, groups of friends etc.

SOMEONE SAVE ME!

In America there has been some historical based horror stories set in the old south. However there has never been a horror story set in the White House. I was thinking the other day that the White House would be the perfect setting for horror with the President and his or her family as the main characters. The White House is a very old place rich in history. A writer could come up with all sorts of tales.

If you're trying to think of a setting for a horror story you plan to write, consider the White House.

 

New Agents 10/ 28/ 2015

Here are two new agents seeking writers.


2 New Agents Seeking Queries and Submissions NOW 

Click on any name below to see the full mini-profile on the GLA Blog (with submission instructions). Good luck querying! 

1. Sandy Harding of Spencerhill Associates

She is seeking: Sandy is seeking mainly upmarket commercial and literary fiction for the adult market. She enjoys women's fiction for book clubs, smart page-turning thrillers, works of suspense with complex protagonists, mysteries of all sorts (cozies, historical, traditional), and romance. Most of all she's seeking writing with a voice so penetrating and a story so captivating the reader simply must keep reading.

2. Caitlin McDonald of Donald Maass Literary

She is seeking: 
- All science fiction and fantasy fiction (and subgenres) for adult, YA, and MG - especially secondary world fantasy and alternate history
- Genre-bending or cross-genre fiction, and stories that examine tropes from a new angle
- Diversity of all kinds, including (but not limited to) race, gender, sexuality, and ability, in both characters and world-building

New Agents To Query 10/24/2015

Here are two new agents seeking authors:

Newest Agents Seeking Queries NOW 

Click on any name below to see the full mini-profile on the GLA Blog (with submission instructions). Good luck querying! 

1. Tricia Skinner of Fuse Literary

She is seeking: All kinds of romance. 

2. Anjali Singh of Ayesha Pande Literary

She is seeking: As a literary agent, she is looking for new voices, character-driven fiction or nonfiction works that reflect an engagement with the world around us, literary thrillers, memoirs, YA literature and graphic novels.

Writing Tips: Queries, Novel Scenes,

Hello, readers!

Here's some helpful information from an email I got today.  

Tips for Queriers: The Query, the Synopsis, and the First Page  Getting a literary agent is tough, and I know firsthand what it's like to query without getting requests. I know how frustrating the radio silence and form rejects can be. If you're querying, you want to do everything you can to maximize your chances of getting requests. Here are some of my tips for the three main pieces you send out querying: the Query, the Synopsis, and the First Page. Read more ... FREE publishing leads/tips! Our expert strategies delivered by e-mail once per week.www.WritersRelief.com. BONUS: Claim your instant report today! Confidential. No spam. Writer's Relief (est. 1994) manages submissions to agents and lit mags. (866) 405-3003 6 Ways Winning a Writing Competition Helped Me Get Published Since winning the WD grand prize of their writing competition, I've published sixty short stories and two novels. I have another novel and a linked short story collection coming out this year, and a contract on a fourth novel for 2016. Here's how winning a single major contest made the difference: Read more ... 7 Things To Do After Finishing Your BookCongratulations! You finished your first book. Work-wise, you've accomplished 10 percent. Now for the hard part: doing what's required to get your book into a reader's hands. Do you know that an unknown self-published or small-press author only sells an average of up to 250 books? Once your friends and family members have purchased copies, where do you go from there? Read more ... Behind the Scenes of a Writing Competition with Thriller Judge Jodie Renner  Today, as part of our Behind the Scenes of a Writing Competition series, Thriller judge Jodie Renner discusses how to avoid common mistakes and take your submission to the top.  Read more ... Build Your Novel Scene by Scene Online Course - SIGN UP NOW! If you want to learn how to write a story, but aren't quiet ready yet to hunker down and write 10,000 words or so a week, this is the course for you. Fiction Writing 102: Building Your Novel will offer you the impetus, the guidance, the support, and the deadline you need to finally stop talking, start writing, and, ultimately, complete that novel you always said you wanted to write. Read more ... WRITING CONFERENCES YOU SHOULD ATTEND: WD staffers will teach at these upcoming writers conferences & events. Click below for the one closest to you. Most have agents attending as well whom you can pitch your book idea to. Check them out: Feb 11-14, 2016: San Francisco Writers Conference (San Francisco, CA) Feb. 19, 2016: Alabama Writing Workshop (Birmingham, AL) March 25, 2016: Tampa Writers Conference (Tampa, FL) March 26, 2016: Fort Lauderdale Conference for Writers (Fort Lauderdale, FL) March 31-April 2, 2016: Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop (Dayton, OH)