by WriteMovies | Jul 13, 2018 | Ian Kennedy, Writing Insights
How to give Producers, Executives and Publishers what they say they want
When they’re answering questions about what they’re looking for in a script or book, you’ll often hear producers, execs and publishers claiming that the vital quality they look for in writing is the unique voice of the writer. I’ve heard this one a lot, and even when asked what they mean, they’ve rarely given any kind of definition to help writers go away with confidence of what they need to do.
But I read hundreds of scripts a year, watch plenty of productions in lots of genres, and help other writers improve their work every day. So here, I think, is a useful definition of where a writer’s voice comes from in their writing, and how they can “own it” and come across as unique and commissionable.
Firstly, it’s vital to recognize that all stories show us an aspect of life – hopefully an important or stimulating/entertaining one. (Why does nature reward us with laughter for recognizing things that are counterintuitive, ie funny? Because it’s stimulating and therefore expands our understanding of the world – which better equips us to survive and thrive in it. Comedy is not frivolous, it’s vital.)
So, recognizing the aspect of life you’re exploring in your story, can be expressed in one simple sentence:
“It’s about how life can be (funny/perverse/brutal/arbitrary/beautiful/whatever!)”
You should be able to pick a word or phrase to finish that sentence, which encapsulates the theme, tone and underlying logic of what kinds of thing happen in your story and why they happen. This is a key tool in focusing your script – to ensure that everything that’s in it shows clear choices by the writer which each reveal different, important and often subtle features of that aspect of life which they’ve decided to explore.
What choices you make, and how you present them (i.e. your style, another little-understood word that is often used by producers, execs and publishers), gives your writing its voice.
In the second part of this article, Ian looks in more depth about a writer’s voice, the moral of a story, and how to write a great ending…
by John | Jun 15, 2018 | Updates, WMC
The Final Deadline is fast approaching for our Spring Contest 2018! Add the finishing touches to your script and submit it by this Sunday, June 17 to win fantastic prizes.
There are 9 winning categories, $2000 available in prize money, plus over $3000 in script development for the 3 winners, bonuses and promotion through InkTip – we promise to develop and promote them to the top of the international film industry.
Plus, twice Academy Award nominated director Habib Zargarpour and WriteMovies founder Alex Ross are looking for VFX driven scripts to take to Hollywood – make it yours by entering our competition!
In addition to our Overall Winner, we also have prizes for the Best Studio Script, Best Indie Script, and Best Short Script – and we’re not just interested in screenplays, either. Our competition includes several other categories: get your television series started with Long and Short Form Pilots, raise the curtain on a future in theatre by sending in your Stageplay, and unleash the screen potential of your Book!
And don’t forget our newest category: Best Video Game Script! Guide us into your gaming universe and show us how creative you can be – we’d be thrilled to read your projects!
See the prizes available below, and enter our competition here!
Prizes and awards up for grabs in each category… Click on the prizes to learn more about them!
by John | Aug 7, 2017 | Featured Script of the Month, Our Winners, WriteMovies News
We are proud to be able to announce QUEEN OF HEARTS by Ethan Westgate as the winner of our Featured Script of the Month for scripts submitted in June and July 2017.
With our Summer Contest only opening late in June, we decided to combine our free monthly contest for all submissions from its opening period this time around.
We’re delighted to reward the most interesting script from those submissions, with a free Judging Feedback and re-entry! As ever, this is just a bonus prize and has no effect on any of our other contest results, but we love rewarding writers who are prepared to take risks to achieve distinctive scripts, and help them progress their scripts to the next level.
Honorable Mentions:
A FRIEND LIKE FILBY by Mark Wakely.
FACSIMILE by Gary Makin.
ÁNH SÁNG by Barry Brennessel.
Here is a short biography on Ethan…
Ethan Westgate currently resides in Chicago, IL. He has been working on screenplays for the last two years, Queen of Hearts is his first feature screenplay. Ethan graduated from St. John’s college in 2012.
Here’s a short introduction to the script written by Ethan:
In a world where everyone is united by a global thought-network, a small minority of people are unable to access this network. Molly Dark must lead others of her kind in a race to survive as the Network turns violently against those Unconnected.
Enter into the Featured Script of the Month contest for free. Just enter the Summer 2017 Contest or order a Consultancy and you’ll gain your free entry.
by John | Aug 4, 2017 | Highlights, Results, WMC, WriteMovies News
Meet our Spring 2017 Screenwriting Contest Grand Prize Winner: CHOKE JOB by David Dell Johnson! Check out David’s short bio and logline for the script.
A strong commercial appeal, an enticing story, and compelling characters. Many elements to David’s script, CHOKE JOB, stood out to us. One of our judges even said “I couldn’t stop reading it! It was so captivating.” Below you can read a synopsis for this “captivating” script.
Here’s what David wins…
- David receives the Grand Prize of $1000.
- David has also started his one-year of free script development with us.We’re looking forward to seeing the development of his script.
- Once David and his script is ready, we’ll move into the process of pitching his script to the industry! Guaranteed! Beginning with…
- David’s script will also be listed in InkTip’s directory and the script’s logline being featured in their magazine.
Here is a short bio on David:
David Dell Johnson is a retired Air Force officer and screenwriter from Alexandria, Virginia. Besides winning the WriteMovies Spring 2017 Screenwriting Competition his screenplay “Choke Job” took 3rd Place/Special Mention honors in the 2017 International Screenwriters Association (ISA) Screenplay Competition. His screenplay “Undertakings” was a finalist in the 2016 Roadmap Writers/Route One Entertainment Screenplay Competition. His screenplay “Dead Man’s Money” took first place honors in the Thriller category of the 2015 Fade In Awards Screenplay Competition.
And here is David’s short introduction to the script:
A slick defense attorney with a penchant for getting guilty clients acquitted has his life methodically destroyed by a mysterious stranger and must embark on a desperate race to clear his name of murder.
Congratulations to David on being named our Grand Prize winner!
You could be our next winner and success story with our current main international contest, the Summer 2017 Screenwriting Contest – enter HERE.
by John | Jul 28, 2017 | Highlights, Results, WMC, WMC-Archive, WriteMovies News
Just when you think you know who the protagonist is, something happens that makes you think twice. That’s what Kevin’s script does. Early twists in the opening 20 pages, goes against convention, setting the script up very nicely. There’s fresh industry interest in this genre right now too, so we’re looking forward to developing Kevin’s script!
Here’s what Kevin wins for his second placed finish:
- Kevin receives $300.
- Kevin has also started his year of free script development with us.
- Once Kevin and his script is ready, we’ll move into the process of pitching his script to the industry.
- His script will be listed in InkTip’s directory, and the script’s logline being featured in their magazine, which goes out to thousands of writers and producers.
Here’s some background on Kevin:
Kevin’s script TOUCH THE FIRE recently won the comedy category in both the StoryPros Awards Screenplay Contest and the Capital Fund Screenplay Competition. He studied modern European history as a Reynolds Scholar at Cambridge and has an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth. He has worked as a script reader at Lookout Point in London and as an international-trade advisor attached to a delegation of the European Parliament.
And here is a short introduction to the script:
In 1978, crippled by a blown operation that sees one of its agents murdered in West Berlin, MI6 activates skeptical veteran HILL to exact revenge on the man responsible: ex-SS war criminal ALD STITZMAN, who has taken control of the Stasi-funded Red Army Faction that is terrorizing West Germany.
Congratulations to Kevin on being named our Second Placed winner!
You could be our next winner and success story with our current main international contest, the Summer 2017 Screenwriting Contest – enter HERE. We’ll bring you info on our Spring 2017 Screenwriting Contest Grand Prize Winner, David Dell Johnson, next week…
by John | Jul 21, 2017 | Highlights, Results, WMC, WMC-Archive, WriteMovies News
Bob’s script had a hot start, with three big plot twists in the opening ten pages. That’s a great way to catch a reader’s eye! The script has a strong balance of action, comedy, romance and drama. Check out Bob’s short bio and logline for the script below: we’ll be working with him to refine these further during the coming year.
Here’s what Bob wins…
- Bob has already started his one-year of free script development with us, and receives a $200 prize fund.
- Once Bob and his script is ready, we’ll begin pitching his script to the industry! Guaranteed!
- Plus, he gets an InkTip Script Listing and have his logline featured in InkTip Magazine so he can promote himself and his script to InkTip’s entire network of producers, managers, and agents. InkTip Magazine is sent to over 15,000 producers and representatives.
Here’s some background on Bob:
Bob Canning was a writer for the Disney Studios for 14 years, and is a published playwright with two international awards. His first full-length screenplay, a direct-to-video comedy called Takin’ it Off!, went Platinum in sales and begat two sequels.
Blessée (Wounded), a romantic drama, is currently in the capable hands of an Oscar-nominated European director, and his globetrotting comedy about a 1940s James Bond, The Adventures of the Velvet Cat, has won several awards. He is excited about the reception his western-fantasy, The Ghosts of Silver Gulch, is getting, and for this award for his thriller, Burner.
And here is Bob’s short introduction to the script:
Fargo with sand. A Palm Springs police detective must put aside her health and marital problems to solve a brutal homicide, while the hitman responsible is now experiencing uncharacteristic bouts of guilt and anger after killing the wrong person.
Congratulations to Bob on being named our Third Placed winner!
Follow in Bob’s footsteps and enter in our current main international contest, the Summer 2017 Screenwriting Competition RIGHT HERE.
by John | Jun 5, 2017 | Featured Script of the Month, Highlights, Our Winners, WriteMovies News
We are proud to be able to announce LAST RIDE OF METRO 313 by Michael Neyland as the winner of our Featured Script of the Month for scripts submitted in May 2017.
This bonus prize has been created to reward and develop the most interesting script we receive in the previous month, and the result has no bearing on the result of other entries to any of our competitions. As always, it was an interesting challenge to pick the most interesting script from such a wide variety of scripts written to a high-quality, but Michael thoroughly deserves this.
For winning the Featured Script of the Month, Michael receives free Judging Feedback, plus a free resubmission for a redrafted version of his script, LAST RIDE OF METRO 313, to our upcoming Summer 2017 Competition! On top of that, we give Michael and his script the kind of publicity that our previous Monthly Contest winners have received.
Honorable Mentions:
VEIL, by Harlan Banks.
THE LOCKSMITH, by Jeffrey Morales.
AMERICAN HUNGER , by Victor de Oliveira.
Here’s a quick bio on Michael:
Michael is a married, father-of-one with a cat (a large, furry, and very floppy cat).
He studied English, with a focus in Creative Writing, at FSU before shifting over into animation and design, graduating from Full Sail University with a MFA in Media Design in 2010. He now works full time as a graphic and broadcast designer and co-owns a design company (Infidium, LLC) with his wife, Susan.
Writing has always been a large part of Michael’s life – he’s been writing short stories and comics since as long as he can remember. But it wasn’t until fairly recently that the pursuit became more than just a hobby, largely by the encouragement and support of his wife (who is an invaluable source for creative – sometimes brutal, but always honest – feedback). And, with more than 40 outlines already written, he’s eager to build off his experiences working on “Last Ride of Metro 313,” and turn these outlines into completed projects.
His screenplay, “Last Ride of Metro 313,” is the first step in a larger universe of stories in the contemporary fantasy/horror genre.
Michael and his family live in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC.
Here’s a quick synopsis on the script itself:
Passengers on a commuter bus become stranded during a storm and must work together to survive strange and unnatural creatures.
Congratulations once again to Michael for winning the Featured Script of the Month! To be in with a chance of winning the Featured Script of the Month yourself, all you have to do is submit your script to a contest (CLICK HERE) or order a consultancy package (CLICK HERE) and you’ll be entered into the Featured Script of the Month FOR FREE!
Firstly, it’s vital to recognize that all stories show us an aspect of life – hopefully an important or stimulating/entertaining one. (Why does nature reward us with laughter for recognizing things that are counterintuitive, ie funny? Because it’s stimulating and therefore expands our understanding of the world – which better equips us to survive and thrive in it. Comedy is not frivolous, it’s vital.)
Here is a short biography on Ethan…