Creative Writing

General information

Writing for Television
Writing Genres
Award Winning Ways
Stand Out Scripts
Successful Storytelling
Writing for Young Adults
The Dream Traveller’s Author Shares Her Skills
Sitcom Writing
Sample Script
The Publishing Industry
Books and Journals

Video

Julia Donaldson: Beyond the Gruffalo

Creative Writing: Ideas and Inspiration

Creative Writing: Characters

Creative Writing: Plot

Creative Writing: Setting

Screenwriting

How to Describe Action in a Film Script

How to Get Feedback on Your Script

How to Format Your Film Script

How to Format Scenes in a Film Script

How to Format Dialogue in a Film Script

Film deals

Meet the Expert: Derek Johns, AP Watt Literary Agency

Getting an Agent

Advice for New Writers

Getting Published

Approaching a Publisher

Publishing Your Own Book

Literary Prizes

Fiction Basics

Planning Your Novel

Job descriptions and activities

Writer

Critic

Editorial Assistant

Copy Editor/Proofreader

Organisations and groups

The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP)
Book People
Publishing Skills Group
Royal Court Theatre, London
The Philip Larkin Society
The Poetry Society
The Poetry Trust
The Publishers Association
The Scripwriters Network
Northern Ireland Screen
Screen West Midlands
Screen Yorkshire
Screenwriters’ Festival
The Script Factory

Publication

Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook

4Talent Resources

Audio books

Look, Listen, Learn: How did Scott Sigler’s audiobooks lead to a publishing deal and movie option?

Fiction

Seriously Erotic: Let’s talk about sex, baby: Why erotic fiction can worth reading and writing.

Tales of Revenge: Greg Hilditch avoids getting on the wrong side of author Chris Dunning at the launch of an anthology of revenge stories to find out how you go about getting your first short story published.

Beginner’s Luck?: Meet the Booker nominated Birmingham writer whose first novle broke all the rules.

Sci Fi Guy: Sci Fi ain’t just for geeks. Ian McDonald on the universal appeal of the fictional drama.

A Life Less Ordinary: No one writes biographies on poly-addicted, alcoholic beggars – except writer and illustrator Alexander Masters. So how did his book Stuart, A Life Backwards get the nation hooked on a social outcast?

Playwriting

Feet on the Ground: Sophie Wolley hasn’t let a hereditary hearing condition stop her from penning “electrifying” plays.

What’s the Hook?: Channel 4’s Future Perfect scheme allows playwrights to make the leap from stage to screen. Martin Vovk caught up with one aspiring scribe, playwright Lizzie Nunnery.

Press Play: How do you write plays that nobody ever sees? Fiona Ferguson tunes in to wise words from writer Stephanie Dale at the Birmingham Book Festival.

Tricky Business: Acclaimed playwright Samuel Adamson had a mighty task on his hands when he had to adapt Pedro Almodovar’s All About My Mother for the stage.

Poetry

Alien Encounter: Jo Edge talks to Birmingham laureate and slam poet Dreadlockalien to find out how he’s going about bringing performance poetry to radio.

In Like Flynn: When she was 24 and still unpublished, Leontia Flynn was frustrated with her poetry.

Is It A Dying Art? The future of modern poetry might lie with the remarkably talented Frances Leviston.

Screenwriting

Loane Ranger: Belfast born Screenwriter and Director Terry Loane tells Tania Carlisle why he thinks his career path could have been designed by Dr Seuss.

Stacked on Screen: Channel 4 announces the winner of PILOT.

Strange Days: Next stop, Hollywood? Award-winning screenwriter John Milarkey ponders matters of life and death.

Carving Success: Daragh Carville on the secrets behind his screenwriting ascendancy.

Pearsing Prose: Rising screenwriter Pearse Elliot’s first foray into creative writing was not in fact with his first love, TV and film, but in radio.

Korma Chameleon: Writing a pilot started Hardeep on a road to discovery.

Outlines, Scripts and Treatments: Treatments, outlines, synopses, drafts? If you’re planning to submit ideas to production companies, it’s important to know the difference between the format. Hollyoaks Script Editor Marianne Dunphy explains.

Breaking Down: Audio and Video: … the craft and business of writing for the screen. Do you want to know how to turn your idea into a feature, conquer writer’s block, hook up with a producer or impress a commissioner?

Where Are They Now? These three budding screenwriters made their mark at Fever Pitch, the Screenwriters’ Festival pitching competition. Howard Byrom finds out what happened next.

Screenwriters’ Festival: Video: When hundreds of screenwriters converged on a Gloucestershire manor house this summer, 4Talent couldn’t resist the opportunity to point a camera and ask some searching questions.

“Out of Business”: 28 Weeks Later screenwriter, Rowan Joffe, has recently switched to directing. He talks to Howard Byrom about the challenges.

William Nicolson: 2 & 3: Video: How did screenwriter William Nicolson deal with getting the boot?

Julian Fellowes: Video: Is there something in your script that is different from everything else doing the rounds? Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes dishes out advice on luck and talent.

And The Winner Is… Black British filmmaking talent: where is it? Screenwriter Wendy Okoi-Obuli may still be waiting for her break in the UK, but she’s stunned judges across the pond.

The Heart of the Matter: From Brookside to Cracker: how did TV screenwriter Jimmy McGovern hone his craft?

Steven Moffat: Video: With credits such as the acclaimed BBC Two comedy series Coupling, it’s not surprising that writer Steven Moffat was chosen to be one of the writers on the new series of Doctor Who.

Changing the Gears: Jan Jung is on the lookout for a ‘Great British Sitcom’. Nathan Lyons discovers what works and what sucks.

Training

Bath Spa University
Sheffield Hallam University
University of Gloucestershire
University of London – Birkbeck College
Warwick University

Websites

BBC New Talent – Writers
Short Stories

Main image by Nico Cavallatto. Some rights reserved.