Lewis Wood's New Writers Guide

Thanks so much for subscribing to my newsletter for new writers. Every two weeks I'll be sending out a tip that I've noticed from my script reading experience, alongside with something you can do this week to improve your writing.

This is the first edition and I’m so glad that you’ve subscribed to see what I have to offer. If you enjoy the tip and exercise below, I’d really appreciate recommending the newsletter to a friend or giving it a shout out on social media. Thanks in advance!

This week's tip: dramatise your opening

One of the main things I comment on in new writers' work is the way in which they dramatise their opening. Think of it - you’re in the theatre and the curtains comes up. The first five minutes need to be exciting. They need to grab you. But they also need to make sure they induct you into the world of the play.

When putting together your opening, you need to look at how you balance your exposition with the dramatic nature of the piece. If you can focus on showing rather than telling, then the audience knows what they’re watching, but are hooked from the opening moments of the play.

Let’s think of an example here - if I was writing a show about a magician called Thomas Moore, what would be more interesting as an opening: Thomas delivering a monologue to the audience that starts “Hello, I am Thomas Moore and I am a magician”; or an opening where Thomas pulls a rabbit out of a hat, before a voiceover asks the audience to put their hands together for the Marvellous Thomas Moore!

This is an extreme example but you can see the thinking. We should show, rather than tell, and we should ensure there’s action and pace to grab our audience from the opening moments.

This week's exercise: free writing

Maybe the most difficult part of being a writer is actually getting to writing! This can often come down to two things - working through the rust and generating ideas.

One of the easiest techniques to do to work through this is freewriting. Take a bit of time to just write without editing or thinking at all about what you’re doing.

Here’s your plan:

• Set a timer for 5 minutes. Either freewrite with no prompt, or use the prompt “woken in the night”.

• Read over what you’ve written. Pick out a phrase that you like.

• Use that phrase for another 5 minutes of freewriting. If you can’t find one, use the phrase “I couldn’t believe what I’d found”.

• Read over what you’ve written. Note down the recurring themes of your work. What patterns do you like? What ideas has this sparked?

• Turn these ideas into a short piece of dialogue. Call your characters A & B. Freewrite for another 5 minutes.

In just 15-20 minutes of work, you should now have a couple paragraphs with some interesting moments, and a brief scene focused on this work.

Exercises like this are great to do at the start of our writing to help us warm up and get into the groove.

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