The exceptionally talented and handsome Oliver Warren is a screenwriter, director, and one of the judges in our Little Wonder Radio Play competition. Watch this space because in the not so distant future he’s going to be a big deal (we just slipped in before the feeding frenzy!)
In this short interview Oliver talks about his experiences as a writer/director, how the roots of storytelling can be found in everything from a script to a fashion shoot, and gives some advice on how to survive the tough old world of writing.
Metaphors are more complicated than you think (oh boy!)
What are metaphors? What happens in a reader’s head when they see a metaphor? How do we use this knowledge to improve our writing? In this post I discuss the research of Gibbs RW and Matlock T into how readers understand metaphors by mentally simulating the activity, and what understanding the cognitive process of interpreting metaphors teaches us at writers. Don’t worry, I’ll try throw in some jokes.
Oh boy, critiquing one of my own plays. You may have noticed that the articles analysing our radio plays stopped at “Voices” a few weeks back. This is why. Talking about my work feels like driving nails into my feet. But long-time followers of the blog know it is supposed to be a reflective journal. Self-critique is a way to improve my writing by thinking about writing. So, I can’t get out of this one. What was right, what was wrong, and what was interesting about Mine?
Just in case you haven’t listened to it yet, here’s the audio link, the iTunes link, and the YouTube version with subtitles. Thorough, aren’t we? This article has mega spoilers for Mine, so I’ll see you after the break.
A lot of people scoff at Science Fiction. They think it’s all spaceships and silly robots.[i] But writing Science Fiction can make you a better writer, because it encourages you to consider elements of your work that are more easily ignored when writing straight fiction or other genres. This article, which is adapted from an email I sent to the writing team developing next seasons productions for Little Wonder Radio Plays, describes three key reasons why you should try Science Fiction to become a better writer.
I’m stupendously busy. This is a good thing for a writer. Part of the reason why this true will come out in a blog post tomorrow (exciting!) Another is that I’m writing about five different plays at once and my head is exploding. That’s ok, I can do this, but I’ve run into a problem: at least two of the plays must be comedies, but for me everything starts with drama. So, what the hell to do? How do you make a funny character when you have exactly 30 minutes writing time before you have to switch projects? Fear not – this guide will show you one approach to understanding what makes a character funny. Read on.
The exceptionally talented and handsome Oliver Warren is a screenwriter, director, and one of the judges in our Little Wonder Radio Play competition. Watch this space because in the not so distant future he’s going to be a big deal (we just slipped in before the feeding frenzy!)
Oh boy, critiquing one of my own plays. You may have noticed that the articles analysing our radio plays stopped at “Voices” a few weeks back. This is why. Talking about my work feels like driving nails into my feet. But long-time followers of the blog know it is supposed to be a reflective journal. Self-critique is a way to improve my writing by thinking about writing. So, I can’t get out of this one. What was right, what was wrong, and what was interesting about Mine?
A lot of people scoff at Science Fiction. They think it’s all spaceships and silly robots.
Are you too busy to be funny?