Disturbing Psychological Thriller on Abduction and Mind Games

The Shuttered Room by Charles J Harwood pushes the boundaries of abduction to the limit: obsession, forbidden love and sexual chemistry.

Stockholm Syndrome
Romance

This crime novel tells the story of hostage, Jess, who spies upon her captors from a spyhole in the bedroom floor. In this scene, she waits for her breakfast. Instead, her most feared captor, Justin emerges with a nasty surprise.

A Thriller on Psychological Warfare

The bolt disengaged on the ensuite door. Justin emerged through the bedroom door. He stood by the window and fished out a table runner from his pocket. Put this on,’ he said flatly.

Jess’s mouth fell open, a question teetering on her lips. She stood without thinking and stared at the cloth.

‘Put this on,’ he repeated. Justin’s eyes had that glassy obsidian look she’d seen yesterday.

Nonplussed, Jess took the runner and draped it over her shoulder as a scarf.

Twisted Stockholm Syndrome
Charles J Harwood

‘Not like that, stupid. Like this.’ And he took the runner and placed it over his mouth. ‘And no messin’. Do it up good and tight. I’m gonna get the loft ladder down.’

...

Tightness crept into her chest. She obliged, tying a double knot at the back of her head. She waited by the door, her arms hanging. With the runner over her mouth, her breathing had taken on a tidal quality. Clicks, grunts and a metallic rattle ricocheted in the hall.

Justin popped his head through the door. ‘Come on.’

Jess followed him into the hallway where a ladder had been pulled down from a hatch in the ceiling. Justin waited, indicating Her Ladyship first. The tightness in her chest increased.

...

Jess grabbed the handrail and took cautious steps. She looked up into the cave-mouth of the opening. A cool draft cascaded onto her face. Her heel slipped on the first rung. Her head drew level of the loft floor where she planted an elbow onto a strut. Up here, the traffic thrummed against the rafters. Jess hauled herself onto the lip of the opening. She glanced down to see Justin at the foot of the ladder staring up at her.

The weight of what lay ahead annihilated a fleeting relief that she was wearing jeans rather than a skirt. Justin jerked his head sideways indicating Her Ladyship to continue into the loft. Jess twisted her torso and crawled across the rafters, mindful of the gaps between. Clouds of dust billowed at her movements. She could imagine it coating her eyelashes and her throat if she moved too quickly. This and the gag contrived to make her breaths feel constricted.

...

This is a Dangerous Game to Play
Charles J Harwood

Jess twisted her body to rest her feet upon the loft insulation. Justin followed her up, eclipsing the light for an instant. Once drawing level, he took out a roll of duct tape and tweezed the end with his fingernail. ‘Hands behind,’ he grunted, ‘thumbs together.’

Jess complied, her breaths snatching. Justin tore a length of the tape with a rasping in the air and tethered her thumbs. He forced the backs of her hands together via the knuckles to the little fingers. The tape felt cold, sticky and tight.

‘Legs together,’ he said.

Again, Jess obeyed.

He lifted her jeans above the ankles and lowered her socks. He wound the tape tightly round her ankles. She appraised his lacquered, bristly hair partly concealing his pink scalp as he worked. Sandalwood failed to mask his sweat, yeasty and sour.

Satisfied, he crouched in front of her. ‘Lay on your front,’ he instructed.

Lay on my front? She looked at him questioningly. On what?

‘Lay on your front,’ he repeated.

...

This Hostage likes to Eye Spy
Charles J Harwood

Jess twisted her torso and lowered her stomach onto the rafter, head to the side. She followed through with her legs, resting them against the plinth. Justin rolled up the hems of her jeans and plied tape over her calves, backs of her knees and over the sides of the strut. He repeated the procedure for her wrists and elbows, urging them forwards as he attached them to the rafter. His breaths gusted into her hair as he pressed the tape down. If the rafter had been pulled upright, Jess would have stuck onto its surface like a witch about to be burnt at the stake. Try as she might, Jess could not lift her arms or her legs.

Justin adjusted the knot at the back of her head. Jess wondered why he hadn’t gagged her at this stage. Perhaps he didn’t want to hear her wittering on at him whilst he conducted his task.

Justin lowered his mouth to her ear. ‘Did anyone tell you, Jessica, everything we do in life has repercussions?’

...

Click to buy
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Jess could only respond with a sniff through her one nostril.

‘I tried to be nice to you, I really did, but I’ve moved on from that now. I’m concentrating myself on the pressing matter of your naughty little antic last week. They’re still in the area, and we’re all expecting them to come knocking. Not that it bothers me much. I’m just glad it gave me the excuse to put you up here.’

Jess closed her eyes.

‘So just remember this: you are here because of what you did. This is all your fault, not mine. Do you hear? Just think of that whilst you are up here with your little thoughts in your little head. And try to relax. The time will pass quickly if you do.’ Justin seemed to wait for something. ‘Do you understand me, Jessica?’

Jess nodded.

‘Good.’

...

Justin retreated, taking his infusion of yeast and sandalwood with him. A brief eclipsing of light and the loft ladder clattered. The hatch closed, leaving her in darkness.

A Chilling Tale of Abduction

Can you guess what happens next? Read the blurb on the Shuttered Room

Note: This book is now available within a trilogy, entitled: Gone Too Far (3 Psychological Thrillers about Taboo).

Related links on my author website

The Stockholm syndrome relationship
The inner gremlins of kidnappers
What if human behavior had a voice?

A Hard Lesson the Screenplay

A contemporary English drama, adapted from my novel, A Hard Lesson, the story explores betrayal, torn loyalties and peer pressure. A character study on how people behave when under the spell of a manipulative sociopath, every character is tested to the limit.

Modern English Screenplay

The story centres upon a teacher, Sarah who is assigned to tutor a dyslexic, Josh, who becomes a suspect to a stabbing. Her boyfriend, Frank belongs to a tightly-knit clique controlled by fearsome Kurt who lacks human empathy. Little does she realise a link exists between her job and Frank’s world. But being timid by nature, she would appear insignificant to the likes of Kurt.

But the dynamics of the group begin to change when a sexual chemistry develops between her and Josh after she sets him an assignment on erotic art. One insignificant event has an unforeseen impact upon a system that would appear infallible. As a result, the story climaxes in an unexpected way.

Screenplay on Kindle

A Hard Lesson screenplay has been formatted in a unique way for Kindle in that various elements of the screenplay have been keyed for ease. Dialogue appears as normal black text; action and description appears dark grey, and character cue appears in bold.

The other elements of the screenplay exhibits sluglines (or scene headings) like a typical screenplay, and possess the other symbols that indicate the scene location and time of day. The screenplay is also available in paperback and is formatted in the normal way. A character list and a guide to reading the screenplay can be found in both the kindle book and paperback.

Character List for A Hard Lesson the Screenplay

There are ten main characters within the screenplay, which are as follows:

• Sarah: Teacher of literacy. In her mid-twenties, she is naïve and timid, but tenacious by nature.
• Josh: Sarah’s difficult and dyslexic pupil. In his early-twenties, he is a grunge factory-hand and misfit from a prosperous suburb.
• Frank: Sarah’s boyfriend. Clever and roguish, he seems a step ahead of Kurt’s obsequious friends that form Kurt’s criminal troupe.
• Kurt: Charismatic sociopath and leader of a criminal clique of which Frank is a member.
• Mrs. Tobin: Josh’s attractive mother; a perfectionist who hides a manipulative streak.
• Sue: Mrs. Tobin’s daughter; high-maintenance and uptight, she deeply resents her brother Josh.
• John: Sue’s self-satisfied business-lecturer husband.
• George: Kurt’s chief heavyweight.
• Harry: Rum-swigging tramp, custodian of Kurt’s secrets.
• Joe: An upstart who desperately wants to prove himself to Kurt but ultimately gets used.

There are also five minor characters which are: a librarian, a tourist, a barman, a punter and Mr. Jacobs.

A Play with Dramatic Scenes

There is plenty of subtext within the scenes, that clearly indicate what is said does not correlate with the body language, which sets up tension within the story, particularly in the scenes between Sarah and Josh, which features sparring of dialogue but which hides an altogether different undercurrent.

Dialogue for A Hard Lesson

I really enjoyed writing the dialogue for the screenplay, as there was so much going in within each character’s heads, and which would leak out unintentionally. Every character has a different agenda, and each clashed with one another in some way.

Buy A Hard Lesson Screenplay

The screen-time for A Hard Lesson is around 90 minutes, an average feature film or full-length drama. There are around 16,000 words within and is available on other readers as well as Kindle, being Sony, Apple and Android.

Related links on my sites

My other screenplay, Nora
Character development in screenplays
Family and group dynamics in gangs

How to Get High Royalty Rates for your Ebook by Price Matching

In an ideal world, the self-published author would like to get high royalty earnings for ebook sales and yet keep the cost of the book down for readers. I learned an ebook pricing tip the hard way. By a loophole, (and on Amazon's discretion) you can sell your kindle books at competitive prices and keep most of the royalties for yourself. How? Read on.

How to Keep the Large Chunk of you Book Royalty

I learned a great loophole in getting maximum royalty rates for kindle book sales and yet keep the price down for the Kindle readership. When you first publish your ebook on the Amazon Kindle store you will be presented with 2 pricing options. You can either: Price your book at between 99c and $2.98 (or above $10.00 which is too high for a Kindle book) and get 35% royalties or, You can price your book at between $2.99 and $9.99 and get the 70% royalty. Every writer wants to get optimum sales for novels. Being an unknown writer, I decided to opt for setting the price of my book at below $2.99. However, this meant I would receive only 35% royalty. You also have the choice of setting the price of your book in other countries based on the dollar.

Big Royalties for Your Book

My book sales were satisfactory, but after a while got rather discontent with getting only 35% of the total sale of my books. Per book, I was getting around 50c (or 30p in English money). I would have to sell an awful lot of books to make any difference to my earnings. But convinced my book sales would die if I put them up for $2.99, I bit the bullet.

Get More Money by Price Matching your Ebook

After a while, I decided to increase the price of my novels to $2.99 and get into the 70% royalty option. However, when I published my changes, I discovered that my original price had remained the same, but my new price showed up on my Amazon book page as a ‘recommended retail price’ with a score through it.

However, as I had increased the price of my book in draft, I was now getting 70% royalties of my book sales. The price of my book had stayed the same due to price matching.

Ebook Pricing Tips to Get Higher Royalties

I had previously published my books on Smashwords, which distributes to other ebook retailers such as Barnes and Noble, Apple, Sony and Diesel. Any changes you make will take a few weeks to filter through. As I had priced my books at the original price on Smashwords, this price was still showing up on these retailers. Amazon’s system had detected this cheaper price and price matched it. So, you can price your book for less than $2.99 may get 70% royalty. But do note, that Amazon will not always do so. A clause in their contract states they will only price match at their discretion.

Make Money from Price Matching

So if you want to get bigger royalties for book sales and keep the cost of the book down, follow these simple steps:

1 Publish your book on Smashwords at the desired book price, (which in this instance will be between 99c and $2.99). You may have to wait a few days or weeks for the book to filter through to the other ebook retailers (so long as you have formatted your book properly. More about ebook formatting can be found on this blog.)

2 Once your book price has registered on the internet, publish your book on Amazon’s kindle store, but put it up for more than $2.99 (whatever you like) and opt for the 70% royalty option.

3 Amazon will detect the cheaper price and (in some cases) price match it. The price you had set will show up as a recommended retail price with a score through it. The purchaser will believe there is a bargain Kindle book to be snapped up. The price of your book will show up as less than $2.99 but you still get the 70% royalties.

4 If the price match does not occur, scroll down the product page and you will see a link to 'tell us about a cheaper price.' Click the link and you will be able to paste the link of the store concerned, the price of the book and shipping costs. Beware, if you reupload the book for any reason, the price match (when it occurs) could be wiped off.

It’s as simple as that. Sadly, I had learned this lesson after a year or so.

Price Match Your Ebook and Make More Money

Amazon’s system of matching a cheaper price for ebooks elsewhere can be use to the author’s advantage. This means you can put your book out at a competitive price and still get a big chunk of royalties. But do note, Amazon will only price match at their discretion.

Bear in mind, however, that book sales that occur outside the US and the UK will fall within the 35% royalty bracket. But for every 10 sales I make, only about 1 or 2 will fall within this category.

Update on Price Matching Fiction Books

As times change so quickly in the publishing world, felt I needed to provide an update. Nowadays, it is not as easy as it used to be to get books price matched. Amazon will not necessarily price match if a book can be found cheaper elsewhere. More persistence is needed and sometimes months will elapse before the price matching kicks in. I have several book published and some of them are not price matched with other channels. However, will still price my books a little more cheaply on other ebook retailer sites to provide some pricing competition.

Tips on Ebook Marketing

How to format your ebook
The best price for your ebook
Tips on writing novels

How to Resize Pictures for Self Publishing Books

Resizing pictures for self published illustrated books whether for epub or Createspce is a crucial yet easy to learn skill. Large images may cause the ebook to infringe the MB allowance for a Kindle platform. Images too small will result in a poor quality print book. What is the simplest way to resize images?

What does Resizing Images Mean?

An image that appears large on the screen does not mean it is a large image. Viewing a photograph in zoom is like looking close up at a photograph, yet the size of the photograph stays the same. In the same way, an image that appears small on the screen might have a large memory. This would be like viewing a large painting far away. The only way to determine the size of an image is to view it in a picture program and click on the image size.

How to Resize Pictures for Epub

A large image will take up more memory than a small image. Hover the mouse over a JPEG image in Pictures and the dimensions will be given. Digitally, an image is measured in pixels (px), the smallest point in a raster image. This is rather like the print equivalent of a single dot that makes up photograph. In printing terms, this is known as DPI (dots per square inch). Understanding the difference between pixels and DPI is crucial when it comes to resizing pictures.

Essential Photo Editing Software for Epublishing

An image of around 1500px x 2000px is pretty average for a JPEG image taken with a digital camera on a standard resolution setting (graininess). Anything around 2000px x 3000Ppx is large and would indicate the photo was taken with a higher resolution. Scan an image at a high resolution and the resultant JPEG will also be large. An image of around 1000px or less is small and might indicate the image was sourced from the Net or taken at a low resolution.

How to Resize Pictures for Epub

A picture ebook will need photographic software that enables image reduction – to make them smaller and therefore take less memory within the book file. An ebook with lots of images that is excess of 4 or 5MB cannot be uploaded onto a digital platform because of its size, so the images (as they take up more memory than text) will need to be made smaller. An ebook that lies above 2 or 3MB will attach a transmission fee to the ereader, so the epublisher will add this fee to the book price. This is not good news for the writer who wants to keep the cost of the ebook down.

Free Picture Resizing Software for Ebooks

Most photo editors have an image resizer built in, such a Paintshop Pro or Picassa. You can resize images in Paint, a free image software that comes as standard with Microsoft. But I use Irfanview, also a free picture software because I have total control over the resize program. Open the program. Browse to the image and open. Click on the ‘image’ button and in the submenu, click ‘resize/resample.’ You can either reduce the image size by ratio (by percent) or by inputting new dimensions in pixels. Remember to ‘save as’ to retain the original file.

When Not to Resize Images

Making an image smaller will inevitably downgrade its quality, but this will seldom be perceived if the image is not less than around 500px on one side when viewed online. However, the original image must be of good quality. Only by reproducing such an image in print will pixilation be perceived. An image that appears blurred or fuzzy in the first place should not be used in an ebook.

How to Resize a Picture to Make it Larger

Resizing images for Createspace, Lulu or similar print on demand publishers (or POD) is another matter. The source image must be at least 1800px on any one side. It would not do to make bigger a small image (for instance by making a 1000px x1200px image 3000px x 2000px) for this would simply mean enlarging its poor quality, including any visible pixilation. When it comes to print books, the quality of the images is paramount. They should be large in the first place, be clear and sharp. Taking great photos for self publishing print books is covered in another article.

How to Increase DPI for Print Images

So long as the image is good quality, you can increase the DPI for print books. DPI stands for dots per square inch, and Createspace demands at least 300DPI for print images; anything less could look pixilated in print. Again, I use Irfanview to increase the DPI of my pictures. Browse to the image concerned and open. Click on ‘images’ and then on ‘resize/resample' within the submenu. Set the DPI to 300.

Free Photo Software for Resizing

The apparent size of an image viewed onscreen says nothing about its actual size, as programs enable you to zoom in or out, including ereaders. The only way to tell the true size of an image is to view it in a picture program and to establish its dimensions in pixels. Smaller images would be more suited to ebooks; larger pictures for the print book market.

Image resizing software is crucial for self publishing illustrated books, whether for epub or for the print market. The former will entail reducing your images for the book file; the latter requires large, good quality images first off, which may need DPI enhancement for print. Never increase the size of a small image in the hope it will improve its quality. It will simply make it bigger, warts and all. The best solution is to ensure all images are good quality before resizing.

How to Publish Illustrated Books

How to format books for POD error free
How to upload a picture book with free zip software
My images on epub look small on ereaders
How to publish black and white illustrated books
How to create excellent images for self published books
Design your own book cover

How to Format a Book for POD without Errors

You have perfectly-worded your book, and if pictures are included, they are clear and pristine. However, after uploading your book file onto a POD platform such as Createspace, the system throws back error messages that leave you stumped. Here is a list of the most common self publishing peeves and how to cure them.

Formatting Peeves on Createspace

In order to self publish a book for print on demand you have to ensure the book file is free of printing or formatting issues. The following are the most common problems associated with self publishing a book and how to deal with them.

1 Your Fonts have Not Been Embedded Properly

You might have used exotic fonts and complex page formatting that may not convert as it should onto the POD platform, causing slight shifts between the appearance of your book on your PDF file and the print version. To prevent this, you must embed the fonts into your book file prior to saving it as a PDF. Createspace will do this for you, but I would prefer to do it prior to upload. Follow these steps on how to embed fonts in your book file.

1. Click on the office logo on the top left of your Microsoft screen.
2. Select ‘word options.’ This can be found at the bottom of the popup window.
3. Select ‘save’, which will bring up a new screen.
4. Click the box that displays ‘embed fonts in this file.’ Then save.

Once you have embedded the fonts into your book file, you must save it as a PDF prior to upload.

2 The Pictures in Your Book File are Low in DPI which May Look Pixilated in Print

The graininess of an image is denoted by how many dots there are per square inch (or DPI). CreateSpace and Lulu like your images to be at least 300DPI. Anything less will throw up this error message. To overcome this problem, you will need to save your pictures at a higher DPI. But first, make sure you have not inadvertently selected the wrong button when saving your book file as a PDF. You will have 2 options: ‘save for minimum size for online publishing,’ or ‘standard publishing (for printing)’. By selecting the ‘online’ option, you are reducing the book file size including the images, degrading the quality of the images.

Also, when saving your book file, make sure not to ‘compress’ the images as this will reduce the size of your images as well as the quality. If you do so inadvertently, undo the action or reinsert the image(s) from scratch.

How to Increase DPI of Pictures

Make sure the images you include in your book file are good quality first-off, which means high resolution and sharp focusing. You can find good quality images on the Net, such as Shutterstock, but I would prefer to produce my own images. If the DPI has been reduced due to cropping, you can increase the DPI again by the means of any standard image software such as PaintShop. I use Irfanview, a free image software download. Follow these steps to increase DPI of pictures.

1. With the image software opened, browse to the image that needs DPI resizing.
2. Click on ‘image’ or ‘image options.’
3. On the submenu, click on ‘resize’.
4. A separate resize/resample box will pop up.
5. Under ‘DPI’ change to 300.
6. Save the image.

If scanning the mage, set the DPI to 300.

3 Elements Extend into the Trim Area of your Book File

If your book file exhibits crucial elements that extend into the 0.125in of your outer margins, the error message will pop up that these elements may be trimmed off during the production of your book. To counter this, make sure each page is free of text and/or image within this area. This will mean shifting a few images away from the edges of your page or widening your margins a little.

If however, the effect is intentional, you will need to select ‘full bleed’ for the trim of your book. You will also have to adjust your page size to accommodate for the full bleed, which will mean adding 0.125” onto the top and bottom of your page size and 0.125in to the outer edge. So if your book is to be 8x10in, with full bleed, it will be 8.125inx10.25in. You will not need to add anything to the gutter edge of your page (the point at which your pages join at the spine) as this will not be trimmed. However, if your book is of a particular word-count, you will need to make the gutter margin a little wider.

More about calculating the margins of your book file for full bleed can be found on a separate article (a link can also be found at the foot of this page).

4 Error Messages on the Cover Design of your Book

Beware that the above also applies to your book cover design. Make sure the image featured is at least 300DPI and that there is a sufficient trim area between the live elements of your cover design (which might be text or image) and the outer edges of your book cover. Allow only inconsequential background to be on display within the outer 0.125” trim area. Uploading your cover design on CreateSpace will soon uncover issues.

5 Images Contains Transparency which will be Flattened Causing a Colour Shift

Some images in your book may contain transparent colours which, during processing, may not exhibit the subtle hues featured. Without addressing this issue, the print copy of your book will feature unbalanced hues, some garish, others subtle. In my case, reds and certain blues were oversaturated. The only way I could counter this problem was to tone down the brightness of the colours a little in Pictures by toggling the ‘saturation’ settings a little to the left. Don’t go too far or the picture will appear too monochromatic. Before tampering with the colour saturation, copy the image in a separate file and reserve it only for POD images.

Why Your Book File will be Rejected on a POD Platform

Other issues that may hamper the publishing process of your book are as follows:

• The author name and book title inputted during the book setup stage do not match that which is entered for the book cover.
• Book is less than 24 pages long.
• The gutter setting is insufficiently wide for a book exceeding a certain page length. The thicker the book, the wider the gutter margin needs to be.
• More than two blank pages in a row. Every page should contain live elements.
• If you select ‘provide your own ISBN’, it must accurately match the name and book title registered through that ISBN agency. Print on demand companies will verify for accuracy.
• Page headers that appears inconsistent in style throughout the book. Make sure the headers are consistent throughout.

Guide to Publishing Your Book on PDF

In order to self publish your book on POD, observe common issues that may hamper self publishing. A book that has not been saved as a single PDF file cannot be uploaded (although Createspace will convert it for you). Make sure fonts are embedded and that all images are at least 300DPI in size. Look out for live elements that encroach over the trim areas of your interior file (over 0.125”). And also ensure the details given during the setup stage of your book accurately reflect that which is on display on the book cover.

Self Publishing your Book on Print on Demand Platform

Designing your own book cover
Bleed or no bleed for POD?
Creating perfect images for print books
Formatting text with images for POD
Developing writing style for novels

Help! How do I Write my First Screenplay?

You might have a great idea for a screenplay to the point you can visualize the story unreeling in your head. But how do you put the story into a screenplay format? Here are the beginners’ tips to writing your first screenplay.

How to Write a Script, the Basics

Conceiving a great idea for a screenplay is only the beginning of the creative journey. The writer will need to know how to put the ideas down, what to put in, what to leave out, how to format the dialogue, how to express scene transitions and action descriptions. And all with the three-act structure supporting the story. Obviously, a blank Word document is not the way to go. The screenplay should be properly formatted. You can get free screenwriting software for a variety of formats, including TV dramas, feature length films (for US and UK formats) and even soaps from BBC Writersroom. You have a choice of two screenwriting programmes, which are Scriptsmart, or the more advanced Scriptsmart Gold.

Free Screenwriting Software for the Beginner

Follow the onscreen instructions to upload BBC’s Scriptsmart and get familiar with the programme, which is pretty easy to follow. You will find that by opening a document, Scriptsmart will format the page with certain paragraph settings and spaces that are used for scene headings, paragraphs and dialogue within the screenplay. Such prescriptive page settings ensure that each page will equal a certain amount of time: a page of film script equals a minute in film time. The ideal screenplay should be therefore be between 80 and 120 pages long. The first page will show the title of the screenplay in caps, the writer’s contact details (email, etc) will be exhibited on the lower left corner.

Screenwriting Basics in Formatting

The screenplay is really a blend of two elements: speech and action scenes. So when conceiving a screenplay, I will usually put these down in a notebook. You may research into the characters’ backgrounds right down to their childhoods and families as well as what they are thinking as the scenes unravel. But unlike novels, none of this back-story should be present in the actual screenplay. The skill of making apparent what the characters are feeling through what is on screen alone, might take some getting used to. When it comes to screenwriting, show and don’t tell really comes into its own. So only what is seen and heard on the screen should be on the screenplay. Nothing else.

How do I Open the Screenplay?

Every screenplay should begin with a FADE IN which is the opening of the first scene. Each scene should open with a ‘slugine’ which is expressed in caps. A slugline is in three parts: whether the scene is inside or outdoors (exterior or interior), which is expressed as EXT. or INT. This is followed by the location of the scene, which might be in a car or office. The third part is time of day, usually DAY or NIGHT, although EVENING or AFTERNOON can be used. If a scene follows in a continuous fashion then CONT. can be used. An example of a slugline, therefore might be: INT. GERALD’S OFFICE – DAY

Rather than use the same slugline repeatedly if two scenes occur in the same place, you can put THE SAME – LATER (or CONTINUOUS) if only the timeframe shifts.

Every slugline should be followed with an action description which informs on what the characters (if any) are doing and their locations, which might be, ‘Anne is standing by the window reading a letter. Gerald enters. He appears worried.’ And this illustrates the next crucial point. Every action description should be expressed in the present tense. Action descriptions should ideally be pithy and to the point. Don’t include lengthy descriptive passages. Break each action sequence into ‘beats’ of no more than 4 lines long. Be as brief and to the point as possible with action descriptions.

Dialogue Formatting for Film

Each morsel of dialogue should be headed with a character name, again in caps. The dialogue itself has a shorter line length than the action description and centred beneath the character name. A choice of speech qualifiers (in brackets beneath the character name) can be used to describe how the dialogue is to be delivered, which might be (V.O.) voiceover, (Into phone) speaking into the phone or (O.S.) off screen (if the character speaking is not visible on camera). Others can be used, such as (sardonically) or (sharply). Use these qualifiers sparingly. Let what is said reflect how it should be delivered.

How to Use Montages and Series of Shots

Rather than employ a series of sluglines to express a succession of short scenes, you can use a ‘series of shots’. This is headed with SERIES OF SHOTS, slugline-like, and beneath a series of brief descriptions lettered A), B) and C) etc will be seen. An example of a series of shots might look like this:

SERIES OF SHOTS

A) Suzie walks up a street
B) Suzie enters an office block
C) Inside the office, Suzie strides up the stairwell.
D) Suzie walks through a door. Gerald greets her and they shake hands.

A Montage is formatted identically to a series of shots, but is headed MONTAGE instead. A montage is really a means of conveying a mood or atmosphere via a series of scenes, such as a busy day at work or moments of grief after a child loses her mother.

What does a Screenplay Look Like?

Really, a screenplay will contain a smattering of words with lots of white space, headed with a series of sluglines in caps, and character cues in caps. Dialogue and descriptions will be expressed in upper/lower case, where the dialogue will exhibit shorter line lengths. A good idea is to take a look at other screenplays, which can be viewed online for free.

How do I Make the Film Script Work?

The final act of the screenplay will FADE OUT. But really, this is the beginning, as every screenplay will need drafting and redrafting. The writer should get familiar with the elements of a screenplay such as the three act structure, the story hook and the point of no return. Such story elements will help the screenwriter plot pivotal points within the screenplay story for optimum effect. Links to articles describing these elements can be found below. Finally, depending on how you are submitting your screenplay, you can either save it as a PDF for online submissions, or carefully brad the 100 or so pages together within a flexible wallet for the post. Make sure the finished screenplay is pristine and perfect.

Advice for Beginning a Screenplay

But of course, drafting and redrafting the screenplay will often be necessary. The initial stage is a fairly organic process, where notebooks and pencils will be needed. Once putting words into the screenplay document, you can really begin to see how the storyline might unfold through action scenes and dialogue. But don’t submit until you have weeded out: typos, stereotypes, scenes that serve no purpose, areas without conflict, clichéd paragraphs, wordy dialogue and literary prose.

One of the best ways of moving the script forward is to put it into a bottom drawer for a few weeks and reading it afresh. Alternatively, get a trusted friend to give impartial feedback. More about improving the screenplay can be found on the links below.

How to Write Screenplays, the Basics

Elements of a screenplay
Guide to drafting your screenplay
Character development for films
What to send in a screenwriting submission package
Three act structure of a screenplay
Great names for your character
Getting paid screenwriting jobs

Why Can’t I Win any Short Story Competitions?

The writer can do a lot to ensure the story entry has a fighting chance of getting shortlisted in a short story competition. The following tips on creative writing and submission guidelines may help.

Short Story Advice for Writers

Your short story might comprise a taut story crafted with perfect prose and the most original and compelling plot, but if the following guidelines are not adhered to, the story might just as well be crafted by chimp and scribbled on toilet paper.

• Word count too high. Story competitions can be quite strict on this matter, and a simple word count will expose story entries that go over. A short story competition that demands no more than 2000 words means that words in excess of this may take your entry out of the running.
• The wrong genre. If the competition is looking for captivating children’s stories, don’t submit an erotic yarn. Similarly, if the competition is searching for a crime story, don’t submit a sci-fi story.
• Submission too late. Make sure the story arrives before the closing date. Late entries will not be considered.
• No contact details enclosed. Don’t forget to include your name and contact details when submitting your short story.
• No fees enclosed. Make sure a cheque is enclosed to the correct amount and to the correct payee.

Making a Short Story Great

OK, with the entry correctly submitted, you stand a better chance of competing with thousands of other entrants for that coveted first prize. But you could do more to enhance the reading experience of the judges to ensure there are no spelling errors or grammatical blunders. If submitting a postal entry, use crisp white paper and don’t try to cram it into a small envelope or the creases may spoil the effect.

Writing Contests against Other Writers

Writing a short story is not as easy as it sounds. Unlike a novella or novel, every word becomes even more crucial. A beginning, middle and end are crammed into a mere few thousand words, which mean no dallying over the opening and no padding out at the middle. Get straight to the story. Try cutting the first hundred or so words from the first draft to throw the reader more abruptly into the action.

Narrative Style for Short Stories

Get the red pen out whilst drafting a short story. Cut the following words from the prose: flabby adjectives that qualify a weak or inaccurate noun. Wispy clouds could be cirrus; a large city could be a metropolis.

Cut flabby adverbs that qualify weak verbs and make them accurate. Run quickly could be raced or cantered. Think carefully could be cogitate or peruse. Stare fiercely, could be glower.

You could polish your writing style further by looking for passive sentences. Overuse of the verbs, was, were, are and is, could be indicative of passive writing. Change ‘the trees were swaying’ to ‘the trees swayed.’ Change ‘the man was walking down the street,’ to ‘the man walked down the street.’ Give nouns something to do as opposed to just sitting there letting things happen to them: the moon smoldered; the water simmered; the geyser belched. These are known as active sentences and works to make your writing snappier and more immediate.

Active Writing for Short Stories

Propel the reader into the protagonist’s world by using the five senses to describe sensations as opposed to using abstract concepts. Rather than say ‘she felt frightened,’ describe the sensation of fear, which can be subjective. Did the character’s hands quake; did her breathing take a jolt? Make sensations tangible regarding smells, tastes, sounds and sensations.

Cutting redundant adjectives and lazy adverbs as well as changing passive verbs to active verbs will cut your word count significantly leaving more room for the story. This in turn will allow more room for dynamic descriptions.

Creative Writing Tips for Storytelling

Look for clichés and sentences that add nothing to the story. Such sentences may lurk in the shadows, cowering against the editing pen. Weed them out: sentences that repeat something already mentioned earlier; sentences that harbour repeating words or simply slow the pace unnecessarily. Watch out for overly long paragraphs and/or sentences. Slice in two, sentences that contain more than 40 words or so. Chop paragraphs that are more than 12 lines long.

Short Story Competition Advice

But what of the content of the story? It is all very well having a perfectly-crafted prose, but this will count for little if the story itself is not original or compelling. Think about the following writing tips:

• Take a familiar story and set it against a different background. For example, a detective story could be set in a monastery; a tale about a beauty contest could be set at a prison.
• Make the protagonist different to the expected. Make a nightclub bouncer female; or a sensational guitar player three-fingered.
• Look for every opportunity to pull a twist on the reader. A story told in the first person may relate on a hero’s day keeping watch against snipers in the Middle East. Only at the end do we learn the hero is a twelve-year-old boy.
• Write about something you know about and project it onto the character or the story to add authenticity. A writer’s experience at a children’s home could be projected upon a story about a girl who has been evacuated during the war. The feeling of displacement and possible alienation could be made more convincing by the writer’s empathy.

Remember the short story should have a beginning, middle and end. The story should be peppered with conflict. The protagonist should have a goal and something should stand in the way (which might be person, animal, natural or inner belief). Look for ways of (convincingly) upping the stakes and creating a seemingly impossible situation.

Having said that, some short stories describe a slice of life or the world according to whomever. This can be very effective for suspending the reader. An original slant can make your story stand out.

Creative Tips for Short Story Writers

Don’t put your short story out of the running because of a technical aberration. Keep the word count within guidelines, pay the correct fee and make sure the entry has arrived prior to the closing date. Perfect your narrative style to tighten the writing, leaving more room for the action. And finally, look for original ideas. Relate the story to something you know about to give it authenticity. And lastly look for opportunities to increase the ante. Make the reader want to read on and make it original.

Creative Writing Tips for Narrative Style

The perils of passive writing
Make the most of adjectives
How to use adverbs
My characters behave like puppets