Matt Greenhalgh’s current project is Move On, a spy thriller/road movie produced by Deutsche Telekom. Move On is directed by Asger Leth (Man on a Ledge) and stars fellow Dane Mads Mikkelsen, who went up against James Bond in Casino Royale. Greenhalgh started by writing for a Manchester magazine called City Life. After earning a degree at Warrington Collegiate Institute he met someone working on the long-running British soap opera Hollyoaks. Matt got a job on the show and eventually started working on the scripts, gaining insight into what makes them work. The next step was trying to write his own screenplays. If you think that you could go the way of Matt Greenhalgh, here are a few tips on how to get started.

Watch more movies
And then watch them again. And again. Even the crap ones. Yes, that is actually part of becoming a screenwriter. You will be able to tell what works and what doesn’t, where the dialogue feels natural and where it’s forced.

Read screenplays
Start to read as many screenplays as you can find, for instance online. This will help you learn how screenplays are typically constructed, how characters are fleshed out, how conflicts are introduced and what rules you must follow when it comes to direction.

Read books about screenwriting
There are tons of books about how to become a screenwriter. Try reading as many of them as you can, be it “how to”-guides or works by famous writers. It will help you pick up on what makes a successful screenplay.

Get a screenwriting software
Screenplays are supposed to follow certain formats. If you don’t adhere to those rules, nobody will even take a look at what you’ve written. Screenwriting software helps you format your work properly.

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Thousands of people have always dreamed of writing their own novels, but few ever find the motivation to start and complete one. Many people like to claim that they do not have time to write, as they are too busy working or dealing with family affairs. However, with a little bit of planning you should be able to figure out your novel structure and set off on your way to literary success.

The Beginning, Middle, and The End

It goes without saying that every story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. If you have the spark of a novel structure idea in your head, find yourself a pen and a large piece of paper. Create a brainstorm which lists everything that you want to be included in your novel. You should have a rough idea of how the story will play out, which characters you want to involve, and how the story will end. Once you have written down all your ideas you will need to start structuring them one scene at a time. Drawing a storyboard for your chapters is a very effective method of creating a novel structure as it helps you to spot any holes in the time line of the manuscript. Don’t be afraid to chop and change characters – writing a novel involves rewrite after rewrite!

The Setting

All novels need to have a central setting and theme running throughout them. What time is the novel set in? Does the story revolve around a certain town or country, or is it a sci-fi novel based in outer space? You need to answer these types of questions in order to structure your novel correctly. Work out the message that you want to leave your readers with at the end of the book. If you intend your novel to fit into a certain type of genre, read as many other books in that genre as you can. This will give you a good idea of any structure conventions in the types of novel that you want to write.

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You have just typed out those satisfying two words “The End” and hit that all-important save key. Your novel is ready for the next step. In some respects the easy part is over. Now comes the daunting process of finding a publisher. The temptation is to print out a few hundred copies and send them to every publishing company from A to Z; however the reality is that it pays to be more circumspect.

Beware of the slush pile

Many publishers actively discourage authors from submitting manuscripts directly. Those who do not rule it out operate a system known as the “slush pile”: a heap of manuscripts that can be ignored for months or only given cursory attention.

Authors who have spent years lovingly honing their novel might be alarmed to learn that the job of vetting unsolicited manuscripts is often allocated to an unpaid intern. There are examples of successful authors who have been rescued from the pile, but they are rare.

Most publishers prefer the direct approach from literary agents. A professional agent will have a clear understanding of what sells, and which publishing company is most likely to appreciate your work. An agent will work with an author to improve the work and to produce a clear and intriguing synopsis to stimulate a publisher’s interest. Agents know which editors to approach, and, importantly, know the companies that are prepared to give advances to new writers.

Finding an agent

The downside is that finding literary agents can be almost as difficult as finding a publisher. Look for agents that specialise in your genre area or who work with writers you admire. The Writers and Artists Yearbook offers a useful listing of agencies, with details of their submission guidelines.

An agent will discuss the best ways of preparing your work and submitting the manuscript to publishers. Invariably this will involve approaching two or three editors at different companies initially. If they pass, the process continues at other imprints. Be prepared for a lengthy process and getting used to rejection. From manuscript to bookshop shelf can be an arduous and exhausting route.

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Choosing a narrative voice is an important decision authors must make before starting their novels. A novel’s narrative voice is the verbal personality of its narrator and determines how it tells its readers what is going on. Most voices are either third person or first person, and most novels stick with one of these, although some novelists find it effective to use different voices in different chapters.

Third-Person Narratives

These have narrators who are not characters in the novel. Third-person has traditionally been the most popular type of voice, especially for novels with many characters in which no single character can observe everything that happens. Such voices also tend to give readers the feeling that the narrative is reliable. It is important to select a third-person voice carefully, as it sets the tone for the entire novel. Authors who have found their own voice have an advantage here.

Types of Third-Person Narratives

Authors need to decide whether their third-person narrators can describe the characters’ thoughts as well as their actions and how many characters’ activities they can observe. They can tell the story through the point of view of a single character, or different characters in different chapters, similar to first-person narratives while maintaining third-person pronouns and verbs, or be detached and journalistic describers. The most popular type of third-person narrators, however, are omniscient ones, who know both everything that happens everywhere in the novel and all of the characters’ thoughts, feelings, and concealed attitudes. These can also have distinct personalities and attitudes and express opinions about the novel’s characters and events.

First-Person Narratives

In these the narrators are one or more of the characters. This can provide novels with a sense of immediacy and help readers to identify with their characters, but limit the narrative to what that character experiences. Novelists need skill in creating vivid characters with distinctive voices to succeed with these. Special types of first-person narratives include those with narrators who are detached observers, fictional autobiographies, stream-of-consciousness inner monologues, and diaries. Novels can have more than one first-person narrator by changing narrators with chapter changes.

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Approaching Literary Agents and Publishers

Nowadays, there are very few publishers that will accept unsolicited manuscripts from unknown authors. As such, most new writers try to get an agent who will negotiate with publishers on their behalf. The Writers and Artists Yearbook has a list of all the publishers and agents in the UK. There should be a copy in your local library and it is a good idea to study the companies in the book and pick out agents that may be interested in taking on your work. If you are contacting a literary agency, most require you to send them a short covering letter (including a synopsis) and the first three chapters of a manuscript. You will need plenty of cheap printer toner ink as most people print off these documents at home.

Going Indie

However, there are an increasing number of writers who advocate shunning traditional publishing methods. The rise of ebooks has caused a major shakeup in the literary landscape. Platforms such as Amazon Kindle have ensured that writers can publish manuscripts on their own without eliminating their chances of having their work read by customers from all over the world. Likewise, print on demand technology allows authors to distribute printed manuscripts to friends and family without having to pay huge production fees. If you work hard, the sky’s the limit.

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The seven stories theory is a product of Christopher Booker’s lengthy 2004 book, “The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories.” Its premise, based largely on Jungian psychology, is that all stories have one or more of only seven plots. These are tragedy, overcoming the monster, comedy, voyage and return, the quest, rags to riches, and rebirth. The theory has stimulated much debate about its validity, and the book itself has received considerable criticism in regard to what its critics consider to be its sloppy scholarship and ideological biases.

The Stories

In Booker’s tragedies the protagonist has a fatal flaw and deteriorates into iniquity before finally meeting defeat, thereby freeing others. The inverse of this, overcoming the monster, involves a protagonist destroying some powerful evil threatening the land. In Booker’s comedies, heroes and heroines reach romantic consummation by overcoming some ominous obstacle, which repents, allowing other relationships to fall into line. The protagonists of voyage and return stories travel to magical places with fantastic, ridiculous rules, triumph over the insanity, and return home better people. Quest story protagonists desperately want to obtain something and search for it, often with others. Rags to riches stories involve protagonists surrounded by malevolent forces whom they overcome as they mature, and who ultimately obtain what they desire, whether material, metaphoric, or both. Rebirth stories begin by resembling tragedies, but their protagonists manage to realise the error of their ways in time, and find a new reason to live.

The Controversy

Most critics have criticised Booker’s analyses of these plots as contradictory and ideologically reactionary. Although many agree that the number of basic plots is limited and that authors’ originality comes out in how they tell their stories, they have engaged in an unresolved debate in regard to just what those plots are and have reached no consensus in regard to how many of them exist. Then again, according to a probably apocryphal story, a Hollywood producer once said that all his movies had the same plot: “I get ‘em up a tree, shake a stick at ‘em, then get ‘em back down.”

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The first page of a novel is like a job interview with potential readers. It is where agents, publishers, and readers form their first impressions of the work, and often where they decide whether to read on. Agents and publishers read submitted manuscripts all day every working day, and are most likely to notice opening pages that stand out. Although a dynamite first page won’t ensure success if it’s all downhill from there, a weak one can ensure that readers go no further.

Style

One obvious thing that readers notice on the first page is the writing style, which basically means how well the author writes. Even if a novelist has constructed a great story, many people are likely to lose interest if the writing is dull or, worse, irritating. Many novice writers mistakenly equate fanciness with good writing. It’s best before beginning to study a good style manual, such as Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style,” and learn to avoid such pitfalls as overwriting, clichés, overreliance on modifiers, using vague abstractions, lack of clarity and conciseness, and the passive voice. A vigorous style is likely to result in a distinctive voice that captures readers’ attention and imaginations, draws them in, and makes the work stand out.

Where to Begin

Although it certainly isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, it’s usually best to begin at a point involving crisis, change, and conflict. This does not necessarily mean explosive physical violence or even activity, and can involve such crises as those involving embarrassment, discovery, shamefulness, or a surprise encounter. The creation of a mystery or the sense of something unresolved can intrigue readers and compel them to be curious about its solution or resolution. Novels should begin with a nearly limitless amount of possibilities.

Substance

It’s important on the first page to present a strongly intriguing character who captures a readers’ interest, and also to establish at least a sense of the story’s position in regard to place, time, and mood without becoming bogged down in long and tedious descriptions. It’s a balancing act between giving readers too much information and action and not enough.

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