If you're attending Frightfest in London I'll see you there, and in case you find it useful I've condensed the festival programme into a web page sized for mobile devices. If you think that might be something you could use then you can find it here.
ByTheLens is now offering a range of services, some of them FREE. You can find them all on the Resources page.
Screenwriting is a skill, undoubtedly, but it isn't sorcery. It can be learnt like any other craft. There are well-established standards, approaches and working methods that can be used and adapted to any screenplay. On this site we're going to look at how a good screenwriter does the job, and maybe a few examples of less exemplary writing.
Articles on screenwriting and examples of the craft can be browsed from the menu or, if there's something specific, try a search. On the menu there's something called tracks, which gives the choice to follow a sequence of articles or a bundle of examples to explore a topic in a more detailed or structured way. If you're new to screenwriting take a look at the Screenwriting 101 track!
ByTheLens is a site created by writer Ben Slythe to hold the hard-won lessons of story and structure in screenplays.
If you'd like to contribute to the site please let me know. Articles on writing, film technology and technique and the film industry are very welcome.
Ben can be contacted at: ben@bythelens.org
There are many resources that are out there, some of which will agree with my position on screenplay structure, some of which will not. I offer no apology for presenting my opinion and will happily showcase alternative opinions on the site, but please remember this is just one view, just my view.
I should also, in the spirit of full-disclosure, mention that I have no award-winning track-record in screenwriting. There are many writers I admire and would happily take from them any mocking they offered me in the vein of Those that can't do... It is not my intention to suggest I am some form of expert on screenwriting, I know only that which I've learnt and I may be wrong. Before you decide to move on and ignore my advice on this site, however, on the basis that there are other writers who know far more; I urge you to consider the words of a genuinely successful and talented screenwriter: