This month I’m looking at two of the sacred monsters of Screenwriting Guruhood – Robert McKee (Story) and Blake Snyder (Save the Cat). If you’d like to read what’s gone before, start here; if not, read on. STORY: SUBSTANCE, STRUCTURE, STYLE AND PRINCIPLES OF SCREENWRITING ROBERT MCKEE 1997 Of […]
Terry Tempest Williams and Eva Aridjis took part in Writers Rebels’ Insectageddon event on May 24th 2021, at which they both spoke piercingly about the fate of the Monarch Butterfly. In this video, we share Terry’s contribution. Known for her impassioned and lyrical prose, Terry Tempest Williams is the author of the environmental literature […]
‘Why are we here, Mummy?’ My four year-old son asked, as we joined the swathes of Extinction Rebellion protesters in Glasgow’s George Square in September 2019. ‘The ice caps are still melting. This isn’t really going to help the polar bears, is it?’ I was slightly taken aback. Caspian had always been fascinated by wild […]
It was last August, at around three in the morning when my phone rang. I lay in bed and listened, the darkness spreading around me. Through the phone, Tania ‘Nena’ Baltazar wept. Our home is on fire. “Nuestra casa se está quemando.” I could hear the crackling of flames. I could smell it, feel the […]
The Names of Trees I I should know the names of trees and birds, and where to find them. I should have this, poised to give, to any who might need it. Dirt should sit, be lodged, tattooed, beneath my fingernails. And I should know its feel, and warmth, and temperament […]
Floating in the clouds of Venus Tie me to a met balloon and let me drift in Venus’ atmosphere, that planet masquerading as a star. Suit me up so her sulphuric acid won’t sear my lungs, turn my sugars into dirty carbon sludge; give me a microscope, so I can scan […]
Threading Our Way Peace River territory The Peace purls a ripple stitch across the Rockies down through fertile valleys air shimmers in waves over the hot road to Hudson’s Hope glistening fish hide in hollows fishers patient hopeful on the farm Grandma weaves a sheaf of wheat into wreathes […]
The Prayer of the Common Newt In a muddy pond, in the outskirts of Clydebank, a mother, with over two hundred eggs inside her, is beginning the process of giving birth. Over the next few weeks, each day she will deposit about a dozen of them not on a folded over leaf, […]
On 22 April, XR co-founder Simon Bramwell and six other rebels appeared at the Southwark Crown Court, charged with causing 25K worth of criminal damage to Shell’s London headquarters. In a historic ruling, six of the defendants were found not guilty despite admitting to criminal damage, and the judge indicating that the law pointed to […]