Overview

This book offers a bold alternative to conventional screenwriting guides, empowering neurodiverse writers – and anyone seeking a fresh perspective – to rethink the rules of mainstream storytelling and unleash their creativity to craft authentic, groundbreaking stories. This innovative title celebrates the unique perspectives that neurodivergent writers bring to the screen. Drawing on real-world teaching and creative experience to question traditional ideas about character, plot, and emotional logic, Vaughan offers a more fluid, inclusive model of screenwriting shaped by neurodiverse ways of thinking and making. Blending critical theory, practical exercises, close reading, personal insight and inspiring examples, the book positions neurodiverse storytelling as a powerful challenge to industry norms, and a vital opportunity to reimagine how stories can be told. Chapters cover topics such as narrative structure, mastering action in screenwriting, crafting compelling dialogue, and character development. Rejecting traditional prescriptive structures, this book encourages writers to discover their authentic voice, explore genre in unexpected ways, and create characters that reflect underrepresented experiences, illustrating that the film industry benefits immensely from the inclusion of diverse voices and perspectives. This book makes a valuable resource for students and researchers in screenwriting, film studies, creative writing, and media who are looking to challenge established norms and explore new narrative possibilities.

Full Product Details

9781041045373

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Author Information

Nicko Vaughan is an award-winning screenwriter and senior lecturer in the creative writing department at Swansea University, Wales. Her multifaceted career spans television, film, radio, and live performance, with commissioned work for Talkback Thames, BBC Radio, and the Cymru BAFTA Awards (2021–2022). She is the author of Rubber Sharks and Wooden Acting: The Ultimate Bad Movie Guide (2016), The Adventure of the Wordy Companion: An A–Z Guide to Sherlockian Phraseology (2018), and Cut to Baker Street (2019), and runs the publishing imprint Orange Pip Books, which specialises in accessible and inclusive Sherlock Holmes stories. Nicko’s screenwriting credits include the award-winning short films such as ""Alan"" (2018) Dear the Lips of Benedict Cumberbatch (2018), To Be (2022) And Gagged (2025). She is also the co-creator of The Bad Film Club, a long-running live show and cult favourite that has toured internationally since 2006.

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