Have you ever received notes on your script that made you want to crawl in a hole, or give up on getting feedback all together? I certainly have, but I’m here to give you the 3 questions to consider when you feel this way.
For writers, receiving feedback on our scripts is a vital part of the writing process. After spending weeks or even months alone with a project it’s helpful to receive feedback from an outside perspective. Good script notes can provide valuable insights and suggestions that can help elevate a script to a new level and guide a writer through their next round of edits.
Writers have a variety of options when seeking out readers for their scripts. Some have well established writer’s groups while others rely on their social networks to receive free feedback. Script coverage services are also available for a fee through companies like WeScreenplay. This particular service guarantees your work is read by someone with industry experience and that you will receive your notes within 72 hours. (You can see what some of our Killer Shorts finalists thought of their coverage in our previous blog post.)
While sending out your script for the first time can be intimidating, most of the time it is well worth it. Readers are usually very generous with their time and will often send back detailed and thoughtful feedback that can greatly improve your story. But what do you do when you receive bad notes? The notes that simply don’t make sense and leave you scratching your head wondering what the reader was thinking. While it’s tempting to toss these notes and move on, it may be worth your time to consider these three questions first.
The Three Questions
Who is the Reader?
Scripts are a very subjective medium. We all have our preferred genres, formatting, and tropes. We also each have unique life experiences that are reflected in how we write and what stories speak to us. So when I receive bad notes I feel it’s worth considering where they are coming from.
Usually, the more experience behind the note, the more consideration I feel it should be given. Notes from established writers, and people within the industry, will hold more weight for me than notes from people I don’t know well. I also give extra time to notes from people well-versed in my specific genre. If I am writing a horror short and I receive a note that the story is predictable or the killer is uninspired I am going to listen. People that know and love a genre often have a broad knowledge of these films and can provide insight that another reader might miss.
A person’s life experience is also extremely important to me. For instance, if I am writing a hospital scene and a doctor tells me that something is unrealistic, I need to listen to that note. This can be especially important when the notes are about things outside of my own race, gender, religion, and sexuality. While no single experience can define a group of people if the person giving the note has more experience and exposure to a community, it’s worth listening to what they have to say.
Why this note?
As writers we are all familiar with the idea of subtext. When I’m reviewing script notes I don’t just read what the reader wrote, I try to figure out the meaning behind it. Sometimes readers know they don’t like something, but they can’t necessarily pinpoint why. I think a classic example of this is the “this character is unlikeable” note. My knee-jerk reaction is to say the character isn’t supposed to be likeable. I want to ignore the note and move on, but is that what the reader really meant? Is it possible that in this context unlikeable actually means uninteresting or unrealistic? Because if that’s the answer I have a character development problem on my hands. My audience doesn’t need to like a character, but I need them to care about what happens to them.
The same could be said for notes that don’t seem to make sense. Maybe I wrote a horror for the Killer Shorts competition and get back notes on how to add more romance. Or maybe I wrote a kids movie and someone suggests more violence. Why did the reader feel the need to add these elements to my story? Could a note on more romance actually be a desire for more character development? Is a suggestion of violence an indication that the stakes don’t feel high enough? Trying to figure out the why behind the note can help clarify if the note is alluding to a larger problem in the story.
Sometimes even after careful consideration you will find some notes are less about your script and more about the reader. A common problem writers run into is when a reader attempts to push their own agenda onto your writing. Sometimes readers forget that their goal is to help you tell your story and instead they give you suggestions on how they would have written your script. While these notes can be frustrating to receive, they are usually easy to spot and you can feel confident in your decision to ignore them.
What led them here?
As a writer it’s my job to guide my audience through the world I have created. If I receive notes that don’t make sense to me, I think it’s worth my time to figure out how I could have led the reader to these conclusions. For me this usually means heading back to the logline. The logline is everyone’s first impression of your story and establishes a certain expectation.
Take the movie It. This film could be described as a group of kids that band together to fight back against a scary clown. While technically accurate, this description doesn’t represent the tone or the scope of the story. If a reader only had this information to go on they might be expecting an adventure movie geared towards a younger audience. The actual logline for It describes the movie in the following way:
In the summer of 1989, a group of bullied kids band together to destroy a shape-shifting monster, which disguises itself as a clown and preys on the children of Derry, their small Maine town.
This logline introduces the characters, the problem and the location in a clear way. The reader knows what story to expect. Describing the children as bullied and using the phrase “preys on the children of Derry” clues the reader into the tone of the story and sets their expectations for a darker tale. When a reader knows what you are trying to do they are able to analyze the story more effectively and provide more productive notes.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day your script is your own and it is your choice which notes to implement and which to ignore. The truth is everyone has their own likes and preferences and sometimes opinions are nothing more than just opinions. Sometimes notes are just bad. Not everyone is going to like your script and that’s okay. The one sure fire way to tank any script is to try and make everyone happy.
The truth is not all script notes deserve to be implemented, but I believe they all deserve to be considered. My advice is the next time you receive bad notes go ahead and say they are useless. Ignore the notes for a day or two, but then go back and read them again. Ask yourself who is this reader, why did they give this note, and what led them here? You may be surprised at what you find hiding in the middle of some bad notes.
While this might all sound daunting, asking these questions will hopefully make you feel more prepared to handle feedback on your horror short before submitting it to the Killer Shorts Contest. There’s only 17 days until the early bird deadline. For anyone looking to swap scripts with fellow writers check out The Screenwriter’s Network for support and inspiration to finish your next killer short.
