BE SURE TO LOOK IN THEIR EYES!!
by Craig Kellem

One of the great tricks of the trade is learning how to take in and react to
script notes from friends and family, as many vulnerable writers can either be
falsely encouraged or horribly discouraged by well-meaning folks - perhaps
erroneously in both respects. Despite these common hazards, writers
can sometimes not resist seeking reactions and opinions.

But there is a method to this madness.

First of all, know and understand that you'll rarely get the same opinion. This
can be disconcerting and can sometimes only add to one's confusion. Worse it can
take you in creative directions that are discombobulating and ambiguous.

Sometimes, writers go from one person to another, dutifully changing their
manuscript according to the opinion du jour and inevitably end up well in the
soup as a result.

If you go the friend/family route, my suggestion is that you know your readers
and obviously feel that they have decent judgment. But even with this leg up,
one must discriminate with what you take in.

You need to know, for example, that readers can sometimes overreact to small,
petty issues and, in doing this, give a disproportionate view.

Your job is to understand this and to take it in stride, while seeing if the
reader does have some valid points despite their "hysteria" over a pet peeve.

Another kind of reader can become preoccupied with peripheral areas such as
punctuation, minor language usage, etc which can be valuable in a limited
respect but has nothing to do with the big issues.

Other readers who do not have these encumbrances and who may have real valuable instincts can be invaluable, particularly when their notes become part of a TREND. In other words, if three readers tell you that Act 3 isn't making sense,
it may be time to listen. My point is to perhaps wait for the trend to occur
before messing too much with your precious screenplay.

This may sound silly but it's also important to make sure that whoever is
reading your script likes you and has your best interests at heart. Sad as it
may be, sometimes fellow writers can be unfair in their evaluations, due to
prejudice or jealousy, whether it be conscious or unconscious. Or you're
dealing with people who have some latent issue with you that's being expressed
" sideways" via your work. The point is they know that you're vulnerable and may
take advantage of the smell of blood. Others may think they have to come up with
something and innocently fabricate their offerings to save face.

In any case, this process is not dissimilar to the art of political and other
kinds of polling. There are folks who make a very good living via the skill of
knowing how to interpret focus groups, surveys, and the like. They know how to
cut through the B.S. and find the REAL ANSWERS in the data, etc.

It goes without saying that a professional script consultant like yours truly
would recommend that you go to a pro for this kind of advice - an objective
reader when things get down to the short hairs. But, if you can't resist a
little of your own polling before you get to that stage, I'd approach it very
carefully and with a healthy dose of insightful skepticism.

One other thing, until you're sure it's ready the rule is this-don't give your
script to anyone who can really help you or hurt you in the industry!



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