The Village Voice article by screenwriter Josh Olson (the one we talked about here) has drawn a lot of Internet chatter. Over on Facebook, my pal Tom Luth asked…
So, I am sure we all know by now that professional writers will not read our effin' scripts. That begs the question, "what is the proper way to receive professional, usable, feedback?" Has this been covered on your blog at some point?
No…and there's a sense in which you shouldn't. I mean, if you're writing 500-page scripts in Pig Latin that will cost a half-billion dollars to film, it might be handy to have a pro tell you, "Don't do that." But that's the kind of thing you oughta be able to figure out for yourself — and if you can't, then you're so far from reality that no experienced help is going to do you a lot of good.
Beyond that kind of thing, it gets very subjective. Have you ever seen a really lousy movie? One that was so bad that you know the script just had to suck from Day One? Well, at least a couple of important professionals thought that script was good enough to film. If you could get one of those guys to read your script, of what value would his opinion be to you? If he told you it was wonderful, wouldn't you think, "Gee, that's what you thought about that turkey you made"? What I'm getting at it is that even advice from a seasoned pro is just one guy's opinion. Some great scripts were turned down by one guy. Some bad ones were bought by one guy.
I think the best way to look at this is that there are two categories of advice. One is the simple matter of how good the writing is. Do the characters make sense? Are the emotions true? Does the story establish its own logic and progress in accord with that logic? It might be very valuable to get input and feedback about those kinds of things but you don't have to ask a professional screenwriter for that. You can get it from any kind of decent writing teacher or even a friend who seems to have some brains and taste. In some ways, you might even profit more from hearing the response of someone who's not inclined to say, "Well, here's how I would have written this…"
Most of the time though when folks ask a professional writer to read their work, what they're seeking is marketing advice: How do I sell this thing? Or how do I get an agent who will sell this thing? That's a much tougher question to answer…and it's usually asked with the implied subtext, "Will you recommend me to someone who might hire me or represent me?" One of the things that I'm sure Josh was objecting to in that article he wrote is being put in that position.
I will give everyone one bit of advice in that area, though…and you have to keep in mind that there are exceptions to every "rule." But most of the time, an aspiring writer of film or television can greatly enhance their chance of success in those fields by writing other things first — short stories, porn novels, comic books, plays for community theater, student films, etc. A kid who wants to play baseball doesn't usually start by pitching for the Yankees. Writing for the screen is a highly competitive field where millions of dollars often ride on the strength of a project…and the project rides on the strength of a script. It's not the ideal arena in which to be learning the basics of how to craft dialogue and story structure. At the very least, you could start on some lower rung of the TV or movie business.
That's a bit of creative advice but it's also a matter of marketing, as well. Yeah, there may be a plumber out there who has a wonderful screenplay in him…but folks in the business regard those as the rare flukes. They think good writing is more likely to emanate from a good writer, and they respect those who've demonstrated an ability to write things that please an audience.
The last decade or so, I've heard a lot of acting coaches and casting folks bemoan the influx of people who want to be Stars, as opposed to being Actors — kids who don't want to waste their time in acting classes or doing plays for no money in 99-seat theaters. They want to start with the Rich and Famous part. Every so often, someone manages it and when that's publicized, it brings a new wave of wanna-bees who think they can get a series without learning the craft or paying dues…and like I said, once in a while, they can. But if you're marketing yourself as an actor, I think it's disadvantageous to show so little interest in actually acting. And the pool cleaner who wants to start his writing career by selling Bob DeNiro his next project is kind of in the same light.
My second agent used to refer to them as "Lottery Screenwriters." He felt they weren't interested in being writers…because if they were, they'd be writing something that has a better chance to getting bought and either produced or published. They were just writing spec screenplays for the same reason gas station attendants buy lottery tickets. It's to take that one-in-a-zillion chance of hitting big and changing one's life overnight.
When professional writers say, "I won't read your effin' script," part of that is because it creates a number of personal-type problems. It takes time and it takes us away from our own stories and fills our heads with someone else's story and creates problems of how to be tactful and/or risk getting someone mad at you…and of course, there's always the concern that some day, completely on your own, you'll write something vaguely similar and the person whose script you read will think they've been ripped-off. All of that is reason enough not to read someone else's work.
But another is that most people never really do anything with the scripts they ask you to read. Many do not even rewrite based on any story input you might give them. What they want to hear is, "This is great, I'm sure you can sell it." Or better still, "This is great, I'll help you sell it." The last guy who asked me to read a spec animation script of his was clearly looking for a magic trick like, "Don't change a word of this masterpiece…but you know, if you put a blue cover on the script, you're guaranteed to sell it." Helping those folks is a colossal waste of your life.
That's all I have time to write about this now because I have to leave for a lunch appointment with…Josh Olson, of all people. I'm taking along about ninety scripts I'd like him to read. I'm sure he'll be so eager.