How to give good notes when you’re not skilled at giving notes.

Last week, a student shared with me some coverage they had received on a screenplay they wrote. I was familiar with the project, so I already had my own ideas, but I was curious about another reaction.

I don’t expect much from $100 coverage, and yet I was still frustrated.

As far as readers and coverage go, I trust coverage from a production company much more than I do a reader from one of the services.

Cheap coverage is weird because the incentives are not really aligned with the writer.

The production company or agency reader is incentivized to do an excellent job in the hope of being promoted.

The cheap coverage reader has no such incentive.

There is no real way to measure a “job well done” for them. As best I can figure, their true incentive is to read enough of the screenplay so they can convince the author that they read the whole thing.

They don’t really answer to anyone unless they’re caught not reading the screenplay.

So the monetary incentive and the supervision aren’t really there for consistently good work across the board.

This isn’t even taking into account whether they could do good work if they wanted to.

Yet, coverage can still be valuable.

If no other readers are available, or perhaps you have exhausted what you do have, coverage can offer an emotional reaction and a clarity check of an inattentive read.

This is what anyone not skilled in development should be doing.

All you want from that reader at that point is to be an audience member.

Have a reaction. Record that reaction. Share it.

Too many readers, however, want to develop.

The weird dynamic of “giving notes” is that the reader is in some kind of position of authority and the writer is appealing for assistance.

Coverage sheets will even have these dumb matrices for consistency and to pretend that there is some kind of objective method to it.

This may be helpful internally in an agency or production company. True coverage, after all, was never meant for the writer.

But when it is the writer looking for feedback, this confusion between an audience reaction and development can be less than helpful.

It’s not about you.

An unfinished screenplay invites notes because… well, it’s unfinished. We naturally want to give our opinion. We want to add value.

Sometimes this is noble and sometimes it isn’t.

However, your “notes” aren’t necessarily what a screenplay needs.

I just had to tell a trusted producer last night, “I’m less interested in notes right now. I’m more interested in how we get it made.”

It just wasn’t what I was looking for. There will be time enough for that later!

Notes are almost always our first instinct.

But unless you’re well skilled at development — and most are not — what a screenplay needs from you is to be an audience.

So do that.

Just be an audience member. Be a test screening.

Screenplay development is far more challenging than people know.

It takes a long time to get good at it because it is about personality, process, and knowledge.

There is no actual training for it. No certificate to earn.

People usually learn from watching others and synthesizing their own growth with it over years.

I don’t think I really balanced all three of those until about twenty years in. At least not on a consistent basis.

People fail to realize just how difficult development is because they think it’s about taste.

It’s not.

When you’re good at it, taste is irrelevant, because what you’re really trying to do is help the writer tell the story they want to tell to the best of their abilities.

Until people learn to do that well, they are usually trying to impose themselves on someone else’s screenplay, rather than the other way around.

Outside of development, it’s not your job to fix the screenplay.

Even if the person asks you for notes. That’s just an expression. Know what they’re really asking. Know how you can best help.

Obviously, if you have acquired this skill, go at it. Just make sure it’s really what they want.

When someone engages Garrick Dion or me to read a screenplay, they want development. That is what they paid for, and they will be disappointed if we don’t deliver.

(And we never disappoint.)

But for most readers, they only have an opinion of what they like and what they don’t like.

And that is good! That is valuable!

The writer should hear that!

But don’t confuse that with knowing what the writer should do. It is certainly not the same as knowing how to “fix” the screenplay.

This is not the time for you to share what you would have done if you had this idea.

This is rarely helpful and usually confusing. In addition, it creates mistrust with the writer. You don’t have to pitch ideas unless it’s a natural evolution of a fun conversation.

This is not the time to share your knowledge of screenwriting.

There is no need to insist that the screenplay needs a “fun and games” section or any other private idea of how a screenplay should be.

Yes, the writer asked you to read their script. And yes, that is often a “favor,” and it may become a “big favor” if the screenplay isn’t any good.

But it does not put you in a position of authority. It puts you in the position of an early audience at a test screening.

When in doubt, record your reaction.

If you do not have a set process for reading and sharing your reaction to a screenplay, the best thing you can do for the writer is simply record your emotional reaction as you read it.

Seriously. Just do that.

This is how I can get helpful reactions to a screenplay, no matter the reader’s experience level.

Why?

Because a reaction is true. A reaction is honest. And a reaction doesn’t judge.

The most helpful notes I got on a project last year were from a member of the Story and Plot Pro who is writing her first screenplay.

All she did was record her reaction in the margin.

“That is scary.”

“Oh, that’s the opposite of what his wife said!”

“I’m confused.”

“I don’t get this.”

“Wait… I thought he said this…”

“LOL”

When reading someone’s screenplay, focus on two things:

1. The clarity of the experience.
2. The emotion of the experience.

This helps them know if they’re achieving what they want to achieve.

Less skilled writers will get more guiding notes.

Even if they seem harsh.

“I’m bored.”

“I’m losing focus.”

“I don’t really care what happens next to this person.”

Obviously, if these lead to more nuanced conversations, that’s great. If they ask for recommendations, give them. But you’re not coming out of the gate with, “This is how you should do it.”

If they seem surprised by the notes, “How did you want me to feel there?” can be a very helpful question.

Then you can chat about why or what happened that made you feel that way.

Often, however, the writer can figure out their own conclusions of how to pick up dramatic momentum or clarify why we should care.

Remember, getting notes is its own challenge.

Respect how difficult it is for the writer. I have never really learned to get good at receiving notes. The skill I acquired over the years was learning to pretend to be good at getting notes.

And even then, only if I have time to mentally prepare.

But if you stay focused on your own reaction, rather than what you think the writer should do, it’s not only easier on them, but often more helpful.

As you get better at this skill, you will find what works better for you and what works better for them.

You can do what I do, which is first get them to reveal what story they’re trying to tell and what their objectives were. Only when I know what they’re trying to accomplish do I give them thoughts about how best to achieve it.

I can do this because I have the knowledge and the process to back it up.

Until then, focus on what is truly yours and not debatable. And that is your own reaction as you read.

That's a wrap for this week!

I am traveling this week. I am in Boise, Idaho, for a conference of other internet business owners. Man, that feels weird to say that, but I guess it's true.

Story and Plot is a one-man operation, and I love it, but it is a business.

If you enjoy and appreciate what I do, I am 100% sure you would have an incredible experience working with me.

Go see a movie in the theatres. I know there is one out there for you.

See you next week!

Tom