You've agonized over your screenplay. You've written and and written and now you finally have a completed draft.
Maybe you've even done a couple screenplay rewrites. But now, at long last, it's time to show people your script and get the dreaded notes!
Why Get Notes?
Notes are a really important part of the process. Writing is such an insular activity that we can very easily lose any perspective. What's good? What needs work? It all kind of blends together along with all the drafts or rewrites we've done in our head on the way to this draft.
Getting some outside thoughts and perspective is crucial in the rewrite process.
But not all notes are created equal.
So, how do you know...
Which ones to listen to?
Which ones to ignore?
Which ones to learn from and perhaps take in a different direction?
Since notes are so important to your rewrite, it is worth taking a second to look into which notes are worth your time and which aren't.
These notes may come from competitions, writer friends, non-writer friends. They're all valuable.
But in order to know if these notes are worth your time, ask yourself these questions...
Are These Screenplay Rewrite Notes Actionable?
I worked as a screenwriting consultant for a few years, and many of my clients would bring me notes and feedback they'd received from companies that do coverage or feedback from competitions.
And a lot of the feedback was garbage SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE the notes were based on opinion and not grounded in story/structure/character frameworks.
Competition readers and coverage readers look over a TON of scripts. And some of them get angry when they read something they don't like. It doesn't mean it's wrong, but it may just not be for them.
Therefore, if you've gotten a note that veers towards an opinion rather than a fixable point, you may need to disregard. OR you may need to look deeper to see if there's an underlying problem.
I realize this is a difficult difference to understand, so let me give an example.
"I didn't like the ending. It doesn't work."
VS.
"The ending wasn't satisfying because the protagonist has no emotional arc."
Both could be correct. The latter is getting to the root of the problem. The former is relying on emotion and opinion to frame the note, which is dangerous and could lead you astray.
Knowing that a person didn't like it because there's no emotional arc for the character gives you something very tangible to fix. Knowing that the ending "doesn't work" leaves you with more questions than before.
Are There Multiple Solutions To This Issue?
Sometimes notes jump to a solution rather than addressing the root issue. Therefore, it's always good to think, "what's the note behind the note?"
Often there are several different ways to tackle a story or character issue.
And the one presented in a note may not be appropriate for your screenplay or to your liking.
Getting to the root of the issue allows you to brainstorm and see if there are other fixes that you like better or feel more like your story.
Is This A Repeat Note?
It's advisable to get several different readers before tackling your notes draft. With several different trusted readers, often, the same note will rear its ugly head multiple times in slightly different wordings.
Those are notes that it is crucial that you take!
If multiple people are giving you the same note, then it's very clear you have a specific problem that needs addressing.
For the others, it could be a toss-up. Because, at the end of the day, you know your script better than anybody else. And you know what's right for it.
