I made this blog, mostly, to store stuff for myself when I decided to learn screenwriting. It's my version of Pinterest. (I hate Pinterest, I can never figure out how to sign in.) It occurred to me, after a few years of working on this, that maybe my experiences would be useful to other unconnected newbs in fly-over states. First thing I thought I'd talk about is coverage, how I found it and how I use it.
But before the first thing - the pre-first - are the opinions I believe are bullshit and from whom. And why. Opinions on this from successful screenwriters are essentially worthless. Because they aren't reading my scripts. Opinions on coverage from "development executives" are also worthless. They aren't reading my scripts, either. At least, they aren't reading them until the people who
are reading my scripts judge them worthy of being read by development execs by giving them that mythical "Recommend" rating.
THE MOST WORTHLESS OPINION about getting coverage is "you don't need to pay anyone to read your script, just trade scripts with other writers and read each other for free." Why would I want the opinion of someone who doesn't know any more than I do? I mean, I probably would do it if I had a friend who was a screenwriter who's work and opinion I respected. But finding an appropriate person isn't easy. If you've lucked into a relationship with someone whose work you respect, great, trade scripts.
THE MOST WORTHWHILE OPINION regarding coverage is "you don't need to pay hundreds of dollars" for coverage. That's for sure. I don't believe in "professional guru" which is pretty much an oxymoron.
But we do need coverage from professional people whose opinions we can have some faith in. Makes sense then to look for coverage from the kind of person who is the one who'll be reading my script: professional readers. Not gurus, but those employed by agents and producers and such to read scripts and evaluate them.
ABOUT THE COST. Not hundreds of dollars, but $40-60 is reasonable as of this writing. If you hate investing money in your work, seriously, why are you bothering? If you won't spend money on learning and honing your craft, where would you get the balls to ask someone else to invest a million or twenty-seven on your script?
The Blacklist: IS NOT COVERAGE. That's not my opinion, it's Franklin Leonard's declaration. That evaluation is about whether the reader would recommend it and why or why not. You don't have any contact with your reader, no discussion or chance to develop a relationship.
PRICE: $50 might seem like a good price for the evaluation. But you have to add to that the $50 you'll pay for two months of hosting. You must buy the first month. It takes about three weeks for the evaluation to come back, so you have to have another month if you want to post the script with the BL scorer for any length of time, so it can be found. If your score is too low to be included in the email list or garner interest, you may want to rewrite and buy another evaluation. That's another $75. If you are determined to use the Blacklist, first work with a reader you know and trust to get feedback to get your script in the best possible shape before submitting. Personally, I don't find the Blacklist something I'm interested in. If you do, use it judiciously, is my advice.
FINDING THE RIGHT READER
I went through maybe five people before I found someone I felt I could communicate with and who went right to the heart of the issues. This is what I wanted and found:
- Someone professional who does what they say when they say.
- Someone who will discuss the feedback and explain further if I need that.
- Someone straightforward but not tactless (rude).
- Someone who has experience and knows what the fuck they are talking about.
He was neither the cheapest nor most expensive. I'm not being coy, here, I'd tell you his name but he might not be for you. I asked around, read a bunch of forum posts and tried out readers. If you are in for the long haul and take yourself and your work seriously, finding someone to give objective and erudite feedback is essential.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE COVERAGE
After you spend a week huddled under the bed because the reader found things to fix and didn't think he'd discovered the next Shane Black, review the coverage again. Readers aren't perfect. Sometimes they miss stuff. But for the most part, you need to understand why they gave you the note they did. Did they miss it because you didn't present it properly? If they don't see how Fred could know where George is, even if you gave George's location earlier, maybe you need to make more of a point of that, or refer to it closer to Fred's later scene. Always assume it's your failing, not the reader's.
But - these people are people. Sometimes they just don't like stories of a certain type or told a certain way. A good reader will say this, and you have to decide what to take seriously and what to ignore. But still, think about it all. We need to be good professional writers and ask ourselves if we could do that part of the job better, anyway.
The first couple times you get criticism it's really hard. But you'll get used to it. Let it be hard. Acknowledge your level of investment. Learn to pull back and find a more objective view. Find your voice and what you are invested in and know what you absolutely will protect the integrity of and where you are malleable. Learn.
READER RED FLAGS
THEY DON'T DELIVER WHEN PROMISED. Unprofessional. Find a pro who understands his own job and delivers what he promises when. (Or her, of course.)
OPNIONS INSTEAD OF OBSERVATIONS. I really don't care if the reader thinks Jenna should have adopted Stanley. But I do care if the reader predicts the audience will have trouble with that because of some story inconsistency or character inconsistency.
THEY WANT YOU TO WRITE THE MOVIE THEY WANT TO WRITE. I had a reader who wanted me to eliminate one of the key characters. Take out the whole storyline. Would have made it a different movie. I had a reader who wanted the first act to be about a different character than it was about. Again, it would be a different movie.
Readers are, almost without exception, frustrated screenwriters, themselves. They see your script and immediately start rewriting it in their mind, their way. That's not bad, we all do that with stuff we see and read. But we need a reader
who will discover what we are trying to say and tell us how we are not saying it.
One of the ways I knew I'd found the reader I wanted to work with, was he asked me to list a few of my favorite movies. He did this to get to know what my dramatic/story sensibilities were. He did that after he realized I was going to be giving him my regular business. But doing that meant he intended to divorce his film preferences from how he critiques my work.
Notes should teach you something
My first script I learned about structure and pacing. My second script, the one I'm on now, I'm learning the value in killing off characters and saying what I mean. (I seem to want to keep the point a secret.) I learned to try and keep my inherent nerdism in check because what fascinates me will be entertaining to about 6 guys in four countries.
But what I mostly learned is not to be afraid of doing anything. It's not like my computer isn't storing drafts. So I like trying a lot of different stuff. Which often leads to the
oh shit, this should be the opening moments. I love rewriting.
IF NOTHING ELSE ...
Put your script on reddit and ask for feedback. A lot of it is pretty good. You might find someone who's so good at it on a volunteer basis, you're willing to pay them next time.
