|
This week's Answer: It's
Critical to Have a Little Criticism Now and Then (Although
We Usually Want it More Then than Now)
Margaret, you’re a gem to write to me and touch on
the volatile subject of criticism. (Are those words kind
enough for you?) You’re absolutely right: criticism is
not easy to embrace. Wouldn’t it be much more pleasant
to have a producer contact you with glowing accolades
regarding your script, and an offer to buy it for a
million dollars, which is, at that very moment while you’re
being praised, being transferred to your Swiss Script bank
account? (You say you don’t have a Swiss Script bank
account? Well, that, right there, may be your
problem. All screenwriters have a Swiss Script bank
account.)
But, instead, we have to trudge through the Land of
Critique (and hopefully you’ve taken the right road and
you’re in North Land of Critique, which is part
of the state of Constructive Criticism, and not in the
southern part where the jealous and envious have
congregated as the Untalented Ones, their only mission to
denigrate the Talented Ones. The epic battle between the
dark forces of the Untalented Ones and the
all-that-is-good forces of the Talented Ones is
unavoidable. (I’m so mythical sometimes I surprise
myself Maybe I’ll write a trilogy called,
"The Script," wherein a tiny screenwriter is
entrusted with the Golden Script that he must carry across many
lands to find the Primary Producer who is the only one who
can fathom the depth of the writing and attract the riches
necessary to project it throughout the land. But to reach
the Primary Producer with his script, the tiny
screenwriter must pass through many territories inhabited
by evil creatures, the worst of them being the dreaded
Underpaid Readers. That really does have possibilities for
a high concept sell. I’ll get on that one right
away. Over half the film will entail people asking
the tiny screenwriter, "Do you have the Script?"
-- much like present day producers do now -- and
"Don't let the Script take you over." -- much
like present day therapists say now to their screenwriter
patients.)
If you can try to have an open mind and approach a
critique of your script as a means to help you improve it,
then you’re on the right track. The trick is to not take
one word of a critique personally. Try to read the
critique or coverage as though it’s about someone else’s
screenplay (although you might want to check the title
page and make sure that your name is still on it). Do all
you can to have what they call the "student’s
mind." (I don’t know who "they" is. Maybe
they’re just students.) Or you could call it the
"screenwriter’s open mind." Ask yourself,
"What in this critique could help me write a better
script? Then, as they say at AA (an anonymous group
who can’t afford the third "A" and are thus
unable to have their cars towed), take what you need and
leave the rest.
Which is much better than "take the rest and leave
what you need."
|
