I talk to a lot of writers on and off this board. Each one of us has our own unique set of trusted readers. But how did they come to be this way? Some opt to pay only "professional" readers, some only trust 1 person, some have a cabal of 3-5 readers they give stuff too.... I'm sure others don't get any feedback at all.
This is just a general thought about -- well make sure you are choosing those people right. Because I had a friend who always made bad choices. And I thought of this screenplay idea which was that type of person hires someone else to help her overcome her bad decisions. And it works. But at the Midpoint she realizes what a minute, I always make bad decisions so how can I trust my judgement on this? And then she realizes she hired a crazy person who is giving her terrible advice.
My point - besides I love that screenplay idea still -- is that are you making sure the voices in your head/your feedback circle should be trusted to guide your creative process?
Because when I talk to writers and they respond to my feedback with "well my most trusted reader thought it was great" -- that makes me concerned. Not because I think I'm 100% right (only 92% right) but because that means the writer may be closing themselves off too much and getting in that feedback loop.
My point is, if you are giving your horror spec to your best friend who knows you and loves horror and is also a horror writer and even helped you think of it -- sure they are going to love it more than if you just handed it cold to me.
If you are paying someone to read your work -- even if they are being 95% honest -- they are incentivized to be very encouraging and make you want to write more and come back for more business.
It's great to have a encouragement, but at some point you also need readers who will tell you one spec you wrote is "amazing" and the next spec you write is "crap."
I'm hard on myself. I like readers who are hard on me and more honest about what the industry will think not just their own personal opinions.
The best feedback is the one that isn't saying what they think -- but more how they think your spec will connect with a general Hollywood audience.
If you have readers who give only positive notes -- find someone else to give you the other side...
If Craig Mazin can tell the Game of Thrones guys that their first HBO Pilot was terrible -- you can find someone that can tell you your spec needs some more work... A good writer friend helped save the show from being just a one season failure.
This is just a general thought about -- well make sure you are choosing those people right. Because I had a friend who always made bad choices. And I thought of this screenplay idea which was that type of person hires someone else to help her overcome her bad decisions. And it works. But at the Midpoint she realizes what a minute, I always make bad decisions so how can I trust my judgement on this? And then she realizes she hired a crazy person who is giving her terrible advice.
My point - besides I love that screenplay idea still -- is that are you making sure the voices in your head/your feedback circle should be trusted to guide your creative process?
Because when I talk to writers and they respond to my feedback with "well my most trusted reader thought it was great" -- that makes me concerned. Not because I think I'm 100% right (only 92% right) but because that means the writer may be closing themselves off too much and getting in that feedback loop.
My point is, if you are giving your horror spec to your best friend who knows you and loves horror and is also a horror writer and even helped you think of it -- sure they are going to love it more than if you just handed it cold to me.
If you are paying someone to read your work -- even if they are being 95% honest -- they are incentivized to be very encouraging and make you want to write more and come back for more business.
It's great to have a encouragement, but at some point you also need readers who will tell you one spec you wrote is "amazing" and the next spec you write is "crap."
I'm hard on myself. I like readers who are hard on me and more honest about what the industry will think not just their own personal opinions.
The best feedback is the one that isn't saying what they think -- but more how they think your spec will connect with a general Hollywood audience.
If you have readers who give only positive notes -- find someone else to give you the other side...
If Craig Mazin can tell the Game of Thrones guys that their first HBO Pilot was terrible -- you can find someone that can tell you your spec needs some more work... A good writer friend helped save the show from being just a one season failure.
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