I had an experience at Zoetrope, which Iâ€TMll explain further on. First, Iâ€TMd like to set it up.
When I first joined Zoetrope, I realized the reviewers I got were inexperienced writers, who were no help. They just rambled on to reach their two hundred-word minimums, so they could get the four required reviews they needed to post their own script.
By the time I realized this, I only had a few days left before my scriptâ€TMs time on the site was up. Desperate, I zipped a zmail over to an experience writer and made an offer to exchange reviews. He agreed. His feedback was very helpful, as mine was for him.
Now, I keep a list of the top reviewers, those who score a rating of 4.5 and higher. Each month, Zoetrope post the names of the top reviewers. So far, my list has the names of about fifty members. At any given time, about five to ten of these members will have a screenplay thatâ€TMs live on the site.
Okay, that gets us to the meat of this post. I sent off a zmail to five of those members, who have scripts that are live. I told them Iâ€TMm an experience writer, who knows how to give an exhaustive and insightful critique. That Iâ€TMm available to analyze their script, if theyâ€TMre available to review mine, when I post it in December.
Four members replied yes, and one member asked for a logline and how many pages. Iâ€TMve been on other Internet workshops in the past, where Iâ€TMve received this type of request before... and it bugs me.
I rather receive, â€No, Iâ€TMm not available.†Then, â€Yes, Iâ€TMm available, but Iâ€TMm picky.†Now, I know what youâ€TMre going to say, â€That member is smart to ask.†My feeling is a workshop is where members are supposed to help each other to improve their work.
Some of you will say, â€Maybe a member would feel they lack certain strengths in a particular genre or story to give valid feedback.â€
-- Nonsense. Iâ€TMve heard this excuse before too. If youâ€TMre a competent, experience writer, you should be able to identify problems in any genre or story. Problems such as: structure, plot holes, boring or unnecessary scenes, underdeveloped characters, over/underwritten scenes, dialogue, and descriptions, etc.
If someone gave me a story about gay men to review, should I say, â€Iâ€TMm not able to critique this, because Iâ€TMm not gay. I feel, not being familiar with that subject, I wonâ€TMt be able to point out problems and offer suggestions that would improve your story.†Nonsense.
Like you donâ€TMt have to be an expert in the comedy genre to review comedies, because of the reasons Iâ€TMve stated earlier. Also, youâ€TMll know if itâ€TMs funny or not, by if it makes you laugh.
Same with the Horror genre, if it spooks and scares you, it works.
My feeling, for a workshop to function, as a member, you must be subjective enough to handle many different genres and stories. To be successful in a workshop environment, you must develop relationships with other experience writers.
The point Iâ€TMm trying to get across to the aspiring writer is that before you send your script out to the professionals in the business, feedback is crucial... crucial... crucial. Did I mention itâ€TMs crucial?
To achieve this, offer to critique another writerâ€TMs script, which, if done correctly, will consist of multiple pages of feedback.
Donâ€TMt be picky, or you might end up like the woman who asked me for my logline and page count, no reviews.
When I first joined Zoetrope, I realized the reviewers I got were inexperienced writers, who were no help. They just rambled on to reach their two hundred-word minimums, so they could get the four required reviews they needed to post their own script.
By the time I realized this, I only had a few days left before my scriptâ€TMs time on the site was up. Desperate, I zipped a zmail over to an experience writer and made an offer to exchange reviews. He agreed. His feedback was very helpful, as mine was for him.
Now, I keep a list of the top reviewers, those who score a rating of 4.5 and higher. Each month, Zoetrope post the names of the top reviewers. So far, my list has the names of about fifty members. At any given time, about five to ten of these members will have a screenplay thatâ€TMs live on the site.
Okay, that gets us to the meat of this post. I sent off a zmail to five of those members, who have scripts that are live. I told them Iâ€TMm an experience writer, who knows how to give an exhaustive and insightful critique. That Iâ€TMm available to analyze their script, if theyâ€TMre available to review mine, when I post it in December.
Four members replied yes, and one member asked for a logline and how many pages. Iâ€TMve been on other Internet workshops in the past, where Iâ€TMve received this type of request before... and it bugs me.
I rather receive, â€No, Iâ€TMm not available.†Then, â€Yes, Iâ€TMm available, but Iâ€TMm picky.†Now, I know what youâ€TMre going to say, â€That member is smart to ask.†My feeling is a workshop is where members are supposed to help each other to improve their work.
Some of you will say, â€Maybe a member would feel they lack certain strengths in a particular genre or story to give valid feedback.â€
-- Nonsense. Iâ€TMve heard this excuse before too. If youâ€TMre a competent, experience writer, you should be able to identify problems in any genre or story. Problems such as: structure, plot holes, boring or unnecessary scenes, underdeveloped characters, over/underwritten scenes, dialogue, and descriptions, etc.
If someone gave me a story about gay men to review, should I say, â€Iâ€TMm not able to critique this, because Iâ€TMm not gay. I feel, not being familiar with that subject, I wonâ€TMt be able to point out problems and offer suggestions that would improve your story.†Nonsense.
Like you donâ€TMt have to be an expert in the comedy genre to review comedies, because of the reasons Iâ€TMve stated earlier. Also, youâ€TMll know if itâ€TMs funny or not, by if it makes you laugh.
Same with the Horror genre, if it spooks and scares you, it works.
My feeling, for a workshop to function, as a member, you must be subjective enough to handle many different genres and stories. To be successful in a workshop environment, you must develop relationships with other experience writers.
The point Iâ€TMm trying to get across to the aspiring writer is that before you send your script out to the professionals in the business, feedback is crucial... crucial... crucial. Did I mention itâ€TMs crucial?
To achieve this, offer to critique another writerâ€TMs script, which, if done correctly, will consist of multiple pages of feedback.
Donâ€TMt be picky, or you might end up like the woman who asked me for my logline and page count, no reviews.
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