Nicholls -- Typos

[ComicBent]

Question: Is my script dead in the water?

Know.







Seriously, no.

[marcal]

Re: Nicholls -- Typos

Typos are never good, of course, but a few in a script is not a big issue. I've read a bunch of Nicholl winners at the Herrick Library that had multiple typos, so it's obviously not a deal-breaker...

[NikeeGoddess]

Re: Nicholls -- Typos

i've never read a script even from a produced flick that didn't have a couple of typos. as long as it's not riddled with them and glaring, and doesn't interfere with the story then don't fret. however, i doubt that you can say, "Everything else is perfect."

[MulRedux]

Re: Nicholls -- Typos

I sent the wrong draft of my screenplay last year. It had more than four errors, including one that read "They look to the river -- beyond it is"

That was it. I forgot to finish the sentence. Still made the QFs. You're not dead in the water, but if you've ever been reading a script you dig, coming across a bad typo can act like a smack in the face.

[lordmanji]

Re: Nicholls -- Typos

Some questions about readers ...

What instructions are they given and how much of these instructions do they follow.

Beal,(?) seems like a reasonable man. I'm thinking his instructions are something like this:

OK, Readers, we're looking for story first, then great characterization, dialog, solid structure and a good mix of plot twists, reversals, etc. No script should be rejected at its first reading if it has these things. I don't want scripts rejected because they have a few typos; that might only mean one writer paid for a script doctor and the other didn't. Mind you, I can appreciate the writer who pays to get his script letter-perfect -- but I don't want this script in the top five while a far better STORY with four typos is shitcanned."

It's not "Beal," it's "The Magnificent Mr. Beal"

[gregbeal]

Re: Nicholls -- Typos

Speaking of typos, it's Nicholl.

No "s." No apostrophe s.

To quote a recent comment on the Nicholl Facebook page:

One, five, twenty typos over an entire script should not affect any reader. On the other hand, ten typos on the first page just might cast a pall over an entire script.

[darkestbeforedawn]

Re: Nicholls -- Typos

I had a script read by a very big production company that had two dozen or so typos and 'crooked' sentences and some butchered narrative and some other rather embarrasing stuff and when I asked about it he said, and I quote, "We don't care about typos, we care about material. We have editors."

While the scared narrative of most forums and 'not there yets' will continually tell you that it matters a lot, it doesn't. It matters little when you can write.

Now, many, many times those mistakes are indications that the writer can't write. But four typos is negligible.

Good luck ric.

DD