The Little Mistakes - Will They Kill?

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • The Little Mistakes - Will They Kill?

    "The horrah. the horrah."
    I took to the plunge. I entered several screenplay contests. After sitting back for a couple of weeks I decided to give my entry a read. On at least 10 occasions my heart sank when I realized I either used the wrong word, failed to omit a word on rewrite or did/didn't pluralize when I should have. You know, the kind of mistakes you see on these boards all the time. I know, I know. This is different. Tight means tight. Polished means polished. None of the mistakes take away from the overall story but they are there. My personal writing process lends itself to such mistakes. For instance, the first draft usually has 100 or more such mistakes. I sit, I bear down and I write with the understanding that the necessary tightening and polishing will come later. On this occasion I missed some things when my mind shifted prematurely to contest entry mode.
    Long winded but in short, will the little mistakes kill any chance in a contest even if the story and structure are exceptional?

  • #2
    Re: The Little Mistakes - Will They Kill?

    Go read the story of Mike Rich winning the Nicholl. Format all over the place, all wrong, but he went on to a fellowship and a career.

    My impression is that if your script is truly spectacular, small mistakes won't matter. That doesn't mean I won't tell you to be more careful next time.

    kullervo

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: The Little Mistakes - Will They Kill?

      Don't worry. The chances that story and structure are exceptional are pretty slim.

      "Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.-
      ― Ray Bradbury

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: The Little Mistakes - Will They Kill?

        Honestly, your story will have to be f u c k in' great, for it not to annoy the reader. I've read for contests and read for a screenwrter's program, and I can pass over a FEW mistakes, but if it's littered with them? I get pissed because it kinda tells me you didn't take the time to really comb it, polish it, love it enough before sending it out.

        That's just me though, and some other reader friends I know.


        Try to fix it, the next time. I'm not saying that you're doomed, but try to get better. It can only help you.

        Good luck.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: The Little Mistakes - Will They Kill?

          Thanks all for the input. Lessons learned. At the very least I now have a screenplay that is free of any annoyances (combed through it 4 more times today). Be prepared fellow contestants. It won't happen again. Exceptional story. Exceptional structure. No mistakes. Should make the top 5,000 at Nicholl. Thanks again.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: The Little Mistakes - Will They Kill?

            jmgogdog,

            When I finished a script last Spring, I combed through it endlessley... I edited it , rewrote it , polished it to the whole nine yards, re-read it and re-read it. Finally pleased, I sent it to a producer last Fall for a read. As they took their time, I sat down (once again) to read my script. To my shock and dismay... there was a paragraph with a typo sentence in the middle of the script. I too felt my heart sank... with embarassement.

            If was a week later, the producer called from LA and told me that they loved my script, but they didn't have enough money to option or buy it. They never mentioned the typos cause they fell in love with the story.

            Since then... after I re-write and edit, I use the PDF voices on my computer, like the ones in Final Draft, to read my script back to me out loud. That is the best way to catch the silly typos. Also, do a search online and you can download natural voice reader freeware.

            MisterB.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: The Little Mistakes - Will They Kill?

              I've also read and done coverage, and I try to remind myself not to let the small mistakes (like occasional mispellings, misplaced commas) count against the script, though I do notice. When the mistakes go from occasional to frequent, it does have a negative impact on how I view the script, even if I tell myself it shouldn't. But if the story is fantastic, I'll overlook it, even with glaring errors.

              That said, I've also read horribly mangled scripts where exposition was written in dialogue format, or different characters' lines were run into each other, all throughout the screenplay. I couldn't believe the writer bothered to even glance at the script before printing it out, much less thinking it was fit to submit for consideration at a prod co.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: The Little Mistakes - Will They Kill?

                If there are frequent typos in a script, then you probably haven't revised it very much, in which case it's probably not ready.

                However, a few typos are not going to derail a script. If the script doesn't sell/win, those typos had absolutely nothing to do with that. No one is going to say "We loved this script, we really wanted to pour several million dollars into making it, but given the typos, we've decided that this is a dream that will never be achieved."

                Comment

                Working...
                X