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Before I get started on this, I want to say one thing, and I want you all to believe me: I understand. Completely. Trust me on this.
That in mind, I have been reading a lot of posts all over the board. There is one upsetting trend that I'm noticing, and if there's any way I can perhaps nip it in the bud, I'd like to try. It involves the following phrase or any of its many siblings:
"I got about (so-and-so number of) pages into SCRIPT XYZ, and I just couldn't get into it, so I stopped reading."
Ugh.
Look, we're all guilty of it. As a reader, there were days where there was nothing I wanted to do more than stop reading a script, throw it against the wall, and write for my brief, "This is an epic f***ing disaster. What more do you need to know?" And I would have felt good. However, as I had to write five pages detailing not only the script's plot and the reasons why it was f***ing disastrous, I couldn't (though a dozen or so scripts did, indeed, hit my wall in the course of being read...some a couple of times). And you know what? I can say very plainly that I'm better off because of that.
It's true: there are some scripts that are patently awful in their first two acts that are saved - usually on a conceptual level - by their third act. Sometimes it's SPECIFICALLY the ending that saves it. It's rare, yes. Very rare. Nine times out of ten you'll find the script you hated the first half of has a similarly detestable second half.
But it's not for that reason that I'm IMPLORING you to stick with the bad scripts: it's because they're bad. It's because they're flawed. And it's because YOU DON'T WANT TO EVER MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES.
What kind of education are you getting out of reading half of a script? A third of a script? You're getting exactly a half or a third of an education, that's what. And that's not enough. Reading good scripts can teach you what to do (on a macro level). On the other side of the coin, reading bad scripts can teach you what NOT to do. And not only is that just as valuable - sometimes more, in fact - but you don't want to make the mistake of thinking that just reading good scripts will teach you what not to do. It won't. Think of it this way: if you're a pilot-in-training working on a flight simulator, you're going to want to take your fair share of incident-free simulations. But don't you need an equal (or greater) number of disaster-ridden simulations to work through as well? So you'll know what can f*** you up before it happens?
The fact of the matter is that if you're not with a script from takeoff through landing (shamelessly continuing my brilliant analogy), you're not getting the training you need. You're not becoming a better writer. You're not becoming a better analyist. You don't know your sh*t. Yes, again, nine times out of ten that script is going to be EXACTLY what you thought it was going to be. But the question isn't IF that's the case, but WHY that makes pushing through worth it.
I will offer up only one reason to disregard my advice: if a script is so poorly written as to make you wonder if English is the writer's third or fourth language, just drop it. That's going to kill your brain.
Worst of all, some of you are actually offering REVIEWS of scripts you've only read part of, and that's just borderline unethical. If a writer works hard enough to put something out there for you to read, you should at least give him/her the courtesy of finishing it before you trash it. And if you don't...well then you really can't speak intelligently about it, can you? At the very least just offer up a, "I couldn't get into it so I stopped reading," and leave it at that.
I prompt this only as someone who has been there and who has benefitted greatly from the misery. A script should only take an hour or so of your time altogether, and if you're going to put in that much time, you might as well take it all the way. You will be a better writer for it, I promise you.
That in mind, I have been reading a lot of posts all over the board. There is one upsetting trend that I'm noticing, and if there's any way I can perhaps nip it in the bud, I'd like to try. It involves the following phrase or any of its many siblings:
"I got about (so-and-so number of) pages into SCRIPT XYZ, and I just couldn't get into it, so I stopped reading."
Ugh.
Look, we're all guilty of it. As a reader, there were days where there was nothing I wanted to do more than stop reading a script, throw it against the wall, and write for my brief, "This is an epic f***ing disaster. What more do you need to know?" And I would have felt good. However, as I had to write five pages detailing not only the script's plot and the reasons why it was f***ing disastrous, I couldn't (though a dozen or so scripts did, indeed, hit my wall in the course of being read...some a couple of times). And you know what? I can say very plainly that I'm better off because of that.
It's true: there are some scripts that are patently awful in their first two acts that are saved - usually on a conceptual level - by their third act. Sometimes it's SPECIFICALLY the ending that saves it. It's rare, yes. Very rare. Nine times out of ten you'll find the script you hated the first half of has a similarly detestable second half.
But it's not for that reason that I'm IMPLORING you to stick with the bad scripts: it's because they're bad. It's because they're flawed. And it's because YOU DON'T WANT TO EVER MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES.
What kind of education are you getting out of reading half of a script? A third of a script? You're getting exactly a half or a third of an education, that's what. And that's not enough. Reading good scripts can teach you what to do (on a macro level). On the other side of the coin, reading bad scripts can teach you what NOT to do. And not only is that just as valuable - sometimes more, in fact - but you don't want to make the mistake of thinking that just reading good scripts will teach you what not to do. It won't. Think of it this way: if you're a pilot-in-training working on a flight simulator, you're going to want to take your fair share of incident-free simulations. But don't you need an equal (or greater) number of disaster-ridden simulations to work through as well? So you'll know what can f*** you up before it happens?
The fact of the matter is that if you're not with a script from takeoff through landing (shamelessly continuing my brilliant analogy), you're not getting the training you need. You're not becoming a better writer. You're not becoming a better analyist. You don't know your sh*t. Yes, again, nine times out of ten that script is going to be EXACTLY what you thought it was going to be. But the question isn't IF that's the case, but WHY that makes pushing through worth it.
I will offer up only one reason to disregard my advice: if a script is so poorly written as to make you wonder if English is the writer's third or fourth language, just drop it. That's going to kill your brain.
Worst of all, some of you are actually offering REVIEWS of scripts you've only read part of, and that's just borderline unethical. If a writer works hard enough to put something out there for you to read, you should at least give him/her the courtesy of finishing it before you trash it. And if you don't...well then you really can't speak intelligently about it, can you? At the very least just offer up a, "I couldn't get into it so I stopped reading," and leave it at that.
I prompt this only as someone who has been there and who has benefitted greatly from the misery. A script should only take an hour or so of your time altogether, and if you're going to put in that much time, you might as well take it all the way. You will be a better writer for it, I promise you.
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