Part One in a short guide to getting script notes.

Not too early, not too late, at some point you’re going to want – or need – to get feedback on your script. But how do you get the feedback that’s going to help? Or, maybe you’ve been asked to provide feedback on someone’s script.

I’ve started to pull together some bits and bobs I’ve learned and advice I’ve found useful in the process of writing and editing other people’s work. It’s a ‘what I wish I knew when I was starting out’.

It mainly applies to shorts, and for writers tackling their first script, but is applicable for all kinds of writers. 

Oh, and a spoiler alert – I’ll cover this in detail in a future post – never use AI for script notes or coverage, and never hand over your work or your money to anyone who does. 

Seeking Notes

Who are you and when is it time for feedback?

Set off running and out of steam

If you’ve started your first script and got tangled in the process, or you’ve finished two acts and don’t know what’s next, you might not be ready for notes. There’s a terrible paradox in screenwriting. You need other voices to make the work work, but you also need to do the work yourself in the first place. That doesn’t mean it’s too early for feedback – just for notes on a script. 

Rather than share a script before it’s ready, you might consider:

• Writing a one page description of your idea
• Writing bios of your key characters
• Writing a one page on what your story is about and what you want to say.

With those tools, a consult can be more effective than notes. 

You’ve got a draft

You’ve got a vomit draft as far as you can. You’ve got questions. You don’t have answers. Or you have too many answers.

It’s notes time. 

You’ve done the work and you’re ready to submit.

It’s your Xteenth draft. The deadline for the contest, a funding agency, a development initiative is racing toward you. This is when you need to cross the Ts and dot the Is, and make sure your work hums. This is usually a time for a polish rather than notes. 

It’s not your first rodeo.

If you’re an experienced screenwriter, you probably know or have experienced most of what follows in some way or another. That’s not to say this isn’t for you. Every time we fire up a new page, or type FADE OUT at the end of a vomit draft, we go back to being ‘first timers’. It’s the first time for this story. Sure, we bring all the craft we have with us along the way. If you’re more experienced, you may have other tips or ways of looking at notes. I’d love to hear them. 

You’ll approach the notes process knowing what you need. You’ll come with questions. Specifics that you need additional perspectives on. For you, this is another form of research – you need to test your thinking with a limited number of voices different from yours who can give you actionable insights. 

You’re a slashie. 

Producer, writer, director, performer. Starting out,  we wear lots of hats.

The very specific challenge for writers who are wearing the other hats is whether they give themselves the feedback they need from the perspective of the other hat. 

For example, the Director in a Writer/Director split personality might be thinking about the visuals and not the character arc. The Producer in a Writer/Producer split might go gentle on the writer rather than think of how this will be funded.

And importantly, a Writer/Director may either under-write as they have it in their heads and will solve it in preproduction, or overwrite as they are treating the script as a shooting script. 

It can be very helpful for a Writer/Director to have a screenwriter pass of their script to make sure it’s production ready – for timings, for other heads of department. This can be particularly true for shorts where often crew are leaning in and working for experience. A production-ready script pays enormous dividends.  

Coming up

In Part 2, I’ll ask about what your goals are as this will help you decide on what kind of notes will help your process.