Honesty

So I'm immersed in rewriting my supernatural thriller, which has led me to revisit all the notes I got back in February.

At that time, I sent my latest draft out to a dozen or so friends, to get their thoughts on what worked and what didn't. And I got back a wide range of notes. Some very helpful, some just interesting; I'm a firm believer that you can cull something from anyone's notes, if you try and figure out what inspired them.

Rereading the notes now, though, I was struck by something.

The people who were really honest and critical about my script felt extremely self-conscious about it. So many of the e-mails I got back were prefaced with some nervousness, trying to soften the blow before they listed what was wrong with my baby.

Even though that's exactly what I do for a living.

And that's exactly what I want in notes.

And those were inevitably the best notes I got back.

Anyone out there who writes, who hasn't realized it yet, realize it now -- honest, critical notes are the best notes you'll ever get.

And they shouldn't be apologized for.

Of course, it helps if the notes are constructively critical. The first script I ever wrote was a comedy set on a college campus, where the main character is accidentally turned into a vampire. It was awful, and one of my best friends told me so, in no uncertain terms.

Unfortunately, "this sucks" was about the extent of it. Criticism like that, honest as it might be, is only minimally more helpful than "this is great", because neither really tell you anything.

But everyone goes through that period where "this is great" is really all they want to hear. There's a certain amount of affirmation that a lot of writers need, particularly starting out; learning how to write is a long, lonely process, and sometimes you need to try to bring people in to make sure that you are on the right road.

But seek out the honest, knowledgable ones, because they are the ones that are going to push you to get better. Your mom, telling you "honey, this was really good" might be nice to hear, but let's face it, she'd probably say that even if it wasn't.

But honesty has become an awkward thing, on both sides. People giving honest criticism always feel uncomfortable about it, so much so that many people would rather say "I liked it" than to try to explain why they didn't.

I've had times in the past with friends, where I was honest with them (constructively, I thought), and it was obviously something they didn't want to hear. At all. So they've never given me anything else to read.

Would it have been easier to tell them "I liked it". Probably. It's an easy trap to fall into.

On sites like Zoetrope, many people who post their scripts for criticism are miffed whenever they get a response that doesn't give them top marks. They complain about the criticism rather than try to understand what inspired it, even if it is misbegotten and misguided.

But this is where criticism works, down here in the trenches. Film critics dumping on a completed movie really doesn't serve any constructive purpose, because it's too late to change anything; it's already a movie, it's already done.

But as writers, we need to embrace honesty, not feel uncomfortable with it. Our screenplays aren't perfect yet, not by a long shot. Neither are our friends'.

And the trick is to be honest, but constructive. And to listen to the honesty, and not to follow it blindly (because, in the long run, no one knows everything in this business, not even me) but to filter it through what you want to do with the script.

Honesty should be the rule, not the exception.