There's a distinct difference between feedback and criticism.Some people know how to give feedback. Others, well, they just criticize.
Sadly, I think I'm one of the people who dishes out criticism instead of feedback.
Over the past few months, I've learned that you need to look for someone who can offer you feedback on your work, and not criticism.
It's a very fine line, and most people are unable to differentiate between the two - so it's up to you to decide which one you're getting, and to make sure to have the right people read your work.
Let me make it clear that feedback does not mean someone who will just give you positive notes - feedback can also be negative, but it serves a purpose - to elevate your work.
Criticism, on the other hand - never elevates your work. It only serves to tear you down and build on your insecurities (of which most writers have many).
So don't mistake my suggestion of seeking feedback to mean only let those who cup your balls and blow in your ear read your work.
Go through the notes you've gotten from your friends on some of your past work. Read them again. See which notes made you feel positive and ready to jump into rewrites, and which ones made you feel like seeing how many licks it takes to slip into a Tylenol coma.
I think you'll be able to separate the feedback from the criticism pretty easily.
Those are the people you want to read your future work.
Those are the ones you should build a relationship with - offering to read their work whenever they have something for you to look at.
The ones who criticize, on the other hand, you should probably excuse from reading your work again. They're not helping you get better.
And like I said, most people don't even know which camp they fall into - but you should be able to distinguish between the two.
Know the difference.
screenwriting
10 comments:
Excellent advice . . .
It's funny, not very many people know how to write, but a WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE who don't write appear to believe that they can tell a writer how to write - it's an interesting dictomy (I am pretty sure I didn't spell that right) - I mean, my experience is that it's hard to write well and most people can't, or don't, do so.
I'd say it's even harder to dramaturg (give constructive feedback) - much, much harder to do that . . . yet most believe it ain't no thing to do, and what they're really offering is criticism, usually destructive critcism as that.
Amen. The last script I circulated, I recieved good feedback from 4 friends, good feedback from a person I paid and then 1 piece of criticism from a reader for a producer. Ouch. At the time (last Feb.), I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong with it - but this is it. Criticism. I haven't written since. (I really do need to get over it.)
The one thing that criticism CAN do is tell YOU how positive you are of your talent and how confident you are of your work.
Some people will only give out criticism as a function of keeping the door monitored.
Julie at Rouge Wave posted something similar about how some people go into anonymous reads jaded.
Me I live for criticism. That way I can look at why I did what I did on page 37. If it's logical to your plot, laugh at them (under your breath) at send it to someone else.
My first Fade Out is now in two contests one of which actually features the person who gave me my first rejection.
I guess all in all, rip your skin off(women), replace your balls with iron marbles(men) and
Keep Writing as Writing is the Revealing of the Soul.
Don't stop. Send PDFs. Mail queries, and most importantly go to festivals.
An enthusiastic person with 3 scripts has a better chance of getting an assignment from a festival.
That's my next stop. My baby is at page 91, 15 or so more to go.
I don't know if I agree with you on this one...maybe I'm a masochist. Or maybe I've got feelings of steel when it comes to critiques, feedback, whatever you want to call it.
Here's my spin. I write to communicate. If that communication leads someone to misinterpret my intentions, then I failed...regardless of how they let me know or what their expertise may be.
On the flip side, I think I'm a kind but extraordinarily accurate editor. It's the Midwest in me.
IQ Crush,
Have to stand at the hard line with Christina on this one.
Whenever I ask for a critique, I ask someone whose writing I respect and/or who's in the position I want to find myself in someday. I ALWAYS expect evisceration and am leery of 'kind' praise.
This attitude has come from years of writing/editing and respect for the words.
I agree that there is a difference between criticism and critique. My main criteria are: what is the writer trying to say; and is the writer effective?
I have given honest criticism to people whose writing was good, but in a style that I didn't like, and vice versa...as long as they were effective.
Concise directness is my hallmark as an editor. Maybe it's the East Coaster in me.
Stercus Accidit
Good attitude, brother! (And thanks for the link, btw.) Happy post-Fourth!
Joshua - Dichotomy. ;)
shecanfilmit - Don't let it get you down. Just remember who not to send it to the next time.
Christian - Tell it to shecanfilmit. She should never quit because of criticism.
Stercus & Christina - What a shocker that you two are into pain. Why am I not surprised? ;)
Joel - Good to have ya - I enjoy your blog. And congrats on the recent news.
I write to communicate to, but one should be aware that it takes two to communicate . . . so maybe you are communicating well, but the person on the other end doesn't know how to listen . . . we all know people like that, right?
I'm just saying that because a person knows how to read doesn't necessarily mean they know how to READ, get me?
And they clothe that in criticism . . . simply because someone offered you feedbac doesn't mean they're right.
It's about being smart and objective about the work - we can accept that our mom loves it, but there's a part of our brain that goes - well, she loves it because of me, not because of the script . . .
similarly, when a reader for a company offers you completely ridiculous feedback and totally eviserates your work, the emotionally that can hurt, but the brain part should be able to tell - is it me, or is the reader an idiot?
I'd say that if you're a good writer, you know it, and part of this is accepting that you will run into a fair amount of idiots who read screenplays . . .
Jesus people. Read the original post. I used IQ's terminology.
When I said "good feedback" in my original comment, I meant feedback that was critical but that I could work with, notes like, "The subplot in the 2nd act involving the father felt flat to me, here's why..." Not feedback that praised my script. That would be *positive* feedback. The only person a self-respecting screenwriter should take positive feedback from is their mother.
It is interesting that out of the four times I sent my baby out into the world for critique, the two "pros" who read it basically had the same issues with my script... now if that isn't the proverbial 2X4 upside my head then I don't know what is
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