From the Mailbag

As far as the whole "non-screenwriting savvy friends for feedback" thing - I know you probably shouldn't attach too much weight to what they say, but aren't "non-screenwriting savvy" people your audience should the thing get produced? I think it's absolutely necessary to get feedback from people who know what they're talking about, but why are non-savvy people kind of not as valid (apparently, anyway)?

If it works on the page for people who know about screenwriting, but doesn't for others, that's a problem in my book. Is there truth in that?
-Worried in Chicago

Dear Worried -

This is a great question. In the Wave-inatrix's opinion, "non-screenwriting savvy" feedback is of limited and questionable value and here's why:

Ostensibly this is a friend, relative or acquaintance who is likely, because they aren't savvy within this world, be over-impressed by reading what for them may be their first feature script, and in addition feel socially compelled to be kind to you and to the material because you have solicited a trusting favor from them.

In other words, they don't get the format and they're trying to be nice. Unless you get one of those sour grape types who takes your script smilingly and then eviscerates it and you with a polite fervor because they thought you wanted "honest feedback", i.e., an excuse to rip you to shreds. Has anyone had that happen? A show of hands? I have.

But primarily, here's the thing - yes, the general public is who lines up at the box office and makes this whole enterprise possible, yes? So they do vote, with their behinds, what stories they like to see. So they are important. When you are coming up with your idea.

You can pitch to a few friends and see how they react, i.e., would you like to see this in a movie theater? That's a great way to test the idea out.

But once you've got the script written, there really is a skill set in interpreting the pages onto a mental screen. There are execution issues on the page that shape the pacing of your narrative and the arc of your character. Non-script readers won't be able to tell the difference between a well-wrought character arc and a non-character arc beyond - I dunno, I just didn't like the ending. Or something.

They won't be able to pinpoint what and where the problem is, they'll just say, I kinda got lost in some parts. When what you need to hear is - your structure is fu-barred.

Or - OMG are you going to get Woody Harrelson to play the bad guy?! Because a non-screenwriting friend will be tickled with that movie magic fairy dust and not really able to grasp how very, very, very far away we are from dreaming about stars for the part at this point.

Picture your script as a car at a car show. Yeah, it looks great from the outside, nice paint job, great extras, shiny exhaust pipes - but a real afficionado wants to look under the hood, right? They want to look at the guts, at the machinery, so that the exterior is frosting. Non-screenwriters can't get much beyond the surface and even if they do, their comments are nominally helpful at best, simply because they don't speak our language.

So, Worried in Chicago - in my opinion and in my experience, I would say that initial feedback should come from people in your screenwriting group or other online screenwriting friends. Pitch your ideas to your cousins and pals, but leave the under-the-hood checks to those who know what should be under the hood and why it makes the car so gorgeous on the outside as well.

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