The Awful Truth

Do you ever do that thing - you're at a party or otherwise loud location and someone you don't really know very well is earnestly telling you something and you're listening - or really trying to, in order to be polite and possibly catch something interesting or useful in the conversation...but you can't quite hear the person and aren't quite following what they are saying? So you nod politely at what seem like appropriate moments and when the conversation is over, pray that you are never put on the spot about what that conversation was just about?

You know that feeling? And while you're listening to this person you are desperately looking for a way OUT of the conversation but also making bullet points in your head about what they are saying: soccer...fishing trip...daughter (oh damn, was that son?)...some law firm...some type of law...

We all do it. We learn to half-listen because we'd rather be somewhere else. And we learn to fake our way through those obligatory conversations in case there's a pop quiz.

But - does it ever happen to YOU? Are you ever the person earnestly speaking that someone else is trying to extricate themselves from? What a horrible thought!! No, that could never happen to me - I'm fascinating! This is something that happens to other saps! Even in the briefly described scenario above, you pictured yourself as the clever person trying to both synopsize and escape - NOT the poor slob going on and on about a soccer team fishing trip with her son. Right? Of course you did.

But what if that not only was you - what if that was your script. As you. But a script. A script with arms and legs and a funny hat.

I have read several projects this week that even alone, in my favorite cozy reading spot, got me very confused. Jimmy, Kenny, Debby, Suzy - huh? I have to flip back a few pages. Which one is Jimmy? OH RIGHT, the one who just got out of prison. And - why are we in this cafe in this scene? Flip back. Um....what's going on here? Flip back. Flip forward. I'm confused. The character's voices are blurring together and the action is not clear. What is happening here? Like the person at the party, I am leaning into it, trying to listen carefully - I'm not going to walk away, I HAVE to give this script my best. But I'm having a hard time following along.

Guys, if this is your script, you have a massive problem. Because an executive does not have to listen or follow along. They get to just chuck your script and move on. Think of me as your pre-executive vetting pal. Do NOT wear that dress, it makes you look fat. Stop going on and on about your kids. Look alive, make gestures, spice up this conversation a little bit. Because there's a lot of other people at this party and you're not holding my attention.

Hollywood is brutal. If you can't hold someone's attention almost immediately, they move on without apology. So how do you know if your script is a jumbled mess with confusing pages? What seems like pure genius to you might be a rambling mess to someone else.

Short of getting notes and feedback from someone like me, which is honestly your best option, here's a fun little exercise. We all try so hard not to be rude, right? Give your script to a friend (ideally one who has read at least one other script) and give them carte blanche to be rude. Not tear into you or the script - I don't mean that. I mean tell them, at exactly the point at which you got confused or bored - STOP right there and tell me so. Don't embellish, don't apologize, don't be nice, just tell me. On page 14, I lost the plot. That's the exact scene in which I gave up trying to understand.Reassure your friend, spouse, writing group - that you can handle this feedback. Don't you want total honesty? For real? Someone being nice to you won't in any way be an equivalent to how your script will be handled in Hollywood.

When I was coaching writers on their pitches at the Fade in Pitch Fest, I was politely rude. With a purpose. When a writer lost me, I stopped them right there and said you know what, I stopped listening to you about a minute ago. I started thinking about what I'm going to have for lunch. Let's rewind the tape and find that faulty spot in your pitch and see what we can do to amp it up.

Diagnose your script and problem solve. Are your characters not distinct enough to stand out as individuals? Do more character work. Are your scenes not moving the story forward and establishing stakes? Revisit your scene work and your character work. What is your character's overarching goal? What is at stake? Does this scene jump in late and get out early? Are your scene locations generic? Look at your action lines.

I know that more and more lately, whenever I allude to problematic scripts, the latest clients I have had who read the Rouge Wave say - omg! Were you talking about MY script? You were, weren't you! To which I say of course I was. And of course I was not. I always compress scripts into one example, hybrid script to discuss.

Because guess what - if you got notes back recently that said your structure isn't working or that there isn't any tension in your narrative, you are probably one of ten scripts this week that got that note. Because those problems are sadly not unique at all. So relax, take a deep breath and know that no specific script would ever, ever get discussed on the Rouge Wave. It's weird to think that although you thought your script and your premise was totally unique - it isn't. And the issues in your script are also not unique. So if I mention a coming-of-age script that I read this week - it could be one of three that either I or one of my readers read. Weird, huh? For everyone of you that is writing a coming-of-age script, there are umpteen others writing them as well. Not just read by my company, god knows, but being read all over town. And that's your competition - did someone else write a coming-of-age script set in a more interesting era? With a more unique main character? With a killer hook? Then, in this great Candy Land Game of Life - they will win.

Put your script into context. You are definitely not the only writer with a western, sci-fi, quarrantine-related love story. You just aren't. I know - I never would have believed it either until I started reading scripts day in and day out. On the one hand, personally, it puts me in the cat bird seat - I have seen it all. I have industry connections, I have tons of up-and-coming writer friends and a couple of established, very successful writer friends. I know what's out there. On the other hand, when it come to my own writing, it's a bit paralyzing.

That's the trick, isn't it? To stay motivated but also to have that reality check. Look at your logline and just know that there are ten other scripts being read right now, with a similar logline. Bank on it. So - how will your script be competitive?

Do a reality check on whether your script is really attention-grabbing. Ask a friend you trust to be absolutely honest with you about where it became a problem on your pages. It is far, far better to know the truth about your script now and to do the work necessary to bring it up to par, than it is to know that your script just got tossed in the circular file because of it. What may be fascinating, moving and entertaining to YOU may not have that effect on someone else. Check in with your script. And be ready to hear the truth. You'd rather hear the truth from me or from a friend than the thud of your script hitting the recycling bin, believe me. Because once it hits that bin, you just got ejected from the game.

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