Speaker 1: Film Courage Wendy, we had this comment come in a couple days ago on YouTube and the viewer asked what should writers be concerned with when revising their second or third draft of something?

Speaker 2: Wendy Kramer Really good question because I know we all talk about a first draft but invariably the biggest part of writing your script is the rewrite and the rewrite and the rewrite. I think the biggest danger is, we'll put it this way, the purpose and the benefit is that it's going to get clearer and crisper and better and tighter. So the danger is when you lose sight of what your core vision is. Now there are two ways this can happen. If you haven't had a strong core vision to begin with then each draft the goal should be to refine what that is and maybe the writer needs to do an outline first and be really clear and I do recommend I think Blake Snyder has a very effective beat sheet that's a useful tool and again I tell writers that use it as a general guide and a general map. Don't feel that you have to adhere to like oh I've got to insert this moment at exactly this page or try to contrive things. You must be organic to follow your own organic process. Another thing just about rules and following formulas, I like to use as an example when you see a great prima ballerina like I saw many years ago, Makarova who was one of the preeminent ballerinas when I was growing up and you know that she practiced her bars and she knew her craft but when she got on stage you then abandon it. It becomes second nature that you should know your craft but that you can be free enough to let the muse flow through you. If you're so manufactured where you're trying to hit every plot point and you're writing from that place, you're not going to have the magic and the kind of flow that a writer needs to have to really create magical characters and dialogue and story. But it's helpful to have this map. So this is for a writer who might not have core vision to begin with. However, most writers they do have a core vision of their piece and the danger becomes when you lose your center and you start listening to…you're like a weed in the wind that you keep swaying. So this person said I should do this so I'm going to do that. This person said you keep going just in too many different directions. It is an art to be able…art or a balance to be able to take advice, feedback, suggestions from other people, let it go through a sieve or like filter. And something that occurs to me is to maybe approach the advice the way they make recommendations with meditation. When thoughts come to you it's not that you're so rigid about I can't think any thoughts, I can't think any thoughts. So the same way you're not being rigid that I'm not going to take anyone's suggestions and you're not saying I'm going to take everyone's suggestions, you…okay, let's see this was a good idea, I'm going to let that percolate. This idea, I don't think it really fits in with the vision so I'm going to put that one aside. I'll re-examine it just in case there's something there I need to look at and there are others that you may go, oh, this person, they don't get it at all. Maybe I'm doing something that's not making it clear enough but I don't think they're the right person to give me advice for this. You cannot…you can't be a pleaser where you're trying to please everybody. But generally speaking if there is valuable feedback then to take it in and put it through your own filter and process and see how you can address. So the biggest danger is losing sense of self and trying to please everybody and then you wind up with mush and that's nothing. It's neither here nor there and there's no vision. Film Courage, so vision. Here would be a really good example. I had a client who had a one-hour drama that was inspired by his life experiences and he had a really, really interesting story based on his profession. And he sent me the draft, he had told me the logline and what he had done and then I read the draft and I was like this doesn't sound at all like your story. He had changed the protagonist to a woman which can be fine but it felt so manufactured and contrived. And so I just said a very innocent question, I said I'm really curious because what you would pitch to me based on your life experience was so fascinating and riveting and I felt like that's what really interested me about the idea for this pilot and I didn't see what I know of you, I didn't see any of you in this pilot whether it was a male or female character. And he told me that he had taken a number of writing workshops or script coverage services and certainly there are good ones out there. But one, they said you should change it to a female, you should make the protagonist a woman, not a man. Someone else said you should give her this backstory and you should give her such and such kind of relationship with her mother and with an abusive boyfriend and it became so far removed from what I thought was really the core vision or essence of the story that he wanted to tell and he let go of that and came up with something and he said I didn't even want to write this but I thought these were people who were telling me that I should. So that's what I think you need to stick with your core vision that would be an example.

Speaker 1: Film Courage, we talk about being able to take constructive criticism and not being defensive about being open to the notes. What if people are giving you super nice feedback about things and it feels disingenuous and you're not sure? Is this just a person that's trying to please me? It doesn't even have to be a family member or a friend.

Speaker 2: And how do we see through that? Good question. I think one is to say when you're seeking constructive criticism because it is coming from a…I mean this is how I like to give notes and if I'm asking someone to evaluate something for me I may say I need you to be gentle. This is my style. I don't respond well to someone who is going to shred everything but I do want honest feedback. So if someone…a lot of writers will say to me and I usually say before I do consulting I say I want to make sure that you want honest feedback. Generally everyone has an opinion. What you will get from me is an informed opinion being that I do feel it is one of my strengths as we get older I think we come to know what some of our strengths are. My affinity for literature from a young age to working in the business and working for a long time with writers and loving the process and when you ask an opinion a lot of writers will say to me I want an honest…don't be afraid. You can be brutal, etc. It's not my desire or style to be brutal because I don't like my teachers. I do not feel that's constructive but I do feel that I also say to my clients I'm not doing you a favor if I don't provide an honest assessment based on my experiences in the business, based on my knowledge of how other industry executives respond to material. It's not the only opinion certainly but it will be an informed opinion. So I think that when writers are asking for feedback that if someone is really like oh I loved everything, I loved everything that you say I don't want you to just say this to be nice. If you have something that you think is constructive and I can improve I would really appreciate that. I would really value that.