How to give script feedback that is actually helpful

Many agents, managers, executives, and writers (no matter how much experience they have!) give terrible, unhelpful notes. Here's how to not be one of them.

This is a free edition of my Weekly Email Newsletter! Every Friday I do a deep dive on an aspect of the business of screenwriting from a literary manager’s perspective.

Subscribe, so you never miss a post.

---

Not to brag, but I give really good script notes.

It’s one of the reasons I offer a service where I allow writers who aren’t clients to pay me directly for an hour of individualized feedback. At the end of many of these conversations, I’ve had writers tell me how “gifted” I am with a “natural ability” to see the story structure matrix of a screenplay.

I am flattered to hear things like this, but it is simply not true.

No one, including me, is born understanding story structure. No one is naturally good at giving notes.

Here’s how I got there:

1. I have been reading scripts and giving feedback on them since 2012. I have had a lot of practice iterating on these notes sessions. I have read thousands of scripts. And I’m going to be honest: during the years 2012-2018 my feedback was probably not that helpful.

2. I take a lot of classes. Since 2021 I have spent $14k¹ on training under Corey Mandell and Talton Wingate. That is on top of the five-figures of student loan debt I still have from going to film school at Chapman. I also took classes from Jen Grisanti back in 2016. Jen was essential in laying the foundation for the understanding of TV structure that I have today.

3. I spend all of my free time watching movies and TV shows. I actively break down pilots and read as many scripts I can get my hands on. The more I learn about story structure, the more I start to see the tools in action. I find this practice of analysis to be fun and enlightening, though it has ruined the TV watching process for me and whoever happens to be sitting next to me at the time. Sacrifices must be made.

If you want to take advantage of the decade of knowledge I have built, you can book me for a consultation directly here.

Photo by Calum MacAulay on Unsplash

But I acknowledge that my services are expensive. They have to be. There is a lot of demand for my time, and I only have so many hours in the day. I appreciate that many writers can’t afford professional script consultations.

If you want to receive helpful script feedback, send this article to a writer friend.

It’s a rundown of the step-by-step process I use when I work one-on-one with writers.

If you want to give helpful script feedback, the best thing you can do is practice:

• Ask writer friends if you can read their material and offer notes.

• Read professional scripts that have been sold or produced. Write out what works, what doesn't, and why.

• Try to get an internship reading for a production company or screenplay competition.

• Take classes on story structure. If you can’t afford classes, read books or find free internet content. Having a foundational understanding of theory is crucial.

Repeat the above as much as your schedule allows.

The more you practice, the better you will get.

My framework for providing feedback:

Phase 1 - Read.

The first step in the notes process is to read the material.

Here’s how I approach the read:

1. Open a Word doc next to the window on my screen with the script.

2. Write down stream of consciousness reactions to what I’m reading. These notes are just for me, so they can be mean. The point is that I want to remember exactly how I felt in moments. When am I bored? When am I confused? For each note and reaction, I write down the page number.

3. As I read, I try to pinpoint the End of Act One and the End of Act Two. If it’s unclear when these shifts happen, that’s something to note.

4. I write down who I think the main character is, what I think the Central Dramatic Question is, and what I think the intended significant plot points are.

When it’s time to Zoom with the writer, I have these notes open in front of me. But I do NOT go through them one by one.

I zoom out and find the biggest most significant takeaways and start there.

More on this below.

Photo by Startaê Team on Unsplash

Phase 2 - Listen.

I start my conversation with any writer by asking questions.

My opinions only matter in the context of the writer’s goals for themselves and for their scripts. So I always ask:

1. What are your professional goals for this script? Are you trying to get it made? Use it as a hiring sample?

2. Who is your ideal audience? Who do you want to sell this to?

3. What are your creative goals for this script? What is the message that you’re trying to convey? What inspired you to write it in the first place? What experience are you aiming to deliver to the reader/viewer?

4. What has been the development process/reception so far? Are there any consistent notes and feedback you’ve been getting that you don’t know how to incorporate? Are there seemingly contradictory notes that you can’t reconcile?

5. What have been your specific challenges and struggles? What questions, specifically, do you have for me about this draft? Are there any areas that you have been wondering about/having trouble with personally?

Once I understand the kind of feedback they're looking for, I can start giving feedback that will get them closer to both these professional and creative goals.

Phase 3 - Probe for structural weaknesses.

For the entirety of the notes-giving process, put your own taste aside.

By now, you should know what kind of story the writer wants to tell.

If this isn’t the kind of story you would watch, that doesn’t matter. The goal is to help the writer achieve their objective for the script, not make the script into something you would personally like or you think would be more fun to write.

In this phase, we ask questions instead of making assumptions.

Look back at your notes. You have written down your analysis of the script. Now it’s time to ask the writer what their answers are:

1. Who is the main character?

2. What is the Central Dramatic Question of your script? (aka what is the main character’s goal, or what is the mystery that they’re trying to solve?)

For many writers, this is where the structure breaks down. Not having a Central Dramatic Question is a common mistake. Now we can start to have a discussion about what that plot level question can be.

But this is not the only discrepancy a writer can have between their desired structure and their actual script.

Sometimes the writer will name a different main character than I thought. Or they’ll tell me that they don’t know who their protagonist is. Both of these are problems!

But once we start to identify those problems, we can brainstorm potential solutions.

Photo by Magnet.me on Unsplash

Phase 4 - Brainstorm potential solutions.

I am always careful to clarify with writers that when I make suggestions, I am doing so to get the wheels turning in their head.

I want to offer possible solutions, not definite solutions.

Why offer suggestions at all?

Because I don’t want to come in and poke holes in something without at least trying to articulate some potential fixes. No one likes a collaborator who only shoots ideas down and offers no pitches on how to make them better.

One of my bad, off-the-cuff pitches might spark an idea that the writer runs with.

The key is to be collaborative and suggest possibilities.

Sometimes the notes process ends here.

There is no point in continuing on past this phase if the writer has big structural elements missing in their script.

But if they have the following key points locked in place, we can move on.

Phase 4 Checklist:

• Does the writer’s intended theme match your emotional experience as a reader?

• Is there a clear Central Dramatic Question for the script?

• Is the writer’s intended CDQ the same as the question you were asking?

• Is the CDQ launched by the end of Act One?

• Was the Main Character you identified the same as the one the writer intended?

• For TV: Did the pilot script launch a clear and specific Central Dramatic Question for the season and/or series?

• For TV: Was the intended season/series question the one you were asking at the end of the script?

If the answer to any of these questions is NO, the writer needs to go back and re-structure their script.

If the answer to all of these questions is YES, then you can move on to Phase 5.

Phase 5 - Identify moments that lost your interest.

It doesn’t matter if the writer is hitting every technical beat if the reader doesn’t care.

Telling a writer which moments you disconnected from is helpful data.

Go through your notes and identify points of the story that you were not interested in. This is also the time to talk about any logical issues in the story that were confusing. Emotional resonance is important, but it won't happen unless clarity around the mechanics of the plot are first established.

Explain which elements of the script felt unearned or unsatisfying. This isn't about hitting specific plot points that every script needs. It's about revealing whether at any point you as the reader stopped caring or stopped buying in.

In this phase, you can still talk about structure.

If the reader stopped caring, it’s possible that this happened because the script failed to hit a specific structural beat. Many writers push back at the recommendation to follow certain formulaic practices. But these formulas aren't necessary if the script is entertaining your reader from beginning to end.

If the script isn't working, then it's time to consider whether a "formulaic" plot point can help solve this problem.

If you, as the reader, were legitimately engaged in the story from beginning to end, skip to Phase 7.

Phase 6 - Diagnose why these moments didn’t work.

If you, as the reader, felt bored, uninterested, or uninvested in the story, it’s possible that the writer was missing one or more key story beats.

In this phase, we move into the following checklist to examine which plot points can elevate the script so that it starts doing what the writer wants it to do.

Ask the writer:

1. What is the Inciting Incident?

2. Why is this Goal so important to the character? (What is their Wound?)

3. What is the How of the Goal? (Why is this going to be so interesting to watch?)

4. What is the Ultimate Escalation?

5. What is the All is Lost Moment/Rock Bottom?

6. What is the Climax?

7. Where in the movie is the message/theme delivered?

If the writer does not know the answer to one or more of the questions above, the notes session ends here. They need to go back and add or clarify all these points.

Don’t forget to brainstorm potential solutions with them!

If your answers as the reader doesn’t match the writer’s intentions for the above questions, the notes session also ends here. They need to go back and make these moments clearer.

Phase 7 - Elevate the execution of the characters and genre.

If you had a legitimately great time reading this script, go through the following checklist anyway. You might be able to find ways to help the writer make the script even better.

If the script was technically hitting every structural requirement it needed to but you still didn’t care about the story, this checklist will help find ways to make it actually entertaining and meaningful.

Character Questions:

1. Does each character have a uniquely interesting set of personality traits? (And I mean every character.)

2. Does each character have a believable Internal Wound that makes them feel like a real person (“believable” and “real” being the key words here).

3. Does the dialogue from each character feel distinct? Do I know who is saying every line, even if I cover up the character names?

4. Are there lines of dialogue that don't feel like they belong to that character?

Execution Questions:

1. Are there any moments that could be heightened by hitting the dramatic beats within them more precisely?²

2. Are there jokes or humorous beats that could be punched up?

3. Are there any offensive lines or statements that will rub a reader or audience the wrong way and aren't necessary to the story?

Once the writer has their marching orders for punching up the fun elements of the story, you can get into the nitpicky notes:

1. Is the script a suitable page count?³

2. Are there any typos?

At the end of your notes session, always check in with the writer.

Ask how they feel and if there is anything that they want to clarify or discuss further.

Often, they’ll need to go chew on this feedback for a while before implementing it. That is normal! Not everyone is receptive to notes when they first receive them, but hopefully you’re surrounding yourself with writers who also have a growth mindset.

A reminder: No matter how amazing a script is, if a studio or producer has not yet paid the writer money to take it off the market and make it, there is room for improvement.

Finding these opportunities for improvement will level up your understanding of story.

Plus, it’s always easier to spot the mistakes in other people’s work than it is to find mistakes in your own. So analyzing other people’s scripts will be a faster route to mastering story structure than just applying what you learned to your own material.

And of course, if you want to experience this process with me, you can always sign up for one of my personalized consultations.

Just click the button below and I can walk you through these steps with your own screenplay.

1. I just had a heart attack adding all this up, but it was worth every penny.

2. If you don’t know what I mean by this, that’s okay. This is an advanced level of understanding structure that will become clearer to you with practice.

3. This is less important than many writers think. If the story is legitimately entertaining from beginning to end, page count is not that important. But as a general rule, try not to go over 110 for a feature, 65 for a drama pilot, or 35 for a comedy pilot.