One of the most important skills a writer can foster is being able to interpret the note behind the note. Your entire career is going to be spent writing ideas you love and then hearing the problems other people have with them. It's humbling and frustrating. Today, I want to go over the ten most common notes you're going to get as a writer, and then offer some interpretations to help you walk through your rewrite and understand where execs are coming from. Let's dive in. Translating Executive NotesAlmost all of my best friends out here in Los Angeles are executives. I wind up hanging out with them a few times a week, and listening to the way they talk about my writing and other writers.From here, I tried to put together ten notes I've gotten from them and others, and the interpretations I got from these words. 1. "This needs to be more high-concept." Translation: Your idea needs a hook that's easily communicated and feels big enough for a wide audience. Can you boil it down to a simple, exciting logline? 2. "I'm not connecting with the main character." Translation: Your protagonist needs clearer goals, stronger motivations, or more compelling flaws to make the audience care about them. 3. "Can we raise the stakes?" Translation: The conflict isn't big or dangerous enough. What are the worst possible consequences if your character fails? How can we make those even worse? 4. "The pacing feels slow." Translation: Things aren't happening quickly...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Tuesday, 14 May