One of the biggest sources of confusion facing emerging screenwriters is the topic of notes.
Which notes should you take? Which should you ignore?
In my opinion, the most important thing to consider is who’s giving them.
If it’s a friend or acquaintance who has some limited experience in the performing arts, maybe take their opinions with a grain of salt.
If, somehow, you’ve gotten an experienced screenwriter with a long list of impressive credits to give you notes, I’d strongly consider taking as many notes as possible.
These are people who have been in the trenches. They know what makes a story work and what makes a story fall apart. When it comes to notes, experience counts for a lot.
Getting notes from a coverage service is another matter altogether. Just because someone works for a service doesn’t mean they are qualified at all to give you notes. They’ve just completed some kind of minimum knowledge training program.
You’d have to be very lucky to find someone working there who has legitimate writing credits.
In fact, you may very well be a better writer than they are.
But let's say you’ve gotten your script into the hands of a legitimate agent, producer or studio executive, do you have take every note that comes out of their mouth?
No. Some notes you should take, and others you should push back on.
