You wrote something. You’re not sure if it’s good. Spoiler Alert: you might never know. But you’ve spent a lot of time with it. You tried your best to bulletproof it and test it on your own. Is the story working? Characters fleshed out? Dialogue sounds specific and real? It might be time for some distance, even a new perspective. You think you are ready for notes, thoughts, feedback. But who do you approach? Whom can you trust with something so precious to advance the quality of your project?
Selecting people to give notes is an underrated process. Some folks employ the same trusted five people from project to project. Others ask for reads from different people each time, tailoring it to the medium or genre of whatever the story du jour is.
Here’s a good baseline, especially if you’ve never Avengers-assembled readers before:
Mentor - This person is most likely ahead of you in the career. They are supportive, know your strengths and weaknesses, and can easily mark the improvement in your craft, quickly pointing out when you are slipping into repeated pitfalls. They are an invaluable resource, but use them sparingly. Reading and giving notes is time-consuming, so make sure you are valuing their time appropriately.
Industry Peer: Writer - They are in the trenches with you. They can most likely recognize what you are trying to do and can relate to what you’re going through. They can also offer up tidbits on what worked (or didn’t), when they tried what you just attempted. They are hopefully up on the latest storytelling trends and have the same allergies as you do to recent storytelling cliches. Similar sensibility will serve you well here in pushing you to keep going in the direction that initially inspired you.
Industry Peer: Non-Writer - Let’s assume you’ve been dabbling in the discipline of writing for a little bit. Consider showing your project to a creative working in a different discipline (like a director or an actor). This is a fellow storyteller who can look at your work with a slightly different perspective. This person is usually voted “most likely to give you a note you wouldn’t be given by another fellow writer.”
Friend that’s not in the industry - A screenplay may not be something your friend is all that comfortable reading or having an opinion on. BUT it should still be a worthwhile read for them because your story is meant to be entertaining. Let’s hope. Ask them: Were they engaged? Who did they root for? What did they like, what did they not like, were there parts that were slow, parts that forced them to set it down and clean their coffee maker? These answers are great for confirming things you might already be wondering.
Five is a good starting amount of notes to sift through so double up on one of the above types (Industry Peer-Writer is usually a popular and helpful one). Also, make sure you enlist an odd number of reviewers to ensure a majority/consensus. If half of your reviewers say you have a problem in Act III and half don’t, you may be unsure or lazy and not change your Act III. But if a majority says there’s a problem in Act III, you’re probably going to take it more seriously.
If you have diverse, varied opinions from people with different backgrounds and experiences, you have a real shot at improving your rewrite and reaching your full potential. But make sure you’re not asking for reads too often. Don’t let the fact that you found and vetted your creative sounding board cause you to use them as a crutch. They don’t need to read every draft and they don’t need to read drafts that aren’t ready to be handed out. Make sure you are doing the majority of the work before you get to this step. The last thing you want to do is find a reader who gives valuable constructive feedback but declines to participate next time you have something that needs an extra set of eyes.
Have you identified your next group of readers?
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Note From Tongal: "You're a Writer? Recruit the Right Readers to Give Feedback" is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Tongal. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and then Pitch us a topic you'd like to write about for the Tongal Blog!
