It's one thing to just drop lines such as "your writing sucks!", "What a waste of time!", or "Incredibly poor writing, woe is me for enduring this!", and another to write something like:"Your writing is bad BECAUSE(insert reason), here is how to improve".
The reviewing takes thought, it takes analysis. The rant is simply dropping whatever insults come to mind, without bothering to offer neither an explanation, nor a way to fix the errors found.
A review also concerns itself on how you deliver the message. Yes, the writing might be bad, the story might be too thin, etc.
But a true reviewer thinks about how to deliver the ideas in a respectful manner, in a way it doesn't belittle or humiliate the writer.
A rant doesn't care about any of this.
It just launches itself in a barrage of whatever the reader feels like writing, in an uncensored mix of insults, personal attacks, lines that degrade or obviously reflect boredom("ughh, I give up. I have better things to do than reading your screenplay" ).
A rant is just a basic reaction, an emotional response, and that is it. You could try to extract some ideas on how to improve, but it might be difficult, as the critique is basic, if not lacking.. .
The point of a review isn't as much to reveal the flaws in a work, but has more to do with providing solutions to those issues.
It raises questions for the writer. It challenges him/her to dig deeper into the story, to come up with new ways to tackle the story parts that don't run as smooth as they should.
The review challenges the writer to think, to apply proposed solutions or to come up with new creative ways to deal with uncovered story issues.
For this to happen, however, the reader must care about the script.
He/She should take the time to think about the story, the writer's intentions, and to the best possible fixes(based on reader's knowledge and experience).
The reader goes beyond the surface, the way how the script appears at first, how it reads.
It can and should point things like bad grammar, poor formatting, sentence structure, etc, but unlike a rant(which simply stops at this first layer), the review drills into much higher depths of the story.
Ranting and just plain insulting without caring enough to "dig" deeper is prevalent within the online peer to peer reviews you can get on various sites.
Perhaps it's the anonimity of the reader that encourages this behavior, or the lack of motivation/interest, especially since most of these readers are not getting paid for their reviews.
The model of free review sites can encourage some to be that way. The idea is that in order to keep the site running, you must review a few screenplays yourself, before having your own work reviewed.
I get it, but honestly, not all of us feel like reading 4 screenplays. It's too much work, I get it:)
That's why some readers have the tendency to browse the assigned script, rant a bit about how bad is it, than await for the true reason they joined up the site. That's the easiest thing to do, really:)
They aren't there because they want to read 4 screenplays, they are there because they want someone to read their script for free.
It happened to me, back in the days I was using them. Many reviews I got there were truly wonderful and helped me a lot. But too many of them were just rants.
Too many were just small to medium chunks of text complaining about how awful the script was, how unfortunate the reader was for having to read it, combined with a few insults and that was it.. :)
I got great reviews there(not rants).
A true review(unlike the cheap ranting) is a rare and precious thing to find, and when you do receive one, it is a true blessing!
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Victor, who/where is “they/there?” Which free review site(s)? Thanks. ;)
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Victor:
Any reviewer who just rants without being constructive and advising you on the strengths and weaknesses of your screenplay is generally an amateur. Good reviews should cover these areas of your material:
Formatting
Characters
Inciting Incident
Plot Points
Opening ten pages
Protagonist
Antagonist
Turn Around
Dialogue
Punctuation
Story concept
Structure
Pacing
Conflict
Tone
Marketability
The reviewer should also give your script an overall summary on how the pieces fit together.
However, with free reviewing or peer review websites, a number of writers can be hostile. The writer should take that in consideration before submitting their material.
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Beth, the two sites I used were Trigger Street Labs(the site is no longer active today/shut down), and Talentville. I also got a few free reviews on reddit.. :)
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Finding a good story analyst is very much like finding a good manager (garden variety, not literary), for many of the same reasons you noted. It's very challenging to do it very well and articulate the why something isn't working and how to make the improvements. Bad managers in the workforce tend to pass the buck and take the easy way, sometimes because they think the employee isn't worth the effort - other times because they simply don't know how to do it.
I'm always wary, and subsequently discredit, any kind of feedback that merely glosses over something without providing any objective evidence. Such analysis tends to come off as just an opinion and if I wanted that, I'd give a script to my mother as she has an opinion on everything. :)
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This is only bad because it's a statement that assumes you have the final say. I could read Titanic and say that the writing is bad. But the movie made billions. So my statement is wrong? Of course, unless like 90% of readers agree with me the statement is false and a lie. What I should say is: "I think and feel that... ".
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Victor. Why put yourself through that sort of crap. I never ask anyone to review my screenplays.
Before playing a mournful violin for the OP. . .
I agree Talentville is not a terrific place for peer reviews as they're ill-advised, low quality and usually not very helpful. However, there's rarely, if ever, of the language portrayed. The OP's script is posted there with four thoughtful, but very low-rated reviews, because the script is not in proper screenplay format.
Should a writer choose to make reading a script by someone doing if for free ,more of a chore than it already is, that is squarely on them. No money need be spent on screenwriting software. Celtx is free.
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What CJ said. Have enough faith, gumption, confidence - whatever you want to call it - to know the difference between good, sound criticism and, well, something akin to a mechanic licking his finger and holding it up to see which way the wind is blowing to tell you what's wrong with your car's engine. I had an article posted recently discussing bad story analysis and it connects the dots somewhat as to how getting one point wrong can really muddy the waters of one's story (and audience's interpretation). https://www.wassupinlasvegas.com/zen-and-the-art-of-exorcising-bad-story-analysis/
Take what you like from the critique if there is anything, and let the rest roll off your back. You have to be able to have a tough hyde in this industry.
i don't know, brother. You claimed to be screenwriting for 8-9 years but you're still making rookie mistakes. I don't see a growth in craft or business savvy.
I see a lot of writers exchanging scripts to give each other free feedback. I look at it like this. The wiring in your house is going haywire and your friend needs a shed built in his backyard. You’re both handy people so you agree to work together on one project then the other. Your friend is well-meaning, but at the end of the day working with him your circuits are more messed up than before and he probably feels his shed will fall apart as soon as you’re finished with it. So someone suggests you call in an electrician, a professional who’s been doing this for years and has references from clients. But that’s expensive, you say. Well the electrician is doing this for a living, they too have bills to pay. So at the risk of shameless self-promotion, I’ve been doing this for a living for more than a decade, have references from staffed writers and showrunners and have sold shows and movies. When I work with clients, the most common feedback I get is, “wow these are the best notes I’ve ever been given, I suddenly think this can be fixed.” Yes, well, unlike your friend, I do this for a living. Not screenwriting, THIS.
It's not about paying or not paying for feedback. It's about finding someone who gives you quality feedback. The reason people pay for feedback is because they want it fast and want to avoid searching for good free feedback. It's there and I have seen it and even received it myself. Some people give high quality feedback for free just because they love to do that. But it's just that you have to find them and it might not be worth your time to search for them.
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Victor, you have to take care to display the most professional version of your work that you can. If you are doing that, good on you.
What you are talking about appears to be amateurs that have no idea of what they are doing. They are looking at something that doesn't follow some magical formula they are hoping will being success because they lack talent. Then they attack you for not conforming. Because if you are good and not following the magic formula that they believe in, then their failure is based on their lack of talent.
If you are getting huge emotional reactions, I am jealous. That is writing heaven. If people hate your story, someone will love it with the same passion. Your biggest problem is being "Nice". That grey, boring conformity that upsets no one, pushes no boundaries and ultimately is a waste of paper.
I have started reading a script for someone and sent it back. Apologising and telling the person, "I am not your audience. I can't give you good advice on this".
Most people that line up to give advice are doing so for the feeling of power they get. People that are cruel or harsh in their advice want to feel they have power over you. I treat most of these people like barking dogs. When I walk away the dog thinks it has won. But I don't care.
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People that really want to help a screenwriter don't rant. People that rant want people to think they are more knowledgeable and more successful than they are.