By bitter experience I have learned the importance to listen to my own heart when I rewrite after receiving feedback.
Once I thought that somebody else knew my story better than myself and one morning I found I was writing on somebody else’s script.
If a suggestion feels wrong, it is wrong.
I listen to all feedback. But I only keep the comments that trigged my imagination and made seeds grow.
In my current script I have a scene where my hero and her love interest sit in a slope watching the sunset, while he tries to explain his beliefs. A reviewer on Triggerstreet.com thought that this ought to be removed, since it was long and sentimental.
I considered the reviewer's opinion. Although the scene might be a little too pink, it is not long. And what is more important: I feel that the scene is needed.
“Kill your darlings” an expression goes, and that is true, but don’t kill just because somebody tells you to do so.
In this case, I believe the scene not only adds to the story, but also carries the theme of this story.
If other readers don’t see this, then the error is elsewhere than in this particular scene.
Another thing that was pointed out to me was that my villain was too one-dimensional and that he is religious maniac is both cliché and offensive.
This sparkled by imagination and a rework of the bad guy started.
To listen to feedback I have to be open-minded and aware that what I have written is not perfect as it is.
When I have a scene that one says should be removed and I think not, I must ask myself if it is me that is blind and narrow-minded, or if I “correctly” disagree with the reviewer.
But I never implant a suggestion if my heart feels otherwise. My heart may be wrong in the end, but if I change without her approval, I will one day writing somebody else’s story.
Again.
4 comments:
Great post, Desiree. We had someone in our writer's group not long ago who took it upon herself to know our stories from start to wherever we'd last read. Only trouble with that is she was compelled to tell us all how to finish our stories and how to improve what we'd done. Mind you, some suggestion and guidance is great when asked for, but when someone sits there and suggests different character attributes, different settings, different plot points and hey, why not end it this way instead?, I'm done. Luckily, she was done, as well. We were a bit too stubborn for her. LOL
Thank you for sharing.
Suggestions are great - when asked for, as you say. And if I make suggestions I should not expect them to be implemented. They should just serve as possible inspiration.
If she became annoyed that you didn't take her advices, then she off the map.
I find that writers give the worst advise. In fact writing scripts has made watching most movies unbearable for me.
I feel you should ignore any and all advise. Go with your heart every time.
Feel free to ignore this comment.
Robert: Take a look at The Rouge Wave (link to the left). She is a pro reader. And she agrees that writers could be the worst readers.
I used to have problems watching movies, but I have to live with the fact that I would have done it much better and enjoy them anyway. :-)
People need different input. I need feedback from others to get enough distance to my script to see what is not working.
I think that the feedback I get can be very inspiring. But, it is not a manual to what changes to made.
Post a Comment