Quoted from dogglebe This is just something I thought I'd bring up.  I've noticed a number of the newer members are all critiquing scripts the same way and (IMHO) you're making the same mistakes. When you critique a script, don't concentrate on typos or misspellings.  These things are low priority.  If a script is rewritten, some of these typos will be corrected and new ones will be made (believe me, here). Instead, tell the writer what is right and wrong with the characters.  Tell us which characters need more developement.  Which characters sound alike when they talk?  Which ones act alike when they shouldn't? Where does the story slow down?  What scenes are not needed?  What scenes need further development? While everyone needs to know what is wrong with their scripts, pointing out typos shows that you're not looking at the whole picture.  Tell us what's wrong with the scripts and not with the words. Phil

I'm new, so maybe this applies to me. I don't think I've commented much on typos. I do, though, comment on the way words are used. If, for example, a sentence is replete with redundancies or superfluous words, I bring it to the author's attention. I do this because I think it's important.

I also, though, think it's important to comment on structure and characterization, among other things. But, having said that, if a script is unreadable, due to poor writing, then I'll probably stop reading before being able to examine said elements.

Seth

I just put down ANYTHING I find wrong with the script. Whatever I think is worth mentioning, I give the writer a heads up. This includes things I didn't like and things I did like, and technical problems along with problems with the story itself.

What's wrong with going both ways?   ...Wait, that sounded bad.

Uh-oh. I'm a  newbie. I post  critique. I post glowing reviews. I hope I'm not the one everyone is talking about.  

I try to focus on the positive things on a script because I can't bring myself to be a bastard. If there is anything negative I usually just ignore it and focus on the good aspects of the script. It's a bloody hard slog to write a script. (it takes me a year to do one) so i just can't bring myself to tear into a script if it is weak.

The few times I have been negative the response from the writer is sometimes an arrogant denial that there is a negative in the first place.

If I thought a script was really crap. I would send the writer a bad review via private message. I refuse to rip apart a script in public. I don't like it and the next person who reads it might love it. That's not gonna happen if you crap all over a writer's script.

Besides many of the scripts here are really good. very good. I've read a few where I enjoyed them 100%. So i tell the writer that.  

No specific persons are being implicated by these very general comments -- and as best I can recall, certainly not those on this thread pondering the possibility that the subject at hand somehow pertains to them.

By no means should you shy away from negative comments -- as long as you can back them up -- as these are the most helpful comments an author can receive.

"I loved it" might be a nice ego stroke -- and of course you should tell the author if you did -- but it offers absolutely nothing by way of improvement -- and there isn't a script in existence that cannot be improved upon.

And if the author doesn't like criticism -- well, screw them -- they shouldn't be posting their work for feedback anyway.

Absurdly negative and offensive reviews are deleted, so there are no examples to point out as far as I know.

But here is an example of an absurdly positive review for the curious.

[Edit:  And in the 2nd post beneath it, Brea calls them on it in a most delightful fashion haha.]

In any case, critiquing scripts is a skill. One that I, being new, am still learning. So dogglebe's comments are well taken.

Seth

I touched on this on another thread, and a lot of people say they don't know what to say after they've read a script. Well, this is a screenwriting site, and we're all here to help each other get better. One way to do this is writing a review of a script.

You'll see a hundred different ways to do this, but here's a basic method. You start with the good stuff and move on to the bad stuff.

The good stuff is something you liked. You opened the script for a reason. You kept reading it for a reason. There had to be something you liked about it. Every script has some kind of redeeming quality. Even Scary Movie 2 and Manos: The Hands of Fate...as hard as it may be to find sometimes. By giving the author a little bit of warm fuzziness to begin with, it makes the bad stuff easier to swallow since otherwise it feels like you hated everything. I've read some stinky stuff before, and I've always made a point to say something good. It helps.

The second half is the bad stuff. Everything you think has a problem needs to have a "why" attached to it. If you thought something didn't work, tell why it didn't work. If you didn't like it, say why. I've commented before that I didn't like the way something went just because I don't like it when such-and-such happens, or it's just not my type of movie. Always back up your bad stuff with somments as to why you thought it was bad. And to be politically correct, it's better to say it "needs work." It never "sucks." To make this even better, if you have a suggestion of some kind of how to correct the problem spot, you can make it. The author will decide whether or not your suggestion fits their vision.

To round out the review, just make a general statement about the script, touching on the some good point again, and commenting on the overall quality of the script, whether good or bad.

This is just a basic rundown I follow when I do a review. You'll see some people do page numbers and such, and it can get really extensive, but if you aren't looking to go that far with it, this basic four stage idea will get you by. It is not by any means set in stone, but I hope it helps.

Good basis from George.

I usually just mention ANYTHING I did and did not like about the script as I go along, I use page numbers when I can. A lot of discussion has been made about technical stuff vs the story, but I think mentioning anything and everything necessary to make the script better is important. Even stuff on the technical aspect of it.

I think it's important to mention the strengths of the script as well as the weaknesses. Good things could ALSO help build on and keep the good things in the script and strike out the bad. It doesn't have to be ALL negatives. But I don't think good points should be brought up just to butter the writer up though. If they can't take a review, then they shouldn't offer it for critique.

The only thing that really pisses me off is when someone says that they don't like it but don't say why. I don't mind if someone doesn't like one of my scripts as everyone has different tastes, and you can't help that. You could even say that the script blew monkeys for quarters for all I care, just as long as you tell me why, that's all I care about.

And I think it's important for both parties of the writer and reviewer to remember that a review is just one opinion, and shouldn't be taken so seriously. Some things will be agreed upon and other things won't. It's not a life or death situation.

Sometimes readers completely miss your vision or intent. I won't lie and say that doesn't bristle me in the first raw reaction. When this passes, I look to see if they've made a valid point. If so, that's a big help.

Often, it's just a matter of varying tastes. You could rewrite it 10 times, and they'd still hate it. On those, you just agree to disagree.

No one's opinion is better than anyone else's. Like noses, everyone has one.

I'd say you need a large cross section of comments to see what points keeps coming up repeatedly.

You can't go too wrong if you review another's work the same way you'd like yours done.

Some people get mad when you don't take the advice they give you. Some just ignore your comments and never acknowledge them, which is an insult after you have spent all that time to read something.

Here is the problem. This site has adopted the read or else you don't get any reads but that is a flaud logic. I have noticed people only writing these nice cute reviews just to get reviews and it works... Is that what we want?

For this reason I'm glad that Phil is here and Balt stuck around as long as he did because at least for the most part they have been honest without the excess butter.

Personally, I don't want a cute review. I want the review of such a bastard critic that I get some solid feedback. If that person hates every point of something I wrote, that's fine, but I want the commetary. I want to know where I went wrong, and I want to know why. I almost prefer a bad review to a good one as long as the bad one says something productive. I had one script that several people liked and said some good things about whilegiving some good feedback about what to improve and then one person said it was slow and boring, but failed to say how. I obviously made no changes based on that review because I didn't think it was slow, and the reviewer never gave a single example.

I'm optimistic that Balt will, someday, return.

It's a shame that he couldn't learn to tone his language down a little.  His critiques were accurate and fair.  If not for his this sucks goat balls kind of reviews, he would be a major player on these balls, er, boards.


Phil

Quoted from George Willson Personally, I don't want a cute review. I want the review of such a bastard critic that I get some solid feedback.

I'll remeber this George! The gloves are off. From now on I will give you my honest gutfeeling thoughts.

You are right in your post some other place here that I can't remember, but it's probably true, that the more you "know" a person, the more careful you are not to hurt their feelings.

I will try this new approach and see what happens. If I become known as a mega B****, I'll revert back to motherly lovey dovey.

I’m sick and tired of the accusation that only a certain few reviewers are honest with their reviews. I’ve never given a dishonest review! A review isn’t better or more accurate just because the reviewer is mean about it.

This nonsense that only a few select members give honest reviews is like a tired old broken record.

The glowing suck-up reviews are painfully obvious. So I’ve got more tact than to tell someone their script sucks or whatever. That doesn’t make me dishonest. It just makes me a more tactful reviewer. You guys need to get off this, “Only certain people give honest reviews crap,” because it’s just not true.

I agree with what people have said thus far, so I won’t repeat it. However, when I point out faults in a script I try to give examples of what might work better.  

As for how I take reviews of my work; it’s a matter of taking what I want and leaving the rest behind. I’m usually just grateful that’s someone’s made the effort to read it.

But it annoys me when people skim over scripts quickly and really have no idea about the script they’re viewing. It’s a waste of time.

Quoted from Breanne Mattson The glowing suck-up reviews are painfully obvious. So I’ve got more tact than to tell someone their script sucks or whatever. That doesn’t make me dishonest. It just makes me a more tactful reviewer. You guys need to get off this, “Only certain people give honest reviews crap,” because it’s just not true.

I agree, Brea. Someone once said that tact is about making a point without making an enemy. I think some reviewers have made plenty of the later and none of the former.

I think reviews are precious, regardless, good or bad.

My western short for example had two reviews that were not positive at all. However, both of those pointed out some things that had not been mentioned previously and I agreed that they were indeed points that needed to be addressed.

The positive comments are all good and I take them to heart, but I do not dismiss the negative ones because they sting a little.

Every writer should take a review seriously regardless. The ones that don't mean anything are the ones that say "good/bad job, I liked/hated it". Anything more detailed than that is worth it weigth in ink for sure.