I don't read the comments of others until after I've posted my own.

That seems to provide the most objective approach.

Quoted from RayW I: I don't waste brain cells trying to figure out who wrote what. Although I understand the up-skirt photo "sport" in it I do not appreciate the gross rudeness of it. People bring what they got. I've got better things to do than to play stupid games.

In the old days when we used to have less than 20 entries, guessing who wrote what was the most fun part. Back then, we all knew each other and tried to guess by writing style.

I think the most fun is to see if/when any of these actually get produced!

http://vimeo.com/83864136
  

Yeah, it is supposed to be a “one week challenge”.  The challenge ( not a serious competition) being: Write a short script based on a theme in a week.

I think that’s challenging enough, especially considering people have other scripts to write and jobs to do.   Whenever I used to enter I enjoyed the idea of having a bit of fun. Time to leave the “serious” stuff aside.

Without having a pop at RayW... I’m gonna have a pop at RayW.  It’s not your contest. You might be looking for “talent”, but why not just look in the shorts section? Why concentrate your attention so hard on a light hearted challenge where writers can have a bit of fun?

You draw up all these must do’s and must not’s and expect gold from writers who probably, and rightly so, don’t take this contest too seriously.

I look at the OWC as a bit of fun, a break from the serious side of the business.  I think that’s healthy for everyone, from experienced writers to those just starting out.
This doesn't mean I think anyone should get away with just sending in any old crap. But I look at the OWC as a bit of harmless fun. If you are looking for something to produce, I don’t understand why you wait all year when there are probably plenty of prime fish to catch in the short section.

Ray, WTF man? You're killing our spirit here and the OWC hasn't even been announced yet. It's supposed to be fun.

If someone wants to write something to be produced, just write a short and post it in the shorts section. That's where most shorts get "discovered" anyway.

I think Don should make this OWC a high budget horror about a planet hopping witch stranded in some otherworldly universe, where she needs to obtain several gold ( and they need to be real gold) bars from costume-budget-sucking aliens so she can return to her budget-draining home world.

Fix problems before they're problems - or - fix them afterwards.
Pick one.

WOW...WTF?  REally?  You get me?  

Always...ALWAYS amazes me how peeps take everythign so out of contect and get so offended when someone trys to help and give them actual, honest critique of what they wrote.

I probably shouldn't post a single comment, but damnit, i will partake, and if I don't give back, that's not fair or in the spirit of the challenge.  BUT, it seems pretty apparent, peeps only want positive feedback, and in reality, BS, glowing praise, and you all know I just can't do that.

Not sure what to do about this, but I guess I should try to refrain from giving any feedback at all.

RayW, what have you produced so far?
It might be beneficial to boast about having completed a project, some writers might want to impress the King Of Everyfuckingthing.

I disagree with the premise that exposure to other people’s opinions makes your own opinion less informed. It’s quite the opposite. As a writer, I like it when people debate a particular point on my thread. If no one could respond to previous comments, you’d rarely get more than surface level impressions.

As a reviewer the trick is to form your opinion independently and really understand why you feel that way before reading the other posts. If you don’t, then yeah... your opinion will be shaped by the comments. But if you really like a script and know exactly why, is someone’s negative review of page 1 really going to change your mind. Plus, if you’re aware of the issue enough to proactively avoid comments, you probably wouldn’t be part of the problem anyway. Similar to harsh reviews, it’s the people who don’t care that’ll be the worst offenders.

As far as scripts being unfairly torpedoed, I think that’ll come down to people not being asses in the very first post. A polite and constructive, “This wasn’t for me and here’s why…” isn’t going to kill a script. “THIS MUST BE A PISSER”, as the very first words might.

Can we say "THIS MUST BE A PISSER and here's why... "?  

Quoted from Dreamscale WOW...WTF?  REally?  You get me?   Always...ALWAYS amazes me how peeps take everythign so out of contect and get so offended when someone trys to help and give them actual, honest critique of what they wrote. I probably shouldn't post a single comment, but damnit, i will partake, and if I don't give back, that's not fair or in the spirit of the challenge.  BUT, it seems pretty apparent, peeps only want positive feedback, and in reality, BS, glowing praise, and you all know I just can't do that. Not sure what to do about this, but I guess I should try to refrain from giving any feedback at all.

Jeff, I think they want a little more than " I read half a page, this is shit, you can't write, I'm out."
If you can't understand that, or see why that causes issues, than it's probably for the best that you do stay out.

Quoted from RayW I was just wondering the same "WTF? It seems some here WANT nubes to fail just just so that fun can be had correcting them?!"

Why would anyone want anyone to fail? I think you have totally misunderstood that part.

Quoted from RayW BUT... ! I'm killing the fun by heading them off down the path of avoiding fundamental format mistakes, thus denying them the "fun" of having a couple dozen reviews stating the same things, like "Don't do this" and "Don't do that." Wheee! Everyone's having fun, then.

I remember my first OWC. It was crap as far as screenplays go, but the story itself was decent and some people still remember that one to this day. FORTUNATELY for me, some very nice people told me what I could improve writing wise. I took those comments to heart and eagerly awaited the next OWC. I wanted to do a better job the next go around...and so it went. I slowly got better and better. All thanks to the kind people here at SS.

Quoted from RayW Fix problems before they're problems - or - fix them afterwards. Pick one.

Encourage story tellers to tell stories. Just guide them in the format they're trying to tell their stories.

Quoted from RayW Nothing. Who have you helped today? What single sentence of useful information have you provided?

And you call yourself a producer?
That writers need to impress you?

Really, Ray, really?

I have an idea. When giving a review, pretend it's your Mother who wrote the screenplay. You want to help her get better, of course, but you don't want to make her feel like sh1t in the process. Speak to us like we're your mother. Unless you're Norman Bates. And there may be a few of those here.