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Why is horror the most popular thing on this site (currently 10506 views)
thegardenstate89
Posted: September 18th, 2005, 6:33pm
Guest User
WEll i wrote a few horror (though i dare not post them they would get ripped to pieces) as an easy way to practice my story and character development. THough i'm much more into stories about life. It is much easier to pick up a zombie script and read it though. And also if a horror script sucks it's for some reason to me readable. However if a drama sucks it's unbearable.
And you wonder why people don't read your work as much as you'd like? Because some people can be picky, it's a review, it's not like you're giving up your first child.
It's a copout to say you don't like drama so you don't read drama. I don't like horror but I still read the screenplays.
Bert also reads every genre so he can say that, can the rest of you say that? His reviews are longer than 1 or 2 lines also... 2 line reviews aren't reviews, remember that.
I agree 100% with everything you just said, Wes... I can't comment too much on Action... but I have read a lot of varried work here. I've read Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Action, Fan Fic, and I think I'm the only member to have read every western screenplay up on the site, LOL!
I think if you are going to give a review, give a review... don't half ass a review with 2 or 3 lines of -- It was um... good. It was um... Bad... It wasn't formatted right...
I want to see what I did right. What I did wrong. What I can do to make it better. What I missed in way of mistakes or continuity.
If you are talking about me King Wes, I have never moaned about people not reviewing my work once.
I dont expect someone who writes drama to read a horror script, if they do, great. If they write a review, fantastic.
Im not asking talking about anyone or anything in particular, my view is my opinion and I have a right to that as much as you do yours.
I write horror and I like horror movies/scripts. That is me and that is my choice. If you are saying im a "copout" because I dont read other genres, then so be it. Perhaps I do read other genres but since I dont know about them as much as my particulat fav then I dont think I have the right to comment or review it in a way that may seem fair.
Plus, any review I have written has been a lot more then two lines.
For the short time ive been on this site i have not seen a review shorter than 2 lines, but don't bring 1 up proving me wrong, b/c im sure there are many. It's most of the ones ive looked at have reviews that are much longer than a few lines.
I personally think any good writer can (and probably should) read every genre available in order to better their own work. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of spare time so I can't read all the things I want to read (although, I download them all on my hard drive... so you'll probably get some reviews in a years time!)
And I don't think it's right to say that because you don't particularly know a lot about a certain genre, you don't have the right to comment/review it. Of course you do. You don't have to throw yourself into that genre to know what a good script is, what good drama is, good horror, good comedy. If you say that, it's like saying you don't have the right to have an opinion about a certain movie in the cinema... because any decision you come to wouldn't be fair as you don't know a lot about that genre. And let's face it, we're all too willing to shout about the movies in the cinema, so why so quiet on the script side?
Thats a fair point. I didnt mean I dont read other genres I just dont usually write or comment about them. I try and read as many things as I can but usually stick to horror because thats what I enjoy the most. At the same time, I was saying I dont think people HAVE to read other genres if they dont want to. It was a simple comment that I guess I didnt write well enough to be clear on.
Oh definitely. It would ruin the experience if you felt you were forced to read something. But also, people shouldn't feel like they have to write horror to get loads of reviews. I find the best reads are the best screenplays, and so far there's more in drama/comedy/adventure/action than there is in horror... so I guess I just don't understand why some people would choose bad horror scripts over good "insert genre here" scripts.
I think Bert makes a good point that horror is more popular with the young male demographic of the site. I used to be a huge horror fan but not so much any more.
I still haven't really found my favourite genre to write which is probably why most of my features stall in the second act when I decide to start something new.
I tend to read scripts from various sections on this site. A good script is a good script regardless of genre. I think if you limit your reading (and writing) to one genre you'll find it difficult to develop as a writer.
If you want an example of what I mean go read the bad 1 line - 3 line reviews in Final Destination 3... All those members should be banned now regulars or not because the reviews are attacks and not helpful at all.
But as I am honest about my feelings nobody cares (eventhough I have a very valid point) though people would rather listen to dim witted comments by cold hearted assh**es that ruin the little guys confidence and hurts the community as a whole.
I think that some people post their scripts and expect everyone to wriye, "This rocks!" As opposed to, "This sucks." Both examples of reviews, IMHO, are wrong. Details and excerpts should accompany each review. I would rather have someone write "Your script is bad and here's why..." followed by examples than to have someone just write, "This should be produced."
I'm against the "I'll read yours if you read mine," idea as people here should want to read other works, and also the feedback that accompanies it. See if your critiquing is similar to others. If not, you should practice that. We're not trading gold nuggets for food here. Don't go one-for one.
I'm against the "I'll read yours if you read mine," idea as people here should want to read other works, and also the feedback that accompanies it.
Sure, that's the way it would work in a perfect world.
But I think lots of people just "expect" to get reviews, and months go by, with maybe 16 people "looking" and no posts, and they are like, "Wow. My stuff must really suck."
I'll bet it hasn't even occurred to alot of people that reading other peoples scripts will get their own stuff read. It took about a month for it to occur to me.
And it works, too, if you do it right.
Go read the scripts of people who are ACTIVE on these boards and you will get read. And sometimes, read something new, and you can help "CREATE" an active member.
It's all good, man. Whatever helps people get reviews. The "other stuff" is great, but I think helpful reviews are what this board should really be about.
I don't think any review should be all that leaning toward one direction because if you're saying a screenplay is perfect why is that writer still unproduced? Every script on here has some problems but some people are just afraid to say the truth as to not hurt anybody's feelings. (Hollywood produces a lot of films with problems and possibly some screenplays here are better) but if you can't even keep the format and spelling perfect you're well behind where you need to be.
Almost every great script I've read has a couple problems that will keep it down but that's not saying that they aren't really good. When you tell the writer these problems they aren't very receptive to that feedback but they are as it goes with spelling which is weird but oh well.
I think only IMADMAN and Dogglebe really know how to keep review neutral and everyone else is too afraid of hurting people's feelings. (And they keep it constructive and not just attacking people like the FD3 thread.)
I'm awful at keeping stuff neutral, i try to be sympathetic b/c i know WHEN i post mine it will hurt to see all that work insulted or trashed ( though i only saw it on the FD3 post recently). I think the biggest problem if you look at the scripts is a lot of people don't have any proper training or didn't research how to write a script in terms of structure. I took a one month film program and in jsut that i was slapped in the face about everything i thought i knew when it came to script writing and character development, but i was wrong. And i still barely reached the tip of the ice berg. You don't need to follow the structure to make a good script, but knowing it helps. Looking back at my scripts that i halfway completed b4 the program i noticed so many problems with it. Many scripts focus just on the events and not the characters and at the end ive noticed nobodys grown since the end, just a lot of people died. I shouldnt bitch about characters and stuff, but just in general i think the reason why people get bashed is because the scripts feel so akwards because they didnt read up before or anything. This is a personal view, i may get a response back yelling at me saying you don't need any sort of instruction, but I think it makes a difference A huge difference.