Hole in the fire!

Lol, Ray, you keep posting this on the OWC thread everytime.

Yeah, 15 hours till the war begins. To think that I could lay down and keep my entry to myself... but nooooo I can't do that, can I.

You guys can do it. Have some faith in yourselves. However, if you decide that you can't do it, that's perfectly okay. This won't be the last OWC we ever do... *fingers crossed* ...so there will always be another one for your writing enjoyment.

As for a grading system, there really isn't one. Everyone has their own way of doing it. I try and give story notes because to give notes on grammar and spelling issues, for scripts done in a week, is exhausting and almost counter-productive since, if they try and film them later, they'll want notes on content, things that'll appear on the screen. I also use an A+ - F grading system.

Quoted from Mr. Blonde ... because to give notes on grammar and spelling issues, for scripts done in a week, is exhausting ...

If there are that many mistakes in grammar and spelling that it becomes exhausting to point them out, perhaps the 'writer' would be better doing something else. Carpentry, perhaps.

Or, they could be a fine writer and need to hire a proof reader. You really think they should quit if they aren't spelling experts?

Quoted from Mr. Blonde You really think they should quit if they aren't spelling experts?

This is the age of the spell checker. There isn't any excuse for spelling so bad that it would be exhausting to point out all the errors. That has no relation to 'expert' whatsoever. I made no mention of expert... whatever that is in terms of spelling.

Quoted from DustinBowcot If there are that many mistakes in grammar and spelling that it becomes exhausting to point them out, perhaps the 'writer' would be better doing something else. Carpentry, perhaps.

Carpentry? Carpentry? Have you seen my hands?

But seriously - writers can't stand grammar flops, but producers may not be that grammatically savvy.

Here we go again...

If a script is poorly written, any and all readers should be honest and say that.

It doesn't matter if a script is written over a year's time or over a single day.

As Dustin notes, pretty much any screenwriting software that I'm aware of has a spellchecker.  Hell, even good old fashioned word has spellchecker and also checks for grammar mistakes.

If you want to be a writer, learn how to fucking write!

There will always be mistakes in anything and everything, but c'mon peeps, get a clue...if you enter a poorly written script, you're going to hear about it...and IMO, you should want to.

If it's 95 percent clean, I wouldn't say a word.

Less than that, I might say something. If it's really bad, I'll definitely say so.

BUT -- Under no circumtances will I do one of those line-by-line mistake lists. I think that's what Sean means by "exhausting."

Henry

Pointing out the grammar and spelling thing is having a dig at the reviewers that like to point those out as though his way is somehow better. How does Sean know his opinion is worth anything? For all he knows, his opinions on what does and doesn't work with the story could be completely off base and worthless. Whereas a format review makes the difference between a producer being able to read it... therefore actually being more useful.

I'm actually very, very easy to please. So long as it is written well I will generally sit back and enjoy the story... and I can say what I think does or doesn't work. However, to get that far, it has to be written well.. or I will get bogged down with the errors and lose the story altogether. To my mind, bad writing does not translate to great story telling. It says the opposite.

If some people like to focus on the technical aspects and others concentrate on the story...you get a perfect mix.

As someone who started out on this site in -06 and didn't have a grasp on writing in English at all, I can say that people like Breanne who would comment on my grammar and typos helped me immensely in improving my English. My English was atrocious back then. Some older members here might remember.   However, no one has ever said that my stories were boring. So for me, and probably everyone else non native English speaking person here, and there are quite a few, those readers that take their time to point those typos and grammar errors out are much appreciated. Nowadays, most people tell me my scripts are a easy to read with hardly any errors. I have also become one hell of a speller and often beat my family members at scrabble.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films If some people like to focus on the technical aspects and others concentrate on the story...you get a perfect mix.

Yes, but when the technical aspects are so extremely poor, the writer won't get much of anything, because most won't get further than the first page.

And Dustin's right again in saying that someone's opinion on story/plot/whatever, doesn't mean much of anythign, other than that person liked or didn't like it.

Each writer needs to take their feedback for what it's worth, and it's very clear that some feedback is worthless, while other is gold.

Does your fundamental story entertain me, yes/no?

When your story's up on screen your splelling 'n glamaticle errorrers really don't matter.
Your black and white cast ratio doesn't really matter.
Your specific locations and much of your dialog doesn't matter.

Will people look at this story and want to watch your next films?

(P.S. In filmmaking marketing is more lucrative than content, so get over yourselves little writers. )

In the OWC, I don't have time to make a list of grammar/spelling mistakes ( and I catch most of 'em). Not when I'm reading 20 to 40 scripts (sometimes twice) in an effort to make a fair assessment.

Now, reviewing in general? That's different.