So, we've laid another one to rest. This one was more uncontrolled and unmoderated than some of the previous ones. It did go quite a bit longer, but was it worthwhile? Did anyone get anything out of it? Was it good that there was no pause between the announcement and the availability of the thread? How about the lack of dealing with a topic per day? Here's where we take off our writers' caps and get a little business-like.

What worked and what didn't?

For myself, I found that some were asking about where the conversation was going and there seemed to be some confusion as to where we were in it. Once a topic was started, it flowed fine, but as soon as a lull was hit, no one knew where to go next.

As per previous scripts, as soon as the author chimed in, the conversation completely died, so that held true to form.

Personally, I think the response time for the writer needs to be shortened, which would probably go a long way in keeping the discussion going.

In this one, there were over a hundred responses by the time I was able to chime, and I just wasn't able to go back and comment on everything that I had really wanted to.

I think by cutting it to say, three days, there's a fair amount of feedback in place and the author is able to catch up with it all.  Another option would be to have three days, give the author a day to respond, then another three days.

I haven't been as involved with the script clubs as I would like but they are a really good idea.

One suggestion I have is to seperate the main points that are going to be discussed into seperate threads. So you could have 'Characters', 'Plot', 'First Impression' etc completely seperate from each other. That way it's much easier to see where people are at, topic-wise. Also, it doesn't close off a particular topic that some reviewers might want to comment on.

The only script club I took part in was Cornetto's 'Demon Beach' I think, and the main reason I didn't comment more was because by the time I'd checked the site again the discussion had moved onto a different topic than what I was discussing.

Not sure if this would take up too much space, but just think it would be easier to navigate when trying to be as in depth with a script as these script clubs do.

I liked this one.  I like the more free flowing, unstructured discussions.  I also agree with Shelton that it might help to let the wrter get involved a little earlier.

Yeah, I agree with Ste - Make a sub-forum for the Script Clubs... I read most of the discussion in the thread, but unfortunatly didn't get a time to comment on the script, with college exams, and all. I will definitely participate in the next one, but I did notice that the main thread soon becomes cluttered, very big, and hard to distinguish what pages feature discussions on the structure, what pages discuss characters etc... I definitely think it would be a good idea to have a sub-forum, and have seperate threads for each discussion point.

But from the comments that I read, it seems like a pretty good Script Club...

Kind of like what Don has done with the OWC. One thread for the script club. You click on it and it takes you to another page with different threads for different topics.

Yeah that's what I was thinking of Pia.

I don't think it was good that there was no announcement before the availability of the thread.

For me, I tend to note things down and prepare if I plan to do something ahead of time. If I know I've got roughly a week to read something and make notes and then the "Are You Ready to Rumble?" thread asking if people are ready, and if not, better get ready 'cause we're starting tomorrow happens, it's a very current heads up and I don't know-- not that I need it, but I'd say it's a psychological "Ready... set..." before we actually"Go".

Plus, if anyone missed the talk a week earlier, then it's a nice flag for them.

I'm glad that there was some freedom in this last one. There's nothing wrong with saying, "OK, now we're going to discuss character, now plot... etc..." The thing is, that sometimes things are so very related, as plot and character should be, that it even might be better to discuss them at the same time. Or, maybe the discussion really prompts something off the topic, but is otherwise very relevant at that particular time.

There were some details in this discussion that have made things I knew, even more clear. One example is the conversation concerning character intros. Mike did a fine job, but it has me thinking that character intros are often overlooked or made cheaply.

It was a joke in the script about the eye patch, but we do cheapen our work by such add ons that are put there only as an ornament. Character introductions can be boring. This script of Mike's is not boring. (To me and some others) The question of: Why isn't it boring to me? serves me well because it's this kind of answer that helps me to write.

Obviously, I can't write something that everyone likes. I can however learn to write things that "some" people will like and to do that, I need to know what I like. This is important for everyone.

When Mike was finished with this script, he liked it. He had to or he wouldn't have opened it up to the world. This "like" is something we need to define personally and then see where that fits into a niche within a greater audience.

So then, this: You like something? Yeah? Why? Answer that question and apply it to your own writing.

Now I knew that before, but I feel that it's something that stands out in front and waves at me now.

Sandra

While I can see the benefit of multiple threads, one for each topic, I would think that would be really daunting to try and keep up with. Yes, the one thread can get cluttered, and perhaps a subdivision is warranted, but to have five or six threads to sort through seems a bit much to me. I know I would get overwhelmed in a short order.

The most I could see a breakdown for is an overview, plot, and character, but much beyond 3 would get unwieldy, I would think. It's not a bad idea, if you think that would help us keep track of the discussions better. It might also allow the instant start we did this time, but keep those discussions more narrow.

Also, the OWC tends to get it's own board and multiple threads because of the separate scripts under that one topic. The Script Club would be a much narrower field of discussion, and while its own board is something we could surely discuss with  Don, I wouldn't see us needing one board per discussion since one board alone would be enough since we only discuss one at a time, and there's usually at least a month between them. If we could split it onto a different board, then one would be it, in my opinion.

Interesting feedback so far. Keep it coming.

I agree, George that multiple boards or whatever we're calling them, would be too much, and too hard to navigate through.

The way this works best is when we have people who check in at least once a day, and hopefully even more.  When you miss even 1 day, as Ste was saying, you've pretty much missed out on quite alot of talk, and it's sometimes hard to get back in.

I do think it would help if the author got to chime in evey 2-3 days, and respond to comments that have come up for a day.  Then, we could go back into the discussion.  I think that would help and also give the author a real chance to get involved before everything just dies.

I persoanlly like more of a structured format, because without it, we seem to get off track quite easily and never hit certain subjects that we probably should.

I think this script club went well and I think the fact that it went so long gave people a chance to digest the discussion enough to really provide thoughtful feedback to Mike. I don't think that the author should chime in any earlier though. The author should chime in once the comments have become a trickle.  That might be three days, it might be a week. In this case I think Mike stepped in at just the right time.  If we were doing a produced script the author wouldn't even be stepping in - so it's not really about the author commenting on his own work, is it?

I think the fact that this was going to be less moderated should have been made clearer at the start.  The rules really need to be laid out.  I was expecting the moderator to move things along and I even held up some of my comments because I wasn't sure we were on to the topic yet.

That's it.  I think this one was a very good one.  

I don't want the authors to chime in too early at all. I understand that it can maybe be a lot to want to respond to, but I also think the script club comments will stay more honest if the author stays away... There is the regular script thread to give normal feedback where the writer can respond. I think it's important the discussion stay as honest as possible.

I felt bad about not really contributing much really after voting for the script, and then writing a single long post to try and compensate for a lack of effort. Not really helpful but could not be helped really.

Maybe in future we could start on a Friday? There was such a large amount of posts during the first few days that by the time the weekend came it did, as Mike said, seemed to have lost a little steam. But if course there are no doubt people who will find it easier to contribute during the week than the weekend so I don't really know if that would be helpful or not. In that past we have always had a week's notice that it is starting so we have time to read the script before discussions begin. I think that is certainly the best way.

I personally do prefer the more structured format but like many have said this one seemed to work out okay so you did do a great job again.

The reason I personally prefer it being during the week is because I am on the computer more during the week than the weekend. I still pop in on the weekend (obviously), but it's fewer and further between than on the weekdays when I typically look at everything first thing in the morning and ten every few hours to see what's changed. This is the first (and probably only) time I'll look in it over the weekend. So the mod says during the week. Sorry.

I see a fairly mixed bag when it comes to structure of the talk. Here's my thought on that based on the way this went and the way previous ones have gone. We can hit the major talking points daily, but it is no crime if you step outside of them provided the tangent is relevant to where you started.

For instance, we've historically done first impressions first, but if your first impression was that it didn't work for you because of the structure, then we could totally talk about the structure on day one while everyone else is still giving their first impressions, and still hit the structure topic whenever it "officially" comes up. That may be a good way to satisfy both persuasions.

Another big question I had for this time was how quickly the discussion kicked off. Before, we'd given a week to read, and then we would discuss. This time, we discussed the script we would read, and then I posted the thread and said "go" on day one without any time inbetween.

Now, this may have worked because of the poll, which is another aspect I'd like some feedback on. Yes, it ended up rather pointless because we'd discussed the script for a week, and then voted even though the matter was 90% decided. In the future, the script discussion could simply be a slew of opinions, we could vote on Wednesday through Sunday, and then on Monday, the thread posted and go (since realistically, the votes would be mostly done by Saturday anyway...they were last time).

I think once we work out the kinks, it'll be better.

I thought everything ran pretty well with this.  There shouldn't be any real restrictions regarding time for this or that, or when and how often the author should chime in.  Ther next script discussed could have very different response results.


Phil