This time I jumped back to an earlier project, the script She Hates the Idea. One of my alpha readers finally got back to me with their opinion and it was pretty damn deflating. This was the second straight person to have a rather large problem with the script. I had expected not to get glowing reviews. The material is fairly dark and my readers just aren't into dark. But I knew that and wanted input on things like structure, character and story. And both of them dinged the structure pretty hard sadly. But it turns out that was exactly what I needed to hear. The rewrite of that script had targeted theme and character, largely ignoring structure. And as it turns out, both the theme and characters lean pretty heavily on the structure. If that fails, the other two don't work.
So I have spent the last few days targeting that problem. It isn't finished but I'm pretty pleased with the direction it's taking. I'm always mystified by writers who ask for input on their work and then get mad if the review isn't good. Why let other people look it over if you fear their opinion? I need that feedback because I quickly lose objectivity by being so heavily immersed in the creation of the script. And thankfully, my readers spotted a glaring fault and told me so that I can fix it. They saved my ass and I appreciate it.
On a lightly related note, I am the proud owner of a brand new netbook. My days seem full of dead spots that I want to spend writing and can't because they occur well away from my desk. Hopefully this new toy helps address that problem.
