A Criticism Party

I participated in a script reading last night --


I read four different characters, attempting to infuse unique personality into each. I even did a straight-up Daria impression for one of the characters. It was wicked fun.

Though really I was invited because I'm a writer and the hosts wanted to get as much feedback from other writers as possible. This was their first draft and they needed to deliver it to their producers soon.

Now, I've advocated live script readings for writers on this blog before - they're valuable tools for discovering plot holes, screwy dialogue, and a slew of other problems that you never would have found staring at the page.

But I really have to give these co-writers last night one more shout out for being BRAVE as heck.

Because basically, these guys threw a criticism party last night. They had friends over, we read their script, and then we tore it to pieces! Not enough stakes, flat characters, missed opportunities for comedy - the comments just kept coming.

And they took it like kings - jotting down every note with a nod and a smile. All this after they'd invited us into their home and fed us pizza and beer.

Seriously, kudos to you all you writers who host live readings and take in criticism. It's not easy to hear people judging your words, even if it makes you a better writer. You have my admiration.