barrsteve.bsky.social
Writer / producer / procrasturbator
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Agreed. When I was starting out, I'd break a rule intentionally just to see if I could muscle my way past it. Passive protagonist, unclear tones, genre jumping, show-don't-tell etc.
In almost every case the scripts were bad in exactly the way those rules were created to avoid.
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But just like the only Yes that matters in Hollywood has a dollar figure attached to it, the only info you can get from a No is whether it's a hard pass or a soft pass.
Everything else is polite nonsense, and you shouldn't get worked up about it.
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If their notes make sense and you want to make the changes anyway, go for it.
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That's common behavior, not something to get upset about. If you become a pro, you'll get a thousand of these kinds of "mirage problem" passes.
But the first 50 times it happens, you'll think "If I just fix that fixable thing, they'll change their mind!"
My friend, they won't.
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They aren't lying because they're habitual liars (usually).
They're telling you they don't like something fundamental about the project that is unchangeable or doesn't seem worth the effort to change. They're just being polite about it.
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If they're saying they don't want to pursue a project, and using fixable elements are their reasons for not pursuing the project, they're just not telling you the real reason.
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If a production company wanted to pursue the project, they'd pick it up and get you to change the rewritable things.
(Or buy it from you, fire you, and get someone else to change it.)
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If you want to break the rules, that's fine. But you should understand why the "rule" exists in the first place, so you aren't just falling into the same tired old traps that the rules are trying to help you avoid.
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Lots of writers think they're at stage 6 when they're really only at stage 2. But you don't start working at a professional level of craft until you've learned all the rules and internalized what they are and why they exist ... and then can break them on purpose rather than out of ignorance.
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Here's the standard learning curve for new writers:
1- There are rules?
2- Fuck the rules!
3- I guess I'd better learn the rules.
4- I understand the rules.
5- The rules aren't helpful to me anymore.
6- Fuck the rules!
7- C'mere kid, let me teach you the rules.
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If you try to write according to the rules that apply to newbies, your screenplays will read like a newbie's screenplays.
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On-the-nose dialogue isn't bad.
BAD on-the-nose dialogue is bad.
dsg1976.medium.com/why-on-the-n...
#scriptsky #filmsky
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They make my knob look smart.