How To Handle Constructive Notes & Nail Your Rewrite

My fellow creatives, we’ve chosen a path that’s not for the faint-hearted. You have to believe, all the way down into the core of your being, that you can do this thing -- that you can create worlds, that you can bring imagination to life. And we ride the pendulum, sometimes on the daily, as it swings between godlike swagger and the abject fear of not being enough.

And then there’s dealing with feedback.

We are our own harshest critics in so many ways, but we all have our blind spots. Part of becoming a professional in a creative field is learning how to submit our work for feedback, how to receive it, and how to execute it.

I see this all the time in my alter-ego life as a lit professor. I return every student’s first essay with feedback, sharing with them where the work was solid and where it needed improvement. And at that point, the roads diverge.

Some students digest that feedback and work to avoid making the same mistakes again. These writers will grow. Others, for whatever reason, disregard my notes and blunder into the very same traps on the next assignment. I see the same thing in my work with writers.

There are many skills that you can learn from a book, or from YouTube videos, or from webinars. But how to take feedback, sadly, isn’t one of them. This is one of those things you have to learn by doing, but I’d like to share some considerations that might help you in your quest to master this elusive but highly coveted skill.

It Matters Who You Ask

Let’s talk first about feedback you seek out as you’re taking your project through the drafting process. At this point, you have total control over who sees your work. My advice: don’t send it out to just anyone. You’re looking for two things through this process: quality feedback so that you can improve the project, and practice taking and executing notes.

With that in mind, there are two types of readers I’d recommend avoiding at this stage: people who won’t be honest with you, and people who don’t know the writing process.

If someone is afraid to tell you honestly when something isn’t working, this won’t be a helpful read. For this process to work as it should, both reader and writer have to be able to put feelings aside. This is part of what it means to be a professional. So take the time to find a reader whom you can trust to be straightforward with you, and don’t take their feedback personally.

Notes from someone who doesn’t know the writing process are also likely to be unhelpful. It might feel great to have a close friend tell you your script is awesome, but if they don’t know how to read a script critically, you’re missing out on the chance to improve the work.

Maybe you’ve heard the saying “iron sharpens iron”. I think this means that when we have a frictionless experience, we don’t grow as writers and the work doesn’t improve. So, ideally, I’d recommend finding a reader who is at your level or higher, and it’s even better if they have experience giving notes on scripts. This way, you’ll be challenged and have the chance to grow. (If you need a place to start, check out the coverage services right here on Stage 32.)

But what happens when your script goes to a decision-maker and they’re giving you notes on your project, expecting you to turn around and deliver a rewrite?

This is where you get to practice the two most important skills involved in the feedback process: professionalism and the ability to execute notes in a way that’s consistent with your creative integrity. Let’s talk about professionalism first.

The Approach

How we approach a notes conference is critically important. The truth is that these sessions are about the script -- and they’re not about the script. Particularly when you’re getting feedback from a decision-maker, these sessions are about who you are as a writer.

Your attitude toward feedback signals the kind of person you are to work with. Are you open and eager to improve, or are you combative and closed off?

I’ve found, in my work with students and writers alike, that those who get the most out of feedback sessions are the ones who approach it with the most eagerness to learn. And I’ve found this to be true of myself as well, when I’m the one receiving the feedback instead of giving it.

Think about what happens when we approach a feedback session defensively -- that is, when we’re ready to do battle because we feel our work is under attack. We don’t listen well. The energy in the room -- or over Zoom -- becomes toxic. Walls come up, and the experience becomes profoundly negative.

Worst of all, the reader or decision-maker will leave that session with a bad taste in their mouth and a very unfortunate impression of us. This is absolutely the opposite of the effect we want to create, right?

So what’s the alternative? Openness. Listen and take notes. If you’re in a session with a decision-maker, limit how much you say and be gracious about their opinions. If you’re talking with your representation, you can make it a conversation. No matter what, the goal is to present yourself as engaged and eager to work together to figure out the next steps for the project.

One other thing. Have you ever found that you start to feel defensive when you’re nervous? This is your “lizard brain” getting ready to protect you from something it thinks could be damaging (think, “fight or flight”). If this happens to you, here are some grounding thoughts that I’ve found really helpful when preparing for a conference:

1. We all want the same thing: the best project possible.
2. This session will help me make my work better.
3. I’m so excited to hear their thoughts about my work.

This last one might be really hard -- but, as Mel Robbins points out in her book The Five Second Rule, physiologically, anxiety and excitement do the same thing to the body. Start telling your brain you’re excited -- and soon you’ll start to believe it.

Bottom line: it requires a tremendous amount of humility to listen to what someone else has to say. Humility means that we recognize that we have things to learn, and that the person who has taken the time to read our work can help us improve.

Remember, you can’t control how the other person responds to you or to your work. You can only control how you respond. So choose to take everything in stride as a learning experience. As the ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus said, “We suffer unto wisdom.” Sometimes it hurts, but if we’re open to the experience, it will make us better.

Rewriting

Incorporating notes and turning around a draft that has addressed your reader’s concerns is a sign of your professionalism. It shows that you can take feedback well and find creative solutions to problems. It shows that you’re thoughtful and thorough. And it also shortens the distance between the draft and the final version of the project. So let’s talk quickly about some strategies for working with feedback.

For convenience, I’m going to suggest that notes can fall into three categories:

1. Easy notes
2. Complex notes
3. Vague notes -- you have no idea what they want you to do

Easy notes are exactly that -- easy. Everybody agrees on the issue and you can run through the pages and fix the problems with no major tweaks to the script. These are “checklist edits” that you could probably take care of in a single session.

Complex notes are more difficult to handle. Even if everybody agrees on the issues, making changes here will likely cause a domino effect, requiring more extensive rewriting.

If you disagree with a complex note, find ways to address the reader’s other concerns (especially if they’re a decision-maker). If they re-read the script and come back to you with the same note, then consider having a conversation with them about it. Try to find out what’s really bothering them and see if there’s another way to work around it.

Finally, what about vague notes, where you’re not sure what they want you to do? We talk all the time about understanding the “note behind the note” -- but what does this really mean?

It means that you’re able to identify the root of the problem that they can only gesture at.

Identifying the core of the problem can be a challenge. I’d suggest brainstorming the various issues that might provoke the note. For instance, if they wave their hands and say “clarity”, you might look at the rules of your world, or the progression of clues in your mystery, or your character’s motivations (or all of the above -- and this is by no means an exhaustive list).

Do your own detective work. Use their other feedback to help you understand what they took away from the project. This might give you a clue to understanding the spirit behind the vague note.

And if you’re really stuck, consider going back to your trusted reader and asking them to read for that issue in particular. Perhaps they might have an easier time articulating where the problem is.

The Most Important Thing

There are things we can control in creative work, and there are things we can’t. We can’t control whether or not someone likes our work. But we can control our efforts. We can control how open we are to learning. And we can control how easy we are to work with.

When decision-makers interact with you in a script conference, make sure you’re giving them the best impression of your work ethic and your willingness to collaborate. Ultimately, being able to handle feedback like a professional will outweigh raw talent wrapped in a bad attitude every time.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Emily at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .