Third Report

Just a quickie post on the quickie report we just received.

First of all, it should've arrived early this a.m. at the latest. Instead we got it after 9:30 this evening. When A.S. forwarded it along to us, the tone of her email was a little disappointed. And Jim n' I would have to agree...

While the overall report was very complimentary, the review was super vague and wishy-washy without any real specific constructive criticism. This reader did a poor rush job, and it shows. Jim n' I were saying that we hope she isn't paid as much as the other two.

And once again, there was more conflicting feedback.

Sigh.

While She Who Hates Everything complained that some scenes were too expositional, (something we were encouraged to do in this most recent draft, I might add... as previous drafts have been accused of being too vague), Reader 3 felt that our story was too subtle. (Again, I think it's because she didn't spend the time to read it thoroughly like she was asked - and paid - to do. A few of her left-field questions left us scratching our heads.)

And yet, even though she felt our story was too subtle, she added that's what makes our writing so elegant and evocative, and adds an intriguing element of mystery.

Okay... so which is it? Too subtle? Too expositional?

Honestly... Never ask the opinion of three different people, because you're only going to get three different answers.

While I'm trying to stay open, because we really want this last draft to be the best that it can be, I have to admit that it's frustrating when you're getting such a barrage of conflicting feedback. I think the only thing we can do at this point is trust our collective gut, because ultimately Jim, les producers and I have final say on what we submit to our Donovans and Telefilm.

Actually, maybe this won't be such a quickie post after all, because I just remembered something else I wanted to mention....

So earlier today, instead of sitting around the house all stir-crazy waiting for the third n' final report, I decided to go out for a walk. It's been unseasonably warm, so I spent some time sitting on a bench beside the pond, writing in my journal.

When I was done writing, I wasn't exactly itching to be anywhere, so I thought that perhaps I'd flip back and read a couple of my old entries. I almost never read through my journals, and I think I really should. It's interesting to reflect on where you were at different points in your life, and how those experiences impact where you are today.

Anyhow, so I opened my journal to a random page. And what are the odds that I should open it to January 26th, 2009 - exactly one year ago today? Because I believe that there's no such thing as coincidence, I was more than curious to see what the Last Year Me had to say.

As it turns out, on Jan 26th of last year, I had done a rune reading for myself. (That year I had received a wonderful Christmas gift of handmade runes made by a friend of mine. I had never used runes before, but because I'm such an earthy person and collect rocks n' all that, it really made for a perfect fit in terms of divination tools. I really love my runes. But I digress...)

The rune I had pulled from the bag was Berkana, meaning Growth.

A quick summary of the meaning for that rune (at least according to my Book of Runes) is, "Dispense resistance to accomplish your work. Motives must be cleared and controlled, with the help of others. This calls for modesty, patience, fairness and generosity."

On that day, my interpretation of this advice was, "Be open to the constructive criticism from our friends as it will help us to grow as writers and as people. Their input will allow us to make our script stronger than before."

I couldn't help but be amazed at how fascinating the parallel was. At this time last year we had our friends n' family reading our draft and providing their feedback so we could make any necessary adjustments before we ("we" meaning Jim) starting pitching to producers.

A year later, we have our producers, and now professional readers are reviewing our script before we start pitching to actors and applying to Telefilm.

I think this January 26th, the same advice applies. Even though we're getting exhausted of reworking the script, we have to keep pushing forward until we've achieved what we've set out to accomplish -- a pitchable draft. We need to be modest and patient, and graciously accept the help of others in order to ensure that we're on the right path.

If only the others could simply agree upon which path it is that we need to take.