Script Coverage Red Flags Every Writer Should Watch For
One of the few things harder than writing a script is soliciting other’s opinions on it. This story and its construction have been in your head for the duration of its creation, now it’s time to see how people react to it. One of the main avenues for receiving feedback and insight from people working within the industry is script coverage. Getting that outsider insight is key for gauging where your story is and how it's being received by readers. But not all notes are of equal merit, so it’s important to be able to identify and disregard bad script coverage. While practice makes perfect, bad practice perfects bad practices.
Bad coverage can adversely stall or misdirect your script toward the wrong direction. The coverage should be challenging you while also kickstarting the revision process. Let’s dissect script coverage red flags and learn how to evaluate script coverage.
Red Flag #1: Vague Notes
The foremost telltale sign of bad screenplay feedback is vague notation. The writer of the coverage starts slinging rote phrases like “raise the stakes,” “add more tension,” or “needs urgency” but doesn’t specify any specifics as to where, when, and why. With coverage like this, you might wonder if the reader even read the script. Are any of the notes even on a scene-level reference or other identifiable notes to signify that these notes belong specifically to your script or could they just be copy-pasted to countless others.
Vague notes don’t provide any insight into why something may not be working. If the consequences of your character’s failure leading into the dark night of the soul section of your second act don’t elicit a strong enough reaction out of the reader but the only note you receive is “raise the stakes” then how are you to know exactly when or how to raise them?
Red Flag #2: No Actionable Suggestions
Vague notes often compound with this next common screenplay feedback mistake: no actionable suggestions. These notes don’t give the writer anything to latch on to in order to improve their script during the revision process. Identifying a weakness in the script and offering potential avenues of improvements are two very different things. When coverage leaves no explanation of why something isn’t working, they’re diagnosing a problem without leading to any meaningful development. Who would go to a doctor that tells you that you have a heart condition and then just says, “good luck with that.”
Professional coverage points the writer toward screenplay development tips and solutions to the problems that are identified. If the pacing and structure of the script is not up to par, then here are ways of restructuring the plot to remedy the situation. If coverage is not supplying constructive feedback, then it is not worth your time or your money. Professional coverage is a resource to help the writer understand their mistakes and to learn from them, much like how professional athletes study their previous games with their coaches to learn how to keep improving in the endless potential situations that arise during a game. The coaches are pointing out what or how to do something when each hyper specific situation happens. Coverage is the same way, to create a roadmap through the often nebulous miasma of how to improve.
Red Flag #3: Too Much Summary
One crutch many inexperienced readers may rely on is to recite too much summary in their coverage. Who the summary is for is anyone’s guess since the writer surely knows what they wrote. Too much summary could be used essentially to filibuster the coverage in order to pad it out to a required length, and to give the illusion that the writer is receiving adequate notes by substituting quantity for quality.
Script reader notes should be offering analysis and interpretation. The analysis helps identify and solve potential problems as discussed above, but interpretation is also key. The story has been embedded in the writer’s head for so long, they could end up leaving stuff off the page because it seems apparent in their mental conception of the story, plot, characters, and themes. But the readers can only interpret what actually makes it to the page. The reader can and will address the script as it currently is, not as it exists in the writer's head.
Red Flag #4: Inconsistent Feedback
Inconsistent feedback is a signal that you received screenplay notes you should ignore. Notes that intrinsically contradict themselves can show you the reader is not taking the coverage seriously, just jotting down the first thing that comes to mind throughout the screenplay even if it contradicts. If the reader is praising the same thing they are criticizing later on without providing why the distinction exists (a valid example–the characterization is strong in the first and third acts, but a plot point in the second act mandates the character make a choice that doesn’t seem true to the character) then the notes are at best insufficient.
Red Flag #5: Unqualified Reader Signs
Professional script coverage should have a proficient understanding about how the industry works and operates including various market expectations, budgetary concerns, and the reach of built-in audiences. Does the reader use screenwriting terminology correctly? Are they confusing or conflating genre conventions? Are they put off by the amount of comedy in your horror script when horror-comedies have been a staple of the box-office for the past decade? A qualified reader will have a thorough understanding of these fields and their notes will utilize that knowledge into how to improve your screenplay. Without that knowledge, it’s the blind leading the blind.
Red Flag #6: Overly Harsh or Overly Polite Comments
Many writers first have trusted friends or family read their scripts first. And at least one of those friends or family will want to applaud your efforts no matter what. That’s what they think is being supportive. But it’s not constructive. “It’s wonderful” can make you feel good but it doesn’t serve the story any good. Likewise, if a reader is being too polite, like they don’t want to hurt your feelings, then how can one learn and get better. Reader’s feedback has to be constructive above all. Excessive praise avoids real critique–there are always insights to be had even if the script is in excellent shape. Conversely, cruel and dismissive language that provides no insight other than illuminating the reader’s disdain is unprofessional and unhelpful. Professionalism shows up in balanced and nuanced honesty. The point of the script coverage notes is to improve, excessive praise or disparaging language bring nothing to the table.
Red Flag #7: Notes Focused on Personal Taste
Every great film has people that dislike it. Art lives in the subjective, but coverage needs to be underpinned firmly in the realm of narrative conventions as they relate to the expectations of the industry. Notes that focus only on personal taste are doing a disservice to your story and your time. What good are the notes to you if the notes are dripping with disdain for the subject matter to the story. Also look out for readers that confuse their personal taste with structural issues. Not every story needs a “fun and games” story beat in the first half of the second act–it depends upon the story itself. Readers relying on their taste will provide rigid feedback that lacks any specificity that good coverage demands.
Red Flag #8: No Understanding of Target Audience
If the reader doesn’t understand what the intended audience of the story is, how can they offer substantial notes to improve the story. Say you’ve written a coming of age comedy where the dialogue of the teenage boys are rife with current slang today like “mogging” and “aura farming” and the notes come back to you saying that no one talks like that. Well, seeing as that’s how kids talk and they’re the intended audience, the note is asking you to run away from authenticity. The reader should have a grasp on who the intended audience is even if they do not specifically understand the teenage colloquialisms.
Red Flag #9: Ignoring the Writer’s Stated Goals
The number one sin of critique is that you can’t critique what something is not, you can only critique what actually exists. Basically, it’s not the story’s fault if the reader doesn’t personally like how it played out as long as the story is internally consistent, thematically resonant, and rich in characterization. The critique must focus on what the goals of the story are, and if they work for the intended story, not what the reader wishes the story was.
Not all script coverage advice for screenwriters deserves equal weight. Single notes can lead to the eureka light bulb popping in your head, but they could also be erroneous. Trust the patterns that emerge through the people you ask to read it, both personal and professional. Strong coverage will clarify and illuminate what decisions need to be made. Poor coverage will only lead to confusion.
For further reading on what good script coverage looks like: What is Script Coverage? A Definitive Guide for Creatives. And if you would like to find community to compare notes, seek second opinions, and learn more about professional coverage and other screenwriting topics, stop by our Kinolime Community Forum.
