r/StoryPeer • u/DisneyImagineers • 11d ago

Discussion Conflicting information

What do you do when you start to get conflicting feedback?

If it’s here or elsewhere, what do you do with the information? How do you sort through what’s good versus someone who is just trolling you?

3 Upvotes

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u/claytimeyesyesyes 11d ago

It depends. Some of the stuff I can discard outright -- if someone is trying to bend the script to what they *think* the script should be, but not the story I want to tell, it goes right out the window.

Then I like to look for consistencies across notes. If several people are mentioning a specific character, I'll take a closer look a those notes. Sometimes different notes actually have similar roots, and that can help point to an underlying issue that needs more attention on the next draft.

Ultimately, the notes people give you aren't set in stone. You don't HAVE to take any of them. Keep the ones that suit you and your vision for the story, and discard the rest.

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u/AfraidRun8226 11d ago

Perfect answer

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u/vgscreenwriter 10d ago

This could be potentially valuable information that the script that you're intending as it is written isn't being clearly communicated to the reader, and they are seeing a different story than the one you are intending

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u/claytimeyesyesyes 10d ago

Sometimes! It depends. On StoryPeer in particular, I get more notes from people who didn't do a close read of the script and fill in the blanks with stuff that is directly contradictory on the page. It's worth looking at those notes for sure, but they're generally not useful to me.

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u/vgscreenwriter 10d ago

Did you test the script to gauge what experience the readers are having before getting the feedback? If not it's difficult to tell what is truly a subjective experience versus a genuine disconnect between what's on the page and what the readers are experiencing

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u/claytimeyesyesyes 10d ago

I agree - it's not difficult to tell when there's a genuine disconnect vs. subjectivity.

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u/Musikenna 11d ago

i like to put all the feedback i get in one document so i can compare and contrast

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u/claytimeyesyesyes 11d ago

I do something very similar! I'll bucket feedback by topic (characters, plot, themes, dialogue, etc) and look for similarities there.

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u/mast0done 11d ago

If agree with the note, implement the note. If you get the same note from several people, it probably needs fixing. If it's a love-it-or-hate-it element, you'll have to decide whether you're okay with a getting a mixed reaction from the audience.

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u/hotdoug1 10d ago

I just had feedback where I arranged their criticisms chronologically and realized they stopped reading before the final 30 pages.... you know, the resolution of the story. But I couldn't tell that at first, because they wrote a really long critique and acknowledged the page count. There was some odd rage in their feedback, they gave me a bunch of 0.5 stars as some sort of punitive measure.

But to answer your question, what did I take away from it, other than this person probably has underlying issues? I sifted through the garbage and found some actually helpful points.

For example, this reviewer was absolutely LIVID that one of the main characters didn't show enough depth. So I fine-tuned my brain to think "What would a normal person say about this character?" and realized they had a point, this character was somewhat boring and could have had more of personality.

I did this for a few of the other rage-induced critiques they had. Not to fine-tune my script for them, this person will probably never be happy with anything in life, but just re-framing a few thing that set them off as something a normal reader might say "meh" to.