by Beth Michaels

Created on: November 16, 2010   Last Updated: November 17, 2010

Time. Effort. Expertise.

These are the reasons it is so difficult to get an evaluation of your screenplay for free. Most beginning screenwriters are so eager to have someone, anyone, read their work that they forget that it actually is work to read that screenplay.

Time

It takes time to read through a screenplay. It takes about two hours to do a basic read-through. Writing detailed, development notes takes more time. Some writers give vague notes that are one or two pages and most likely unhelpful. Others give more detailed notes and that equates to more time. I've critiqued my fair share of scripts and though I am far from an expert, I always try to give meaningful notes that will really help the writer improve not only their writing skills but the script as a whole. I can easily spend fifteen minutes critiquing just one page. That amounts to around thirty hours. That's over a day. And those kind of detailed notes are what you want if you truly want to improve your craft.

Effort

There are numerous sites online where your screenplay can be critiqued by others. Resources like triggerstreet or zoetrope are helpful, to a point. The majority of these websites are populated with beginning screenwriters. There is nothing wrong with being a beginner, but a beginner can only offer so much. Beginning screenwriters range from those that understand basic format to those that could care less to those that want to rip your work apart because they have deep-seated issues. And on sites where you are required to critique other writers, you'll find that you will often get weak notes based on a very fast-skim through of your screenplay. In other words, the writers only care about getting their work critiqued and nothing else.

Expertise

Why doesn't your story work? And more importantly, how can you fix it? A person evaluating your script for free may realize that yes, you have a good idea, but the script does not work. To them, your script is bad or just plain sucks. A person with more experience would be able to be more specific. Like pointing to the fact that your script is littered with 'ings' or adverbs and that deleting them would improve your screenplay. Getting notes that say ‘do this instead of that’ is a lot more helpful then notes that say ‘it sucks and I don’t know why… or care.’

Most aspiring screenwriters don't have a lot of money. But if you really want to improve, then you need to get good notes from a script consultant who has the time to go over your script, who will put in the effort to make the review worthwhile, and who has the expertise to improve your script. And though there are people out there who will evaluate your script for free and who will actually give good worthwhile notes, those people are rare. And everyone wants an evaluation from them.

Free does not always mean something is beneficial. And getting a meaningful evaluation of your screenplay for free is probably harder than paying someone who is qualified. Yes, it may take sacrifices like not going to Starbucks. Yes, it may take a really long time if you can only save one dollar a day. But in the end, getting notes from an experienced script consultant is the best chance you have for improving your script and improving the odds of actually selling your script. And that's what you want, right?

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