Constructive Criticism by Lauren

Constructive Criticism by Lauren - August 2014 Scholarship Essay

When I was a sophomore in my undergrad, I had to take a variety of major requirements. However, as a creative writing major, I had two classes where I could take course that was offered by my department. On a whim, I ended up taking my first screenwriting class to fill this requirement. I had no idea what I was in for.

When I walked into the class the first day, I immediately noticed that I knew no one – all of my peers were seniors who I had never met before. As we went around the table introducing ourselves (the class was small – capped at 15 students), I noticed another thing: all of them were film minors, who had dreamed of doing this for a very long time. And I had taken the class on a whim. Uh oh. And to top it all off, I somehow managed to get my short screenplay signed up as the first one to be workshopped. Fantastic.

Writing had always come naturally to me, but screenwriting was an entirely different ball game, and I knew nothing about it. So, I did what any good writing student would do. I read a ton of successful screenplays and researched the most common flaws that kill screenplays.

And then I wrote. I worked and reworked my screenplay for three weeks. I had my friends and family give me feedback, and then I reworked it again. I poured my heart and soul into that piece,
Thus, the day of the workshop, I walked into class with my head held high, and feeling confident. I was sure it was one of the best pieces I’d ever written. My characters were realistically flawed and believable, my historical facts (I’d chosen to write a historical fiction piece) were detailed and well-researched, my rising action was compelling, and, to top it all off, I’d managed to tell the complete narrative in 10 pages.
At Hopkins, workshops are run a little differently than your normal writer’s workshop. The piece is read out loud, and then is critiqued by the author’s peers. During the critiques, however, the writer is not allowed to speak. There are a couple reasons for this. The first is that your writing should speak for itself. The second is that the author should be focusing on what the critiques are, not on his/her defenses of why the critique is incorrect. It works really well most of the time.

Except when your peers completely demolish your piece, which is exactly what happened. I didn’t get a single piece of praise during that workshop. I became a punching bag. Jab, cross, punch, punch, cross, hook. Knockout.

I left the class in tears. Who was I kidding? I’d submitted my best piece of work, and not a single one of my peers had anything good to say about it. Clearly, I wasn’t cut out for this. In fact, I actually walked straight over to the registrar’s office to withdraw from the class. Luckily, it wasn’t open, otherwise I would have missed my life’s calling and passion.

So instead, I continued to attend class albeit sullenly. I did my work, but I sat quietly in class, not saying a word. It was a big change for me. I was the kind of student that sat front row center, and raised her hand for every question, a regular Hermione Granger. I was afraid of saying something that was wrong, but more afraid of the ridicule that might come when I did. Besides, what was the point? I was terrible at this.

The turning point came when the next person was workshopped for class. No one had anything nice to say about her piece either. I sat and watched her piece get torn apart for a good 10 minutes debating what to do. Should I say something? I had thought her piece was brilliant. But, was that just my ignorance shining through again? Finally, I just couldn’t stand it.

“I think her piece is amazing,” I declared, “I think her characters are dead on and believable, and the plot is fantastic.”

“But what didn’t you like about it?” My professor asked.

I paused. Was there anything I didn’t like about it? “There were a couple small bits that I didn’t think quite fit…” I admitted, “but overall it was fantastic.”

“Those small pieces, are what make the difference between a screenplay that gets sold and one that doesn’t. You’re doing her no favors by not telling her what they are.”

And that was when it clicked. Hollywood is a tough business. The odds of being successful in such a cut-throat industry are next to none, and you have to get used to constant, incessant rejection and criticism. The criticism of my peers wasn’t because I wasn’t a good writer and the reason that they had focused on what needed improvement wasn’t because there wasn’t anything good to comment on. They were trying to help me. They were trying to make me better.

After class, I went back and worked tirelessly on my revision and when my turn came around to be workshopped again, I listened with open ears. In fact, I left class smiling, despite another brutal round, because I was getting better, and maybe, with enough criticism and revision, I could be successful.