Are you in a disastrous story bubble?

Years ago a writer told me that he cried when he reread his scripts. Not from pain but from the great emotional power of the story he had created. Therein lies the great danger of editing one’s own story.

Writing a story is essentially putting your ideals and values onto the page. It’s totally understandable and right that your writing should move you emotionally. You are reacting to your deepest self.

But feeling deep emotion when reading your own story doesn’t mean that the story is objectively good and would appeal to other people.

One simple but ever-true fact of fiction writing is that it is almost impossible to be objective about your own story. You are too close to it to see it for what it actually is. You can’t see its weaknesses and thus be able to make it better. And we all get to the stage of where we can no longer see any issues re our story. Where we can no longer conceive any new ideas for it.

Similar goes for story development teams. After a while they become siloed inside the story they have created. For evidence, just look at most produced film and television stories today. Way too many are just not that good and have chasms of missed opportunities.

The big question every creative needs to ask is:

Re my story am I in a story bubble?

Creative Takeaway

The most important lesson to take away from the above points is that EVERY producer, writer, and director needs a story consultant. A skilled and objective writer who can read a script and know what is good, what is failing, and especially what is missing and then be able to make suggestions of what could be added. I’ve never read a non-produced script that didn’t need some help.

Yes, it’s difficult to put the product of months or years of hard work and soul expression out there for some stranger to vet! But getting edited is a fundamental part of the writing and production pathway. It is money and risk well invested. Even after 30 years of working in story, I get my own scripts edited. All pros do!

You must get your stories vetted by an expert outside of your creative bubble. Such an expert will see the story with fresh objective eyes and will ask questions that can unlock the script and help fix its omissions. Such editing is essential to lifting your script to its highest and most produceable level. And thus to helping it find a bigger and more resonate audience. Let’s talk!

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“Scott McConnell is an excellent Script Editor.” Snorri Þórisson, CEO Pegasus Pictures 

  Stories are ideas in action!

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