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How to Take Script Notes (and Not Die Inside)

John August & Craig Mazin (Scriptnotes) ·2015 Watch / Read Source
“Notes aren't attacks — they're data. The skill is separating valid craft feedback from personal taste.”
A practical guide to receiving, interpreting, and surviving script feedback. Distinguishes between valid craft notes and subjective preferences, and builds the emotional resilience revision requires.
Practical advice from professionals on surviving and using script feedback effectively.
Won't help with: original writing, structure, dialogue, or any generative craft skill.
Topics craftemotionindustry
Key Insights
1 takeaway from this resource — click to expand
💡 Half the notes you're getting are about your script. The other half are about the person giving the note. Learn to tell the difference. ›
August and Mazin draw a line that most writers never learn to see. A craft note identifies something checkable: the protagonist has no clear want, the second act has no midpoint escalation, a scene turns on information the audience doesn't have yet. These problems exist regardless of who's reading. A preference note expresses taste: 'I don't like this character,' 'the ending should be happier,' 'I'd prefer more humor.' These reflect the note-giver's sensibility, not a structural flaw. The writer's job is to separate the two. When multiple readers identify the same problem, it's almost certainly a craft note — the problem is real even if their proposed solutions differ. When one reader dislikes something no one else flagged, it's likely preference. Acting on every preference note produces a script designed by committee.
Check Your Script
Sort your last round of notes into two piles: craft notes (structural or character problems you can verify on the page) and preference notes (taste-based reactions). For craft notes, fix the problem. For preference notes, ask: did anyone else flag this? If not, it's probably taste, not a script flaw.
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How It Teaches

Encoding fingerprint and cognitive approach

Theory
Examples ›
Balanced — principles about notes are illustrated with real-world examples from professional screenwriting.
Mechanism
Heuristic ›
Balanced — explains why certain note types are valid (mechanism) and gives rules of thumb for processing them (heuristic).
Diagnostic
Prescriptive ›
Balanced — helps diagnose which notes to follow and prescribes how to process them emotionally.
Global
Local ›
Local — applies to the revision process, note-by-note, not to overall story construction.
Cognitive Mode
Fe + Ti
Teaches through extraverted feeling — understanding the interpersonal dynamics of giving and receiving notes, managing ego, and maintaining professional relationships through disagreement (Fe). Filtered through introverted thinking — building a framework to evaluate which notes have craft validity versus which are subjective preferences (Ti). The combination produces a system for turning messy human feedback into actionable revision strategy.
Fe manages the human relationship; Ti evaluates the craft content. Together they turn painful feedback into productive revision.

What It Teaches

Central thesis and key premises

Script notes are inevitable and often painful, but they contain essential information about what isn't working — IF you can separate valid craft feedback from subjective preferences, manage your emotional response, and build a revision framework that uses notes without being controlled by them.
Teaching Modality
Professional Advice
Approach
Conversational guidance from working screenwriters about the emotional and practical reality of notes sessions.
Structure
Craft Notes vs. Preference Notes
Some notes identify genuine structural or character problems. Others reflect the note-giver's personal taste. Learning to tell the difference is the most important skill in revision.
Emotion
Emotional Survival
Notes trigger ego defense, grief, and anger. These are normal but must be managed — the writer who can sit with discomfort processes notes better than the writer who fights them.
Structure
Pattern Recognition in Feedback
When multiple readers identify the same problem, it's real. The solution they suggest may be wrong, but the problem they're reacting to is valid.
Structure
Notes-to-Revision Framework
Sort notes into categories: must-fix (structural), should-consider (character/tone), and personal preference (ignore). Then prioritize revision by impact.

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