Need More Cowbell!

Ah, good times... Will Ferrell in the SNL Blue Oyster Cult Skit where Bruce Dickinson, played by Christopher Walken, says "I need more cowbell!" Funny stuff. Not funny if that's the kind of advice you're getting on your screenplay.

I won't post my work on those online screenwriters' groups. I just don't like 'em. First of all, I don't like people reading my unfinished work. Period. Secondly, most of the reviews I've read are by amateurs who make a cursory read of somebody's work and then make suggestions that have no solid purpose or are based on personal preference. The result is hard feelings and questionable rewrites based on unqualified recommendations.

I'm not opposed to seeking a read from somebody who knows what they're doing but bottom line is that if the writer himself doesn't know WHY he wrote something the way he did, he's not ready for anyone to read it anyway.

Many writers who frequent these sites do make sales, do win contests, do opt screenplays and do have constructive things to say. Several professionals even drop in on some of these sites. Nothing in this post is meant to construe that we're all a bunch of ignoramuses. But when you put your work out there, you don't know who is gonna read it. And seriously, do I really need screenwriting advice from some guy who has never been to film school, changes oil for a living, has an eleventh grade education and just finished his first screenplay about street racing vampires? Hey, he may be a genius and there may even be a market for street racing vampires. But the odds are good that he's gonna tell me he needs more cowbell.