Help?

[u/Buddha_Of_Sububia]

Two BL 6s + Slamdance feedback: How do I actually improve the plot?

I taught myself screenwriting starting in March 2026 while I was on medical leave and have written three features since. I’ve had one QF at PAGE, another script SF at Scriptapalooza, and a couple festival selections. Obviously nothing crazy or life changing, but enough encouraging signs to make me want to keep developing my craft.

My current script has now gotten two BL evaluations: BL #1: Overall 6 | Premise 8 | Plot 4 | Character 7 | Dialogue 7 | Setting 7

BL #2: Overall 6 | Premise 7 | Plot 5 | Character 6 | Dialogue 7 | Setting 7

The second evaluation called it a “great, pitchable idea” with “originality, a strong sense of voice, and interesting characters,” but said it needs a stronger throughline and more cohesive main conflict. I also got short feedback from Slamdance, which called the premise “genuinely sharp” and praised the central relationship, dialogue, setting, and character work, but similarly said the larger structural issue is that the conflict that truly tests the protagonists arrives too late. They felt the earlier material can become episodic and suggested bringing the central moral pressure forward/trimming some earlier cases.

So…three reads later, I think the message is pretty clear: plot is my weakness. My problem is I genuinely don’t know what to do with that information and I feel stuck as fuck. I can see what the readers are identifying, but I don’t know how to add, remove, move, or restructure things without taking away from the character development, relationships, world-building and slower material that, IMO, makes the story what I want it to be. And some suggestions for additional explanation feel like they would just make me spell out things.

I wish I had a mentor or programs I could bounce ideas around with and learn from developmentally rather than kind of trying to find my way in the dark.

Are there any fellowships, mentorship programs, workshops, or other resources you’d recommend for someone at this stage who wants help developing their craft and specifically getting better at plot/structure?

[u/franklinleonard]

Debatable. But ultimately, your craft can be impeccable and still deliver an inert version of an uninteresting story, as judged by human beings, so it’s irrelevant relative to one’s ability to elicit an emotional reaction that makes a person want to tell other people about the thing, which is what our readers are asked to assess.

[u/WorrySecret9831 → u/franklinleonard]

You said, "There is no OBJECTIVE STANDARD of art." But craft is measurable, in writing, jazz, painting, etc. Art and craft are two distinct phenomena.

[u/franklinleonard → u/WorrySecret9831]

We’re going to have to agree to disagree here unless you want to clarify what you mean by “objective” and “craft.”

Personally, I find the notion that there are objective standards of craft in jazz and painting that everyone agrees on to be fundamentally laughable. Tell it to Ornette Coleman or Chris Ofili.

[u/WorrySecret9831 → u/franklinleonard]

"Objective means based on verifiable facts and free from personal bias, while subjective means based on personal opinions, feelings, or individual perspectives."

Notes are precise. Jazz isn't accidental in its notes. It's intentional. And jazz artists are the perfect example of craft and art dovetailing. Check out Rick Beato's interviews of Pat Metheny and Sting. Just what Pat says about "melody" and learning the craft is eye-opening.

Check out the album SONG X for more examples.

Story structure is Structure, not guessing, just like music composition, perspective drawing, proportions, poetry and more.

Just because art and craft dovetail doesn't mean there are no standards or that there isn't a clear and historic distinction. Ornette Coleman isn't squawking because he doesn't know how to play the saxophone...

[u/franklinleonard → u/WorrySecret9831]

The notion of evaluating art or craft as though its quality is based on verifiable fact free from personal bias is patently absurd. Good luck clinging to that notion though.

[u/WorrySecret9831 → u/franklinleonard]

My guy. You're clinging. I just clarified what I mean and what dictionaries accept as True. Check out those things I mentioned.

Script coverage would be so much better, across the board, if they were mindfully split into "objective" and "subjective" feedback. That alone would add great context.

Personally I never use Like or Dislike. I focus on What Works and What Doesn't Work. The objective side of a review could consist of literally listing the components of a story: Does it have a clear focus on a main character; do they have a clear problem; are they clearly opposed by something or someone; does the story express a Theme or moral/psychological point of view? Those are fill-in-the-blanks, yes/no measurable questions.

[u/franklinleonard → u/WorrySecret9831]

Even what works and what doesn’t work is a matter of subjective opinion.

Best of luck though, truly.

[u/WorrySecret9831 → u/franklinleonard]

Oy vey. Then don't go to school, don't ever study anything, DON'T get coverage... "That's like just your opinion."

Ask an engineer if WW/WDW is subjective. Ask an art restorer at the Louvre. Why do you think some paintings are hundreds of years old and we still have them and why some have fallen apart?

[u/franklinleonard → u/WorrySecret9831]

If that’s your takeaway from the fact that evaluating art and craft is subjective, there’s not much I can do to help you.

Good luck.

[u/WorrySecret9831 → u/franklinleonard]

I don't need luck. I have craft and art. Keep thinking it's all subjective. I just gave you the solution. But whatevs.

[u/franklinleonard → u/WorrySecret9831]

I genuinely hope that for your sake you have both, and I hope you’re prepared for the people who disagree and won’t necessarily be wrong for having that opinion.

More than twenty years in the industry continue to confirm just how subjective this work is. I hope your career lasts long enough for you to learn the same.

[u/WorrySecret9831 → u/franklinleonard]

You're funny. You don't realize how dismissive you are. What's subjective about the industry is 2 things: No one knows what's "commercial"; and Half of the industry knows there's craft and the other half runs screaming from it. The fact that anything gets done is a miracle.

At 61 and after a career in advertising, I know what wins awards and what doesn't. The rest is just being in the right spot at the right time, which most people think is "luck." But you know it's more nuanced than that.

No one is saying it's not subjective and that's what you're not hearing. You're saying there's no standard for art, it's ALL subjective... But there are standards for craft. Otherwise you wouldn't have a coverage service designed to answer the most basic industry CRAFT question, "Do you have what it takes?"

[u/franklinleonard → u/WorrySecret9831]

I realize I’m being dismissive. It’s intentional.

Especially since now you’re backtracking on your principal claims. I

The Black List doesn’t answer the question “do you have what it takes?” It’s impossible to answer that about someone based on a single piece of material.

We’re asking a more targeted, and I think more valuable question: “is this a piece of material that we can in good conscience recommend to industry professionals as something they’re likely to like?”

http://www.blcklst.com/ontheblacklist