Notes on Notes: E-mail is the Devil's Fart-Scream

NOTES ON NOTES

Periodic musings on the how executives and creatives can work better together

by Eric Trueheart.

This installment: EMAIL IS THE DEVIL'S FART-SCREAM!*

*For the purposes of this document “Fart-scream” will be hyphenated to avoid confusing it with “Farts-cream,” which is something I sincerely hope does not exist.

I have this naive ideal that the best work comes out of creatives and executives working in genuine partnership. It’s a partnership where the creative-side develops an appreciation for the executive’s second set of eyeballs, and the executive doesn't worry the creative will try to murder them in the parking lot for their arrogance.

Believe it or not, this is possible. A positive relationship can develop between the person who gives the notes and the person who takes them. I've seen it happen.

However, to have a hope in hell of seeing this dream become reality, I have one big tip:

DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, JUST SHOOT OFF A BIG PILE OF NOTES VIA E-MAIL!

Seriously. Not without having a verbal conversation first.

Look, I know you're busy. I know you spent hours writing up every detail that needs attention in the latest draft, and the last thing you want is to go through it point by point all over again. You've got meetings to attend, lunches to eat, and kids to get home to before they turn to drugs and alcohol. I get it.

But you must have a verbal conversation. Do it in person if you can. Do it via skype or on the phone if you can't. But this will save you a thousand-and-one headaches in the long run.

Why? Let me use some bullet points, because I’m an American, and Americans love bullets.

• Written notes usually get the finer point across. What you think is obvious, really isn’t. Sure, you spent a long time coming down with a concise description of what’s wrong with the draft. You got it down to "Why do we care?" or "Texture! Texture! Texture!” But if you’re not there to answer questions about the details, the creative can totally miss what you mean. I once spent hours in a spin trying to figure out what an exec meant by, "The biggest question on this draft is, 'Why now?’" Did she mean the old dramatic axoim of “Why tell this story about character at this point in their life?” Did she mean the events that lead to the inciting incident were unclear? Did she mean why did she have to read this script exactly at the moment when everything in her life was falling apart and she was questioning her faith in a benevolent God? It turned out she meant something much smaller. It wasn’t clear why one character was worried about a situation “now” that they’d been in several times before. It was a really good note, and one that was easily addressed, but it took the phone call to nail it down. (In hindsight, maybe “Why this time?” might have been a better way to tee it up.)
• A conversation can clarify anything you missed quickly and pain-free. Yes, even you make mistakes. Maybe you misread a line of dialogue or a scene direction. Maybe you missed that the murder weapon was planted on page two when the writer described it as "a hand-held steel angel of death" instead of "a gun” like a normal person would. A simple conversation can keep a misunderstanding from escalating into a drawn-out email exchange where both parties think they other is crazy for not getting it. 
• Talking actually saves time in the long run. That hour you spend on the phone is far shorter than the time you’ll spend pounding out the follow-up e-mails. You think by clicking “send” you’re saving time and calling it done. You're not. There will be a back-and-forth. You know it. The writer will ask, "Do you mean this or do you mean that?” And since you meant the other thing entirely, you'll end up having to go back to the script to remind yourself of what you meant in the first place. And you don’t want to have to read the script again, do you? Having the talk gets it all out of the way.
• Finally and most importantly, E-mail is The Devil's Fart-Scream!  And what I mean by that is there's something about e-mail that can make us read things in the worst way possible. (Check out the Key & Peele sketch about texting to see what I mean.). Maybe it’s the lack of context. Maybe it’s angry electrons taking revenge on humanity. But for some reason the phrase "Some really good stuff in here!” when read via e-mail will always be taken to mean, "This is garbage but we have to push forward or we're all fired." And it happens on both sides. When the writer responds with, "Are you saying kill off the character at home instead of during the bar scene?” he really doesn't mean, "Are you f***ing crazy you brain-damaged moron?” but you know you've read it that way. SO HAVE THE CONVERSATION FIRST. It will set the right tone for everything that comes after.

Once you’ve had the conversation, sat down, talked it out, etc. e-mailing off the big pile of notes is perfectly fine. So go ahead! Click "send" with confidence! The questions have been answered, the arguments have been defused, and everyone finally knows “A lot of good stuff in here,” actually means there’s good stuff in there.