Diagnosing Story Problems
Fix the cause before polishing the symptom.
High agreementA durable convention or broadly shared professional principle.
The principle
A slow scene may be a scene problem, or it may be carrying a weak goal introduced thirty pages earlier. Confusion may come from missing information, conflicting signals, or unclear intention. Diagnosis means locating where the reader’s experience first diverges from the intended one.
Put it to work
- Collect reactions without defending the script; ask where and what the reader experienced.
- Trace each problem backward to its earliest enabling choice.
- Test one hypothesis at a time on an outline or duplicated draft.
Common mistakes
- Implementing every suggested solution literally.
- Repairing pace only by cutting length.
- Assuming disagreement means feedback is useless.
Sources & further reading
Pitcheroo’s guidance is original synthesis. These are the main sources used for this guide.