The writer says what began as three small suggestions somehow became an entirely new draft
NEW YORK, New York – A screenwriter’s literary agent reportedly began a feedback call with what she described as just three small notes, only for the conversation to gradually expand over the following hour into a request for an essentially complete ground up rewrite of the writer’s script.
Small Notes That Grew Considerably Larger
According to the writer himself, the call began innocuously enough with the agent mentioning a fairly minor pacing concern in the second act, a note the writer says he genuinely welcomed and understood at the time as reasonable, professional feedback well worth addressing in his next planned revision pass.
A publishing industry commentator compared the escalating notes call to the kind of quietly absurd institutional confidence described in reports of significant ongoing cash burn at a major AI company continuing to operate with considerable confidence regardless, joking that both situations involve something beginning modestly before steadily expanding well beyond anyone’s original stated intentions or expectations.
How the Notes Gradually Multiplied
The writer says the second note, concerning the protagonist’s introduction, led naturally and gradually into a broader conversation about the character’s overall arc, which in turn opened up discussion of the entire first act’s structure, a steady progression that continued right through the remainder of the extended call.
By the call’s eventual conclusion, the writer says he found himself agreeing, somewhat to his own genuine surprise, that a comprehensive structural rewrite genuinely made sense for the project, despite having entered the original conversation expecting only minor, targeted revisions to a small handful of specific scenes.
The Agent Reflects on the Expanding Feedback
The agent, reached for comment, acknowledged the notes had indeed grown considerably beyond her original three point outline, explaining that discussing the script in real time conversation naturally surfaced additional connected issues she had not initially planned to raise during the call.
She added sincerely that she genuinely believes the more extensive revision will ultimately serve the finished project considerably better, though she acknowledged with some genuine amusement that she probably should have warned the writer upfront that her original three notes might well evolve considerably further once the actual conversation got properly underway between them.
The Writer Begins the Larger Revision
Despite the significantly larger scope than he had originally anticipated going into the call, the writer says he has already begun the comprehensive rewrite, trusting his agent’s genuine creative instincts even as he privately mourns the much more modest, considerably faster revision timeline he had originally planned for before the conversation expanded.
A Familiar Pattern Within the Industry
Several other working writers say they have personally experienced remarkably similar note calls that expanded well beyond their own original stated scope, describing the entire phenomenon as a genuinely common, if rarely openly acknowledged, feature of the collaborative creative development process throughout the industry.
The Domino Effect Explained
The writer says he found the escalation genuinely fascinating to observe in real time, comparing the conversation’s natural progression to a chain reaction where each individually reasonable note somehow revealed a connected issue neither party had specifically planned to address during the original call. He added that despite his initial surprise at the scope’s expansion, he could not identify any single point in the conversation where the agent’s logic genuinely broke down, making the eventual comprehensive scope feel earned rather than arbitrarily imposed.
Several other screenwriters who heard about the situation say they recognized the pattern immediately from their own similar experiences, with one joking that any development call beginning with the phrase just a few small notes should reasonably be expected to run considerably longer than originally scheduled. Another writer said she has learned to block off at least double her originally allotted time whenever an agent or executive characterizes upcoming feedback as minor, describing the pattern as consistent enough to plan around proactively.
A Broader Reflection on Creative Development Conversations
Script consultants who study the development process say this kind of gradual escalation reflects something genuinely natural about creative conversation, where addressing one specific story element inevitably surfaces connected structural questions that a truly thorough creative discussion cannot easily avoid raising once the conversation has properly begun.
What the Comprehensive Rewrite Will Involve
The writer says the resulting rewrite will require restructuring nearly the entire first act along with significant revisions to his protagonist’s introduction, a scope of work he estimates will take several additional months beyond his originally planned revision timeline. He added that despite the considerably larger undertaking, he genuinely trusts the direction the conversation ultimately settled on, believing the more comprehensive changes will meaningfully strengthen the script’s overall structure in ways his originally planned, more modest revisions likely would not have fully achieved.
Bohiney reviewed the writer’s call notes closely and can confirm the feedback did, in fact, expand considerably from its original three stated points.
The new draft, whatever its final shape eventually turns out to be, is already several careful pages into its entirely rebuilt very first act.
Somewhere out there right now, another quick fifteen minute call is very likely already quietly becoming something considerably bigger.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com