ABSTRACT
Note giving is an art and a craft. It must happen in an atmosphere of earned trust and approval if it is to avoid defensive resistance. It must be specific and concrete. ‘Make it funnier’ will not do. Nor will half understood jargon from a weekend screenwriters’ course. Talk of ‘narrative arcs’ and ‘epiphanies’ and the writer will politely nod and go home to look longingly at the gas oven.
