I looked through your archive and saw that you suggested [bad scripts serve a purpose](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2005/does-bad-work-spoil-mine), and after a year of being a reader, I can see why they’re helpful. At the same time, they’re killing me. I feel emotional destruction every time I read another page of these godawful things.
It wouldn’t be so bad if the worst of these didn’t come from my screenwriting class, where I have to critique other’s screenplays. I’m trying so hard to be nice and also give suggestions but it gets harder each time I read the same, unchanged terrible screenplay week after week. How can I emotionally remove myself from the situation? Because it seems too personal right now.
— Kathleen
The reader’s job is frustrating: You’re forced to finish and summarize nearly-unreadable scripts. But at least there’s the veneer of anonymity, since you likely don’t know the writer, and they have no idea you’re writing coverage on their crapterpiece.
In a class situation or writing group, all of that anonymity is stripped away. So you need to find a way to offer constructive criticism while defending your belief in what good writing is. Here are a few suggestions:
1. **Ask questions.** Rather than saying, “This character’s choices make no sense,” ask the writer why the character is doing this specific thing at this specific point.
2. **Focus on points of confusion.** Be clear and direct, especially if the script isn’t.
3. **Use analogies.** It can be painful to talk about terrible writing, so talk about good movies that do the kinds of things you’re talking about.
4. **Quit the class.** At a certain point, if all you’re getting out of the class is negative energy, stop going.