A-B-C of Motion Pictures by Robert E. Welsh

In a preceding chapter we have endeavored to drive home what we conceive to be the first and most important lesson in the art of photoplay-writing; that is, a respect for the work and willingness to devote serious attention and study it. Regardless of what the correspondence-school advertisements say, writing photoplays is no easy task, and selling them a still more difficult one. The screen is not a retreat for hackneyed, broken-down plots that failed of a sale everywhere else, nor is it likely to pay you for the idea that you dash off in a few idle moments. True enough, you can see many mediocre stories, many trashy ones, when you attend the picture theater, but the aspirant for success should not take the worst specimens for his ideal. It is bad enough for the staff writer to be forced to turn out such material to keep step with the swift pace of production, but the fact that he can do it so much easier than the outsider means that the latter's efforts must be top-notch to bring forth the welcome check that comes with acceptance.

The would-be photoplaywright must first undergo a process of self-examination. He must be certain that he possesses the power of observation that enables him to see the germs of stories in the little incidents that would ordinarily be passed by with scarce a moment's thought. He must be gifted with the imagination that will enable him to create a full-bodied story -- a plot -- from this germ. Lastly, he must possess the story-telling ability, or, more properly for photoplay-writing, the knowledge of dramatic principles necessary to relate his story in such a manner that the interest of his audience mounts steadily and is held to the end. These qualities the beginner must have at the outset. He can learn later the possibilities and limitations of the silent drama by studying the pictures in the theaters. Likewise, by imitation of a sample form he can learn how to prepare his manuscript in the correct technical form.