Palmer plan handbook; photoplay writing, simplified and explained (1919)

the use of a railway train, a private yacht, a battleship and an airplane, it would be well to reconsider your plot. As a scenario editor, I have perused numerous scripts with quite as elaborate an outlay as that above mentioned. A REASONABLE PERCENTAGE. 26. Have you a good strong climax and an interesting story to lead up to it? It is not to be supposed that your story must possess a fullness of everything that is mentioned in this list—if it did you would be ready to accept a position as feature writer at a salarj', the mention of which would bring on a state of nervous prostration that would prohibit its acceptance. But your manuscript should measure up to sixty per cent of these qualifications, present to a reasonable degree in each case. 27. To test your story in order to determine whether or not it contains a suffi- cient amount of material, the following is suggested provided that a five or six-reel subject is in hand: On a sheet of paper put down the numbers from one to fifty— opposite each write a different incident of your plot, then go over this sequence of incidents and analyze them carefully, making sure that each one is logical and the most effective that you can devise for that particular link in the plot chain. If you will remember that your story requires from two hundred and fifty to three hundred scenes or perhaps a few more, and will work out fiftj' authentic inci- dents each of which will require several scenes in production you will have approxi- mately five reels of action. With this rough plot-outline before you, you will find the process of elimination and revision much easier than after you have set down the story in fixed synopsis form. THE FINAL SYNOPOSIS. 28. Only after you are sure that the plot-outline is as complicated, as logical and as strong as you can make it begin to write the final synopsis. When you are satisfied that you have done the best that you know how to live up to this standard, set about to prepare such synopsis. Omit nothing that has a direct bearing upon your story, but present it in the fewest number of plain, expressive words. Assume that you are seated in the office of the producing company to which you are sending your script, facing the editor and telling him your story. And further assume that there are a number of other people waiting to claim some of that editor's time and that you are trying to lay your scenario before him in as brief, attractive and persuasive a manner as possible. That, in a measure, is the actual condition that you are facing. But maintain mental poise—do not permit a rush and scramble of language that will fail to state your ideas clearly and distinctly, for, while your story must be told in as brief a manner as possible, it must bring out all its strength and value. If you are in doubt, use enough words to make yourself plainly understood—but practice and training will aid you in expressing yourself in the fewest needed number. Take plenty of time to so arrange your synopsis that it will take very little of the editor's time. A man once wrote a long letter and added, in a postscript: "If I had more time this letter would be shorter." That is the kernel of the idea of good synopsis writing. AND THEN . 29. When you have succeeded in putting your whole and complete idea into the shortest form possible, review your story carefully in your mind and write a brief synopsis, stating the plot in a few short, crisp sentences. When the two forms of synopsis are complete and completely satisfactory to you, prepare them for mailing, following the instructions set forth in the chapter on "How to Prepare a Synopsis," and end the operation by dropping it in a mail-box. 88