Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1916)

300 Hints for Scenario Writers belle, a schoolgirl, a country girl, and countless other parts as widely different as these. We advise a careful study of all rules regarding the contest, especially those regarding the actual submission. Having mastered these, every one who decides to compete should search for and find the very best idea possible, select the number of reels to work it out in, and then do the very best work he or she is possible of doing. It is a golden opportunity, and every ''outsider" wishing to "break in" should eagerly seize it and use it to the best possible advantage. SOME REPEATS. Ross Travis, an Ilion, New York, photo-playwright, setids us a letter in which he mentions a few of the things which we used in a past edition, and which he says have been picked by himself and several other writers as being worthy of reprinting. What impresses one group of writers as being especially helpful should prove of benefit to others. Here is the list he sent us : There are no more than fifteen basic plots, and possibly several of these spring from the same root, if they are traced back far enough. Care must be taken in selecting plot ideas to avoid repeating those which have been used before. Every writer fears that he will use conventional ideas or material when he begins to write, although with the older writer this fear is not so great, because he has gained knowledge which enables him to pick and choose with greater certainty of getting something new. The amateur, careful though he may be, is almost certain to use something that is threadbare. Study and watch the life that is being lived about you. Knowing life, you will find it comparatively simple to cause a character to "live." A good idea may be developed in many ways. If your story is true to life, you will not need to force your characters to do something unnecessary just to give the required action to the reel. Rather, the characters will work out their own salvation, just as you or your neighbors would. Anything that you appreciated in your own life, or in the life about you, you will naturally find easy to write. Result : Discovery of many new ideas which have never appeared on the screen. Furthermore, the subject, when presented as a whole, looks entirely different, and is accepted by the editors as being entirely new. Mr. Travis also says that he employs a system of filing especially valuable material which he secures along the lines of hints in his work. He has a file which is divided into sections containing material dealing with plots, action, characters, general development of the writer, et cetera, and all the articles on these various subjects which he considers worthy of keeping he files away in their proper place. Later on, when the fire of inspiration seems to dim, he takes them out and restudies them. He says it is a certain cure for lack of enthusiasm about one's work, and that he hopes others will find it as helpful as he has if they adopt the method. SHORT SHOTS. It may surprise some when we state that there is just as much thought required to write a five-reel photo play as a three or four-act drama for the stage, but it is a fact. Many well-known authorities have been quoted as saying that it is rare to find a writer who combines brilliant imagination and technical knowledge of the movie game at the present time. It is up to the present-day amateur to master both ends of the work in order to qualify for the future. How many advertising men will welcome the day when they can bill the plays of their company as being distinctly different in plot and construction ! Learn to study everything you come in contact with. You can never tell when you will be called upon to incor