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106 TITLES promised, but that does not help any. If he goes in to see "Her ^Mother's Sin," he goes in to see a drama. If he finds it is a farce comedy he is apt not to like it, no matter how funny it is. He ex- pected drama. He is disappointed. He is sore. For this and other reasons you should not write your title on your script until you know precisely what the story is. You may start to write a story about a man and a girl and wind up with a story about the man's mother. Wait until you see what you have before you affix a label and then apply the correct label. 6. The title must not be self-explanatory. It must be applicable to the story as stated in the last paragraph, but it must not explain what the story is. "It Ended in a Kiss" might be used for a little story of a lover's quarrel, but it will not interest greatly, because the climax is anticipated. "Their First Quarrel" would offer the same defect. "Both Were Right" would be less revealing and perhaps more interesting, par- ticularly if the denouement showed that both were wrong. Just the moment the spectator knows what the ending will be, he loses inter- est in the story. There is no more suspense, and so nothing to look forward to but the next story. If you see a story entitled "Baby's Boots" you have only to see the start of the story to know whether it is the one where the child brings its parents or grandparents together or whether it is another workover of "Drifted Apart." 7. A title should rouse curiosity. It should not only suggest a good play, but it should make the reader wonder what it is about to the point where he goes inside to find out. This does not mean a suc- cession of plays from "Why Smith Left Home" to "Who Killed Cock Robin?" There the invitation to become curious is too open and bra- zen to have a proper effect. It riiust be a more subtle appeal. "H?* Married His Daughter" would arouse curiosity, for how can a man marry his daughter? It is simple enough if he happens to be a min- ister and the daughter is still unmarried. Perhaps he swore that he never would and she and her sweetheart changed clothes and so tricked him. 8. Sentiment may be made the appeal rather than curiosity, if de- sired, but sentiment should not be the flamboyant three-cheers-for-the- red-white-and-blue type, but something less obvious. One company put out a story with the title of "The Irish Boy" to be released upon St. Patrick's day. One exchange alone bought six extra prints because it had to have first run prints if they were to be timely. It was merely the story of a young Irish emigrant who got ahead. There were no shamrocks or evictions or anything of that sort, but the story pleased and the title made good. The Boucicault plays also served to make money for more than one Seventeenth of ]March because the titles ap- pealed. 9. A title must be fluent—easily spoken. This does not mean that it must be alliterative. A title twisted to gain alliteration will not ap- peal—and may be viewed with suspicion. If the title is naturally al- literative, well and good. If it is fluent without being alliterative, it is