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CHAPTER XLIII 219 have been resolved; the rest is merely the old "and so they were mar- ried and lived happily ever after," or some equivalent of this time hon- ored phrase. 16. Of course it may be that they did not live happily ever after. They may have quarreled continually, winding up in the divorce court, •but that has nothing whatever to do with the story we have been writ- ing and so we leave it alone. It is important to start your story with the first point of real interest. It is still more important to end your story when the narrative stops and not to run one more scene than is necessary to the plot that you have advanced. 17. Because the story must move rapidly to its close, it is important that you establish and identify your characters in the early scenes. You can present a policeman who arrests the villain for bigamy, for- gery or other crime, for the policeman is self-explanatory, but you can- not pause and explain that the man with the side whiskers who has been supposed to be Percy's Aunt's first cousin is really a clever de- tective and not a silly ass. You are robbed of the surprise of the "Who are you?" "Hawkshaw, the detective!" type, but surprise is without value if it otherwise spoils your story. In a single reel it is best practice to use not more than a third of the reel for explanatory mat- ter mingled with the action. In a three reel not more than half a reel should be used, and in a five part story not more than the first reel should be so employed. 18. This does not mean that you cannot, in later action, make a, casual introduction of a single person. The detective in the last para- graph may be shown in the middle of the play in his office when he is engaged to enter the case. He does not require identification in some early scene merely to show that he is a detective, when he does not enter the plot until many scenes later, but he should be explained well before the conclusion and the last third of a one reel and the last three quarters of a five should be kept as free as possible from introductions, leaders or explanation of any sort that are not purely the resolution of the problem. 19. Action cannot easily be written until you have become thor- oughly familiar with the work. If you have to stop and think what the next scene is to be or pause and debate the relative value of a leader and a telegram, you cannot possibly write in free and unre- stricted action. You must first know your material before you can use it. You did not learn to write in longhand by merely sitting down and writing. You practiced the pothooks and ovals first and then progressed to the foFmation of letters, then words and so to sentences with proper punctuation. You cannot write action until you know just how to use the components of action. 20. You must practice the writing of action as you practiced the writing with a pen, that you may give your entire mind to the story you are putting on paper. Possibly you have essayed the childish per- formance of patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. Add to this pastime the practice of making perfect squares with