Technique of the photoplay (1916)

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CHAPTER LXV 331 the family will be so surprised and pleased. It will thrill him no more to be told that you are trying to work your way through college or any other catch. He will merely wonder if you are lying or not and go on with his reading. 26. Do not try to catch the Editor by putting the sheets in irregu- lar order, by lightly pasting two or three sheets together or any of the other tricks. It is not incumbent on him to read your story and he will not want to do .business with a person of such a contemptible mind. If you leave him alone he will read the story, or have it read, to the point where its fitness or unfitness for the uses of that par- ticular studio is made apparent. Beyond that the script does not need to be read. If you go into a fruit store looking for oranges and they have only lemons, you naturally do not sample the lemons to see if they are sweet enough to serve as oranges. You see that the man has not what you want and you go somewhere else. You would call a policeman in if he grabbed you by the arm and sought to argue that he had the "right" to make you taste his lemons to see if they would do. Then by what "right" shall an author require his story to be read if it is clearly unsuitable? It may be good, but if it does not suit the studio needs, its merit is of no avail. The only "right" an author has is to try and sell his stories to those concerns known to be in the market. 27. Once your story is in the mail you can do nothing but wait with such patience as you can command. It may be rather a long wait in some cases, for reasons already explained, but your impatience will not hurry a decision and may precipitate a rejection. There is no good reason why all material not suitable to the needs of the studio should not ,be returned at once. There is no good reason, but if a studio has slipshod methods and you wish to do business with that studio, you must abide by its practices. The buyer makes the rules unless the seller has the market cornered. As a rule the Editor will do the best he can to hurry things along, but he cannot dynamite his employer and a star director to get you quick action on a story. He may be married and have a family to support and he knows a good job when he has one. If you write him nasty letters you will not hurt his feelings but your chances. 28. Perhaps the story is found not suited to the company needs. The story is sent back to you with a printed note to the effect that the Editor thanks you for the pleasure you have given him. that he regrets the story is not immediately available, and that he will be glad to receive more of your work for consideration. This means he does not want your story. That is all it does mean. It is not a "good sign" that he wants to see more of your work. It is a "bad sign" only in that you do not make a sale. The storv that accom- panies the script may be unspeaka.bly poor or it may be so good that the Editor hates the director or the manufacturer for turning it down, but the same printed form goes with all and covers all. 28. There was a time when Editors used to try to help the novices