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Building the Dramatic Scenario
THE trouble with ninety-nine out of one hundred stories is that they lack the cement of perspective. A group of very pretty, well-made bricks of situation and character portrayal are made and are set on top of each other. But they tumble in a heap when pushed with the prod of dramatic analysis because there is nothing to hold them together. And even if there is a slight joining medium running through the story structure, oft times the brick of particular characters is so much larger or smaller than the situations to which it is attached as to create an equally dangerous weakness.
I would be carried away with the particular series of sermons I was writing. I would build them and build them and build them. And then at the end I would find them utterly out of proportion to other elements, equally important dramatically but not nearly as interesting to develop.
And I would find that a small minor character would so intrigue me that I would load upon the lady or gentleman a great deal of very important business which would give them a flash in the limelight for a few scenes and then die out, without having advanced the story in any way.
A story is a unit and not a conglomeration, but this is a fact that few who desire to write ever learn.
Amateur writers too often get panic-stricken when minor characters get out of hand. The tendency then is to throw too much of the plot to them and, as a result, the story develops a jarring flat wheel.
When a minor character seems to be gobbling too much, I transfer its business to a major character and thus move toward a smooth, direct plot.
But sometimes this action is real torture. In "Don't Change Your Husband," I had a wife's friend who was simply lovely. She was a piquant, delightful little piece. I had all sorts of fun playing with her. But one day I woke up and found she was nothing but a nice, big log right square in the path of my leading lady. I wept about twenty-four hours, and then carefully amputated my pet, transferring all of her important action to the feminine principal.
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