Category: Writing Tips

Characters Must Be Interesting.–Most People read for amusement and entertainment. It will be well for the young writer to bear this fact constantly in mind in planning who his characters will be and what they will do. What they will be will depend largely on whether his story is to be one of action of […]

What Plot Is-Plot consists of the series of incidents which present a picture of life—logical—clear—interesting. In a previous chapter I treated of the types of stories—the places, people, and circumstances from which plot-germs might be obtained. Now that the author possesses an idea, a character, a setting or an emotion to bring out, it is […]

Do Not Expect Success in a Day.—Do not expect that everything you write will sell readily. You may not have offered it in the right direction, or at the right time, or possibly your manuscript is weak in some respect. There are many writers who rejoice that their first amateur efforts did not sell. But […]

Ideas Are Common to All.—Many aspiring writers have said to me: “I would love to write for the movies or for the magazines and I know I could if I only had the right kind of ideas. But I don’t think my ideas would make good stories or photoplays.” How very amusing indeed are such […]

The Three Factors of Success.—A certain famous writer has said that success in writing depends largely upon three factors. First, the individual must be intensely interested in writing; second, he must have something worth while to say; third, he must be able to say it clearly and understandingly and with the least possible effort and […]

The Part Played by Your Imagination.—As I already have mentioned in preceding chapters, sympathetic observation is an essential from which salable stories will have their inspiration. By your observation of life, will your stories be known. Knowledge cannot be manufactured, cannot be simulated—it must be actually yours. Your observation, however, will be assisted to a […]

What Theme Is.—Every story must have a start, a beginning, a foundation. Such a nucleus we call the theme. The theme of the story is that part of the story about which the author builds his complete production. Of course, the theme of the story may not be the germ idea or the bare incident […]

The Purpose of Point of View.—The reader comes to you, the author, as an entire stranger. From the moment of introduction, he gladly relinquishes all conscious hold on his practical every-day world. He is determined to incorporate himself into the soul and being of your hero, to think that He is this hero; hence, has […]

The Function of Setting Explained.—Setting in the photoplay consists of the time, place, and condition it) which the action takes place. In the setting we have what we might call “atmosphere” in terms of art, or “environment” in the terminology of science. In a way, the setting means to the plot and characters what the […]

Increasing Importance of the Title.—There has been a style in tides somewhat as in dress. At one time it was customary to use a certain fixed order of words. Later the fad was to use the leading character’s name as a title. Then titles of color were used. But all the while, little real attention […]