Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Loos & Emerson (1920)

In my ongoing research into screenwriting, I discovered the book “How to Write Photoplays,” written in 1920 by Anita Loos and her husband John Emerson.

Loos was a superstar, the first well-known writer of what were then called photoplays. This series goes through the book chapter by chapter spotlighting elements. that are as applicable today as they were back then.

You can read “How to Write Photoplays” via Google books online here.

Introduction
Getting Ideas
Conflict and Crisis
Situation
Theme
Star Sympathy
Action: Part 1
Action: Part 2
Action: Part 3
Action: Part 4
Action: Part 5
Story Synopsis
Continuity: Part 1
Continuity: Part 2
The Title
Marketing the Script
Writing for the Camera
Scenery for Scenarios
The Actor’s Angle: Part 1
The Actor’s Angle: Part 2
Character On The Screen: Part 1
Character On The Screen: Part 2
Character On The Screen: Part 3
Character On The Screen: Part 4
The “Interest”: Part 1
The “Interest”: Part 2
The Kinds of Stories That Sell: Part 1
The Kinds of Stories That Sell: Part 2
The Kinds of Stories That Sell: Part 3
The Kinds of Stories That Sell: Part 4
The Kinds of Stories That Sell: Part 5
What to Write and Not to Write: Part 1
What to Write and Not to Write: Part 2
What to Write and Not to Write: Part 3
Cutting The Picture: Part 1
Cutting The Picture: Part 2
Cutting The Picture: Part 3
Writing for the Censors: Part 1
Writing for the Censors: Part 2
Writing for the Censors: Part 3
The Pictorial Element
The Denouement: Part 1
The Denouement: Part 2
The Denouement: Part 3
How To Begin: Part 1
How To Begin: Part 2
Midway in the Photoplay: Part 1
Midway in the Photoplay: Part 2
Midway in the Photoplay: Part 3
Midway in the Photoplay: Part 4
Midway in the Photoplay: Part 5
Midway in the Photoplay: Part 6
Midway in the Photoplay: Part 7
The Final Close-Up: Part 1
The Final Close-Up: Part 2
The Final Close-Up: Part 3
The Final Close-Up: Part 4

Note: I ran this series originally in 2012. Unfortunately, the individual articles got bungled up on the site in some sort of technical snafu. So, I recovered them one by one in this reprise of the series.