Screenwriting Advice From The Past: What to Write and Not to Write [Part 2]

“Almost every conceivable situation has occurred to a writer somewhere in the past. You can, however, get a new story by adding a new theme to the old situation, or an original character or by other combinations of the elements of the plot.”

If you are a screenwriter, you should know about Anita Loos. Loos was one of the most influential writers in the early stages of American cinema, associated with 136 film projects per IMDb.

Married to writer John Emerson, the pair wrote one of the first books on screenwriting in 1920: “How to Write Photoplays”. I have been running a series based on the book.

Today: What to Write and Not to Write [P. 77].

Almost every conceivable situation has occurred to a writer somewhere in the past. You can, however, get a new story by adding a new theme to the old situation, or an original character or by other combinations of the elements of the plot.

Okay, if Loos and Emerson were saying this back in 1920, considering the tens of thousands of movies that have been produced in the century, imagine what their perspective would be nowadays.

Face it, friends: There is no such thing as a ‘new’ story. Every story is a variation of something that has come before.

So you work with ideas and do things like gender-bending, genre-bending, and use the old reliable ‘what if’.

Reminds me of an anecdote about Woody Guthrie. Guthrie, who wrote over 4,000 songs in his life, was once asked how he came up with his melodies. He said [paraphrased], “Well, I take one I like, twist the notes a lil’ bit here, a lil’ bit there, and make it my own.”

That’s basically what writers do. Take a story idea, twist it around a bit, make it our own.

For inspiration, check out this video: “Everything is a Remix”:

Tomorrow: More screenwriting advice from the past.

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

For the rest of the series articles:

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

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 am recovering them one by one in this reprise of the series.