Screenwriting Advice From The Past: What to Write and Not to Write [Part 3]

“At the present time, the material most in demand is the story with the emotional woman as the star, good light comedies, satires upon society, plots dealing with the wave of mysticism now sweeping over the world (new thought, spiritualism or the power of the human will), American business stories, small town tales with plenty of local color, and wholesome tales of adventure and romance in any form.”

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.

Well, for just about the first time in this lengthy series, we clearly have sensibilities in the past that have little relevance to the present. There’s not one of those story areas that would light up a prospective buyer’s eyes nowadays. Of course, they didn’t have computer generated imagery in 1920 nor a long history of comic book superheroes to create the glut of those type of franchises. Nor the contemporary capability to do or interest in action movies or thrillers. Even “good light comedies” probably wouldn’t cut it much in today’s world, preferring SNL-type or R-rated humor. And if you pitched anything “wholesome” and your name wasn’t Pixar, you’d likely find your way heading out the door pretty quickly, the interest in deeply flawed Protagonists and dark narratives so prevalent now.

What is interesting to note is even back then, writers were aware of market trends and the buyer’s interests. In other words, it pays for a writer to know the marketplace.

Times change. Cultural sensibilities evolve. But as this series has demonstrated, much of what the writing process is about is similar. 1920. 2012. Come up with a strong idea. Write a great story. Entertain readers.

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

To read my entire series of posts on highlighting takeaways from the book, go here.

Next week, more screenwriting advice from a century ago.