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.”

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].

“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.”

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.

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
What to Write and Not to Write: Part 2

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.