But too
many writers, conscious of this fact, make the mistake of forcing the
pace. The solid photoplay of today should not be made to resemble a
cheap melodrama, in which something highly sensational is sure to
happen every three minutes. Just because you have seen a sensational
episode in a play on the screen, do not attempt to crowd your scenario
with minor thrills and sensations, regardless of whether the incident
pictured is relevant to the plot. If your plot is a strong one, its
unfolding will _suggest_ scenes of sufficient dramatic quality to hold
the interest. But do not search your brain for startling situations to
introduce here, there, and everywhere in the action, paying no
attention to whether they have little, if anything, to do with the
plot.
Imagination is the writer's greatest asset, but imagination run riot
is photoplay madness. It must be intelligently exercised else it will
fairly run away with the plot, and the result will be a literary
wreck. You must study--and hence realize at least fairly
completely--the possibilities of your story before you start to write
it at all. Haphazard work will never bring you anything--in photoplay
writing or in any other creative line.
_7. Centralizing the Interest_
It is almost impossible to produce a really effective photoplay
without centering the attention of the spectator on one of the
principal characters and holding it there until the end.
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