And remember that even though the director may be the one most to
blame for not taking the trouble to verify the action introduced into
your story before putting it on, _you_ will be the one blamed by those
in the studio, and your next story will undoubtedly be looked at
askance, and probably rejected.
[Footnote 28: See synopsis in Chapter VIII.]
CHAPTER XVII
WHAT YOU SHOULD WRITE
"With inventiveness and imagination the most commonplace, the
everyday-life subject, such as the ills and cares we have to bear,
becomes, by a proper exposition of human nature under those
conditions, a story both entertaining and instructive. But
_entertaining_ first, instructive second; to _try_ to be instructive
is to cease to be entertaining.
"The strength of a story consists in the eloquence, vividness,
and sincerity with which a given problem in human life or
character is presented. Human nature is made up of all sorts of
traits--selfishness, cupidity, self-sacrifice, courage, loyalty. All
life is made up ... of a compromise between elements in the struggle
for happiness. These elements make for the story, happiness being the
chief factor for which humanity is searching."
Though written for short-story writers, these words from an article by
Mr. Floyd Hamilton Hazard are so true, and so applicable to the
writing of photoplays, that we reproduce them here.
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