Are you an aspiring screenwriter tangled up in the web of your characters’ dramatic dilemmas? It seems many novice scribes can ingeniously drop their protagonists into thrilling predicaments but often flounder when it comes to pulling them out. This conundrum was cleverly noted by none other than Anita Loos—an iconic figure in the realm of screenwriting—who, alongside her husband John Emerson, published one of the first comprehensive guides for photoplay writers back in 1920. Today, we’ll take a peek into Loos’s insightful wisdom on storytelling, particularly her emphasis on ensuring that every setup leads to a satisfying resolution. Ready to learn how to weave those complex narratives that hold your audience’s attention from beginning to end? Let’s dive in! LEARN MORE.
“Many amateur photoplay writers are very clever in getting their characters into terribly involved situations; but they are not so clever in getting them out again.”
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 weekly series based on the book. You can access those posts here.
Today: Midway in the Photoplay [P. 102].
In any case, you must put the big scene in the story. After you have led up to it, you must not sidestep it, or your audience will feel you have taken up their time under false pretenses. Many amateur photoplay writers are very clever in getting their characters into terribly involved situations; but they are not so clever in getting them out again.
An amateur play writer will, for example, get the audience all stirred up about a young couple who are separated because of family feuds. “It’s bad, all right.” the spectator agrees. “And how are you going to mend matters?” The amateur writer is not very sure of the answer to the…
