play plot. Many a promising photoplay script
has failed because it did not make good its prophecy. The plot opened
well, but "petered out"--the complication was a good one, but the
unfolding of the mystery, the result of the struggle, the aftermath of
the choice, were disappointing.

And one final word in this connection: The _photoplay public loves a
"happy ending"--unless it must be forced_.

_3. The Study of Plot-Structure_

A careful study of fictional and dramatic plot will well repay the
photoplaywright. But little more can be said here on the technique of
plot, though it deserves a treatise in itself; but much will be gained
if these few words are taken seriously, and no stories are submitted
except those revolving about ORIGINAL, CLEAR-CUT, PLAUSIBLE
SITUATIONS SHOWING THE LIVES OF HUMAN BEINGS IN THEIR HOUR OF CRISIS,
AND WORKING OUT THE AFTER-RESULTS OF THAT CRISIS WITH LIVELY, DRAMATIC
HUMAN INTEREST.

This advice applies even to humor, for humor takes things which are
ordinarily serious and by introducing the incongruous makes them
laughable. It is the sudden interruption of smooth going, the
unexpected shifting of the factors in the problem, the new and
surprising condition of affairs, the swift disappointment--it is any
of these in countless variety that makes plot possible.

Learn to invent plots. Invent them wholesale--by day, by night. Turn
the facts of everyday life into plots. Draw them from jests, from
tragedies, from newspapers, from books, from your own heart--and don't
omit the heart, whatever else you do omit. At first, invent merely
complications; later work out the situation entire. Thus you will
cultivate an inventive attitude and at least _some_ good plots are
sure to result.

_4. Preparation of the Synopsis_

The synopsis of the plot is the first part of the script to be read by
the editor, for from it he decides whether the whole script is worth
reading further. For this reason, even were there no other, the
importance of the synopsis should need no argument. Besides, many
companies now are willing to consider "synopsis only."

The _final_ preparation of the synopsis should be the last stroke in
the completion of the script. We emphasize "final" because, as has
been briefly pointed out in a previous chapter, the writer should at
the very outstart draft a rough, or working, synopsis, to be used as
a guide while working out the various scenes in his scenario.

The reasons for