Marguerite Bertsch

I acquired an ebook of this book first published in 1917 as a legal free download through archive.org.

Despite the title, this book had little to say about writing photoplays and much to say on writing cohesive stories. I would say 95% of the content was general writing advice--the importance of terse, focused plots; the need for tension; common themes to utilize or to avoid, etc. I wanted more insight into the actual role of a scenarist in Hollywood and how to break into those ranks, and this book delivered very little in that regard. How to Write Photoplays by John Emerson and Anita Loos was a much more focused and helpful book both for my research needs and for any hopeful writers of a century ago.… (mehr)