Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1886-01-23
c. r. SIMS DRAMATIC METHOD.
Planning the story-BuSlding 1t Cp~
Dialogue and Completion.
fPau Mall Gazette

Dialogue and Completion.
TPall Mall Gazette.l
When I get-a commission to write a
play the first thing l do, as q rule, is to
decline it, because I know it means from
three to six months OF mental misery
and a long period Of physical prostra-
ton after the work is finished. I have
declined six commissions within the last
few months, because | dread the task SO
much. Writing a play is the most ex-
hausting and the most distressing of all
forms of literary labor I have yet tried,
and l have tried my hand at a good
many branches Of the profession. When
have conquered my repugnance so far
as to undertake a play, however, this is
how | proceed. l begin to plan my
story, building it up scene by scene.
This | write out in a book, and alter and
alter until | have a clear story which |
can tell act by act to a friend, taking
care to let the end Of each act be as eff
fective as possible.
AS soon as the story is clear l begin to
look at the motives which actuate the
villain and the hero. If these are weak,
I cast about for stronger ones. When I
think that the motives are those that
will account reasonably for al that hap
pens, | set to work to write the play
that is to say, | complete the piece act
by act, writing in the dialogue as [ pro-
coed. PlayWriting is both an art and a
trick. There are certain "tricks of the
trade" which, being unknown, lead the
greatest artist into difficulties. An
audience must be written for, not at,
and different audiences require differ
ent treatment. a play which
would be an enormous success at
n house would be a failure at another.
It is, therefore, essential to bear in
mind the house you are writing your
play for, and pay attention to all the
points which are known to tell best with
those who will pay their money to be
amused at the theater for which your
play is intended. The great secret Of
success in dramatic work | believe to be
the knowledge Of what not to write.
Half the plays that fail, do so be-
cause among the good stuff there is that
which annoys an audience, Or distracts
its attention from the main points Of the
story. endeayor as far as possible to
remoye every element of danger from
d play wien L nave Written II. n InS
that is capable Of a double meaning, has
wrecked a play at a critical point more
than once, and q dangerous sentiment
has often turned the scale against the
author, at a moment when a safe senti-
ment would have turned it in his favor.
I am writing of course of that branch Of
play writing which I practice-ordinary
melodrama. Grand poetical plays, where
the language and the main idea carry
the listener up into a region removed
from the hustle and strife Of ordinary
life, are not judged by the same rules.
Tie absurdity of a situation or a]ssenti-
ment is lost sight Of, because the audi
ence, never having lived in the clouds,
cannot judge what they hear or see by
their own experience. But in meIo-
drama, where the most exciting situa-
tons, and the strongest passions Of hui
man nature are dealt with, the greatest
care is necessary to see that the thin line
which separates the sublime from the
ridiculous is not overstepped.