Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-26
HOW DRAMATISTS WORK.
The Long and Difficult job of Making
Good and Popular Play.

How DO dramatists write PLAYS? In AL
most as many ways as there are dramatists.
In one respect, however their methods
hardly ever differ. They first make an out
line OF the plot, characters and episodes
That is called a scenario Sometimes it In
cludes the salient points only. Sometimes it
goes irto minute details. Anyway, it shapes
and forms his entire play. By this time he
has studied the possibilities of his theme
and decided what his characters shall do
He has learned by experience that his work
Is more difficult thar that of the novelist
He must not describe things, but present
them. He may resort TO narrative only at
the risk of losing the attention of an audi
ence a play of words and not of deeds is
IKE the proVerblal garden full of weeds"
The personages will not amount to much IL
they merely talk. They must show their
traits, motives and intentions in action. The
sOtloquy is, therefore, not in favor with
the modern playwright. These conditions
Impose long and hard labor upon even the
SeHiuses among writer's for the stage. More
time and thought are often spent on a
scenario thar in writing out the play. 1t
may be said hat a drama of the first-class
is q good years task.
The playwright must keep his characters
plainly before him all the while. 1t is es-
Sential that he shall know where they are,
whether active or Idle. Whenever they stir
II should mean something. An indefinite
movement may spoil the effect which he in
tends to make The audience sees quite as
much as II hears One of our well-knoWn
authors sets small puppets on a miniature
stage and moves them about. In no other
way can he keep the situations clearly in
mind while deyising and developing them
Another man of equal renown needs no
such signs or tokens. The scene in every
detail Is vivid to him without any aids
Others make notes on diagrams. Still 9TH
ers use whatever small things happen to he
at hand. An old jacknife and a pair of
scissors were the hero and heroine of a GER
tain famous drama during all the time that
II was being written. One expert in stage
craft, who happens to be also a deyotee of
chess, works out the action on a chess
board. He fancies that he is helped in that
way 10 solve the problems of his plot He
opposes his forces of good and evil. plays
them against each other and wins final vic
tories for the right. Nonsense? Not If II
facilitates his work. His faEcy requires In
element.
At the other extreme may be mentioned a
man who never has to make so much as a
dot on paper to assist'his memory as to the
action He mas his troubles of another kind.
ne Is compelled to guard himself against
confusion and inconsistencies in the various
interests OF the play in hand He makes
diagrams of them, showing their starts and
stops rises and falls, contacts and separa-
tons Thus he sees their proportions and
builds them up or pulls them down to shit
their relative Importance This diagram
Incomes an elaborate chart as work nro-
crosses. 1t Is clear to him., If to nobody
else 1t guides him in keeping his principal
characters dominant and his minor ones
suhhfdlnate- By means of Il he moves
everything toward that climax which every
successful drama must reach
what the actors do, besides speaking the
words OF the play. Is called the ''business"
Ihe oid-fashioned way was to insert that