the beginning, there were no screenwriters. Those whomade films found it easy to invent simplistic plots as theywent along, with only the barest outline from which to work.But as the audience for movies grew, this situation couldn't last.Although the moguls raged against the necessity of hiring writers,a more discerning public dictated the change. Fledgling studio heads kept their writers anonymous and un-dervalued. At a point when stars and directors were coming intotheir own, most moviegoers still thought the actors were makingup their own lines. But in reality, even then, screenwriting was becoming a singularcalling, with conventions and rules unlike those of any other formof writing. A novelist can tell a reader in great detail what the charactersin a story are thinking, define motives and illuminate past lives inwhole chapters. A poet can create for a particular audience, whichwill be moved by a specific image or emotion. A playwright, deal-ing with the strictures of the stage, sets each scene with spokenwords. Only those who write for film must think in terms of the me-chanical eye, which sees only where it is pointed. And while dia-logue is important, the screenwriter must create a world at oncevast and personal--and must never write anything that cannot beunderstood by the camera. When the old studio system was in full flower, novelists andplaywrights were lured to Hollywood for their seal of legitimacy.The pay was good, but studio heads were amazed and furious atthe independence of writers in general. It is said that Louis B.Mayer referred to writers as "schmucks with Underwoods."ix