Plot Genie Comedy

Wycliffe A. Hill sold two silent film screenplays when the great director Cecil B. DeMille rejected one of his submissions. "...Although an interesting narrative," DeMille wrote, "it contains no dramatic plot." Apparently, Hill was inspired to created THE PLOT GENIE, a book containing lists of plot elements, characters, and settings. A cardboard spinner wheel -- "The Plot Robot" accompanied each copy. Plot Genie and its subsequent supplements flourished during the Depression, when newsstands were filled with pulp magazines, and every magazine sported at least one short story. Hill spent most of his professional career as a story consultant and gave lectures and workshops on plot construction.