Frank believed there were books that would aid him.  He found them.  He found one on “Acting and Actors,” and from it he learned that no actor ever becomes really and truly great that does not have a clear and distinct enunciation and a correct pronunciation.  That is the beginning.  Then comes the study of the meaning of the words to be spoken and the effect produced by the manner in which they are spoken.

He studied all this, and he went further.  He read up on “Traditions of the Stage,” and he came to know all about its limitations and its opportunities.

From this it was a natural step to the study of the construction of plays.  He found books of criticism on plays and playwriting, and he mastered them.  He found books that told how to construct plays, and he mastered them.

Frank Merriwell was a person with a vivid imagination and great mechanical and constructive ability.  Had this not been so, he might have studied forever and still never been able to write a successful play.  In him there was something study could not give, but study and effort brought it out.  He wrote a play.

“John Smith of Montana” was a success.  Frank played the leading part, and he made a hit.

Then fate rose up and again dealt him a body blow.  A scene in the play was almost exactly like a scene in another play, written previously.  The author and owner of the other play called on the law to “protect” him.  An injunction was served on Merry to restrain him from playing “John Smith.”  He stood face to face with a lawsuit.

Frank investigated, and his investigation convinced him that it was almost certain he would be defeated if the case was carried into the courts.

He withdrew “John Smith.”

Frank had confidence in himself.  He had written a play that was successful, and he believed he could write another.  Already he had one skeletonized.  The frame work was constructed, the plot was elaborated, the characters were ready for his use.

He wrote a play of something with which he was thoroughly familiar—–­college life.  The author or play-maker of ability who writes of that with which he is familiar stands a good chance of making a success.  Young and inexperienced writers love to write of those things with which they are unfamiliar, and they wonder why it is that they fail.

They go too far away from home for their subject.

At first Frank’s play was not a success.  The moment he discovered this he set himself down to find out why it was not a success.  He did not look at it as the author, but as a critical manager to whom it had been offered might have done.

He found the weak spots.  One was its name.  People in general did not understand the title, “For Old Eli.”  There was nothing “catchy” or drawing about it.

He gave it another name.  He called it, “True Blue:  A Drama of College Life.”

The name proved effective.