Whenever I read or see a play or screenplay I like, I try to figure out what it is that makes the script work. Neil Simon is one of my favorites and, while his best plays all have their own special virtues, there is one feature that occurs over and over again. It's something I call the Sword of Damocles.

Swords of Damocles are events that hang over characters heads, something they look forward to, usually with a sense of dread. Those of you familiar with Neil Simon's work will recognize this recurring trope. In The Out-of-Towners, it's Jack Lemon's job interview in New York; in The Goodbye Girl, it's Richard Dreyfuss's performance in Richard III; in Lost in Yonkers, there actually two Swords of Damocles, as Richard Dreyfusss appointment with gangsters and Mercedes Ruehl's announcement of her plan to marry occur on the same night.

The device works because it holds the audience' attention, as it wonders how the event will eventually turn out, and the events outcome also provides the play's or film's climax. The Sword of Damocles is just one method for maintaining dramatic tension there are others, but its something for writers to keep in mind when writing a film script or play.