Animating a scissor script

Hey Everyone,

I am attempting to animate a scissor script but I can't seem to crack it. I have the beginnings of a script starting to animate, but I can not control distance in the y direction and more over I have a larger problem that the length of the stick members is stretching. I am obviously doing some things wrong, does anyone have any ideas on steps I can embark upon to make it right? The pic shows the type of structure I am attempting to animate.

Thanks a bunch,

Amanda