Glass L GopightN . COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP. BY. / JAMES KNAPP REEVE. A work designed to afford writers an in- sight into certain technical, commercial and financial aspects of the profession of letters as followed by the general writer for current publications. CINCINNATI THE EDITOR PUBLISHING CO 1900. 1 TWO copies Mbrary Reg-is ^\\n1 - copykight The Editor Publishing company second co; j y. CONTENTS. Page. CHAPTER I. - - - - 1 Literary Beginnings — Preparation for Literary Work — The Writer's Relations with Editors — Short Story and Verse Writers — The Many Avenues for Literary Employment — Studying the Varied Needs of Publications — Why Manuscripts are Rejected — Causes of Failure — Editing one's own Mss. CHAPTER II. 19 Literature as a Profession — Industry and Busi- ness Acumen Needful for Success — -Practice Perfects — The Mind Developed and Strengthened by Application — Writing for Practice — Study for Condensation — Models for Style— What Writers Should Read— The Matter More Important than the Man- ner — Hours for Work — The Writer his own Editor. CHAPTER III. - . . u Editors the Friends of Writers — Their Conside - ation for new Aspirants — Help Editors by Doing your Work Properly — How to Prepare li CONTENTS Page. and Send your Ms. — Don't Send Needless Letters — Type Copy is Preferred — The Nom- de-plume — Don't Presume on Editors. CHAPTER IV. - - - 59 Tools of the Craft — Studying the Dictionary — List of Valuable Text Books — Keeping Clip- pings for Reference — Scrap Books — Note Books — Files of Journals — The Subject Book. CHAPTER V. - - - - 75 A Stepping Stone — The Training Valuable for Future Literary Work — Newspaper English — The Newspaper a Daily Magazine — Divis- ion of Labor — Necessary Qualities for a Re- porter — How to Write a News Story — Val- uable Knowledge and Acquaintance — Fa- mous Correspondents — Compensation — The Reporter's Field — Examples of Reportorial Work. CHAPTER VI. 91 The Short Story— Model Short Stories— The New Writer Welcome — Qualities of the Suc- cessful Short Story — Love Stories Always Popular — Action — Length — Sad Stories not Desired — "True Stories" not Good Fiction — Rapid or Slow Composition — Fashions in Fiction — Statements of Publishers' Needs — Timeliness in Fiction. CONTENTS in Page. CHAPTER VII. - - - 112 The Literary Hack— His Wide Field— Gold- smith's Description — The Knowledge and Ability Required — How Large Incomes are Earned — Various Lines of Work — Draw- backs — Analysis of Income. CHAPTER VIII. - - - 127 The Specialist — What he has Accomplished in Other Fields — His Place in Literature — What he may Achieve — The Varied Lines for the Specialist — The Training of the Specialist. CHAPTER IX. 136 The Descriptive Article — Qualities Necessary to a Descriptive Writer — The Wide Field for his Work — Newspapers and Magazines use such Articles — Subjects Found on Every Hand and in Every-day Life. CHAPTER X. 144 Verse-writing — Young Writers Incline toward Poetry — Amateurs Deluge Editors with Poor Verses — Offerings Greatly in excess of Demands — The Market Limited — The Sort of Work Wanted — Prices Paid. iv CONTENTS Page. CHAPTER XI. - - - 156 The Trade Journal— A Profitable Field— Qual- ifications of an Industrial Writer — How to Begin with such Work — List of Industrial Journals that Buy Material — Correspon- dence for Trade Journals — Fashion and Commercial Work. CHAPTER XII. - - - 166 The Humorist — Joke-writing as a Profession —An Important Branch of Literary Work — The Heights and Depths of Humorous Writing — The Publications that use Hu- mor — What They Want and What they Pay. CHAPTER XIII. - - - 177 The Agricultural Press — Good Training Ground for New Writers — Branches of Work Allied to Agriculture — Practical Work at a Pre- mium — Partial List of Agricultural Jour- nals. CHAPTER XIV. - - . - 185 Juvenile Work — Sometimes Considered as Good Practice — Talent Required to Produce Good Work — Leading Juvenile Publications — The Class of Material Used by Them — Other Fields for Juvenile Work — List of Publica- tions. CONTENTS v Page. CHAPTER XV 204 The English Literary Market — American Writ- ers for English Journals — A Wide Field for Good Material — Obtain and Study English Journals — A List of Publications that Pay for Contributions — The Matter of Postage . (The following short chapters, XVI to XXVII inclusive, are ed- itorials written by the author for his journal at various times; and are given place here as they seem to carry in condensed form just the information that writers would seek under these heads.) XVI Choosing a Market 212 XVII The Typewriter 217 XVIII . Preparing Copy 223 XIX The Question of Timeliness 226 XX Sydicates 232 XXI The Ethics of Postage 236 XXII A Neglected Field 239 XXIII Articles of Information 242 XXVI The Literary Critic 245 XXV The Value of Work 248 XXVI The Profession of Authorship 254 XXVII The Writer of Travel 265 *XXVIII Song Words and Hymn Writing 271 XXIX Don'ts For Writers 285 "■Contributed by Prof. Will Earhart. BY-vs ® JAMES KNAPP REEVE. Vawder's Understudy : A study in Platonic Affec- tion. Cloth. 16 mo. 75c. U A clever book A bright, able, readable book." — Cincinnati ComT— Tribune. The Three Richard Whalens. Cloth, 16 mo. 75c- 44 As good a story of adventure as one would care to read The English is excellent, and the reader is carried along with a swing that is commendable. The description of the battle with the pirates is an excellent piece of work, as good in its way as Anthony Hope's famous description of the fight for the King's life in the Castle at Zenda." —Post-Express, Rochester, N. Y. CHAPTER I. At the threshold. LITERARY BEGINNINGS PREPARATION FOR LITERARY WORK THE WRITER'S RELATIONS WITH EDITORS SHORT STORY AND VERSE WRITERS THE MANY AVENUES FOR LITERARY EMPLOYMENT STUDYING THE VARIED NEEDS OF PUBLICATIONS WHY MANUSCRIPTS ARE REJECTED CAUSES OF FAILURE EDITING ONE'S OWN MSS. Thorough preparation for literary work is most desirable; but how few, in determining to enter upon a literary career, give to this any thought or at- tention. The young man or woman just out of school, the woman of fashion, the weary housewife, the professional man or the man of business, may con- clude that he or she possesses undev el- oped literary talent, and forthwith prepares to enter the arena. We say "prepares," but rather the entry into the arena is without preparation of any sort. The tyro does not understand why he is not as competent to write for editors and for the public as Jones, who appears to be successful in that line, whom he knows well and is very certain is no smarter than himself. That point PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Literature to be studied as a profession. The literary worker and the editor. of view may be correct, but lie overlooks the fact that Jones has served an ap- prenticeship of many years. The be- ginner should ask himself if he is willing to do the same, and if not, would better resign his literary ambitions at once. When the time arrives that men and women, who wish to become writers will look upon the idea exactly as they would upon that of becoming a black- smith, or an artist, or an opera singer, there will be fewer incompetents knock- ing at editorial doors. When they real- ize that training is all important, that success is to be expected only after this training, and as the result of concen- trated effort and experience; that any other success is phenomenal and unusual; and that this course pursued with great patience, allied to some amount of in- herent aptitude and ability will bring a measure of success, then writing will be a less sad business all around. That a literary worker is upon an especial^ high and isolated plane of in- tellectual life, separate from and above all those whose professions have called them into other paths for their life work, is a false idea; and the earlier in a writer's career that his mind becomes freed from such an impression the better will he fare in his intercourse with the PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Manuscripts are merchandise. world in general — and with editors in particular. And here at the outset we strike the key-note of our whole subject— The Editor! — for it is the editor, in general and in particular, who must be con- sidered at the very beginning by one embarking upon the career of a writer for the press. Make a study of the edi- tor and his needs, make it the business of your life to understand them, and you will at least have entered on the right road. That manuscript which to its author represents a labor of love and the in- spiration of genius is among editors a purely commercial commodity. A liter- ary publication, to succeed, must have: First, reading matter, for which it must pay. Second, advertisements, for which it is paid. Now here is an example in cause and effect. The circulation of the magazine will depend on the interest the public takes in the reading matter; and the advertising will depend upon the circulation so acquired. Therefore, it is the object of every editor to set forth a table of contents that will appeal to the largest possible constituency. If jour stor}^ or poem or essay will help him toward this end, then he wants it and is willing to make you due compensa- 4 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP tion. If it will not help him toward this end he does not want it, at any price nor under any circumstances. There you have the whole thing in a nut-shell. Its value depends upon how much he thinks it will profit his publica- tion. Of course he may err in his judg- ment, but he is very likely to know much more about it than you do, or than can any man whose experience has not been acquired in an editorial chair. It is well to realize also that the law of supply and demand governs the manuscript market, as it does the mar- ket for every other article of commerce, whether the product of genius or of brawn. One publication in the United States is said to receive 15,000 manu- scripts annually. It can use at the The law of most two hundred and fifty. Another supply receives about the same number, some fifty manuscripts daily. Its monthly issues contain an average of less than thirty articles; hence there remains daily an over supply of at least forty-eight contributions which, regardless of merit, must be returned to their authors. Not wholly regardless of merit, either! The fact may be accepted that the really poor material is certain to go back. All the other has a chance. The better one has made his work, the better its and demand. Plan PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 5 chance for being one of the two accepted out of the fifty. We have known young writers, or rather those who are ambitious to be- come writers, but are not yet quite in the ranks, to ask editors what they should write about! Editors do not care in the least what you shall write about. If you are not sufficiently im- pelled toward some one thing, some one your own" work ceirtra l thought or idea, some one branch of literary work to take that up and study it, and evolve from it something of consequence, you would better not attempt to write at all. If you have a distinct trend toward any line of thought, and can express yourself clear- ly thereupon in good form, then jonr work is indicated plainly enough. As a rule, letters of the sort indicated above, are not answered. They signify that the writer has no conception of what literary work really is, no train- ing, no ideas, and not very much com- The mon-sense. It is not the business of editor's an editor to select topics and give them business. ou ^ as a SC tt 00 i mas ter may to his class in composition; but it is his business to examine that which is offered, and select such as best meets the needs of his publication. The average young writer inclines first PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Fiction and poetry the lines toward which young writers incline. toward fiction. The short story has more devotees than all other lines of literary effort combined; but it is also worth noting that the short story fills a considerable space in the great major- ity of periodicals. Yet while avenues for the publication of the short story are practically unlimited, the offerings of such material are always greatly in excess of editors' needs. The really good short story is constantly in demand, and it may safely be asserted that the writer who can produce such is assured of a hearing; but poor short stories deluge every editorial office in the coun- try; and if you can only do the poor or mediocre story you would better let it entirely alone. Next to story writers in number stand the poets. Verses, we will not dignify them by the name of poetry, are a nuisance in the offices of all classes of publications. Silly, senseless, imperfect rhyming, sent out by would-be poets who do not understand the first elements of prosody, and who are too ignorant of their attempted vocation even to be able to qualify themselves by study, make up the vast bulk of these offerings. Far better would it be to consign all such effusions to the waste-basket, rather than squander postage and need- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 7 lessly trouble editors. But that there is a demand for good verse, as for all other good literary material, is true, and in another place we shall recur again and at more length to this subject. The avenues into which the young writer may direct his talents, provided he has versatility as well as ability, are almost beyond number. A few of them The many may be indicated as follows: avenues for the The agricultural press offers the widest writer. scope for writers who understand the processes of skilled husbandry, of horti- culture, of floriculture, or who are familiar with any of the aspects of rural life. The student of natural history has for his field almost every journal in the country, for there are few editors who are not alert to place before their read- ers informing articles upon the wonders of the universe. One who understands the use of tools, who knows how ores are mined and smelted, how leather is tanned, how cotton is ginned and baled and pressed, who has information re- garding any practical and prosaic in- dustry of our daily life, may find an avenue for what he has to say upon it in the trade or technical journal or in the columns of the newspapers. The housewife -who understands the care of a window garden, the making of delicate 8 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP conserves, the refined arts of housewifery, may speak upon these things through the various household and domestic journals, and in the special department devoted to the affairs of the household, which is a feature of many newspapers and magazines. The teacher, through the pen and the press, especially by aid of the educa- tional journals, can find a larger school than that afforded by the occupants of the benches in his school -room. Through the religious journals the preacher can reach a vaster congregation than ever assembled within sound of human voice. The man who rejoices in out-of- door life, in the strength and skill of leg and arm, in the use of gun and rod, may audience « tell of the life that he knows best, through the various journals devoted to the sportsman. Nor will the leading mag- azines look upon his work askance, es- pecially if it is accompanied by good material for illustration. The humor- ist, the man whose profession it is to look upon the bright side of life, who can evolve a quip or a joke from the common affairs of the day, is welcomed by the editors of our comic journals, and has a place reserved for him in many of our most sedate publications. The trav- eler who ventures far afield may, in the PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 9 pages of our best magazines, in the columns of the daily newspapers and through almost every journal that is published, tell of his journeyings and adventures in the strange nooks and corners of this round earth. The manner in which a writer may choose his work has been indica- ted. If he is sufficiently . versatile to work along many lines, and if suffi- ciently practical to work with a definite purpose, so that he does not fritter away his energies, his task of earning at least a livelihood from literature should, comparatively, be an easy one. Whether he will do more than this depends upon his force and the amount of gray matter What the writer in his brain. A lazy man will not accom- ma y , plish much in an y walk of life. As to accomplish \. 1 the rest — a man may be a traveler and a writer of travel, and able to tell clearly and intelligently of that which his eyes have seen. If he can do so much, he will probably be a welcome space writer uxjon the newspapers and acceptable as a contributor to the minor magazines. But if he can adorn his subject with the charm and graces of style which made the work of the lamented Theodore Child the envy of lesser men who aspired to be writers of travel, he may hope both for fame and ample financial emolu- ments. Model 10 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP In passing, it may be said that no better models of this class of work can be found than the articles upon the far travel* work.' East, written by Theodore Child and Edwin Lord Weeks, and published in Harper's Magazine within the last few years. Having chosen one's line of work, the next step will be to determine the publi- cations for which one will endeavor to fit this work. It is not often wise, ex- cept for the man of genius or already famous author, to write at random. We mean by this, to put oneself at work on any article, of any style or length, upon any topic which may come to mind, without first having a more or less definite idea of one or more publica- tions for which it might be especially available. For instance, one might be a definite 'aim an enthusiastic sportsman. His incli- nation and information might suggest to him that he prepare an article upon tarpon fishing along the Florida coast. But if he has no idea of publications which use articles of that character, he would better not waste his time writing one. Further, such an article, of 1,500 to 2,500 words, might be acceptable to a newspaper. If exceptionally well done it might run to 4,000 or 5,000 words, and be acceptable to one of the illus- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 11 tratecl magazines. But if the writer overlooked only this one point of length, and, being a close strident of the pisca- torial art, permitted his inclinations free play to the extent of embellishing his article with erudite information, with scientific dissertations upon the species, with a technical analysis of the various rods and reels and tackles to be used in the pursuit of this exceedingly gamy fish, and so elaborated his article to 10,000 or 15,000 words, he would pro- bably seek in vain for a publisher. This indicates plainly that the writer should be a student not only of the top-, ics upon which he would write, but of all publications as well which use mate- rial of the sort that he proposes to furnish. Of course a writer can hardly^ be a subscriber to all the leading period- icals of the day r ; the expense of such a method of securing this information current would make rather too serious an publications. inroad upon his earnings. But, if pos- sible, he should visit frequently the pe- riodical room of a large library, and there at least glance over all the publi- cations upon its tables. To do this once or twice a y^ear would hardly suffice. The changes in the publishing world are constant,and periodicals suffer from the same vicissitudes to which other Study 12 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Rejected manuscripts a part of the experience of ail. branches of trade are liable. Maga- zines come and go, and that which is to-day shall not be to-morrow. At least once a month the writer should refresh his information and memory re- garding the avenues for publication. One of the most disheartening exper- iences for the literary beginner is the return of manuscripts with the little slip which explains nothing beyond the fact that that partic- ular manuscript is not wanted by the particular editor to whom it has been offered. It requires some time for a young writer to understand that this is a reg- ular part and process of the business of authorship. One who always takes the rejection of a manuscript to imply that his offering is unworthy, or who feels that it is intended as a mark of discouragement, has an entirely wrong view of the matter. We have known promising writers to give up all attempts at literary work, only because they could not endure such slings and arrows of an untoward fortune. Some of these, had they persisted, would un- doubtedly in the course of time have ac- complished much good work. A great many attempts have been made to explain why editors use such PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 13 a very noncommittal rejection form, and why it is almost impossible to get them to make any comment at all upon a re- jected manuscript. The usual rejection slip runs something like this: "The editor regrets that the enclosed manuscript, which has been kindly sub- mitted for use in his magazine, is not in line with its present needs. With thanks for the courtesy of permitting us the pleasure of its perusal, we are, This tells one absolutely nothing. Your manuscript may be wholly worth- less, it may be the product of ignorance, or of crass stupidity; or it may be the highly finished product of an intelligent brain — material in every way worthy of publication, even worthy of place in that particular journal to which it was \mu «„..„„,. offered. Ii it belongs in the former cat- Why causes . . ' of rejection are egory, the editor is too courteous to ex- not explained. plain its shortcomings. Ifhedidso,he might wound the feelings of one whom he certain^ does not care to wound, or might involve himself in correspondence or controversy. An editor who ven- tures upon the criticism of any manu- script is very apt to hear from the writer again, and so be placed under the necessity of explaining his strict- ures. Very few editors have the time to give from their duties to such personal 14 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP correspondence. And the editor rightly argues it is not his business to pose as a critic except so far as may concern the wants of his own publication. He even may be no better judge of the needs of other publications than is the writer of the stor\^ or article. For this reason he sometimes ventures to close his note of declination with the courteous hope that the rnaterial offered will be found in line with the needs of some other journal. If the manuscript belongs in the sec- ond category, it is then not a question of merit but of availability. The ar- ticle or story may be thoroughly good, but not of the sort that is used by that Reasons magazine. Or it may be of the right for non- sort, but not timely. Or it may be of availability. ^ r jg^ t sort an( j timely, but something else, which covers the same ground, may already have been accepted, — some- thing which, in short, has pre-empted the place that this might have had. It may be some balm to the over-sen- sitive j^oung writer to know that most of those who afterward became great writers, passed through the same ex- perience of editorial declinations. Mr. Howells has told us how he hoped to be a poet, and how^ his verses came back. Mr. Kipling's Plain Tales were PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 15 refused by a publishing house which meij well pride itself upon the few mis- takes of that sort made in its long and honorable career. The writer who can say honestly that he has never known this particular form of discouragement in the whole course of his career would certainly be an exception, and any who would venture upon such a statement would, we fear, not be generalry credi- ted by those who know the ins and outs of the literary life. But while we recognize the fact that declinations are a part of our lot, we are all willing to dispense with these as far as possible. The one thing that will help toward this end more than all Study to others — provided of course one has avoid failure. worthj mater ial to offer-is to learn to place one's work in the right directions. Many a heartache may be avoided if the young writer will give good heed to this suggestion. Incompetence and carelessness are two chief causes that operate toward the failure of writers. Regarding the first of these not much is to be said— at least not much that is worth sa\4ng here. For if one is illiter- ate or lacking in mental qualifications — and it sometimes happens that such an one will show atendencv to immortalize 16 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Writers may be their own tutors, himself in print— the best thing that can be done is to show him gently, but speedily and firmly, the error of his ways. But granted that one has a fair know- ledge of English, at least average men- tal qualifications, and some ability in the way of expression, there still re- mains the great stumbling block of carelessness to be avoided. Reverting again to incompetence, we do not wish to be understood as imply- ing that this cannot to some degree be overcome. If one's education has been neglected in youth, study and applica- tion in later life may do much to remedy the evil. Writing is in itself an educa- tor, and one who writes much and writes carefully will find himself gradu- ally correcting errors and shortcomings. One who sets himself out to improve will meet with encouragement and will deserve success. But one who is already gifted with the required attributes of a writer, yet through carelessness fails to do the best possible, does not deserve much either of sympathy or help. Careless- ness in a writer is the one thing which editors will not look upon complacently. A manuscript which does not present a neat and legible appearance cannot com- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 17 The duties of the editor and of the writer. mend itself. No matter how good the material may be, the editor will reason, and rightly, that this would-be contributor has but a slight regard for his chosen art. Carelessness in punctuation, in the use of capitals, in the choice of words, and in the formation of sentences, means that much labor is entailed upon the editor if the article is accepted and printed. From the manuscripts that continuahV drift into editorial offices it would seem that some writers are still of the opinion that it is the business of the editor to edit. This is not often the case. The province of an editor now-a-days is to examine authors' man- uscripts and to select those that will best meet the needs of his journal. The editor is usually a busy man. If he should select for each number of his journal two or three or four manuscripts that require careful editing throughout, he would find that this labor encroached severely on the time demanded for other duties. So he has come to reason that a writer should practice his art as per- fectly as possible. The latter should not depend upon the editor to discover his lapses, nor to 'amend them, but he should be his own editor. When the manuscript leaves the 18 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP author's hand it should be ready for the printer. This will go a long way toward insuring its acceptance. It is simply a statement of fact to say that editors are constantly returning many manuscripts that in all probability- were otherwise acceptable, only because a glance has shown that to edit them properly would require more time and labor than they were warranted in giving. CHAPTER II. A look ahead. LITERATURE AS A PROFESSION INDUSTRY AND BUSI- NESS ACUMEN NEEEFUL FOR SUCCESS PRACTICE PERFECTS THE MIND DEVELOPED AND STRENGTHENED BY APPLICATION WRITING FOR PRACTICE STUDY FOR CONDENSATION MODELS FOR STYLE WHAT WRITERS SHOULD READ THE MATTER MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE MAN- NER HOURS FOR WORK THE WRITER HIS OWN EDITOR. It has been well said that literature is a good crutch but a poor staff. Freely translated, this means that the writer should not often, especially at the very outset of his career, hope to make liter- ature his sole employment, nor to secure a livelihood from its practice as a pro- fession. No matter what success one may meet -with at the beginning, it is not less true in this than in the voca- tions of the artist and the statuary, that " art is long." In this as in other lines of work where men must toil, and win their way by force and persistence, one must serve an apprenticeship, and by constant practice grow in his pro- 20 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP fession;this practice not seldom extends through a lifetime before one finds that his chosen and loved occupation will afford him a satisfactory sustenance, and so obviate the necessity of employ- ing any portion of his time in other and less congenial pursuits. We have but to look over the history of letters in modern times to discover that many, even of those who have been classed as great among writers, did not live by the pen alone. We know A glance that Hawthorne was glad to have his at the friend Pierce give him a place in the Sa- past. i em cus -j : om house, and thus relieve him from the strain and burden of depend- ing wholly upon the magic pen that created the Marble Faun and the Scar- let Letter, to provide for the necessities of life in his modest household. Lamb, gentlest and quaintest among English essayists, has told humorously of the purgatory of that high stool at his desk in the India House, where the pen that gave to us the immortal Essays of Elia was employed upon the dull pages of heav3 r ledgers. These instances could be multiplied without end, and it is well that the young writer who fondly ima- gines that glory and riches are to reward his first successful effort, should keep them in mind. Grind steadily at the mill. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 21 But there is another and more favor- able side to the picture, for it is true that the steady, plodding worker, es- pecially the one who combines business acumen with average literary skill and adaptability, may by constant applica- tion secure to himself an income as satisfactory, if not as regular, as the same application and ability would se- cure for him in other walks of life. The trouble is, however, that few writers will labor so steadily at their tasks as the government employee must at his desk, or as the business man will in his own counting-house. The fancy that one is a child of genius and is not sub- ject to the bounds and measures that compass ordinary mortals, may to some degree account for this. Whatever the reason, it would be difficult to find among the younger literary workers one who honestly obeys Eugene Field's famous prescription for success — "Eight hours steady work every day." Some wait for the mood, for inspiration. Then if the inspiration does not come they fancy that they have free license for a day or a week away from that work which should be pursued systematically and conscientiously for a certain num- ber of hours, six days in the week. The incipient genius who does not 22 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP wish to be thus bound may point to the few who leap at once fully equipped in- to the arena of letters, and who receive there and then such prompt and com- plete and substantial recognition that their path is ever after one of flowery ease. But these are only the exceptions which prove the rule. The real genius, he who accomplishes literary success in The this manner, appears once in an hundred rarity of years — or less. Such rare exceptions do not lessen in any manner the force of the argument that ease and skill in composition, literary technique, concise and dramatic expression, the knowledge of what is wanted and of how to do the things that are wanted, in short all things that are worthy, are acquired by application. It matters little what especial direc- tion one's work may take, first efforts will have a certain crudeness which can- not be got rid of by criticism alone, or by the study of models, or by any aid outside oneself. It is not to be denied that criticism and advice may help, but only to the extent of directing the writer to- ward the paths in which he may best help himself. Longfellow was a poet from his youth. The poetic instinct w^as early and strongly developed in him, j^et in PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 23 his mature years lie would have been glad to consign to oblivion much that his pen had given to the world before he had schooled himself b}" assiduous ap- plication and so perfected himself in the gentle art which he had chosen. Practice perfects! We do not question this in any physical matter. Xo one pretends to perfection in any handicraft until a long apprenticeship has been served. The painter goes to school and learns, by patiently following the work of the master, all the details of his art, beginning with the mixing of the pig- Learning ments. But the writer — ! the use of The young writer sometimes thinks words. it beneath him to pay any attention to such small details as the mixing of the pigments. Words are the writer's jDig- ments, and these he must study to learn their value, their color, their weight, their force, and how they may be blend- ed into that harmonious whole that makes the perfect sentence. The words are all before us, as the colors are all before the painter. But unless we know how to mix the pigments, either in literature or in art, the results will be ever crude and unsatisfactory. But the writer, you say, cannot al- ways have a master! True. In such case let him then be his own preceptor. 24 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Let him write and destroy and write again. Not always the same thing, but ever new ideas, new scenes, new charac- ters should be taken, and with the pen clothed with new literary form. Thus will be acquired facility and diversity. But if one may have a master, let him follow the method of Maupassant, who toiled for seven j^ears in the stud}^ of his accepted master, writing little stories that were written only to be destroyed. Month after month, year after year he submitted his work to the master, only to be told that it was not yet sufficient. ArT example But when he did come to his own, what from the marvelous things did he give to the French. world! Within the space of a few years three hundred short stories and 'feuille- tons, masterpieces of the art of telling a story or drawing a picture in the least possible space! What a reputation he made, and how soon it was all done for! for poor Guy de Maupassant, when his fame had but begun to bourgeon, died ,in a madhouse, because the brain had been overwrought with its marvel- ous creations. A young story writer often looks for- ward with positive dread, fearful that a time will come when all his stories will have been told. Sometimes he en- deavors to forecast the future, and is PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 25 A drawback to idleness. perplexed that he can see no new images rising upon the palimpsest of his brain, to be set forth by him upon the written page. The knowledge that all the stories — particularly all his stories — have been told, comes upon him with appalling realnw. Such fears occur most often during a period when crea- tive work has been suspended. We be- lieve that all writers of fiction will agree that the longer the creative faculties have thus been in disuse the stronger and more real and present becomes this haunting fear. The writer questions if he will ever again be able to conjure those fancies which once came so readi- ly at his bidding. Imagination seems dead, and all those anw visions which once were so wont to delight him and to beckon him on toward fresh fields of trial and accomplishment, are now vanished utterly. Even those whom the world is apt to regard as its most facile writers of stories sometimes find themselves almost in despair because of such thoughts. But when once again they are really at their work, the images of their fancy, the brain-children in which they so delight, arise more quick and fast than ever. It may be that there was difficulty in getting the fountain started again; 26 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP thought may have appeared sluggish, and the first attempt was perhaps form- less and unsatisfactory; but the next was better and more easily done, and so with the next and the next and the next, until ideas fairly tumbled over one another, so rapidly and so eagerly did they press for utterance. The writing of a single story may start a train of thought that will bring forth a dozen others as rapidly as the}^ can be put up- on paper. The more stories one writes, the more will be conjured forward from the recesses of the brain where they Something have lain hidden. to write It is thus that work ever develops the about. mind and the imagination. The writer who has his harness steadily on is never at a loss for "something to write about." Such a plaint as this is the sign-manual of the writer who has not yet learned the first lesson in his literary primer. If you must search and cudgel your brain for something to write up- on, you may be pretty certain that when the thing is done it will prove to have been not very well worth the do- ing. Real, earnest writers, they who are thoroughly in the work, find their difficulty to be of quite another sort; so many topics continually press upon them that their trouble is to pick and Writing PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 27 choose from such an embarrassment of riches. When the thought-waves have been started by actual application to the task in hand, let them come as the water flows from a fountain that is overfull. Do not be afraid of writing too much, but do have a wholesome for practice f ear °f offering too much for publica- only. tion. Write all that you can; put upon paper every thought that is in your mind; then scrutinize closely, destroy that which does not seem to be of your very best, and put aside until it has time to ripen that which you may think good. Let there be no cessation in your work. It will be more difficult to get started again, than, having once be- gun, to keep right on. Do not be afraid of an accumulation of manuscripts. A writer is hardly seriously in the field un- less he has an half hundred manuscripts of various sorts ready for and seeking their proper avenues for publication. The athlete makes himself still more strong and stipple by constant exercise. The pugilist trains and hardens himself rigorously for the conflict. The builder and the machinist toil and perfect them- selves in the details of their trades. The painter and the sculptor grow continual- 28 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP ly, by the accomplishment of each succes- sive task, in the power of expressing their ideas in form and substance. Among all men, it seems that the writer alone hopes to evolve out of his poor little egg-shell of a brain, at once, without practice, application, or train- ing, something that the world shall think of value. The earliest productions of a writer usually deserve the flames — nothing more, Because editors return them as unavailable onh^ shows that editors pj rs ^ have a modicum of worldly wisdom. A productions writer who is discouraged by such re- not often fusal, and who is unwilling to take it as valuable. a hint that he has yet somewhat to learn before he becomes perfect in an art in which the greatest of the world have striven, deserves only failure. Much reading, if done conscientiously and observantly, in itself constitutes an excellent means of training and education for the writer. But it must be kept in mind that "Reading maketh the full man, * * * * and writing, the exact man.'' So no matter how much one may read, the best result in its effect upon his own "work will not be obtained unless he also writes much. Write constantly and carefully. Write, even though you have no thought of PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 29 publication, in order that yon may see how your thoughts and ideas look when expressed- in words. Get them be- fore you in good type copy, then read, revise, and amend, until each thought and each sentence stands clear and con- cise. Strive for absolute perfection in the choice of each word and in the con- struction of every phrase. Among the things that one may write for practice rather than for publication are: Short critiques of books read; or a synopsis of a paragraph or chapter of a book, or of an article or short story. &ugges ions -g^ practicing this conscientiously one .. may gain much toward succinctness. mr ^ In preparing such briefs give the con- tents, the vital essence, of the paragraph or chapter or story read, and nothing more. After it is written, revise and cut out every superfluous word until you have a compact, but clear and in- telligible, resume. In doing this it is well to choose for subjects the work of masters in the various walks of litera- ture. Ruskin may be chosen for style, Addison for clearness, Thackeray for sarcasm, Kipling for originality and strength, and Macaulay for the com- bination of elegance and strength. Bacon, who said that he would make all knowledge his, said also of books as 30 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP follows: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." Henry Ward Beecher said: "I read for three things: First; to know what the world has done in the last twenty -four hours and is about to do to-day: second; for the knowledge which I specially want to use in my work: and third; for what will bring my mind into a proper The uses mood." of books to For a writer all these things are im- writers. portant. He should read to keep pace with the world's work, he should read to increase knowledge, and he should read to bring his mind into that state where it will best be able to perform the work which is demanded from it. Beecher further said that he never read for style, although he thought that one might do so profitably. He commended Herbert Spencer's essay on style as the yqtj best one that he knew, and advised young people to get it, read it and practice it. Beecher stated that he read Burke for fluency, and that he ob- tained the sense of adjectives out of Barrow. Dr. Macaulay once remarked that when he was a boy at college he read enthusiastically, but at the foot of qyqtj page he stopped and obliged himself to V, PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 31 give an account of what he had read on that page. In this manner he early formed the habits of attention and memory. In regard to reading current publica- tions Webster said: "The magazine is a storehouse, a granary, a cellar, a ware- house in which anything is stored or deposited." Johnson said: "These papers of the day have uses more adequate to the purposes of common life than more pompous and durable volumes!" And Lamartine said: "Before this century shall run out journalism will be the whole press. Mankind will write their About books day by day, hour by hour, page reading by page." current These opinions are too true and too important to be passed by thoughtless- ly. The magazine and the newspaper of to-day have their message for the writer, and may as rightly exert their influence upon his formative period, as the accepted classic. The majority of readers prefer writ- ings in which the language is simple. It is a distinct literary achievement to couch strong, expressive thoughts in simple language and yet make them effective. Professor Bancroft says: "To attain clearness a writer must have definite A few words about style. 32 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP thoughts and then express his thoughts in language that his readers may un- derstand as he understands it. The words of the wise are few and well chosen. Scan every sentence, then con- dense your sentence into clauses, your clauses into phrases, your phrases into w^ords; and if you really do not need the words blot them out." Ruskin says: "When I was young if I thought anybody's house was on fire I said: 'Sir, the abode in which you probably passed the delightful years of your youth is in a state of inflamma- tion,' and people called me a good writer then; now they say I cannot write at all because I say: 'Sir, your house is on fire.'" Young writers often request those who have won their spurs in literature to recommend certain books, or courses of reading and study, that may be pur- sued as an aid to literary style and ease of expression. In reply the novice is usually told to read u the best authors." The very wealth of material included in this comprehensive answer makes it difficult to know where to begin. The one who advises along such lines is en- tirely safe, for no harm can result. The more one reads the best books, and the work of the great masters of literature, The company PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 33 the better will he be equipped for any effort toward which he may turn his hand; not only for the literary trade, but he will be a fuller and richer and more competent man for every detail of life. The company of the great thinkers is in itself a liberal education; but no writer has ever been made through their study alone. If a young writer should take the work of any single one of the masters, and study it with a view to the element of style, he would run the of the great very serious risk of becoming a mere thinkers. imitator. Style, as applied to litera- ture, is an intangible but not imper- ceptible something. Each man must have it for himself. It must be innate, not acquired. It cannot be taught nor conveyed. True, it may be enriched, improved, made more perfect by con- stant and careful application; but it must be original or it is of no value. Swift long ago said that proper words in proper places make the true definition of st}de. This explanation may be broadened by adding that style is such use of language in the expression of thought as exhibits the spirit and faculty of an artist. Swift's definition might apply most properly to the simple style which is direct and unorna- 34 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Matters to be considered. merited. The wider one that we have given would find a most complete exemplar in the work of Ruskin. The study of the masters of style and expression may perhaps be most valu- able by observing closely that which they do not do, rather than the converse. The careful reader may readily ascertain in this manner that the style of a great work consists in the avoidance of hyperbole, needless adjectives, redun- dant phrases, repetition, tautology. Clearness and meaning are best arrived at without these. One element of style consists in the choice of just the one right word where various synonyms would serve more or less perfectly the aim of the writer. But style of expression is not the only thing to be considered. Unity and sequence in composition are matters which the young writer often does not understand — nor does he understand the necessity of understanding them. There is a proper point at which to be- gin an article or story. There is a pro- per sequence of events to follow, and there is a proper place at which to end. In reading and study observe these things, and look upon that which is written, in order to determine the man- ner in which it is written — to decide PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 35 for yourself whether this be good or bad. Yes, the advice may safety be given to read the great masters. But read not only those who are great in style, but those as well who are great in ideas' and invention and the construction of plot. For first of all a writer must Study have ideas, and he must then have con- methods as well struction, before his need of style will as style. come into play. Do not make the mis- take of putting the last requisite first. We all have known writers who could construct clean and well-rounded sentences, but who had absolutely nothing to say; to advocate for such the studjr of style, would beholding out to them an ignis fatuus. Among models of construction, Hugo and Thackeray stand in the first rank; for models of stymie, Ruskin and Kings- ley; yet there are an hundred others who may be read with profit by the young writer. The writer who posses- ses a style of his own will perhaps never be harmed by reading slipshod work, because he will immediately feel repulsed by it, and will endeavor to make his own method as great a re- move from it as possible; but the read- ing of good work understandingly will have a tendency constantly to perfect and broaden him. A word 36 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Much is said against the current publications of the day, yet they may still be considered most excellent guides for the young writer. The matter which they contain may not always be good, yet it is almost always carefully for our current edited. While the style may not al- publications. ways appeal to the purists, yet it is modern; it is what our editors and publishers to-day are accepting; and the editors and publishers are the critics, nay, the court of last resort, whom we must have before our mind's eye in our work if we care to reach the eye and ear of the public. If your literary work is to be any- thing more than play, the following of a whim, or the employment of idle moments, have as regular hours for it as you would for any other serious un- dertaking which was to be xoursued from day to day. Preferably the morning hours should be given to literary composition. It is then that the brain is clearest, the mind most active, and the physical qualities most capable of endurance. The fact should not be lost sight of that health and strength — a sound body housing a sound mind — are wonderful factors in literary success. There are some writers so constituted Acquire the PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 37 that they can rise superior to circum- stances and work whenever and wher- ever the opportunity offers. Others claim that their best work is done at night, after the activities of the day are finished. But probably anyone who will give the matter an unprejudiced trial will admit that no other hours or methods are so favorable as to habitually employ the morning for literary composition. "Nail yourself to a chair and bend to work! Go to work, my brother, go to work habit. work! Stick to your work and you will succeed!" These were the words of Joel Chandler Harris to a young man with literary ambitions. The young man said that he would put this advice into practice, so he went away at once and purchased a handsomely carved desk, a revolving chair and a ream of paper; then he "nailed himself to the chair and bent to the work," for two weeks. At the end of that time he said: "Well I've been there two weeks but the work won't come; it's no go, I tell you. Do you know anybody who wants to buy a roller top desk and a revolving chair?" That is the method of some would-be young writers. They make elaborate preparations for the work which it is not 38 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP in them to do. Two weeks of effort to- ward the accomplishment of a life task! Mr. Kipling wrote: "No man's ad- vice is the least benefit in our business, and I am a very busy man, Keep on trying until jovl either fail or succeed." The eminent scholar and church his- Comments torian, Dr. Philip Schaff, used to say of of the himself: "I have not genius; lam sim- masters. ply a hard worker, and what I am I owe to God and to constant applica- tion, keeping my wits about me." Samuel Smiles said: "Genius without work is certainly a dumb orator; and it is unquestionably true that the men of the highest genius have invariably been found to be amongst the most plodding, hard working, and intent men, — their chief characteristic apparently consist- ing simply in their power of laboring more intensely and effectively than others." William Dean Howells said recently that hard work in literature made what the world calls genius — with a brain of course to begin with. The method of giving utterance to our thought is always a matter for serious consideration, a matter of great impor- tance, but not of the first importance. If this were true, it would resolve itself into an admission that manner is more PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 39 than matter. But before the necessity for elegance and clearness of expression, there must be substance. There must be a thought to express before thought can properly be applied to the manner of expression. So, in counseling a begin- ner in literature, the one who would lay first and greatest stress upon Be certain "the manner of expression would put him that you have upon the wrong road. Attend first and something chiefly to the matter. Be very certain to say. that you have something to write, something that is worthy of all the thought and care that you can give it in your effort to provide the proper form of expression. Dress has its proper place in the adornment of literature, as in the adornment of the individual. But to make dress a matter of more impor- tance than the mind and soul of the wearer is to put the infinitely lesser be- fore the infinitely greater. To a large extent the style is the man. Individuality there must be in anyone who has am-thing to say that is w or thy of being said. So having the thought, the brain and the mental powers which must exist for original work of any force, there will also be a certain indi- viduality of style in which to clothe the thought. Or if there is not this style, or if at the first it be rugged and un- 40 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP formed, practice in the art of expressing the thought will in time bring about the form of expression that is suited best of all to the matter which you have to commtmicate. Literature is hardly a thing to be studied by itself. The young writer may not go far wrong if he begins to study for his life work by studying life Real life itself. All true literature must be th o e f | . f0Undati0n founded upon the life that exists or has existed. Gain first a knowledge of this in one or many of its varied phases, and you have somewhat upon which to build. To take a modern instance, Mr. Kipling's wonderful success has been based upon his knowledge of life and men. This is the very foundation rock of his great reputation. He never errs in truly depicting the people whom he attempts to portray. Having the abil- ity to do this, the style really matters little. In Mr. Kipling's case it has often been rough and unformed. Yet with him, as with Carlisle, the rough, inher- ent style of the man was just that best adapted to the matter which he had to set forth. And a writer's style will grow with his growth. What matter whether it is this or that at the beginning, if only it will form in the crucible of time and use, PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 41 even as the rough diamond forms tinder the skillful touch of the lapidary. It is not expected that a writer will stand still at the point at which he has begun. If this were so there would be little hope in our literature. What he can do at the beginning is of little moment, only so it shows that he has that in him which may serve as a foundation upon which to work, and which gives promise of being worthy the effort re- quired to bring it to a worthy develop- ment. The writer for current publications must be constantly a student of style in a certain somewhat narrow and limited sense. The style which he must partic- ularly display, in order to obtain ready acceptance for his work, is that style which is the vogue of the day and of the publications to which he would con- tribute. This may be considered as putting a low estimate and improper construction upon the quality of style, as that is meant in reference to litera- ture in its largest aspects. But we are considering literature now somewhat in its commercial aspect, and are treating of the things which the writer must do in order to pave the way for success in an especial line. He must observe con- tinually the character of the work used, day. 42 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP and regard that as a criterion of the character of the work desired. "Fine wri ting" is one of the greatest obstacles in the way of acquiring style. The day of fine writing for itself has passed. Neither editors nor publishers longer look favorably upon the writer fine writing" who ornately builds up phrase upon is not phrase and paragraph upon paragraph popular. without arriving rapidly toward a defi- nite end. It is upon the work of such writers that the editorial blue pencil is used without mercy. It is not always nor even often pleas- ant to have one's manuscript returned as unacceptable, but occasionally such returns are of the very greatest value to the writer, especially- if he can look be- tween the lines of the editor's polite and non-committal refusal and discover there that the reason for the return has been an excess of this fine writing, up on which he lavished such great pains. The story which contains one good scene, two or three characters acting in a circumscribed environment, and a dra- matic climax, has perhaps been spread through 6,000 or 8,000 words. If, when the story has been returned a dozen times and the fact has begun to dawn upon the writer that there must be something radically wrong with it, he would himself edit the manuscript PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 43 carefully, mercilessly cutting out the flights of fancy, the super-graceful touch- es, the fine phrasing that seems to him so very fine, and in reducing it one-half leave the story itself untouched — but told now with infinitely more vigor and action — he would doubtless find it more acceptable to editors and the reading public and more profitable to himself than it ever could have been when told at its previous and needless entire length. The employment of useless adjectives and of synonymous words in descrip- tion are two cardinal sins of voting: waiters, and ones that most frequently call for the use of the blue pencil. The introduction of matter that is not rel- evant, and with many the tendency to "preach," are other common faults which often mar the otherwise good work of young writers. In editing or revising one's own work, it should always be kept in mind that a word which is not necessary, which will not help forward the story, or which will not throw added light upon the scene, should be ruthlessly given over to the blue pencil. Take that story which you have just completed and pol- ish it by this rule, and after you have done this, be honest with yourself, and see if it is not better than it was before. CHAPTER III. EDITORS THE FRIENDS OF WRITERS THEIR CONSID- ERATION FOR NEW ASPIRANTS HELP EDITORS BY DOING YOUR WORK PROPERLY HOW TO PRE- PARE AND SEND YOUR MS. DON'T SEND NEED- LESS LETTERS TYPE COPY IS PREFERRED THE NOM-DE-PLUME DON'T PRESUME ON EDITORS. We have known certain writers who were quite confident that all editors were in league against them and bound to prevent them having any opportu- nity to prove their quality to the public. P t This question might be argued at abuse the considerable length, but it is not worth editors. while. Editors are in need of writers just as much as writers are in need of editors. The relations between them should be, and usually are, most friend- ly. Perhaps if either could do without the other, it would be the writers rather than the editors. The writer can go to sawing w^ood for a living, (or if of the gentler sex, to baking bread, or sewing buttons on shirts) and so manage to keep soul and bodj^ together without the editor's assistance. But without PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 45 A chance for all new writers. the writer's aid the editor cannot fill the pages of his newspaper or the col- umns of his magazine, and as the ma- jority of people are prejudiced against reading old things over and over, he would soon have to give up the fight. The very worst thing that can hap- pen to a j^oung writer is to gain the impression that editors do not want him to succeed. The truth of this is directly to the contrar}^. If he has a spark of genius or talent ihej are glad to assist him in any maner that they may be able to toward its development. They know very well that life is short and that the public is fickle. The fa- vorite writer of to-day ma} r be in his grave to-morrow, or if still out of it, the public may conclude that they have had enough of him and cry for someone new. And if one editor cannot supply this de- mand, another may, and the one who fails must go to the wall. The writer of this can himself testify to many words of encouragement and kindly acts of assistance given him by editors of various publications, when he first began to send out his manuscripts for acceptance. A word of criticism here, of suggestion there, enabled him at times to better his work, to send it into the right channels, or to turn his atten- 46 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP tion to certain tilings that editors wanted done and that he was able to do for them. The ignorant, incompetent and care- less cannot expect great consideration, for it is apparent at a glance that they will never accomplish anything, and editors would not be justified in encour- aging such to continue along a path where they were certain to meet w4th failure. Having made up your mind that the editor is well disposed toward you, it A chapter then becomes your duty to do all that of hints for be- you can to make his work easy, and to ginners, further him in his laudable intentions toward you. That you may help to- ward such an end, this chapter will be a miscellany of hints of what writers should and should not do in their inter- course with editors. Never roll your manuscript. Send it flat, if a bulky manuscript; or folded, if a small one. Rolled manuscripts are a nuisance in any office, and many editors feel justified in throwing such into the waste-paper basket without opening them. If an editor tries to read a rolled manuscript, the sheets curl up and run all over his desk, and sometimes all over the office. If it has to be returned to the author, it requires five or ten min- Make ready PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 47 trtes to get it into compact shape and securely wrapped and pasted. All edi- tors, since the beginning of time, have warned contributors against the prac- tice of rolling manuscripts, yet there are some who still persist in doing this. Such deserve absolutely no considera- tion from editors. In sending any manuscript that is to be returned by mail, enclose with it an envelope of proper size and shape, ad- dressed and fully stamped. Until writers for "the return throughout the world unite upon the of your Ms. use of paper cut to a certain size, and agree to fold their manuscripts in a certain manner, editors can hardfy be expected to keep on hand a sufficient variety of envelopes to meet all require- ments. So unless you send the proper envelope, do not growl if your manu- script is refolded and creased and soiled, in a laudable endeavor to put it up securely for the return trip in such wrapper as may be at hand. Take at least ordinary precaution to guard against the loss of } r our manu- script. Write your name and address plainly upon the envelope, with a return request to the postmaster. Newspapers, magazines and publishing firms may fail, or they may change their address. The above precaution will insure the 48 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP return of } r our manuscript and save you loss of time, worry, correspondence, and often the loss of the manuscript itself. Write your name and address in the upper left hand corner of the first page of your manuscript. Then an editor is not put to the trouble of keeping your letter and your manuscript together, but has before him, in compact form, all the information that he needs. Never send your manuscript under Making one enclosure and letter of notification the editor's under another. If you do, the editor is work easy. ^ u ^ ^. Q -j-j ie aim0 yance and trouble of having to match up the two, and pos- sibly of keeping one upon his desk until a delayed mail brings in the other. It is a good plan to indicate upon the first page the number of words con- tained in your manuscript. It is not necessar\^ to make an exact count of all your words, but count the words in several lines and then multiply their average by the total number of lines. This will assist an editor to determine just how much space in his publication 3^ our story or article will require if ac- cepted; and length — adaptabilit}' to the requirements of a certain space — is often an important factor toward acceptance. Don't send your manuscript to-day, and write an impatient note day after PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 49 to-morrow to know if it will be accep- ted. Give the editor time. He may have an hundred manuscripts upon his . desk when yours arrives, and these are entitled to prior consideration. In the largest and best regulated editorial of- fices, a manuscript requires about three or four weeks to run the gauntlet of The evils proper consideration. If you do not of impatience. -, r -, . -, . , t near from your work within a month, send a polite note of inquiry. But im- patience in this respect never pays. Editors have sent home many a story that might have been accepted, rather than go to the trouble of stating that it was still under consideration, and the reasons which might lead to its final acceptance or rejection. And man y a story has been recalled by too impa- tient authors just as the editor has come to a favorable decision regarding- it. Never ask an editor to examine a manuscript upon which you have not exhausted the final effort. Do not ex- pect him to waste his time reading a manuscript that you know is not as good as you can make it. Bear in mind that he has plenty of others upon his desk, the product of past masters in the art of literature, who have left nothing undone that their knowledge of the of type copy. 50 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP craft can suggest to make the work perfect. It is easier to see faults in the work of others than in our own. So if a mote is perceptible to yourself, do not doubt that the editor will find a beam. If 3^ou can see a slight blemish, he will discover a larger one. So consider that the time y^ou put upon revision, copying, correcting and perfecting your work, is better spent than any other. Offer nothing but type copy for edi- torial inspection. Type copy is more easily 1 - read than even the best pen Advantages script. It presents the thought in clearer form, so that it may be grasped at a glance. An editor does not expect to read a manuscript from the first word to the last in order to determine if it be acceptable. It is his custom to glance at the beginning, then at the end, and then take a dip into the middle. If these tastes whet his appetite for more, he or an assistant will later read it carefully, and at leisure. From the type copy these samples may be quickly taken, and the editor may tell without any waste of time whether the work is good enough to warrant father considera- tion. So accustomed are all editors now-a-days to type copy, that pen script stands but a poor chance for accep- tance in competition with it. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 51 For ordinary mamuscripts to be sent by mail the best size of paper to use is a sheet 8V2 by 11 inches. This should Manuscript be a clear white, firm in texture, and paper. no -j- -j- 00 neav y. A linen paper is to be preferred. Hea\w paper makes a need- less^ heavy postage account. Paper that is very light and thin is difficult to handle and does not stand the wear and tear of many journe\^s. Upon a sheet of the size named a mar- gin of one inch should be reserved on the left side, and an equal space at the top and bottom. This is for the use of the editor in case he finds it necessary" to "edit" the manuscript before sending it to the printer. A typewritten manu- script should be double spaced. Such an one is much easier to read and to edit than single spaced copy. Underscore all foreign words. But prior to this may properly come the suggestion to use as few foreign words as possible. The editor of one of the Write leading newspapers of the country once plain English. wrote to a contributor that he would accept nothing in which foreign phrases or words were introduced, if there was an English equivalent by which the meaning could be made plain. Never introduce such words and phrases for effect, nor to show vour learninof. 52 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Writers have been known to send a note about as follows with a manu- script submitted for acceptance: u DeaeSie: tk If you cannot use the enclosed manu- script, please throw it in the waste basket." Now this is not only bad taste but bad policy. If you do not value 3^ our Set a proper own work sufficiently to desire it re- value on your turned, in case it should not meet the wor k- needs of a certain publication, and if you do not estimate its money value as being as great as that of the postage stamps that would be required for its return, do not think an editor will care sufficient^ to print it — much less pay for it. Manuscripts submitted in such manner will never see the light of publi- cation through the columns of any rep- utable journal. In such cases editors will be apt to consider your work at your own valuation, and do with it as you have suggested. A nom-de-plume is an affectation and The is not calculated to impress an editor nom-de-plume. favorably. There is no more reason why a writer should sign a fictitious name to his work, than for a painter to do so with his canvases or for John Smith to |Dut the name of Roderick Ran- dom over the store where he sells pork and molasses. And why should a ficti- tious name be used? If your work is PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 53 good you certainty desire for it all the credit you can possibty gain; and if it is bad, stand up manfully and take the blame and resolve that yon will do bet- ter and merit less criticism in the future. Don't try to get behind a cloak. There was a time when the nom-de- plume was in favor, but now-a-daj^s it has rather come to be regarded as the sign-manual of the amateur, and of a very amateurish amateur at that. One of the principal objections that an edi- tor has to it is that it gives him two names to keep track of, one to use in his correspondence and accounts, the other in his proof sheets. And as we have elsewhere remarked, editors are not searching for contributors who make them needless trouble. Young writers are of course always anxious to see their work in print, and sometimes trouble editors unreasonably Don't after they- have received a notification hurry the Q f acceptance, b} r asking for information as to the exact date of publication. Nine times out often an editor cannot tell, until just about the time for the mag- azine to go to press, exactly what will go in and what will be left out. Many things are to be considered in making tip each number. Among them,season- ableness, variety, — story, descriptive ar- 54 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP tide, essay, poem, etc., — and perhaps more than all else, length. Sometimes an article or story may be in type and the proofs read with the intention of us- ing in a certain number, }^et because just the right space is not to be had it may be crowded out month after month. Leave as little "editing" for the editor The editor a s you can. Study closely the pages of will not do your well e dited magazines. Observe their methods of punctuation, learn the art of correct paragraphing, understand the correct use of quotation marks, and make use of the knowledge thus ac- quired. If you do not attend to these matters the editor must — if he accepts your manuscript — before it can go to the composing room. Do not leave this work for the editor because you think he knows best how it should be done. Editors are busy men, and we have known manuscripts that w T ere other- wise acceptable to be returned solely on this account. The editor will not do the work that the writer should do — es- pecially if he has ready to his hand an- other manuscript that is properly finished. Never presume upon the kindliness and courtesy of editors. Never weary intrude person- . 1 -. . -, -^ , ff . them by excessive correspondence. Do a I affairs. . .., rr . not intrude your family anairs upon PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 55 them, nor beg them to accept an article because you need the money. A news- paper or a magazine is not an eleemosy- nary institution. Its editor is looking for the very best things that he can get, and it is his duty to consider nothing except the interest of his magazine and its readers. Do not send to an editor a number of manuscripts at one time. This is apt to give the impression that you have a lot of unsalable stock and that you are endeavoringto unload on him. Even Separate if you are satisfied there may be some- the wheat from thing good among them, you have no the chaff. right to throw upon a busy- man the burden of reading a lot of material that he cannot possibly want, upon the chance of finding one thing that will meet his needs. He will feel that you should have separated the wheat from the chaff yourself. The majority of ed- itors are so constituted that when they feel themselves imposed upon in this way they will bundle up the entire con- signment and send it back without even attempting to discover if there be one good thing among it all. Whatever happens, keep on good terms with the editors. Even if your manuscript is sent back all "tattered and torn" after it has been held six Editors consider but one thing. 56 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP months"for examination, "take the mat- ter philosophically. Reason to yourself Be that the editor wanted to use it, but philosophical. found that he realty could not and that some careless office boy, and not him- self, is responsible for its dilapidated ap- pearance. Do not on any account expect especial consideration. If you are a woman, do not presume upon your sex. If you are young, strive with all your might and main not to let the editor guess it. If you are ill, go to the doctor, but don't write the editor that your manuscript is not just as good as you would have made it if you had been well. Remem- ber that the personality of the writer is a matter of absolutely no importance to the majority of editors. What is w anted is printable, available copy that does not require too much editing — news, fresh articles, good stories. We have known kindly editors to re- turn stories with the suggestion that they should be cut. When the writer receives such a suggestion from one who has practical knowledge regarding the points which help to make or mar the story, he will be wise to observe it, and such observation will be to his own profit . Editors will not do this cutting down, no matter how good the story PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 57 may be. If the writer does not learn to prepare his material properly there will be slight chance for its acceptance. Experienced writers have learned to do Avoid away with the redundant and the super- redundancy, fluous: to use but one word, where one will serve, rather than three; to use no superlatives, no unnecessary description, no useless talk about characters, but to have them speak for themselves. There is no more serious error in story writing than to talk about one's characters, in- stead of having them tell and act their own story upon the page and before the reader's eye. Excess of narrative and description will kill any stor\ r . Among the many helpful criticisms which kindly editors have thrown out Kindly hints. for the help of young writers we have come across the following: One wrote to a contributor who had submitted a short story for the children's page of a weekly paper: ' k This story, though written about a boy, is not written for a boy." What could have been more suggestive than this, showing to the writer at once that the manner was not in keeping with the matter? In regard to a story in which the author had at the beginning wandered rather aimlessly, and had gone too far about in the effort to arrive at the 58 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP ''story," the editor wrote: "It is inter- esting, but I kept waiting to find out what it was all for. Did he do enough to Travel V&J f° r coming so far?" straight to your Another wrote that a description of a certain industry was too much diluted by the dialogue. It was spoiled by having too much matter not pertinent to the subject. CHAPTER IV. TOOLS OF THE CRAFT STUDYING THE DICTIONARY LIST OF VALUABLE TEXT BOOKS KEEPING CLIP- PINGS FOR REFERENCE SCRAP BOOKS NOTE BOOKS FILES OF JOURNALS THE SUBJECT BOOK. Textbooks are the writers' tools. One Text books. cannot be too well equipped with the implements of his craft. The general contributor to the press, the man who makes writing the busi- ness of his life, and follows all its lead- ings with the same assiduity with which the business man follows the leadings of trade and commercial life, must not overlook such aids. Let us begin at the beginning. A dic- tionary is all important. No matter how much you may pride yourself upon your ability to spell correctly, you will come upon words that will make you hesitate. Have at your hand a diction- ary that is a standard — Webster's In- ternational is probably the best for American writers, — and consult it when even the shadow of a suspicion that PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP The value of the dictionary. treasury of wealth. Varied uses for the dictionary. yon may not be absolutely right crosses your mind. There is an ancient joke about an old lady who replied to the question; " Have you ever read the dictionary?" with, "Yes, but I did not find much connec- tion in the story." , There is not very much connection in the story, to be sure; yet one who will read the dictionar} 7 in the right way will find it a treasury of storied wealth. One of the most thor- oughly educated men whom it was ever the writer's privilege to know would never read without an open dictionary at his hand. Whether the reading was for a few unoccupied moments, or the serious work of the day, the dictionary was ready for constant consultation. He was a man whose name was not widely known to the public, yet at his death the New York Tribune said: "One of our most learned men has gone." Without doubt his great learning was in part due to this steadfast habit of using the dictionary as his constant companion. There are men who find profit by making the dictionary their companion of every spare moment. One may not care to read it through from the first page to the last, but by turning its PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 61 leaves one will constantly come tip on items of information that are worth adding to the sum total of one's know- lege. Xot merely is the dictionary of worth to aid in finding the definition of words or to verify doubtful spelling, but often the writer finds that it helps him to the choice of words, to select the one which has just the right shade of meaning, or the synonym which is wanted to enable him to avoid repeti- tion. Familiar ity with the dictionary helps one vastly to find just what is wanted, without wasting time in the search. The enlargement of his vocabulary is a thing toward which the writer should alvays work. He should not search for uncommon and obscure words, but should endeavor to have at his corn- Enlarge mand always the largest assortment of your vocabu- plain, simple Saxon words, which will ' ar y' enable him to convey the strongest im- pressions in the briefest and simplest manner. All the words that one can need or use are within the covers of this one book of which we are speaking, and it is not beyond the x^ower of any mod- erately endowed person to secure an intimate working knowlege of the ma- jority of them. Should you not possess a practical 62 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP and thorough knowledge of grammati- cal rules, acquire it. An understanding of any English grammar from cover to cover is a beginning. Supplement this with such a work as Reed & Kellogg's Language Lessons; follow this with Rhetoric — any late author. For a kno w- lege of choice of words have Ayer's Verbalist at hand. For synonyms there is nothing to compare with Roget's Thesaurus. Use your dictionary not only for or- thography but for definitions. Know the precise meaning of every word that you use. Have a standard work on Prosody, and upon St\de. Buy as ma- ny volumes of the subjoined list as your purse will permit; and you may be rea- sonably certain that the more of them you possess, the weightier will your |3urse be in the end. 500 Places to Sell Mss. - - - $1.00 - Manuscript Record - 1.00 Some Crabb's English Synonyms - - 1.25 Everybody's Writing Desk Book - - 1.00 Soule's English Synonyms - - 2.25 Elements of Composition & Rhetoric (Waddy) 1.15 The Rhymester: or, The Rules of Rhyme - 1 00 Walker's Rhyming Dictionary - - 1.50 Outlines of Rhetoric (Genung) - - 1.15 How to Write Clearly (Abbott) - - .60 A Practical Course in English Composition (Newcomer) - - - - - .90 A Treatise on English Punctuation (Wilson) 1.15 Punctuation and Other Typographical Matters (Bigelow) ----- .50 valuable books. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 63 How some articles are prepared. _ Errors in the Use of English (Hodson) - 1.50 -Words and their Uses (White) - - 2.00 Familiar Quotations (Bar tie t) - - - 3.00 " Roget's Thesaurus - 2.00 The Encyclopedia Brittanica and Ap- pleton's American Encyclopedia are invaluable reference books for the hack writer or miscellaneous contributor. By the aid of one or both of these, one may at odd times "work up" articles which, though perhaps nothing more than "pot- boilers," are not to be despised for the addition they make to the annual income. Historical and biographical ar- ticles, antiquarian articles and travel articles are not infrequently worked up by experts in this manner, with no other aids than the above, and without stirring beyond the walls of their study. Other valuable reference books for work of this sort are Brand's Popular Antiquities; Hone's Every Day Book, and Chambers' Book of Holidaj^s. The latter will be found especially useful in preparing articles which have to do with our various holidays, such as Christmas, Easter, etc. Clippings and a systematic method of keeping same where they can be eas- ily consulted when wanted, should be part of the furnishing of every literary worker's study, and rank with note- books in importance. 64 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Clippings and their ar- rangement. The abused scrap- book. * It will be found impossible, however, to keep all clippings that one may pos- sibly desire for future use. Sometimes the matter of which the writer desires to keep track cannot be clipped, as it is a portion of the contents of some book or set of magazines, which may not be marred; or the clipping may in- volve so much material that it" would only cumber a file. To avoid such difficulties it is advisa- ble to have a handy method of filing references. Then when reading, where- ever one comes upon any item of infor- mation that may be of value in future work, a note may be made of the book or magazine in which it is to be found. If a book, put down the title, author, and name of publisher, in case you should at an y time find it advisable to possess a copy. Then make memoran- dum of the page upon which the para- graph of especial interest is to be found, and write down with it as a cue the words with which it begins. Collate all this information in a small blank book, which should be fully indexed so that you may turn at once to references upon any subject. The scrap book also fills an impor- tant place. But a scrap book may be of utility, or it may be a nuisance of PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 65 the first rank. A miscellaneous lot of clippings thrown into a scrap book in no order at all are of very little service when they happen to be needed. And a well ordered collection of clippings is in- deed a rarity. Perhaps the best scrap books are not scrap books at all, but filing cases, where ever\^thing under one head or treating upon one subject may be kept To file together and overhauled at will. These PP g ' filing cases may be very simple and in- expensive. A series of stout envelopes of uniform size will do as well as any- thing. These should be arranged in alphabetical order (with some brief of their contents on the outside) and put into a case in which they will fit nicely and methodically. By this system the matter is always indexed, and every- thing upon one subject is in one place. Quite as important as the informa- tion that a clipping may contain is sometimes the knowledge of where the clipping came from. A slip of paper at- tached to each clipping should record this information. Every person who as a vocation, or only as an avocation writes for pub- lication, should have a note book con- stant^ at hand. New ideas come to us at all sorts of odd times, and many 66 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP of them are lost because there is no def- inite place ready at the moment in which to jot them down. The memory is a treacherous thing in such cases and not to be depended upon. The value of this ever ready note-book may be shown by a single illustration. We all know howfleeting is the memory of a dream. The most startling vision of the night, one that wakes us tremb- ling with affright, and that seems so indelibly stamped upon the palimpsest of the brain that it will never pass into nothingness, has often by morning vanished utterly. A writer whom we know was Utilizing awakened in the night by a terrible fantas}^ that had taken possession of his brain. So gruesome and yet so real was it that its literary value appealed to him at once. ' But knowing the transitory nature of these impressions he was afraid to sleep without at least recording the outline, from which the whole scene might be articulated at his leisure. So a light was struck, and with pencil and pad in hand, the notes were jotted down. In the morning it was but a slight task to construct a story — which sold at the first intention. Without the notes jotted down at the moment when the vision was most real dream. The habit PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 67 it is doubtful if the story could have been written. The motto, "Secure the shadow ere the substance fades," should be ever present in the mind of the writer. "My friend," said the great Russian writer, Gogol, "if you wish to do me the greatest favor that I can expect from a Christian, make a note of every small daily act and fact that you may come across anywhere. What trouble would it be to you to write down every night of observation, * n a sor ^ °^ diar}^ such notes as these: To-day I heard such an opinion ex- pressed; I spoke with such a person, of such a disposition, such a character, of good education or not; he holds his hands thus or takes his snuff so — in fact everything that yon see and notice from the greatest to the least." It was this habit that resulted in it being said of him that no other author had so much the gift of showing the reality of the trivialities of life, of describing the pett}^ ways of an insignificant creature, of bringing out and revealing to his readers infinitesimal details which would otherwise pass unnoticed. An author's note books, properly kept, may be a mine of information, of inspiration, and of compensation. Al- most chief among the note books, in 68 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP practical value, w T ill be that in which is collected and collated property informa- tion regarding the methods and needs of various publications. There is one standard handbook which furnishes such information in a compact form, the manual entitled "5oo Places to Sell Mss." But changes among publica- tions are constant, failures are occurring almost daily, and new publications start Keep u p like weeds in a garden. To keep track of events, track of all these changes is part of a writer's business. Unless he does it he cannot use his material to the best ad- vantage. He will find himself sending articles to publications that have gone out of existence; while other journals will be starting up and drawing about them a staff of writers and he will awake too late to the fact that he has missed a profitable market; still other journals are changing their style and methods, so that material which would have been acceptable to them yesterday will not be to-morrow. The rejection slips and notes of refusal received by writers are not as a rule pleasant or valued communications. Yet where these slips contain a hint of the needs of the publication, or where some kindly editor has penciled a hasty bit of information, they should be kept PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Study current publications. Filing information. as a matter for future reference and in- struction. So far as can be done, writers should seethe various literar\ r journals at no great intervals of time. If one can, at least semi-annually, collect sample cop- ies of them, and file them in such a manner that they can be referred to easily, thei^ will prove of great assist- ance. In looking them over one will run across certain suggestions as to their needs which are not told in plain words. In the multiplicity^ of journals, a mental note of such things is apt soon to escape one. It is far better to jot down briefly such matters, and place them where the notes can be consulted. An indexed note book we consider best for such a purpose. Then upon one page or under one heading may be gathered all the information concerning any par- ticular j ourn al . If one prefers a home-made method for filing information, rather than to use the note-book, the following sug- gestions from a writer ma}^ be of benefit: ''Take a number of sheets of foolscap and fold them twice from the bottom up. Then write the name and publish- er's address of each of the periodicals at the top of the folded sheet, using one sheet for each periodical. In this man- 70 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Information to be collated. Prepare your stock in trade. ner you can file them away together, and in a moment find the one you wish to consult. On the inside write in con- densed form all the scraps of informa- tion you run across." Such a record may contain informa- tion along the following lines; Period- icity of publication (weekly, monthly, etc.); different lines of work used (fiction, articles, poems, etc.); character of arti- cles, and whether illustrated or not; the character of the fiction, (whether some- what sensational, love stories, adven- ture, etc.); length of stories and articles; prices paid, (which knowledge must be experimental); whether the publication pays on acceptance or on publication; how long it requires to pass upon man- uscripts; whether it pays for verse; etc., etc. A writer who has never made use of such a record kept up systematically for a year can have little idea of the amount of practical information that will thus be gathered, and of the many times he will refer to it when preparing or send- ing off contributions. The writer who intends to make a definite occupation of literature in general should prepare to-day for work that he may wish to do ten years from now. In other words, he must be ac- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 71 cumtilating material, adding to his stock in trade, or some day he will find that he has suddenly run out of the elementary substance from which to build. A man who sets himself down at his desk in the morning to write a stor\^ or article, with no well considered plan re- garding it, with no motif or incident or experience or bit of knowledge that he has churned over and over in his mind against its possible use at this time, will have a very poor chance of doing anything worth while. On the other hand, if he can refer to a subject book, in which he has put down Advantage from time to time subjects which it has then seemed to him might some day serve his needs, and if he has from time to time referred to these, thought them over, and formulated some method for their use, it will not be a difficult thing now to select one of them and soon be in the full swing of composition along a well considered path. A subject book may be divided into different sections and each of these de- voted to an entirely different line of topics. One ma}^ be for fiction, in which titles or motifs alone are to be set down, leaving suggestions for the work which will go into the story, to be en- book. 72 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP tered at the proper place in other note- books. Other sections may be devoted to headings for essays, geographical and historical sketches, feature articles, poems, practical articles, etc. When preparing for work it may de- pend largely upon the mood as to the The mood * me °f subjects that will most commend and itself to one. Having thus determined the topic. whether one will devote this particular morning to writing a story or to work- ing upon some practical or historical article, it will be comparatively easy to select the topic that will just fit in with the present mood of work. The choice having been made, other note-books and clipping files will be brought into play, and work which otherwise would be a thankless task goes on merrily and swimmingly. In a subject book it is quite probable that many topics will be put down which will never be used. There will be a constant process of selection on the part of the writer, and after a time the pages will show the survival of the tin- fittest. Yet a writer who has for years made use of such a subject book states that it is a constant surprise to him to find what a very large percent- age of the subjects set down therein have eventually proved available. He PRACTICAL AUTPIORSRTP 73 also states that the fact was self-evident that almost all of those set down upon the earlier pages of the book had been worked, while comparatively few of the later subjects had as yet proven of practical utility-. This undoubtedly sig- nified that those themes which have been in the mind for a considerable time and which have constantly recur- red as the pages of thebook were turned over each day in the search for a topic, are the ones upon which one can most readily work. Thus it is clearly shown Prepare that those who produce miscellaneous now for future contributions for current publication work. should not depend wholly upon the sub- jects that may come to mind only as one goes to his desk, but that all should endeavor to prepare ahead for the task which is inevitably to be done. It has been very 'well said that in this manner we get the advantage of "unconscious cerebration" as well as that of deliberate attention in our reading and thought to such topics as we have thus set apart for future labor. The subject book may be abused as well as used. Nothing should be set down therein which does not contain possibilities. Consider well before you devote a line to a topic which may only prove a burden and an annoyance. 74 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP In using it for the purpose of selecting a subject it will be the height of folly to endeavor to take up the subjects in the order in which they have been set down, Things as if you are bound to begin at the top to consider of the firgt page and wr j te straight . , . down the register. But leaf back and topic. b ■ . forth and consider the material as it comes again and again before the eye, from the point of view of present availability, timeliness, knowledge of the theme, present vividness, and adap- tability to the mood of the hour. In this way it may be found that a subject which was last week obscure and unat- tractive to a degree, is now clear and attractive and full of suggestion. The very fact of having a subject no- ted down for possible use will direct one's attention toward it, and informa- tion which may be in line with the topic will apparently gravitate toward one unsought. CHAPTER V. A STEPPING STONE THE TRAINING VALUABLE FOR FUTURE LITERARY WORK NEWSPAPER ENGLISH THE NEWSPAPER A DAILY MAGAZINE DIVIS- ION OF LABOR — NECESSARY QUALITIES FOR A REPORTER HOW TO WRITE A NEWS STORY VALUABLE KNOWLEDGE AND ACQUAINTANCE FAMOUS CORRESPONDENTS — COMPENSATION — THE REPORTER'S FIELD EXAMPLES OF REPORTORIAL WORK. The work of the newspaper reporter is not often considered among "the j^g higher or more enticing branches of lit- newspaper erary endeavor. Most of the reporter's reporter. work is performed hastily, his copy is prepared while the presses are waiting, and there is little time to infuse any lit- erary spirit into his work even though he has the ability. His contributions form an important part of the make-up of the daily issues * of the great organs of news and public opinion, yet that which he contributes is rarely signed and so he has no oppor- tunity to make his personality known to the reading public. Yet notwith- standing these difficulties and draw- His 76 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP backs, there are a few men who have made the obscure post of the reporter a stepping stone to the higher walks of literary life. In some ways the training that the reporter receives in the ceaseless and often unpleasant grind of newspaper work, is of the highest value. It teaches training by the hi m to think and act quickly and to blue pencil. seize unerringly the salient points of a stor^r. He will turn toward dramatic forms of expression naturally, realizing that in the brief space allotted to him in the columns of his journal, that which he has to say needs to be said effective- ly. Condensation, the doing away with redundant verbiage, the uselessness of fine writing, are all borne in upon him daily by the editorial blue pencil which ruthlessly cuts down his half column to a compact stick-full. A reporter upon a great newspaper comes into close contact with many phases and conditions of life. Tragedy in its deepest hues is constantly before him. The under side of the world be- comes to him an open book. The ma- chinations of political life are laid bare before him. All these aie material for the story writer and the novelist of the future. As an illustration, we may take the work of a young magazine writer, PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 77 The newspaper as a training school, Mr. Walter Barr, which is just now at- tracting attention. It probably would be impossible for anyone to write stor- ies dealing with "practical politics" as his recent ones do, unless he had been through the school of the reporter. It is objected that the newspaper does not form a good training school for the serious literar\ T worker, as its methods demand the subversion of style to the practical everyday needs of journalism. "Newspaper English" has become a by- word, yet some of the most carefully edited of our metropolitan journals con- tain no word or phrase or sentence that can be cavilled at hy the most discrimi- nating critic. Such a journal is the New York Sun, under the careful editorial management of Mr. Paul Dana, a wor- thy successor to his father. Such was the New York Evening Post under William Cullen Bryant, and such has always been The New York Tribune; and other journals throughout our country are almost equally deserving of honorable mention in this respect. Perhaps certain careful writers and critics would have an intellectual awak- ening could they see the stringent rules in some newspaper offices for the guid- ance of their writers. Slang and collo- quialisms are prohibited, and lists are 78 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP made of words that must not be used. Other lists show forms of spelling that must be adhered to. Others show words that must be avoided in describ- ing certain things, for the simple reason that they have been overworked in newspaper use. When we consider that a single issue of some of our larger newspapers con- tains as much reading matter as one of A the standard magazines, and that this dai| y is all written, put into type, proofread, 8 " printed, and put into circulation within twenty-four hours, it seems little short of the marvelous that there is so little to cavilat. We fancy that if some of our magazine editors who decry this same ''Newspaper English" were for once compelled to get up an issue of their magazine in so short a time, the editing would be very much less careful and correct than it is on the average newspaper. The dail^- newspaper is a great news machine, of which the reporter is but one of the component parts — a cog of the great system of wheels b\ r which it moves. Yet without this important cog this daily record of current events could not exist. The public at large is apt to consider the reporter chieffy as an interviewer who goes about with PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 79 unlimited cheek prying into the concerns of other people. We regret that there is some foundation to warrant this assumption, for certain journals of the sensational order make a special feature of such work. Yet one who forms his opinion of a reporter and his work upon such scant premises will go very far wrong. A large metropolitan daily must of course have a very large staff of report- ers in order to cover rapidly the whole field of possible incidents and happen- The work i n g s > an d secure every item of news so of a reporter. that no rival journal may in the morn- ing congratulate itself upon a "scoop." In such offices the work is systematized, each reporter having his especial assign- ment: one will be detailed for society, another for railroad, one each for sport- ing, police, fires, courts, etc. There may be, even upon the most conservative journal, one whose special facult} T is interviewing, and whose regular detail is for such work. But while each may thus have his special assignment, he must be ready to execute any branch of reportorial work, and be ready for any emergency of the hour, before he can be considered thorough in his trade. Essential qualities for a reporter are tact and foresight. The latter is an 80 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP attribute difficult to develop; the best reporters are those with whom it is inherent. Reporters have been known who have had news items evolve be- fore their very eyes, yet who did not recognize them as such. A man of this class will not advance very rapidly nor very far in his profession. Upon securing a position where j^ou have an opportunity to show if y^ou have in you the stuff of which reporters are made, the first thing will be to re- ceive from the city editor an assign- ment. He may order you to visit the hotels and examine the registers for important arrivals Or at the moment Rapid there may be an alarm of fire and he workers w yj sen( j y OU ff to ± V y your qualities in that line. Or he may send you into the slums to investigate the circumstances of last night's murder, or into the more aristocratic quarters of the city to pick up the crumbs of the latest salacious scandal. Whatever your assignment is, cover the ground as rapidly as possible, and keep in mind that as soon as you arrive at the office your duty is to pro- duce your "copy" with the least pos- sible delay. Speed is the ever present watchword for the workers upon a daily newspaper. Upon arrival at the office your How to write newspaper PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 81 material will probably be in the form of brief, rough notes; the reporter who un- derstands his work does not try to write out his article while he is upon the scene. The notes, however, should be in consecutive and orderly arrange- ment, so that when the start at the " write-up'' is made, the material will story. fall naturally into the three parts — the introduction, the story itself, and the details. The introduction should con- tain the gist of the event or incident, and it should be sufficiently plain and comprehensive to furnish a busy or hasty reader a fair knowledge of the happening. Even though the editorial blue pencil has condensed the news of the day to apparently the smallest pos- sible compass, there are yet busy men who do little more than read the head- lines and skim over the introduction to each article. After the introduction comes the tell- ing of the principal incidents. Then fol- low the details, which may be particu- larized to such length as is warranted by the importance of the subject matter itself. These details are for people who have plentj^ of time to read and who are not satisfied until they know all that can be told of the latest murder, elopement, marriage in high life, railway importance. 82 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP accident, hotel holocaust, death of a public man, meeting between two great politicians, bank robbery, or whatever may be the particular news the reporter has covered. A new man upon a paper is handicap- ped if he is a stranger in the city. In such a case the first thing for him to do is to make a study of the especial locali- Acquaintance ties in which he mav be expected to !"A tte l°_ f . firSt work - The greater his knowledge of the city and its people, the more likely will he be to come upon important items of news on his own account, and the more able will he be to cover rapid- ly and fully any assignment that may be gi^en him. He should lose no op- portunity to enlarge his circle of ac- quaintance, especially among prominent people and those who figure in public affairs. Some of our most successful re- porters have been those who were enabled to win the confidence and friendship of men high in part} r or national councils. Often such friend- ship has been the means of enabling them to secure exact information re- garding most important public events far in advance of their contemporaries. It is needless to say that a man who will secure such friendships must him- self be worthy of them. He must be, PRACTICAL ALTHORSHIP 88 What a newspaper reporter may accomplish first, absolutely honest and faithful to- ward his friend; a senator, or a cabinet officer will not be quick to accept a newspaper man upon terms of intimate friendship unless he can rely with ab- solute certainty upon the judicious quality of such friendship. He must know that the newspaper man will not make use of any information unless it is perfectly understood between them that he is at liberty to do so. This sometimes places the newspaper worker in a position where he must battle between conscience as represented by fidelity to his friend, and conscience as represented by 'fidelity to his profes- sion and to the journal upon which he is emplo\^ed. But a man who once violates a confidence of this sort is ab- solutely at the end of his career in this line of work. Within recent years we have witnessed some of the finer and greater things that a newspaper reporter may accom- plish, if he has in him the elements of success. Richard Harding Davis, who began his literary career as a newspa- per reporter, has represented some great journals at such events as the corona- tion of the Czar, at St. Petersburg; the jubilee of Queen Victoria at London; and was a privileged on-looker and 84 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP participant in the brilliant and danger- ous episodes of the Spanish-American war. Julian Ralph, who began his career as a reporter on the New York Sun, and has since shown his literary quality in book and magazine work, went through the Chinese-Japanese War as the representative of American jour- nals. A newspaper reporter happened to be at Apia in the interests of the New York World when the terrible hurricane of 1891 swept down upon the assem- Some bled war vessels of three nations, and happy chances. ^ destroying them did much to bring about peace. A newspaper man was on the City of Paris a few years ago when she was disabled in mid-ocean, and when the whole world waited for days for tidings of the great ship and its treas- ure of human lives. This newspaper man sent the first news back to the world by getting ashore in a small boat as the ship neared the Irish coast, mak- ing his way to a cable station, and wir- ing back to New York several columns of description of the accident and of assurances of safety. The compensation of a metropolitan reporter depends largely upon his abil- ity. If he is paid on space, he may be able to earn anywhere from $25 to $75 per week. It will take a pretty bright PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 85 man, and one who is an inchistrious and steady worker, to reach the latter fig- tire. In the early days of metropolitan journalism all the members of the staff were salaried men. Now certain writ- ers receive salaries, while others are paid on space — that is, for the work Thg which the3 r do and which actually compensation finds its way into the paper. Young of reporters are usually put upon a salary reporters. f $ 10 to $15 a week. The pay of a space writer depends upon the paper that he serves as well as upon the amount of work that he performs. The prices prevailing in New York are gen- erally the highest in the United States. The leading papers there vsly $8 to $10 per column for news. It is on record that in a few instances reporters have averaged $125 a w^eek, which is more than the salary of the average manag- ing editor. Outside the ministry there in no pro- fession in which one may get so many glimpses into the workings of the human heart as by doing staff or assignment work on a great newspaper. The only possible exception to this generalization may be found in the profession of the physician. But the physician does not in fact have so varied an experience, although in some lines he may delve 8K PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP more deeply. It is his business to mend the gaps which he finds existing, with- out exploring causes further than they may affect disease and its cure. But the reporter, while exploring the same re- gions and investigating the same troub- les, makes it his business to learn about the predisposing causes, whether they are medical or not. The news gleaner may turn from a scene of domestic trouble to the gaie- ties of fashionable life, from business The meetings of executive bodies, where he reporter as a has a clear insight into the actions and student of motives of men who control great af- fairs, to the police courts, which furnish him with abundant stories of the strange things a depraved mind will ac- complish, and with light upon the un- der-half of the world. He hears not only the opinions of one minister, but the creeds of all religions. He reads the effect of the play on the audience, from ballet dances to "The Sign of the Cross." He is not an idle spectator, but he is after facts, and looks below the surface of things, and stores in his mind a wonderful and infinite variety of pictures that are realistic, portraying life as it is, and which may well furnish the basis for the great novel that he in- tends sometime to write. life. style. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 87 The duties of the reporter call for quick and varied perception and ready execution afterward . His writing should be plain, direct, and instantly under- standable. It may be in a degree pic- turesque, humorous, and all that, but these traits are not elemental. The reader of a daily journal differs from the R ortorial reader of the novel or of magazines, in that he does not care at all who writes the record of an event to which he is giving his attention, provided he sees and seizes the meaning of it on all sides. This is the manner in which the writer is bound to present it. What the reader does care for is that an incident, an oc- currence, an event, shall be stated in a spirit and st}de that harmonizes with the matter in hand, and that all at- tempts at ornamentation or heighten- ing shall be effective by increasing the interest and deepening the impression. No matter how fine the work ma}^ be, if it does not help toward this end, the reporter is not accomplishing his es- pecial mission. To apply for a position on a news- paper without having a very definite idea of the particular work which you want to do, and that you are satisfied you can do, will rarely result profitabry. We would suggest to one about to ap- 88 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP ply for such a position to prepare a list of several subjects which he considers time- ly and which he would like to write up. Put the titles of these proposed articles into comprehensive form. Write them out in a way to show just what you propose to work up and present in the How finished article. The best way to do to secure a "this is by means of complete head and position. sub-heads. This will give the manag- ing editor an insight into your article that mere statement by you could not. Have with you a half dozen such pre- sentations of subjects, and consider yourself fortunate if the manager finds one or two among them that he thinks may fit his needs. If he does this, he will give you an assignment to write upon them, with a promise to accept the article or articles if satisfactory. Now it depends upon your ability to do the work in a style and manner which will meet the needs of this particular newspaper. To illustrate the manner in which these memorandums should be prepared for presentation to the editor, we will give some examples taken from a single issue of the New York Sun. The first is an interview with the wife of the warden of Sing Sing prison. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 89 MRS. SAGE'S PRISON WORK. Experiences That Fall To The Lot Of Few Women. Recollections of Two Women Who Were Condemned to Die in Sing Sing Prison — Maria Barberi's Im- provement—Mrs. Place's Last Da\^s— Male Convicts Who Retain Love for Their Mothers. * * * * * Examples ^] ie nex t { s foreign correspondence „ . ,, dated Munich, April 12. Of course we do not mean to suggest that The Sun would present anything as foreign cor- respondence that did not in truth come from over seas, but an article of this sort may be written in New York or Chicago as well as elsewhere by any person who possesses the requisite in- formation. The headings show very clearly about what subject matter is to follow. MARRIAGES IN GERMANY. A Business System That Works Well In Practice. German Husbands not Ideal from the American Standpoint — A Dowry for the Bride One Prerequisite — Matches Made by Advertising — Re- 90 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP strictions as to Marriage Placed on Army Officers. A start in newspaper correspondence can often be made by writers living in rural districts, who will send items of news to their nearest city papers. Items of general interest such as local happen- ings and personals concerning persons Newspaper cor- Q f prominence, accounts of fires, rail- p road wrecks, robberies, murders, sui- cides, failures in business, damage to property by storms, etc., will be gladly received and paid for by metropolitan journals not too far distant, and es- pecially by such as circulate in the ter- ritory from which such correspondence comes. County papers also like correspon- dents in subtirban villages, and will usually pay enough to warrant one in giving some attention to the work. For these latter journals, items of local interest are desired, and personals about people, of a class which the metropolitan journal would not con- sider of importance. CHAPTER VI. THE SHORT STORY MODEL SHORT STORIES THE NEW WRITER WELCOME QUALITIES OF THE SUC- CESSFUL SHORT STORY LOVE STORIES ALWAYS POPULAR — ACTION LENGTH SAD STORIES NOT DESIRED "TRUE STORIES" NOT GOOD FICTION RAPID OR SLOW COMPOSITION FASHIONS IN FICTION STATEMENTS OF PUBLISHERS' NEEDS TIMELINESS IN FICTION. In the field of the short story exists the widest possible opportunity for writers — both new and old. Short stor- ies are used by the vast majority of publications of all classes. While one may easily reckon up the number of The journals that are in the market for ser- short story. ials, for essays, and for certain other lines of work, it is almost impossible to estimate those which use the short story, to a greater or lesser extent. Some daily papers make a special feature of a short story in each issue; thus a single one of them affording a market for three hundred and sixty-five stories in the course of a year. Almost all the metropolitan newspapers use short sto- 91 92 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP ries in their special Sunday editions, but sometimes these are supplied under a syndicate contract. The weekly literary journals, the monthly magazines, and the syndicates, are short story buyers. Then all the household journals use them, and class and trade journals af- ford a limited market. In these latter cases journals devoted to agriculture, for instance, use stories of farm life. Musical journals use stories having a musical motif, etc. Of course the supply is illimitable, but the demand is so large and so constant that it may fairly be said that any short story, correctly written, and having a definite motif qxlA. development, may find place if one will be persistent in sending it the rounds. But there are short stories — and short stories. The highest development of them may be seen in such instances as Examples Poe's "Gold Bug," (the best example of of the best. the "treasure story" which our litera- ture affords) and Kipling's "Brushwood Boy." In the latter, which is a story of perhaps not more than five thousand words, the complete life story of two characters is told. Not only this, but with vivid characterization, description, splendid style, imagination, the elements of adventure and danger, affection and sentiment, such as are rarely found even PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP New writers not discrimina- ted against. within the compass of a two volume novel. Competent critics have pro- nounced this one of the best examples of the short story to be found in the English language. The other extreme of the short story may be found in the columns of some of the so-called "family story papers," which pander to the intellectual needs of the half-educated classes. The writer of the short story natur- ally hopes to find acceptance with the leading monthly magazines. Publica- tion in these means liberal compensa- tion, and the bringing of one's name and talents before the most liberally educated and most appreciative por- tions of our reading public. In com- menting upon the needs of these jour- nals it will perhaps not be out of place for us to correct at the outset an er- roneous impression largely prevalent among young writers. This is to the effect that the editors of the leading magazines are prejudiced against them, and in favor of writers who already have an established reputation. A little reflection should convince any- one of the folly of this. All of these now famous writers -were once new writers, and were as eagerly seeking for recogni- tion as any of the beginners of to-day. 94 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP It would not be difficult to discover among them many who found recogni- tion in the first instance at the hands of these most exclusive editors. New blood and new material have been and are being watched for all the time. A writer who has something new to say, or who can say an old something in a new way, provided both the matter and the manner be good, will have no trouble to obtain a hearing from the best journals. It is true that we see more work from Editors recognized writers than from amateurs watching for in their pages. That is because the newjaient. older writers do the best work. They have had training and experience. They know how. Once in a generation,' per- haps, a new writer leaps fully equipped into the arena. He has material and manner. His st}de, inherent, is perfect. He does not need the discipline of years, of criticism, of the rejection of his man- uscripts. But the majority of writers must serve an apprenticeship before they can hope to become master work- men. Do not become discouraged be- cause of this. It is only what is expected in all other trades and professions, in all the arts and sciences. Why should the writer alone expect to be exempt? But to go back to the short story. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 95 Perhaps you remember the line: "Stor\-! God bless you, I have none to tell." There are too many would-be story writers that are in the same case. Then let us affirm as the first principle, that one must be certain that he has a story to tell, before he can expect to tell The his story. Again, be certain the story elements of a you have to tell is worth the telling. story. j n it there must be a definite tale, one that possesses some vital element of in- terest. There must be action, and if there is a plot it should be clear and distinct. The writer should see its end from the verj r beginning. Otherwise he will be apt to drift on and on in an end- less maze of words, in his fruitless en- deavor to evolve a climax. There must be something^ the story. Ifinastory of 3000 words you have one situation that will set the nerves tingling and cause the blood to course more quickly through the veins, one situation that will stir the emotions and cause the reader to take a livelier interest in the joys and sorrows of the creatures of jour imagination, you have at least the elements of a good story. This situation, the strongest in your story, should be at the close, and the entire action should lead up to it with definite purpose and cumulative effect. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP The manner makes the story. Tell the story directly. It has been said, and not without truth, that all the stories have been told. Perhaps it is true that the whole gamtit of human emotions has been run. But there are new combinations to be made, of scenes, characters, motives, and passions. It is the skill with which these component elements are handled that will prove the ability of the story writer. The only thing that the author can contribute which will be wholly or- iginal and his own, wall be the style — the manner. In this we will find the man himself, the force and character of his own personality. It would be almost impossible to name the various classifications of the short story. There is the historical story, the story of contemporaneous life, the story of adventure or of incident, the instruc- tive story, (written obviously for the sake of the moral), the story of emotion and passion, and, best and most popu- lar of all, the good old-fashioned love story. It is of this that editors and readers never tire. In telling the short storj- it is import- to get in medias res at one. Strike the keynote at the beginning, with no un- certain touch. Have action at the out- set if possible, and continue it right through the story. The short stor} r will Consider PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 97 not bear much descriptive work, no moralizing, no explanation regarding your characters. Have your characters explain themselves and their relation to each other hj speech and action. Do not even describe their personal appear- ance. If this must be given at all, let it be made a portion of the dialogue. From this let your readers draw the portraits for themselves. The length of the short story is an im- portant factor toward its success. As a rule, no short story that is to be used the leneth ln a sm ^ e number of any publication should exceed 6,000 words; this wall make a.bout eight pages of any of the larger magazines if without illustra- tions, and with illustrations, of course more space will be occupied. For the household and domestic journals, sto- ries may run anywhere from 1,500 to 5,000 w r ords. For the literary weeklies 2,000 to 3,000 words is a fair length. For syndicate or newspaper use about 3,500 words is the extreme length, and from this down to 1,000 or 1,500 wrords. All other things being equal, a stor}^ which does not run to the maximum length permitted, stands the best chance of acceptance; for with shorter stories, an editor may use in each number of his publication two or three instead of one, 98 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP and so make up with greater variety, and with material that will fit varied tastes. Success in short story writing — after one has good material — depends much upon business abih4w. A short story writer should possess recent copies of journals of all classes that use such work. He should study them carefully, and from what they have used judge what the\^ will probably like to use in the future. Study the length and style. Fit your A journal that is using in each number story to your a half dozen stories of 2,500 or 3,000 medium, words each, will not be likely to make up future issues with two stories of 8,000 or 9,000 words each. A news- paper that uses every day a sketch of 1,000 or 1,500 words will not vary its rule to use your story of 5,000 words. The journal that makes a specialty of stories of incident and adventure will not care for stories of domestic life. The religious journals will not accept stories that are not of wholesome tone and which cannot be read in the family circle. The average young writer seems to turn instinctively toward the sad and tragic aspects of life, when he dips into fiction. Tragic stories amount to full}^ ninety per cent of all the fiction offered for sale. Thus it can readily be under- error. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 99 stood that editors who desire to give variety to their pages are all the time seeking anxiously for stories that will show the lighter and brighter phases of human nature. As these are in such a minority they^ are correspondingly diffi- cult to secure. One who can write such, of thoroughly strong, virile qualities, is certain of a market, of appreciation, and of compensation from the outset. A curious error that many young writers fall into is that of laboriously A assuring editors that the story- they have prevalent submitted for use in their fiction de- partment is "a true story." Now what an anomaly is this! Stop and think a- bout it for a moment. You are suppos- ed to be writing a work of fiction, not a narrative of events that have really happened. Do you think it will com- mend your work to an editor to say to him that your imagination is so slight that you cannot do that which you claim to have attempted, but that you "were compelled to fall back lamely upon a mere something that you had learned or observed? It is quite right to use suggestions Irom real life, or even incidents in their entirety, for the purpose of embellishing your story. But to put especial stress upon the fact that y r our characters or 100 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP situations, or sometimes the stories en- tire are drawn from life, will prejudice your case before the court. Your story ceases to be a story in anything but the newspaper sense when you make it merely a narrative. That it is true, even though it has the semblance of fic- tion, does not make it any more im- pressive to the editor, who has long since learned the truth of the adage that there are more strange real things than the imagination ever has coined. Let your story be a coinage from the L e t brain, or a development from your ob- your fiction be servation and knowledge of life. Then fiction. submit it on its merits, not seeking by any comment or explanation to give it an interest that is not inherent. The editor will not set your explanation be- fore his readers even if he accepts your story; and it is from the readers' point of view as well as from his own that he will pass judgment; and — sometimes — he will not believe your statement that it is true, but will be so obtuse as to think that jon are only trying to excite his interest by adventitious efforts. It is not always, nor indeed often a recommendation to an editor to say that the story which you offer him has been produced without effort and with- out thought, and in the briefest time PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 101 consistent with the amount of mere manual labor that has been performed upon it. We know that some writers, very young writers, hold contrary opinions. We have in our possession letters in evidence of this fact, and we are adding to that collection every day. One which came to hand not long ago was a curiosity. It stated The that: "While* at breakfast I decided to off-hand story, write a story. I did not know what it would be about. Immediately upon leaving the table I went to my desk, took pen and paper, and wrote steadily until noon. The result I hand you, a completed story of about 5,000 words. 5 ' It is not necessary to state here what sort of a story this was which was composed and written in such an off- hand manner. But we wish to make some comments upon the method, which may serve as a warning to writers who think that the ability to perform such a task in such a manner, whether that performance be good or bad, is a mark of genius. The very worst point in this example is that our correspondent determined to write a story, and set about executing his pur- pose, without having any idea as to what the story would be about. Good stories are not written in this 102 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP way. The very first requisite for a story is an idea. The better the idea, and the more clearly and concisely it is worked out before penis put to paper, the better the story will be. It is not necessary that the idea should even be kin to in- spiration. We are not very great be- lievers in inspiration. It is true that occasionally an idea comes to a writer like a flash of lightning, revealing to him in the imperceptible molecule of time that lies between two passing seconds, a picture which, if he can suc- ceed in putting into words, will be wel- comed by editors and will do much to put him forward in his career. The idea for the story may be at the certain of an outset only a fragment. It may be but idea. an isolated situation; or a striking in- cident, or a condition of life, or the re- lations between two beings; or it may be a partially evolved plot, which is but the skeleton, the frame-work upon which the story must be built with all the care and skill of which one is master. This requires a little time. It can hardly be done while you are annihilating your morning coffee and roll. Of course there are many instances of rapid accomplish- ment of good work. "Rasselas" is one that will occur to all. But we beg to suggest that the brain of the great lexi- Be PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 103 cographer has not descended to many of us. A more modern instance and one less well known, and it is perhaps needless to say one less worthy, was Mr. Frank- fort Moore's production of "The Sale of a Soul;" a story of some 35,000 words, which the author assures us was done in eight days. However, "The Sale of a Rapid vs. slow Soul" is a very good story; yet we do composition. not cite this to the earnest literary worker as an example which it would be wise for him to emulate. Rather let us call } r our attention to I / the Va^Jima Letters of the great-brained and great-souled Stevenson. Therein he tells with what infinite painstaking, with what severe self-criticism, with what doubting if after all the thing were good, he built up those stories which have enchanted and held captive the most intelligent readers of both hemispheres. Three days' work over a newspaper letter; sixty days devoted to the writing of 40,000 words, and think- ing that he has then done well even to have done so much, after days and days of toiling and of spoiling white paper, only to say at last, that he thinks he has a frame-work upon which he may later build when he is more in the mood. It is certain that different men must 104 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP work in different ways, and there are many who accomplish good work with remarkable rapidity. There are others to whom composition is slow and to whom every line comes with labor. Neither the one way nor the other is a certain mark of genius. The statement of methods by which work is produced will not alone commend it. But if any word will help with an editor, it is the honest statement that the work is a growth, the result of toil, of loving and painstaking effort. To go back to Stevenson. He states that he once worked two days on a. single page, and afterward felt that he A should have worked three days upon conscientious it. Yet he adds that he does not think worker. ne could be accused of idleness. It was his rule to work six, or seven, or eight hours a day; and then to spend much of the balance of his waking hours in plan- ning and in sowing seed which would bring fruit later. The hours that are given to reflection are often the best hours of the writer's working day. Out of nothing nothing comes. He who rises from the break- fast table, saying to himself: "I will write a story to-day;" and knowing not what the story will be, having made no preparation for it, having given no PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 105 Fashions in fiction. Editors controlled by their readers. thought to it, will be apt to produce a poor thing. Fashions in fiction are subject to con- stant change. Editors do not often set the fashion, but they keep close watch upon the whims and changing fancies of their readers, and endeavor to supply the demand for something new as soon as that demand makes itself evident. This being true, it is incumbent upon those who write to give watchful con- sideration to the question, "What does the editor want?" By doing this one may be able to drive more directly toward the goal than would otherwise be the case. Of course it is better to sell a story at the second or third or even twentieth intention than not to sell it all. But infinitely better than this is it to under- stand the needs of editors so well that one may not have to waste great quan- tities of patience and postage stamps upon each story before finally getting it placed. A journal may be in want of stories and advertise that fact abroad; yet it is not so much stories in general as stories in particular that are wanted. Stories, after certain models, may be had galore for the asking. But if the editor recog- niezs a distinctly new trend in the tastes 106 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP of his readers, it is the stories that will satisfy this taste that he is seeking. The writer who with the editor can see this, want and fill it, is the writer who will succeed. A few years ago we saw the public taking rapturous^ to stories of dialect. Changes ^° ^ e sure * n man J °f them were to be in public taste, found plot, good character sketching, the attributes that go to make the story that all the world likes. Yet these were obscured in a mass of dialect that after a little became very tiresome reading — and to-day the dialect story can hardly be sold. Then we had the etching, which was often a character sketch in miniature; and we had the story of analysis, and the problem storj^; and to-day all these have made room again for the story of plot and denouement. In telling the short story, felicity of ex- pression is desirable, and fidelity to life — which is another name for realism. But these of themselves are not suffi- cient. Back of the method of telling is the story that is told. Statements The editors of a few of our publica- of editorial tions are very definite in explaining to needs. would-be contributors what they desire. Munsey's Magazine says: "We want stories. That is what we mean — stories, not dialect sketches, not washed out PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 107 Cheerful stories in demand. studies of effete human nature, not weak tales of sickly sentimentality, not 'pretty' writing. This sort of thing in all its varieties comes by the car load every mail. It is not what we want, but we do want fiction in which there is a stor\^, action, force, — a tale that means something, in short a story " The Harpers give this summary of conditions that seem to them to be of essential importance in fiction. 1. A well developed plot. 2. Good characterization. 3. Good, vigorous English. 4. A moral tone. 5. A happy or artistic ending. 6. A well selected title, perhaps one which would arouse curiosity. We have alluded elsewhere to the fact that the cheerful story is the one that editors are most glad to consider. The editor of a leading publication for the young returned a story with the com- ment that it could not be accepted as it was so very sad, and she did not like to try the feelings of her young readers with it. The wisdom of such a decision cannot be questioned. Another editor in commenting upon the question of editorial needs, states: "It depends largely upon an editor's constituency, of course. But every- 108 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Romance or realism. Mr. Bonner' standard, where, I think, truth to life and a human interest, is the first demand. Realism is the fad of the moment, but romance will struggle with realism, and the most pro- saic narrative must have something of the 'light that never was on sea or land' to make it attractive. The author, like the actor, must dress for the footlights. The novelist who fails to touch a chord vibrating with human sympathy will never please the editor, who, poor body, feels vicariously always the throb of the people's pulse." In stating that the author must dress for the footlights we touch again upon the matter of using true stories. Aside from the fact that the "true story" is not properly a piece of fiction, is the fact that it would be extremely difficult to find a true story or an exact narrative that had the proper artistic ending that would make it adaptable to editorial needs. That is why the author "must dress for the footlights." We have had during recent years de- cidedly too much of the erotic in fiction. Happily this spasm has passed, and while it lasted it was confined mainly to publications of a minor grade. But it may be w r ell for both writers and editors to remember the standard that was set up by Mr. Bonner when he began the PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 109 publication of The Ledger. His ideal reader was an imaginar\^ old lad\ r with a famuV of daughters tip among the Ver- mont hills; and everything considered for publication was with the question: "Would the old lady want her daughters to read this? 1 ' It would certainly be well for some writers to keep a similar old lady in mind. For while some peculiar inter- est of style or matter may give passing notoriety to a piece of fiction too highly spiced, the American public and the American editor as a whole prefer the wholesome. In fiction, the timely is also to be con- sidered. Timeliness in literature is sup- posed to be a necessary adjunct, mainly, to the article, essay, editorial, etc. But Timeliness in fiction, whatever falls in with the in- in fiction. teres t of the hour is especially welcome. This is particularly true of publications which give limited space to fiction, pub- lishing but one or two stories in each issue. One of the syndicates said: "Whatever we use in the way of fiction will be in the shape of stories not exceeding 2,000 words in length, containing a definite plot, pathetic and humorous situations and treated in the m ost artistic manner . ' ' Another syndicate says: "Stories must be full of action and of perfect moral tone." 110 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP From the editorial views here pre- sented, we may gather that the present editorial want in fiction is, in brief: A plot, plenty of action, a health}^ whole- some tone, strong characterization, vivid interest and artistic treatment. The brain of the story writer should be like the sensitized plate of the camera. All situations which come under his The habit observation should be photographed °f instantly and without effort upon this observation. brain; and in such clear and orderly arrangement that they may be called forth and used whenever the need occurs. The habit of observation should be brought down to the final analysis. In looking at a landscape one should see not onljr that the earth is green and the sky blue, but he should see the details of the |3icture: the kinds of grasses, the fo- liage of the trees, the tones of the color of the sky; the whole should be there so that a word picture could be painted; not at length, but with those swift dis- tinct touches that make it real. If one sees a woman, he should see at once her dress, her facial characteristics, her car- riage, whether her hair be brown or blue, her eyes green or black. He should ob- serve the quality of her voice, so that he can reproduce it to the reader. Charac- ters never appeal to the reader as faith- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 111 ful portraits unless the writer has put into them some attributes which have come under his observation in actual people. Perhaps some of the greatest characters of fiction, characters which have lived and become household words, have been portraits itipart, if not in whole. In regard to the technique of the short story, it cannot be too much em- phasized that conversation should play a most important part. A professor of Technique Rhetoric and English Language in one and of our leading universities said lately that the story of the future would be made up almost entirely of conversa- tion. "Write your story as long as you please," he said, "then substitute con- versation for description wherever you can." Another, commenting upon method in short story work said: "It is not necessary to say that a woman is a snarling, grump}- person. Bring the old lady in and let her snarl" method. CHAPTER VII. THE LITERARY RACK HIS WIDE FIELD GOLD- SMITH'S DESCRIPTION THE KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITY REQUIRED HOW LARGE INCOMES ARE EARNED VARIOUS LINES OP WORK DRAW- BACKS ANALYSIS OF INCOME, The literary hack is a sort of all-trades' jack; and in this he has the advantage over any writer along special lines, in that he can thus make use of every thing that comes to his net. All sorts of ma- terial are of utility to him, and by their aid he can employ profitably ever} r mo- ment of time that he wishes to give to A wide field. n * s desk. He can also vary his work as he will, and get that relaxation which comes quite as much from varying one's employment as from absolute idleness. He has the advantage of al- ways being able to keep an immense number of articles in the field, and so ma}^ look confidently each day for ac- ceptances and the consequent practical emoluments in the shape of paj^ments from editors. Probably the beginner would be sur- 112 PRACTICAL ALTHORSHIP 113 prised to learn how wide a field the lit- erary hack, if he is competent, may occupy. Take a score of journals of the day, and look over their tables of con- tents. Throw aside the stories and see how many different classifications may yet be made of the articles contained in the lot. And, aside from the articles which are the product of specialists, any one of them may have been written by any well informed literary worker. Ever since Goldsmith immortalized the woes of the "literary hack," the world has had before its eyes a picture of a distressed author working drearily in a garret chamber, haunted by bailiffs, deserted by friends, often cold, ragged and hungry: "Where the Red Lion peering o'er the way, Invites each passing stranger that can pay; Where Calvert's butt and Parson's black cham- Golrismith pagne uomsmun Regale the drabs and bloods of Drury Lane ; ind the literary There, in a lonely room, from bailiffs snug, lk The muse found Scroggin stretched beneath a rug; A nightcap deck'd his brows instead of bay, A cap by night, a stocking all the day." Perhaps Goldsmith need not have been a literary hack had he husbanded the earnings of his pen with a little more care and common sense; but his failing was one that is common to many men of genius — a habit of trusting too implicitly to the morrow to care for • itself. By his pen he earned large sums, 114 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP and spent them lavishly. He was al- ways either in debt to his publishers and his friends, or swimming npon the crest of a momentary wave of opulence. Yet Goldsmith was hardly a literary hack, in the sense that the term is now used. He "was too much a creature of moods to fasten himself to the methodi- cal work of our modern " all-round writer." The literary hack of the latter portion of the nineteenth century is one who is able to turn his hand — and his pen — to the widest variety of work. The whole field of newspaper and magazine jour- nalism is his; and in the interim of writ- ing ing short stories, articles of travel, in- modern terviewing the latest lion of the hour, or hack. composing a sheaf of couplets and quat- rains, or a sonnet upon sweetness and light, he turns his attention to produc- ing a problem novel or a new story of adventure to rival Treasure Island. His occupation, his place in the liter- ary scale, and more than all else, his emoluments, have recently been the sub- ject of some discussion in the periodical press. It is claimed on the one hand that he is still Goldsmith's rival in the matter of duns and make-shifts, and that such must ever be the case of a literary worker who has no definite connection PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 115 with any publication or publishing house, but who must depend upon the cold chance of any editor's favor for the wherewithal to compensate his landlady for the current week's board and lodg- ing. On the other hand, it is alleged that the competent hack-writer is the only literary worker who is removed from the harassing fear of never being able to make both ends meet. There are arguments both for and against the occupation of the hack- writer. He is the distinct opposite of the specialist. He must needs be a more vers- atile man than the latter, but in the na- ture of things he is rarely so thorough or What so well informed upon any particular the hack-writer line. To be eminently successful he must must be. be broadly educated;perhaps not so thor- oughly grounded in the knowledge of the schools as in knowledge of the world. He must possess in the widest degree that ' 'general information" which comes from omnivorous reading, from travel, and from association with all sorts and conditions of men, combined with a keen insight into human nature, the ability to keep jDace with the progress of the world, with new literature, the develop- ment of the arts and sciences, sociologi- cal and metaphysical questions. He must have the ability to gather this in- llti PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP formation as he runs, and, if not thor- oughly to digest it, yet to store it away in his mind in such an orderly manner that it may be instantly accessible when needed. The qualities which go to make the competent and successful editorial writer upon a great newspaper are much the same as those which are demanded in the hack-writer; except that the former must often have the ability to go further beneath the surface, more into the causes of things, and into their effect; the hack- writer touches matters more upon the surface and, as a rule, writes more for the entertainment of the reader than for his instruction. As an example of his range of work we will cite the career of a well known New York journalist who is by his own Some confession a hack-writer. He disclaims examples of his any higher purpose in following his pro- work, fession than to meet the needs of the hour and the demands of editors. His name is signed to work in a dozen cur- rent publications at this moment upon our desk . In one, an illustrated monthly of the highest class, he has a short story of some 6,000 words. It is a good story — that goes without saying — or it would not have been admitted to the pages of the periodical in question— yet to the PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 117 reader who is also a writer and who, in consequence, reads between the lines to discover the method of the author, it bears evidences of being a "manufac- tured" story. The story does not show the qualities which contribute in any manner toward making a great story. It is, on the contrary, rather upon the order of newspaper work than of mag- azine work . It is rapid in its m o vement , bright in its conversations, but in char- acter drawing, in atmosphere, in the ^ qualities which appeal most to the heart "pot-boiler" and the brain, it is clearly deficient. story. However, it serves its purpose well, that purpose being none other than to draw a check for an hundred dollars, or per- haps for half as much more, from the treasury of the publisher. A writer of no greater reputation, but one who would have written this story less after the hack-writer's manner, and more after the manner of the careful, conscientious and competent literary worker, might have received $250.00 or $300.00 for it. The difference in price would have been due to the difference in quality, not to quantity. And it may interest some of our readers to know that a writer whose name was the fancy of the hour, might have received $500.00 or even more from the same publication for a story of equal length. 118 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP A drawback. His work sometimes su perficial. This is one drawback in the career of the acknowledged hack-writer; he can never expect to receive the very highest prices for his work. However good the work that he turns out, occasionally may be, he will never reach a place among the exalted few who receive fancy prices. He becomes well known but never famous. Editors are always glad to examine his work, for they know that he understands their needs well enough to avoid troubling them with anything that is clearly unavail- able for their particular use. This does not mean that his articles are always accepted at the first intention, but he is always accorded a respectful hearing. The next place that we find his name is in a domestic publication of high rank, signed to an article in which are discussed the nutritive food value and hy- gienic qualities of certain foods generally seen upon our tables. He does not go very deeply into the matter, and per- haps at times a scientist or a chemist might be able to pick flaws in his state- ments. But he has read up on the mat- ter to good purpose, and as his training has taught him that an error is worse than a crime, you may be reasonably sure that his article will bear all ordi- nary tests for accuracy. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 119 In a daily newspaper we find an inter- view signed by him, the subject being a famous statesman making his first visit to this country. In this, aside from the work of the interviewer proper, he has given us a succinct but comprehensive review of the life and career of the statesman. He not only knows the ordinary facts of his histo^, such as may be gleaned from any encj^clopedic or biographical article, but he is familiar with the measures he has advocated, As an the principles for which he stands, the interviewer. great speeches he has made, the men with whom he has been affiliated, as well as those to whom he has been placed in opposition. Perhaps it was only because the writer possessed such comprehensive information that he was able to get an audience with the distinguished visitor and draw him into the conversation which enabled him to so well serve the needs of his paper. If he had been a tyro, or if he had not been able to show himself at least no stranger to the distinguished man's career, the latter would probably have brought the audience to a quick termi- nation. Other articles from the same hand are: "In the Steerage of an Ocean Liner;" "Coffee Growing in Mexico;" (both 120 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP His emoluments. Industry is needful these articles evidently worked up from old note books of travel); an article on the "Chinese Quarter of New York," and so on ad infinitum . Estimating the value of the whole by our knowledge of current market prices for such work, we would judge that the output for the month returned to this fortunate hack- writer probably four hundred to five hundred dollars. This will seem to the general writer to be above the average monthly com- pensation of even those who are most fa- vorably regarded in editorial sanctums. This is true, yet we have reason to be- lieve that this particular writer does not fall far short of this average month after month and year after year. This is better compensation than can be ex- pected by even the most favored writer who confines himself to one or two pub- lications or to a single line of work. It would, too, require an extremely suc- cessful book to return as much in royal- ties as this writer will earn within a year. It is quite possible that this is an ex- ceptional hack-writer. Yet we know others who do an equally varied line of work, and who receive quite as good prices. If their total earnings do not amount to so much it is either because A mediocre PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 121 they do not apply themselves so indus- triously, and so produce as much work, or because they do not study their mar- ket to equal advantage, and so fail to reach the maximum money reward. An unpleasant feature of the profession of the hack-writer is that it is utterly destructive to any high or legitimate literary ambition. The writer soon contents himself with producing work of a mediocre quality, and such ambi- tion as he may have had at the outset to excel in any particular line, or to worker produce work which will live, is lost in the desire to keep himself well repre- sented in many publications and to gather in all the shekels possible from such work. There is another class of hack-writers who are deserving of rather more sym- pathy. These are men who are special- ists along some particular line, but whose income from such work is not sufficient to provide for their needs; so they devote a portion of their time to the journalistic hurly-burly, in order to make it possible to do that which is nearest their hearts. They look with more or less disgust upon the stories and articles which are merely pot boil- ers, and are annoyed when they find that they have become better known to ladder. 122 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP the public by these than b}^ the work which is the main purpose of their lives. Yet if one will be a hack-writer, let him make tip his mind to become a thoroughly competent one, to take his place at the head of the procession. To do this, as we have already said, one must constantly be acquiring informa- tion. Bear in mind that there is no item Get to of information, no matter how trivial the top of the {^ rnaY seem at the moment, which may not eventually be wanted in your work. Read and observe continually. Keep posted upon all questions of the day. Familiarize yourself with history, biog- raphy, read travel work, and travel whenever the opportunity presents. Keep note books and be methodical about arranging your information in such shape that you may find it when wanted. The hack-writer, and in fact writers of all classes, will find it of the utmost value constantly to make clippings from newspapers and periodicals, and to file these methodically. But to the hack-writer more than to any other will these be of value. Some of the most successful men in this line of work have such voluminous files of magazine and newspaper clippings as constitute a com- plete current history of various subjects. Clippings PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 123 In this way some have histories of cer- tain countries; of certain industries; of certain social movements; of men who have become famous, or who are stead- ily growing into fame. Some day they find their files of value, when the coun- try or the industry or the man springs into sudden prominence. And then and files. Jones, who has been less methodical, wonders how Brown happened to have all this material at his fingers' ends just when it was needed and when it was of money value. Or perhaps Brown, in looking over his files, finds that his clippings are so complete upon certain topics that he has before him all the in- formation necessary to make a valuable and comprehensive magazine article — and he forthwith does it. Some years since The Forum con- tained an article concerning the literary hack, that was rather widely com- mented on as showing the inner facts of the life of an ordinary literary worker The Forum °^ "^is class. It claimed to be the actual and the hack- experience of a hack-writer, and its pur- writer, port was to show how an unpreten- tious member of this guild had suc- ceeded in securing an income of $5,000 per year, while avowedly writing with no higher purpose than to produce that which would sell. An 124 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP There was nothing remarkable about the article and doubtless the experiences given could be paralleled by a dozen other writers. To earn that income, as ~we have suggested above, by writing articles and stories for the newspapers and magazines, is not an extraordinar- ily difficult attainment. Of course one must first be equipped lor the work. He must be possessed of a wide fund of general knowledge, and this must be so classified and arranged that it is ready example of the ^ or llse wnerever an d whenever needed, best. He must be able to write good short stories, or novels with sufficient merit to make them salable, in order to keep himself occupied when there are no other definite lines of work just ready for his hand. Above all he must be in- dustrious and must pay great attention to the market. The latter factor is an important one. It does not matter how much stuff he may turn off, if he is not able to sell it to advantage his work will count for little. In analyzing the income of this hack- writer we will suppose that he received no higher compensation than $5 per thousand words. At that rate he has to produce 3,000 words per day to ac- complish his aim. A fair portion of his work must have gone into periodicals PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 125 that pay from $10 to $20 per thousand words, and thus have materially reduced the necessary amount of output. An unpretentious newspaper woman of our acquaintance who works steadily upon a great daily, once told us that her work outside her own paper brought A an income of about $1,500 per year. newspaper This seems to us a more noteworthy woman, accomplishment in the way of literary earnings than the $5,000 secured bj the self-confessed hack, who gave his whole time to his widely diversified work. After the publication of The Forum article, the other side of the literary hack question was given by a writer in one of the eastern papers. He stated that with the same apparent industry he had been able to secure an income that aver- aged only $2,000 per year. The differ- ence between the two was probably this: the man who made the $5,000 had a higher and wider range, greater talent and greater versatility^. He would sell for $50 an article for which the other man would receive but $20. Although . each might devote the same time to his article, it was quite probable that the finished product would differ in value. And it is very nearly certain that the two would go to different markets. To sum up the whole matter of the earning power of a competent literary hack, it 126 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP might be fairly stated that his average will be found somewhere between these two extremes. While upon the subject of literary in- comes, we may repeat the statement made to us by a great New York editor to the effect that the best profit and the surest income is to be had by writing books. This statement will be ques- tioned by many, but this editor in com- menting upon certain men whose work was no longer to be found in the maga- zines, said: "These men will not write Incomes short stories, because they can make a and great deal more writing long ones." how attained. ^ Further investigation showed that those who were under consideration were engaged in writing novels, of which eaxh produced from one to three per year. They looked sharply to the financial end of their work, selling the serial rights first to the magazines, syndicates, or else- where, and then selling the book rights on a royalty. In this manner they secured an income that was not wholly depen- dent upon the work done each day. It is true it often happens that a writer finds great difficulty in selling his first long story or book manuscript at all. But if he goes to the right place, and his long work is equally as good as his shorter efforts, it is no more difficult to find a place for the one than for the other. CHAPTER VII. THE SPECIALIST WHAT HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED IN OTHER FIELDS HIS PLACE IN LITERATURE WHAT HE MAY ACHIEVE THE VARIED LINES FOR THE SPECIALIST THE TRAINING OF THE SPECIALIST. Among those who play their part in the larger activities of life, the "one-idea" man has ever been more or less the butt of the would-be humorist. Possibly The there is some reason for this, for the man one-idea man. who absorbs himself in a single idea does necessarily, and as a natural con- sequence, withdraw himself somewhat from intimate companionship with his fellows. The one idea becomes the cen- tral purpose of his life, and to it all other things must be subservient. "He who laughs last laughs best," is an old adage; and it is often the one-idea man who in the end laughs best, and at the expense of those who made him the mark for their gibes. In finance, we have often seen the man of one idea pro- gress steadily toward his goal — that of becoming one of the money kings of the 127 128 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP world. In art, we have seen the man who steadily made his art the great motif of his life outrank all his fellows. One-idea men have become the great generals of the world; the great inven- tors, those who have done most to as- sist the progress of civilization, were men of a single great idea and purpose. The great reformers of the world have been men of a single idea, and they have spent their lives nobly in and for the accomplishment of their single great pur- pose. In literature, the one-idea man is often a recluse, a student. In another chap- ter we have instanced the qualities which help to make the successful hack- Th writer. Almost none of these are neces- range of the sary to the specialist. Instead of min- specialist. g^ n g" with the world, he takes a little portion of it and observes and studies and analyzes that with his whole soul. While his range is narrow individually, collectively it may be of the widest. The specialist has his place in every walk of literature — but there is only one walk for each one of the species. The humorist may be just as much a special- ist as the student of some obscure branch of natural science; but it would be rare indeed to find the two combined. We have instanced the fact that the PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 129 hack-writer may hope to achieve fame, within rather narrow limitations. His is the fame that comes to the indus- trious and persevering writer within the circle of editorial sanctums, but not often in the eye of the great public. The specialist has, as a rule, a scope that is still more narrow. He may become known and appreciated by a few edi- tors, those of publications of a single class rather than to the guild as a whole; and through them he will be- come known to the limited number of His fame, readers who comprise their class. But there are some compensations. Where he is known, his name becomes a household word. He is looked up to. His work is looked forward to, and waited for, and all that he says is ac- cepted as authoritative. His work is usually well paid, and it brings him a certain honor and dignity wherever it becomes known. In the above we are speaking of the serious work of the specialist. While it is true, as we have said, that the hu- morous writer may be a specialist, it is not he nor his fellows whom we wish to consider here. The true specialist — the man who fol- lows his specialty in order that he may, write and inform the world upon it, is 130 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP As a chemist. As an agricultural writer. usually a man of a scientific turn of mind. His specialty may be any one of the abstruse or natural sciences. He may study the stars and endeavor to popularize knowledge concerning them. He may be a chemist, and add continu- ally to our information regarding the drugs which have been given to the world to minister to the needs of man- kind; he will study their sources, and will continually discover in the three great kingdoms constituents which add to the known chemistry of the universe. He may take a less far mental reach, and be simplj^ an agriculturist who studies the laws of nature in their rela- tion to plant life; he observes the unfold- ing of bud and flower, the growth of tree and fruit, the germination of seeds, the causes which conduce to barrenness or fruition, and gives this knowledge through the agricultural journals to those whom it may most benefit. Per- haps he goes a little further, and by careful experimentation, by crossing fruit with fruit and flower with flower, adds to the wealth of our horticulture. He may sttury the minerals of the earth; discover their location, and the ways by which they may be made most useful to mankind. He may be a trav- eler, continually browsing about odd PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 131 corners of the world, and adding to our knowledge of peoples, their habits and customs, making or correcting geog- raphy, or teaching one portion of the w^orld the value of another. The avenues of occupation for the specialist are almost without end. He ma}^ not be an original investigator, like these we have named, but instead de- vote his talents to summing up and arranging the kn owledge which has been gathered by others. The accurate and competent compiler stands among our most valued literary workers. He may be a biographical or historical writer; he may collect information upon almost any subject by careful browsing in libraries, and from this make either magazine articles or books which take first rank in literary^ importance; or an essayist who, watching the course of events upon the stage of the world, draws therefrom deductions that make the leader in the da} r 's newspaper or the finished article in to-morrow's review. The specialist may be, as we have y Re said, a humorist, who devotes his da3 x s specialist and sometimes his nights to conjuring as humorist from his brain or twisting from the facts and poet. f j^g experience humorous thoughts or situations which may be moulded into the comic dialogue, the illustrated 132 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP joke, or the mirth-provoking verselet; or a writer of verses alone, who, with- out great poetic faculties, studies the. technique and the niceties of his art un- til he can turn out almost at will the couplet or quatrain which expresses a thought in the minimum of words, or the cold and polished sonnet, or the dainty vers-de-soctete which editors wel- come so gladly. The short story writer is often a spec- ialist, turning his entire attention to the art of telling stories which within the limit of a few thousand words will give the whole life history of his charac- ters on the one hand, or upon the other The specialist present a single episode in those lives in as a practical such masterly manner, in such vivid and journalist. brilliant word-coloring, that the picture is burned upon the brain. Writing juve- nile stories is a specialty which many have followed with immense profit and satisfaction. The writing of "feature articles" for the daily press is a specialt}^ and one which is growing with the rapid development of the syndicates. The writing of practical agricultural arti- cles, practical mechanical articles, and of travel articles for newspapers and magazines are each specialties which are followed by many, but which afford fields that are never overcrowded. It PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 133 is perhaps even permissible to say that the novelist is a specialist; for it is often true that the novelist of to-day has been the literary hack or the all-round writer of a past decade, who, finding his tastes and powers developing in the direction of the elaborated story, has finally given himself wholly to that work for no other reason than that he has found it to be the thing which he can do best, and with most profit and satisfaction. Perhaps the question of profit alone might be the factor that determined his course, and were this eliminated, he might return to-day to the ranks of the hack-writer or all-round journalist. The specialist may minimize his work, if he chooses, to the last degree. We know specialists who are specialists on the one item of paint alone. They know The paint as a child knows his A. B. C's. specialist They know the bases for all paints; of the how the crude material is obtained; trade journals, how it is treated, how mixed, how han- dled in the factory, how put upon the trade, the shape in which it goes to the consumer, and its value. They know the durability of colors — or their lack of durability — the seasons at which they should be used, the method in which paint should be applied, the best brushes for certain uses. Knowing all 134 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP these things about even so limited a sub- ject, they can write without end for journals of many classes. Their work is not confined, as one might think, to trade or technical journals, but they have their place in the agricultural pa- pers, fill space in the newspapers, do occasional articles for illustrated papers, and even break into the magazines. For here is one thing for writers of all class- es to remember: practical work, written by one who knows thoroughly that of which he writes, has the widest possible range. Articles of information are re- garded kindly by all editors. The course of one who would become a writer upon a specialty, is plain. First, know your subject. If yon are to write about mechanics, study ma- chinery as you would your spelling book. The Study it not only from the outside, but training of a get }^our knowledge from the ground specialist. tip by becoming — if you are not so al- ready — a practical machinist. Go to work in a machine shop, and learn how to run an engine, a lathe, an emery wheel, a planer. Learn the care of ma- chinery, how it is built, its uses, its life; the more competent you become per- sonally as a machinist, the better able you will be to write about machinery for others. Then when you are ready PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 135 to write, select the journals of your especial class, and tell them anything you have to say upon the subject, that is new. So with agriculture. Work in the The ground until you are familiar with all agricultural the processes of nature, from seed specialist. time to harvest. Observe, learn some- thing new that is of practical value,, and the editors of agricultural journals will be glad to give } r ou a hearing. We might go on in this way through the entire list of trade and technical and class journals; there is not one of them but that affords an opening of some sort for the specialist. CHAPTER IX. THE DESCRIPTIVE ARTICLE QUALITIES NECESSARY TO A DESCRIPTIVE WRITER THE WIDE FIELD FOR HIS WORK NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES USE SUCH ARTICLES SUBJECTS FOUND ON EVERY HAND AND IN E VERY-DAY LIF3. It is not at all necessary that the suc- cessful writer of the descriptive article should have a mind of that especial quality which is denominated as "bril- The liant." The careful, plodding, pains- descriptive taking writer in this line of work is writer. often the one who arrives at the truest comprehension of his subject, and who is thus enabled to lay it most truly and realistically before his readers. Inven- tive genius, such as may be required in the development of plot or the elabora- tion of the novel, might rather stand in the way of the descriptive writer than otherwise. In his effort to be brilliant and interesting he might err by not being accurate; or in the effort at devel- opment and elaboration, he might in- troduce irrelevant matter, which would make his article verbose and heavy. 136 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 137 Perhaps he should be something more than a mere dull plodder, but the principal characteristics and abilities demanded are only those which are common to any man of ordinarily good mind and education. True, these qual- ities may be and should be developed and refined by practice. Indeed, so they will be, for in every branch of the liter- ary art, practice perfects. The descriptive writer must be able to grasp at once the salient and interest- ing points of the thing which he is about to describe. If the thing is of large im- portance, this will not be so difficult; but then he should have the faculty of His selection and should be able to discard qualifications intuitively and apparently without ef- for the fort the dull and uninteresting attrib- worki utes of his subject. If his matter is in itself of slight importance, then his in- genuity will be taxed to select those fea- tures of first worth, and enlarge upon and make the most of them. Here the ability to write entertainingly upon little things will come into play. The ability to select and to depict tersely and vigorously the more note- worthy points of a subject is a first requisite. Next comes the power to do this picturesquely. But truth to what is, must never be sacrificed for the sake lessons. 138 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP of picturesque effect. Farts, and strict adherence to the truth are never to be slighted in descriptive writing. An examination of any half dozen newspapers of the day will show that while one writer has been able to take a most commonplace subject, and invest it with an interest which holds the at- Study tention through every paragraph of his the newspapers article, another, having far better ma- for object terial to start with, has treated it in so commonplace a manner that the read- ing is a task rather than a recreation. In both articles one end has been at- tained — the information has been placed before the reader. But the other end, that of interesting the reader in his subject and affording him pleasure while gaining knowledge, has not been attained. The field for the descriptive article is of the widest. Every magazine, illus- trated or otherwise, every syndicate, every newspaper, the juvenile journals, religious journals, trade and technical publications are open to it in some form. This may "easily be proved by picking up at random the journals of the week in these different classes. The descrip- tive article has a prominent place in each and every one of them. The range of the descriptive article is PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 139 The field for the descriptive article. The scientist as a descriptive writer. as wide as the field for its publication. The material for it may be supplied by agriculture, either in giving an account of some special culture, in writing of the resources and attractions of some par- ticular agricultural region, in describing improved methods of work or in re- counting in homely phrase the every day life of the average agricultural worker, as was done recently in an article entitled "A Day on the Farm." The field of applied mechanics furnishes a basis for frequent articles of this sort. These may be either technical articles for trade journals or articles written in a popular style for the general reader. We have recently seen examples of the latter in magazine articles describing the famous Krupp Gun Works, the manufacture of armor plates for naval vessels in our own country, a visit to a dynamite factory, etc. The above have been elaborately illustrated articles in our leading publications. The student of natural history will write descriptive articles for the purely scientific journals, or for publications in which science is popularized for the masses, as in Popular Science; or he may follow the lead of Mr. Ernest In- gersoll, or of the late William Hamilton Gibson, and clothe his subject with so A 140 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP much of interest and beauty that it will command for itself a place, as did their work, in the greatest of our magazines, from whose pages "it will appeal to the general reader. But nature, our great mother, is the store house and treasure house for the writer in more particulars than this. The natural wonders of the world — mountains, rivers, glaciers, cascades, deserts, — may be treated again and a- gain by different writers, so only that new view-point a new Yiew point is secured. The Falls makes salable °f Niagara have perhaps been more matter. written about than any other of the natural wonders of the world. Yet only a little time since a young writer, viewing the falls for the first time, found himself impressed with thoughts regarding them which had not before been given to the world in print. He went to his room, within view and sound of the great masses of falling waters, wrote his article and found it was ac- cepted at once, because in itself it was new, though his subject was as old per- haps as the world. The polite arts and the handicrafts serve the purpose of the descriptive writer. The opening of an art gallery, the first night of a popular prima dona, a visit to the studio of a sculptor, to a PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 141 The common and the uncommon within his field. Some examples of notable work. ship yard, are material for him. The handiwork of the potter, the taxider- mist, the botanical collector, all afford work for his pen. All great events are within his scope, the review of an army, the coronation of a king, the inaugu- ration of a president, may be treated in such a manner that they become more interesting than fiction. Pins are common things. Yet only the other day a well known writer put out a syndicate article describing their manufacture. Lead pencils are common, yet each one of us would stop to read an article describing the various details of their production — where the wood comes from, how the graphite is pre- pared and put within its case, the meth- ods by which they are manufactured so cheaply, the numbers consumed, etc. A great newspaper office upon elec- tion night, or when great events are happening, has more than once been a theme for the ready writer, and will be so many times again. Mr. Julian Ralph once did a most notable article describ- ing the scenes in Washington on inaug- uration day. Mr. Richard Harding Davis did an equally notable article de- scribing a single great street in a great city. Mr. Crawford, of the New York Herald, did a famous magazine article Describing 142 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP telling how a president was elected. This same writer did a valuable series of articles describing the different de- partments and branches of the govern- ment: as the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, the various Depart- ments, etc. The wheat pit in Chicago is the more or less direct subject of a financial arti- cle in hundreds of papers every day. Yet recently, when a corner was being manipulated, a writer who did not the Chicago touch the financial aspects of the mat- wheat ter, published an article which was a pit. most brilliant pen picture of the pit and the men in it, and of the methods by which fictitious quantities of wheat were bought and sold, and fortunes made and lost at the waving of a hand. Enough has been said here to show that there is almost no subject, great or small, which may not afford a motif for the descriptive article; but there are grades in this work as in all other, and descriptive writers will vary from the man or woman who does an article upon some commonplace theme, in a commonplace manner, for a common- place third-rate journal, to the one who looks for material that is new or of the largest value, or that may be treated in a new way, and then does the best PRACTICAL ALTHOESHIP 143 that his literary art will permit in put- ting it before the public. Do not imagine that descriptive writ- ing is necessarily an inferior class of Ki P ,in S work. Mr. Kipling did not find it be- as a descriptive ,1 -, • -j. ., , i -, ... r W r\ier neath his dignity to do a description of salmon fishing oh the Columbia River; nor did some of our leading litterateurs neglect to record in descriptive articles of various sorts, their impressions of the Columbian Exhibition. writer. CHAPTER X. VERSE-WRITING YOUNG WRITERS INCLINE TOWARD POETRY AMATEURS DELUGE EDITORS WITH TOOR VERSES OFFERINGS GREATLY IN EXCESS OF DEMANDS THE MARKET LIMITED THE SORT OF WORK WANTED PRICES PAID. The advice usually given to literary aspirants whose inclinations turn to- ward the poetic form of expression, is to avoid writing verse. At least they are Some warned against it if their purpose is to sound advice. earn money by their pen, or to secure a definite place in literature. They are told, by both editors and experienced writers, that verse is a drug in the mar- ket. The}' will find by experience that comparatively few, even among the lit- erary journals that are free buyers of prose matter, will purchase verse at all. The bulk of that which is published is contributed gratuitously by young poets who are willing to give away their work for the satisfaction of seeing it in print. Editors will tell you that for every one poem that can possibly be made use 144 Editors discourage budding PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 145 of, they receive fifty which must be re- turned. The majorit}^ of these are of course very poor stuff and are not worthy of publication an y where. But perhaps ten per cent of the whole are fairly good verse, as well entitled to poets. publicity as the average prose contribu- tion. Yet editors are not unwarranted in their honest endeavors to discourage the poetical aspirant, for this is the most difficult and unpromising of all the literar3 r pathwa\ r s for a beginner to follow. Still, one who has any decided talent in this direction, and who is capable of rising superior to all obstacles and dis- couragements, will find by a careful analysis of the entire situation that the case is not absolutely hopeless. There are perhaps a score of publications in the United States which buy poetry and pay for it liberally, and which are dis- tinct encouragers of young verse- writers who show any indications of genius. When verse is accepted, the financial emoluments are decidedly better than for even the best prose work by authors of equal reputation. Of course all know that our leading illustrated magazines — -Harper's, Scrib- ner's,The Century, Munsey's, McClure's, The Cosmopolitan — are buyers of verse. 146 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Some publications that buy verse,, The rates of compensation. To these may be added The Atlantic, Boston; Lippincott's, Philadelphia; The Chautauquan, Cleveland, 0.; The Out- look, The Independent, and The Church- man, New York; and some others among both the secular and the religious press. A few dailv papers, notably the New York Sun, give careful consideration to verse, and buy at good prices such as is adapted to their needs. The Youth's Companion, Boston, is a buyer of verses .and jingles for children, and of poems that appeal both to youths and to ma- ture readers. The Companion, in this as in all other things, is among the most courteous and liberal of publications. Many of the Sunday School journals buy poems not necessarily of a distinct- ly religious type, but such as will inter- est young readers, and which are of a wholesome and uplifting character. As the question of compensation is always a pertinent one to writers, we may state that even those who do not succeed in selling their wares to the leading magazines, may yet expect very satisfactory rewards. From a memo- randum before us, we find that The Out- look paid one writer $15 for 121 lines of blank verse, and at another time $10 for twenty-nine lines. It will be appar- ent here that not only length but quali- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 147 ty as well is a determining factor with this journal, in regard to the value of poetical contributions. The Indepen- dent, for a poem containing nine four-line stanzas, paid $8. Lippincott's, for a four line stanza, $2. The Churchman, for 38 lines, $2.50; for a sonnet, $1.00, and for three four-line stanzas, $1.00. All except the last of these journals may be taken to represent about the aver- age in their rates of compensation for poetry. The Churchman seems to be decidedh^ below the average, and in its rate about on a par with the household and domestic magazines. The illus- trated magazines of course pay much more liberally. One reason why editors are so much inclined to discourage young verse writ- ers, is that they have found that the The sort majority do not send clear, concise, for- of poetry that is cible verse, and do not show a very great perception of rhyme or rrn'thm, and little of true poetic instinct and feel- ing. A great many half-educated people (not entirely those of tender years ) imagine that they can write poetr\^, and it is their effusions that flood the mails and discourage editors. In looking over the periodicals of the day, we find more poetry in the form of the sonnet than of anv other one class. declined. 148 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP The sort that is accepted. One reason for failure. 'Brief, my lord!" We may reasonably argue from this that the writer of verse who can pro- duce a sonnet that is worthy both in its. beauty and the originality of thought, and whose conception is not marred in its execution, has found one of the best roads that poets can take to the editor- ial heart. We find too that poems of nature, both in the form of the sonnet and other- wise, have a charm about them not only to the reader, but apparently to the editor as well. We find that most of these poems of nature are brief. In fact long poems of any sort are not wanted. . A poem may be faultless in construc- tion, yet if it has not in it something that appeals to the soul, it will hardly find its way into the pages of a good publication. Some young poets err by studying the art of verse-making until they can construct a poem that is tech- nically faultless, then do this without much regard to the thought embodied in their flawless lines, and wonder why they are not successful. There are two forms of verse in desue- tude of late years, that appear to be again becoming popular. These are the rondeau and the rondel, both musical, and both difficult. So long as brevity PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 149 Household and juvenile poetry. What a newspaper editor says. is a prime factor in poetry, these cer- tainly should find place. It requires but a glance through the leading publications of the month, to show that quatrains and couplets are steadily in demand. In our household monthlies we find poems that touch upon the brighter side of the home life — verse that finds a responsive echo in the heart of the wife and mother who has few aspirations outside of the home. With these publi- cations, sentiment is more looked for than perfect form. The juvenile publications, including some of the Sunday School weeklies, use and pay well for little stories pret- tily told in verse and for jingles that may be illustrated, for very young readers. The editor of a leading newspaper wrote to a correspondent as follows: "The poetry most in demand now-a- days is that kind which appeals most directly to people who are busy. Long poems, no matter what the subject may be, are frowned upon by editors. The most successful poet is the one who can put the best thought into the smallest space. It would seem almost impos- sible for one in this day and age to write poetry that would be new — that 150 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP "would touch upon some new theme of life. But that is what editors want, or rather that is what the public wants. The editors are mere middlemen, who form the connecting links between the producers and the consumers. Your own observations have probably im- pressed upon you the fact that the people in general are not given to deep reading. They want to be amused rather than instructed. If you can preach a sermon and arouse a laugh at the same time, you do well. If you can't do that, try to raise the laugh anyhow, and your reader is grateful. That is newspaper 'poetry.'" Simplicity in verse writing is a desir- able quality. If one would cultivate simplicity, the writing of verses for children will afford excellent practice. To write poems which will appeal to the Strive young mind is a feat toward which it is f° r worth while to devote one's best efforts, simplicity. Q ne wno i lSiS never undertaken the task may think it beneath him, requiring so little ability that the effort is realh" not worth while. We caution you against this error, for you may find the work beyond you rather than beneath. To write verses for children requires direct- ness, and a mastery of simple words, in which plain, interesting and attractive ideas may be expressed. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 151 Desirable verses of this sort bring fair rates of compensation from a number of journals. The Youth's Companion, Juvenile poems Harper's Round Table, St. Nicholas, and various Sunday School publications, are teir value. a ]j gl a( j to examine work of this sort. The prices for such poems of two or three to five short stanzas range from $1.00 to $20.00 each. Three publications especially instanc- ed above like verses filled with fun and spirit, mainly for its boy readers, or something dainty, containing a bright thought or telling some old half-forgot- ten story in the history of by -gone days, or poems that are helpful and beautiful without being too much upon the re- ligious order. The Companion also has a children's page, where poems and jingles for the very youngest readers are used. Sometimes the criticism of editors more than am'thing else will help a young writer to determine wherein his Editorial work is faubw. One very young writer criticism, had been a somewhat favorite contribu- tor of verse to a certain periodical. In the course of time he sent a poem to the editor, which he felt certain would be accepted because it was suited to an especial season. But the discriminating editor found the lines somewhat "sing- 152 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Suggestions from friendly editors. songy," and sent them back with this note: "There is really nothing out of the way with these verses, except that they seem to be a little on the machine order. Some of your work sounds so sincere that I dislike to take anything that ap- pears less so." This note taught the writer two things: First, that he must be more careful as to the quality of the work that he sent out; second, that the editor of that magazine was beginning to take a real interest in him and his work. Another editor returned a poem with this criticism: "I like these verses very much, but the sentiment embodied in them is one so often used that it de- tracts from the fine expression you have given it." This taught another lesson: it was that editors are not fond of hackneyed subjects, in verse, more than in other lines of liter axy work. A young writer who is earnest and who desires to succeed in his profession will take these hints in the kindly man- ner in which they are intended. We are told constantly, and with a great deal of truth, that editors are con- tinually looking for and hoping to see appear above the horizon the "new PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 153 The editorial attitude toward new poets. Why new poets are frowned down. writer," who can do such work as will attract attention to his journal and supply the much needed infusion of new blood. No editor will deny this asser- tion as far as regards the storj- writer, the novelist, the humorist, etc., but as to the young poet, — a shrug of the shoulders will best signify- his feeling and belief in that direction. There is no branch of the literary career upon which one can enter where a struggle in the be- ginning is so assured as with the young poet. Editors will receive his offerings grudgingly, often with silent contempt, and be quite ready to send them home with a "Returned with thanks," before even examining the first line. This would not be the case if the would-be poets understood the work that they attempt. But when they send imperfect, weak and silly verses, that have neither thought nor form, verses that perhaps have been praised in the home circle or among non- critical friends, and keep on sending such day after day and week after week, without any evidence of improve- ment or attempt at improvement, editors can hardly be blamed for getting a little weary. Do not attempt to write verses for publication unless you have made some- 154 PRACTICAL AUTHOESHJP thing of a stud y of the technique of poetry. There is no branch of literature which can so nearly be measured by metes and bounds as regards form. Im- perfect meters and rhymes are not al- lowable, even among the second rate publications. Long poems are not wanted by pub- lications of any sort. Magazine editors Long not infrequently receive long narrative poems are not poems, which if printed wotdd occupy wanted. from a half dozen to a half hundred- pages. But it is needless to say that these are not printed. It requires only a glance at the publications on any news-stand to show that the poems ac- cepted are, almost without exception, brief. And it would seem that the more brief the}^ are the better chances of editorial favor. No matter how well the young poet may do his work, no matter how con- scientious and careful and painstaking he is, he is very certain to receive re- Rejections peated declinations. These will be his must be ex- portion even more than the portion of pected. the story writer or other literary work- er, for the simple reason that editors receive more poetry in proportion to their needs, than any other work. But with all these discouragements, many new poets do get to the front continu- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 155 ally, and the record of the last dozen years will show a brilliant group of A young singers who have been enabled summing to win an audience to themselves by the up. aid oi our magazines and other literary journals. What an editor wants in verse has been admirably stated in the fol- lowing quatrain: ' 'Something sweet and tender, Something blithe and gay, That we all remember Till our dying day." Chas. A. Dana said, only a little be- fore his death, that the interest in poet- r}^ is as great as it ever was. Publishers of books are certainly putting out as much good poetry as ever. What the people will read, in the poets' column of the daily newspaper or in the first class magazine, is the pithy, bright, brief, adaptive song of labor and love, of hope and optimism, as long as there are poets to write and readers to read. CHAPTER XI. THE TRADE JOURNAL? A PROFITABLE FIELD QUAL- IFICATIONS OF AN INDUSTRIAL WRITER HOW TO BEGIN WITH SUCH WORK LIST OF INDUS- TRIAL JOURNALS THAT BUY MATERIAL COR- RESPONDENCE FOR TRADE JOURNALS FASHION AND COMMERCIAL WORK. Trade-journals and technical work. Writing for the trade journals may be taken up either as a specialty to which a man may devote his entire time and talents, or as a side line to general liter- ary- work. To become a writer for trade journals presupposes some especial knowledge of mechanics, or of certain trades or handicrafts. As it would be folly for any writer, no matter how skilled in the technicalities of literary form and expression, to undertake to write for the agricultural press without at leasr a working knowledge of agri- culture itself, so would it be the height of the ludicrous for one to attempt writing for a journal devoted to the paper trade without some practical knowledge of the manufacture of one or more classes of these goods, or of 156 PEACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 157 The ramifications of trade-jour- nalism channels through which they find their way into use, and the ways in which they are employed. This is necessarily a somewhat cir- cumscribed field; but workers therein en- joy the offsetting advantage of having comparatively few competitors. The combination of practical knowledge of a manufacture or a handicraft, and of a- bility in literary expression, is sufficient- ly rare to make their possessor a mark- ed man. In industrial writing, that man will succeed best who knows one thing thor- oughly. As we have elsewhere instanced, let a man know paint alone, as a man knoweth his brother, and his field will be wide indeed; it will comprise the entire list of journals devoted to the paint trade, the drug trade, house- building, interior decoration, the agri- cultural journals, etc. Even the daily newspapers will be open to him once in a while for practical articles upon paint and its uses. In addition, there are journals devoted to the carriage trades, to the manufacture of agricul- tural implements, architecture, etc., with all of which the thoroughly equipped writer may find place. A knowledge of paint presupposes a knowledge of all of the constituent elements of paint, of 158 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP coloring matter, dye stuffs, etc. This opens up the field of the dyers'-trade journals, in which one may tell about logwood, cochineal insects, etc. One who contemplates writing for trade journals should first seriously consider what especial line he possesses the greatest practical knowledge re- garding. It is not well to attempt to be a jack-of-all- trades in this work, for then editors will be apt to discover that your knowledge of any one particular topic is a rather thin veneer. Throw yourself heart and soul into the study of one trade. Let that be the one con- cerning which you already know most, Write then add to this the knowledge that of the things other men have accumulated. When you know. y Qn f ee j yourself thoroughly equipped, competent to make a beginning, consult a newspaper directory and get the names and addresses of all the periodi- cals in that particular line, and of others that you think may have occasional or regular place lor such work. Then write a brief practical letter to the editor, tell him what you want to do, and as evi- dence of your ability to do it enclose a sample contribution (not too long.) Ask him if he can use that, and request him to let you know what such contributions are worth. Editors of technical and PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 159 Average rats of payment. class journals are not overwhelmed by competent writers as some other peri- odicals are, and hence are usually alert to discover the men who can do the things that the\ r want done. Get a cop\ r , or better still a file of the journal to which you shall make your first offering, and stud_v its scope, in or- der that yon may judge its requirements. It is just as foolish, and just as much a waste of time and pains, to fire at ran- dom in this work as in any other. The rates paid b} T trade journals are not usually high, but they are fairly liberal, and considering that rejections are much less frequent than from other journals, the rewards may be said to be very satisfactory. The average rate of payment may be placed at about $3.00 per thousand w^ords. Occasionally, twice this will be paid for material that is essentialh r new and valuable. A partial list of trade journals, or of journals that use material in line with the suggestions above, is here given, from which it may be seen that the field is not a restricted one. We also give the following as the or- dinary rates paid by some of these, for contributed matter:- American Agriculturist, New York, $3 per 1,000 American Brewer, New York. 160 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Partial list of trade journals. American Carpet and Upholstery Trade, Phila- delphia. American Cider Maker, New York. American Grocer, New York. American Miller, Chicago. American Soap Journal and Perfume Gazette, Chicago. American Soap Journal, Chicago. $3 per 1,000. Blacksmith and Wheelwright, New York. Builder and Woodworker, New York. Cultivator and Country Gentleman, Albany, $3 per 1,000. Decorator and Furnisher, New York, $3 50 per 1,000. Domestic Engineering, Chicago. Drugs, Oil and Paints, Philadelphia, $3 per 1,000. Dyers' Trade Journal, Philadelphia, $3 per 1,000. Household, Boston, $3 per 1,000. Illustrated Carpenter and Builder, London, $3 per 1,000. Indian Rubber World, New York. Metal Worker, New York. National Wood Finisher, Dayton, $3 per 1,000. Oil, Paint and Varnish Trade, Chicago, $3 to $5 per 1,000. Papermill and Wood Pulp News, New York. Painting and Decorating, New York, $3 1,000. Painters' Magazine, New York, $2.60 1,000. Plumber and Decorator, London, 10s. 6d column. Popular Science, New York, $3 per 1,000. Printer's Ink, New York. Railway Master Mechanic, Chicago, $3.50 per column . Rural New Yorker, New York, $3 per 1,000. Shoe and Leather Facts, Philadelphia. per per per PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 161 Textile World, Boston. The China Decorator, New York. The Spokesman, Cincinnati, $3 per 1,000. The Hub, New York, $3 per column. Tobacco Leaf, New York. Varnish, Philadelphia, 30c per inch. Western Painter, Chicago, $3 per 1,000. Doubtless all these figures are subject to variation, depending upon the mate- rial offered, but these are taken from the cash-book of a contributor, and show about what may be expected. This list is not by any means com- plete, but it is sufficient to afford a suggestion of the many practical lines along which a writer may work. A Varied careful study of several numbers of any lines in trade journal to which one intends to offer journalism. contributions is earnestly recommended. It will be found that the majority of them do not confine themselves to a narrow range, but that ever}^ branch of the business and the industries re- lated to it are covered. For instance, a journal which deals -with the manu- facture of a vegetable product will not only use articles describing the process- es of manufacture and improvements in same, but will deal with the culture of the crop, field conditions at various seasons, methods of handling and pre- paring for shipment, trade conditions, 162 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP improved machinery for manufactur- ing, etc. To the writer for the trade journal be- longs the work of being telegraphic or mail correspondent for large city dailies Corres- which pay especial attention to manu- pondence. facturing news. Among such are The Boston Advertiser, and The New York Journal of Commerce. These desire re- ports of such matters as the starting up or shutting down of great corporations, strikes, changes in the ownership of large manufacturing properties, fires, and noteworthy accidents. The trade journals always like to be informed regarding the starting up of new industries in their especial lines. But it should be borne in mind that all news and information sent to journals of this class must be verified. A false or sensational report might be of incalcul- able damage to the journal if printed, and the correspondent who sent it would be very certain to have no further standing with that editor. Among trade journals it must not be forgotten that there are many which Fashion writers, afford particular opportunity for the employment of the pens of the gentler sex. Among these are the fashion journals, which use an unlimited amount of material, and which as a PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 163 rule pay contributors well . There is a particular reason why this field offers a wide market. Fashions change with startling rapidity and periodicity. In agriculture the same thing is to be done over in about the same way each year. With many trade journals the op- portunity for doing new work is limited because it is not always possible to find new developments or phases of the work to write about. But in fashions the changing of styles continually opens the whole field anew. To do the higher grades of work for these fashion journals and for the fashion departments of popular periodi- Fashion cals requires some special training. But journals and for anyone who has facility in doing de- their needs. scriptive articles, and who is located in any large city, a start may perhaps be made by securing orders from out of town journals for letters describing the openings of large dry goods and mil- line^ houses, and the new fabrics and styles shown. Sketches may accompany^ such articles, but these are not abso- lute^ necessary^. Any new or striking style may be made the basis for an article, but the writer must herself be one who is thoroughly competent to discuss styles, and who is "up 1 ' regarding the latest 164 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP caprices of fashion. New colors, new shapes, and changes in all articles of wearing apparel are of interest to the publisher, and to the reader of fashion notes. Keep in mind that the majority of such readers, and those who give the closest attention to such descriptions, are people of moderate means. Therefore make your articles of as practical a nature as you can, and you will find them proportionately appreciated. Keep Many journals realize that these letters close to practi- are taken by their readers as a basis for cal lines. home work, and so descriptions that are sufficiently clear to be used as guides are best liked by them. Among such work, practical notes on dress-making, on remodeling old garments, and on home millinery are always acceptable. There are specialties within special- ties. A fashion writer ma}^ devote her- self to a single line: as, for instance, making a specialty of styles for child- ren. Others take up house furnishing and decorative art as applied to the home, while others devote themselves to novel entertainments for social gather- ings. Nearly all fashion journals use accurate descriptions of the latest fancy work, and toilet notes and "beauty talks" often command good prices. Allied to this work are descriptions PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 165 of historical costumes and historical sketches of the origin of certain fashions, or articles of dress. This widens the field of the fashion writer into the realm of literature proper. The avenues for the sale include not only the fashion journals, but the var- ious household and domestic publica- tions, some of the syndicates, and many large newspapers which have a woman's department in one issue each week. Often very much valuable and inter- esting material may be secured b\ r culti- vating certain lines of acquaintance judiciously. For instance, the intelligent How head of the lace department of a large material may store could give many interesting facts be secured. regarding the delicate goods of which he has of course made an especial study for man3 r years; or the rug buyer of a carpet house could make a most pictur- esque and informing narrative. They could give you information regarding the sources from which such goods are procured, the processes of manufacture, often much of peculiar interest regard- ing the conditions of life among the people who produce them, practical hints as to the values of different classes of these goods, how the real may be told from the imitation, etc. CHAPTER XII. THE HUMORIST JOKE-WRITING AS A PROFESSION AN IMPORTANT BRANCH OF LITERARY WORK THE HEIGHTS AND DEPTHS OF HUMOROUS WRIT- ING THE PUBLICATIONS THAT USE HUMOR WHAT THEY WANT AND WHAT THEY PAY. It is perhaps a long- cry from tlie poet and the trade journal writer to the writer of humorous skits, but in one not unimportant respect the poet and y^g the humorist are certainly alike. Both humorist is the "sweetsinger" and the "funnyman" born, not are born, not made. Spontaneous made, humor is a gift that must be inherent in one as is the gift of song. Like the lat- ter, the humorous quality in one's men- tal organization will almost invariably be apparent early in life. The boy in this is father to the man. The wit of the school may quite possibly become the humorous paragrapher or the writer of comic verses. Not always will the schoolb oy humor- ist develop thus, but if we hark back from the developed humorist, we are very apt to find his embryo in the lad. 166 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 167 Environment will have much to do with this development, as upon that largely- rests the determination of the character. The grim responsibilities of life may be in such contrast to the care- free days of youth, that both the sense and the expression of humor become subdued. But if the environment is favorable, the native sense of humor will be devel- oped. The boy will either achieve a reputation as a wit and a ready after- dinner speaker, or, if his tastes turn to- Environment ward literary pathways, he will be apt and to give his talents to the service of practice. those journals whose mission it is to cheer and brighten with humor the pathway of life. And the more jokes he makes — and puts down in ink or immor- talizes in type — the more he will be able to make, and the better, brighter and more pointed will they become. The more completely a man is equipped for work in any line, the better will he succeed. Joke-writing may not seem at first glance to be a very exalted branch of literary work. It would seem that anyone can do this provided he be equipped with the one necessary element — the sense of humor. Yet the greater the command of language, the greater the ability to express one's self tersely Some famous "funny men." 168 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP and grammatically, and the better scholar and all-round encyclopedia of information one is, the greater are his chances for reaching the top of the ladder. The "funny man" may be either a high or a low comedian. All sorts and conditions of fun are demanded by an omnivorous reading public. Few in any generation will reach the brilliant heights attained by Mark Twain and Stockton. Coupled with their inexhaus- tible fund of humor are the most liberal literary attainments. Aside from the humorous principle, their work is along the highest levels. Upon a somewhat less elevated plane we have Bill N}^e, Bob Burdette, and others of that class. The lower we come upon the rounds of the ladder of fame, as upon all others, the more companions will we find. At the top alone is there any danger that one will be lonesome. In the next lower rank we find the paragraphers and writers of humorous skits. While these may be named by the dozens, there are after all onlj^ three 01 four who have done work so very good that their names have become universally known. But it is here that the greatest field and opportunity is for the beginner. Aside from the four or PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 169 successful hu- morist, Illustrated jokes. five humorous journals of established and national reputation, we have publi- cations of many classes that use this sort of humorous matter. Harper's Magazine for a long time had a depart- ment devoted entirely to short jokes. This has now evolved into a depart- ment usually containing one com- medietta of two or three pages. John Kendricks Bangs is the favorite writer of these, and his work may be fairly taken as an example of what is most acceptable in this line. Others of the high class magazines have humorous departments, in which subtle and re- fined jokes, dainty persiflage, and airy fancies expressed in short verse, find place. The Sunday editions of the metropoli- tan papers usually contain one page given up to cartoons and humorous matter. For these, jokes that can be illustrated, and dialogues of two or three short paragraphs are chiefly wanted. This material is not of as re- fined a sort as that used for the maga- zines. There is more horse-play, more working over of old ideas, and a lower literary standard. The lowest form of wit tolerated by any publication, is the pun. We would not advise beginners in this line of 170 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP work to experiment with it, however, as editors are not often kindry disposed toward it. The pun,however,may some- Avoid puns. times be used to build upon, provided the would-be humorist has the insight and depth of mind to not undertake to make the pun itself the joke, but merely the basis for the joke. Among the forms of humor which the would-be "funny man" may experiment with are the foibles and misdemeanors of fashionable society; the trials and adventures of the tipsy man; the sagaci- ty of the tramp in avoiding labor, the absurdities of the colored brother, the Subjects mishaps of the countryman in the for the humor- metropolis, the errors of foreigners, and is*- the woes of authors who cannot sell their manuscripts. In the latter case it often happens that "the funiij^ man" must make a virtue of necessity, and coin, through the medium of the humor- ous paragraph, his own sad experiences of untoward fates. A rather curious market for humor- ous work, and one that perhaps would not be thought of by many, is found among the makers of popular patent medicines. These issue almanacs in which the virtues of their nostrums are sandwiched between jokes and anec- dotes. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 171 As to the compensation for humor- ous work, that, like the compensation for all other sorts of literature, varies so widely that it is almost impossible to establish an average or make any definite statement. In this, as in some other cases, the reputation of the writer counts for almost as much as that which is written. We might state, how- ever, that for the best of the comic weeklies, such as Judge, Puck, and Life, from one to three dollars are paid for jokes of onljr a couple of sentences. How Short jokes bring more in proportion humor than long ones. A joke prolonged into pays. several scenes may bring but a half more than the shorter ones. Sugges- tions for cartoons, especially for good ones during a heated political cam- paign, are paid for most liberally. This is particularly true if accompanied by even the roughest sort of a sketch which will convey the author's idea or con- ception of his subject. Short, very short, humorous stories are well paid for. Ten to fifteen dollars is not an unusual price for one of not more than 500 words. It must have point, how- ever, and be clearly and concisely ex- pressed. Some of the foreign humorous journals, such as Le Journal Avnusant, and Fleiegende Blatter, contain excellent 172 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP stuff which when translated is appre- ciated by both American editors and American readers. In offering humorous work for pub- lication it is well to observe some system. Send in }^our jokes in batches of a half dozen or more at once. Type- write each separately on a slip of paper, having your slips of uniform size. Have your name and address on each slip. Enclose a return stamped envelope. The editor then can select those which he cares to retain and send the others back to you without much trouble. The great mass of the material used by our humorous journals is of an ex- ceedingly light character— squibs, con- a ^ U JLuf «f versation jokes, verselets and such tri- fles. The great English humorous jour- nal, Punch, built up its circulation and influence largely by means of an entire- ly different class of work — social, satir- ical or political serials — such as Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures, and The Book of Snobs. If a professional humorist will work hard at his trade, as if he were a wood saw3 r er, confining himself to his desk until he has ground out a daily stint of ten to forty or fifty jokes per day, he may expect to receive an income that will put to blush some workers along examples of humor. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 173 The 'funny man" must work hard. The construction of humorous para graphs. more elevated lines. A competent, in- dustrious, professional joker may earn from $40 to $80 per week. But to do this he must grind very steadily and keep in touch with pretty nearly all the journals of the country, that use such matter. The best illustrations of what editors of the humorous journals desire may be found by a perusal of their own columns. further than this it is al- most useless to offer suggestions. Yet to show how ideas come and take form, and result in the humorous paragraph having its being, we may offer the fol- lowing: The writer intent upon finding ma- terial for his morning's work at para- graphing, is passing through a street where some laborers are employed pre- paring some water mains. He hears the foreman order half the gang to come up out of the ditch, and aid those above to lower some pipe. Immedi- ately an idea begins to crystallize. It may pass through various transitions and phases of existence, before it finally takes form. The final result may be something like this: — Boss: How many ab' yees are down there? Voice from below: T'ree. Boss : Half of yees lower yer'selves up and help Moike wid de poipe. 174 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Another example. Cultivate the faculty of observation. Occasionally an overheard conversa- tion will give a paragrapher exactly what he needs, and in just the form in which it can be used to most advant- age. The following appeared under a sketch in one of our leading comic jour- nals, and the paragrapher actually heard it told at the expense of a lisp- ing friend: Mrs. Benther (at a suppressed scream in the adjoining room) : What's the matter? Cholly (who has great presence of mind in spite of his lisp): It wat'h a mouth and it fwightened Mith Hilda. Mrs. Benther: I thought it had something to do with a mouth ! Don't let it happen again, please. This may not seem to the reader who analyzes it carefully, as very brilliant wit, yet these two paragraphs had a commercial value of just $3.50, and the time occupied in their composition was probably hardly worth taking into account. One intent upon the business of par- agraphing, must cultivate the faculty of seeing the humor of a situation or an instant, and of having the imagina- tion to supply the missing details. As we have said in the chapter on Short Stor\ r Writing, the true story is hardly ever the available one for publication. So the best anecdotes are those of Timeliness PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 175 things that almost happen. The funni- est stories are those that partially oc- curred. It is the part of creative humor to supply the lacking elements, the missing details. Timeliness in humorous work, is an element no more to be lost sight of than in the work of the special writer. Let the paragraph but read pat with the topic of the hour, be that Br3 r an and in humor. 16 to 1, embalmed beef and our sol- diers in Cuba, or Aguinaldo and his army of naked Pagal warriors, and its chances of acceptance are doubled. The political situation of the day or the hour, whatever it may be, is al- ways a basis for catchy, effective par- agraphs that are always in demand. Truth, Life, Puck and Judge buy the highest class of Paragraphic humor. The Harper publications, The Century, and Scribner's use humorous para- graphs to some extent. Other New Journals York publications that buy are Vogue, that buy humor. Vanity Fair, Town Topics, and Dem- orest's Monthly. The Sunday editions of the New York World, Herald, Sun and Journal require paragraphs in boun- tiful profusion, as do many large dailies such as The Detroit Free Press, Pitts- burg Bulletin, and New Orleans Times- Democrat. 176 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP One may meet with discouragements from editors in this line of work, as in An old all others. But if one really intends to humorist's be a professional humorist or para- advice, grapher, it will be well to have in mind the advice given by an old hand at the trade: "Keep 'em going, keep 'em going, they'll sell somewhere before the paper wears out." CHAPTER XIII. THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS GOOD TRAINING GROUND FOR NEW WRITERS BRANCHES OF WORK AL- LIED TO AGRICULTURE PRACTICAL WOTtK AT A PREMIUM PAKTIAL LIST OF AGRICULTURAL JOURNALS. There is no better field for the beginner in literature than with the agricultural A good field press. The agricultural journals of our for country are ably edited, are of a plain beginners. an( J practical nature, and the better ones among them have a scope that affords the writer opportunity to exer- cise his skill along a variety of lines. At first thought, one who may con- template trying his fortune as a writer in this field will consider that the only work it is worth while to submit must be along agricultural lines, or pertain- Sub-heads ^ n S *° agriculture's related industries, of agricultural horticulture, floriculture, etc. Yet a journalism. glance at some of our leading agricul- tural publications will show how far is this from the truth. Inmost of these journals are various departments, and the ground covered includes everything 177 178 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP relating to the theory and practice of agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, the live stock industries, the dairy, poultry, animal pets, out-of-door life, the home in its various departments, practical articles by and for the house- wife, material to instruct and amuse the children, articles of information of every sort, anecdotes and bits of travel, etc., etc. As an example of the best type of the agricultural journal, yet without wish- ing to make any invidious distinctions, we will briefly analyze The American Agriculturist. Although this reliable old publication is devoted especially to the dissemination of agricultural in- formation, it properly may be called a One of the magazine of general literature for the best rural home. Its first interest, of course, is to maintain well the departments de- voted to practical agriculture. The stock raiser, the fruit grower, the mar- ket gardener, the rancher of the wide plains, the New England hill farmer, the cotton planter and the sugar grower of the south, all find within its pages material of special application to their respective needs. Writers who journey about and who have some knowledge of agriculture, so that they are able to write intelligent! v regarding matters PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 179 connected therewith which come under their observation, will often chance up- on curious practices, special cultures, new agricultural undertakings, etc., which are excellent material for this publication. Agricultural education and accounts of educational schools are What it uses matters to which it gives attention. Illustrated, descriptive articles, prac- tical hints and suggestions, bits of in- formation, whether of two lines' length or filling a column, meet with ready acceptance, and are paid for liberally and promptly. The American Agriculturist issues five editions, each one of which is devoted to the especial needs and interests of a cer- tain section of the country. One deals mainly with the agriculture of New Eng- land, another with the Central West, an- other with the Pacific Coast, etc. Some of the contributed articles are used in all these editions, while others which are applicable only to one section ap- pear in the single edition to which especially adapted. With its wide field, it would be almost impossible to write anything at all applicable to the agriculture or to the rural homes of the United States which would not be in line with its needs. Passing from its agricultural depart- 180 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Department Work. Send plain and practical work. The field for agricultural work. merits to those of more intimate con- nection with the fireside and the home, we find pages headed "Evening at Home," ' 'Mothers and Daughters," and u Our Young Folks." In these are used short and continued stories, al- ways of a thoroughly wholesome tone, and which appear to be specially ac- ceptable if touching upon the better as- pects of agricultural life. In these de- partments historical, biographical, and descriptive short articles are also used, as well as articles upon matters of in- terest to the household, upon needle- work and other handicrafts that may be followed in the home, upon home culture, the care of children, etc. In writing for the agricultural press, the first requisite is to have something practical to say; the second, to be able to say it plainty, tersely and gram- matically. Fine writing, and great liter- ary skill are not requisites. Any manual containing classified lists of journals will show a large number of publications of this sort with which an author may work with pleasure and profit. But aside from strictly agricul- tural journals there are many others which use agricultural and related arti- cles. Among these are some of the re- ligious and household journals, and PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 181 A'suggestion for contributors. A variety of worK de- manded. the weekly editions of some of the met- ropolitan dailies. The very best suggestion that we can give an intending contributor, to enable him to submit the sort of material that is needed, is to quote from a personal letter written by the editor of The Farm Journal, Philadelphia. He says: "The best plan is to look over the paper, note the different department headings, and furnish some bright, spicy, useful articles, about the same length as you see under these headings." There is as great diversity among these publications as among those of any other class. Some demand short, pithy articles only, others will use long and exhaustive contributions upon special subjects. Some confine them- selves closely to agricultural lines, others range over the entire field of lit- erature. So that it is quite as neces- sary here as elsewmere, that a writer should be familiar with the journal to which he offers his w r ares. Following is a partial list of the better journals devoted to agriculture and its related interests, with a brief statement of their needs in the way of material; but it should be borne in mind, as above stated, that many pub- lications of other classes also use such contributions: 182 PKACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Amateur Gardening, Springfield, Mass., an illustrated monthly using short articles, not exceeding two thous- and words, on gardening, floriculture and fruit growing. Farm, Field and Fireside, Chicago, is a weekly agricultural journal, con- A partial list taining the usual departments. Its of agricultural field is mainly that of the North west, journals so material offered should be specially in line with the needs of that section. How to Grow Flowers, Springfield, O., is a monthly devoted strictly to floriculture, so far as its practical work is concerned. But it also uses stories and poems which should at least touch upon some aspect of floriculture or floral life. The American Agriculturist, principal office, Springfield, Mass., a weekly pub- lication, uses practical articles on agri- culture, horticulture, and the household. As a rule these contributions should not exceed one thousand words, and even shorter articles are more accept- able. Considerable attention is given to domestic matters, and it uses some fiction both for children and adults. The Agricultural Epitomist, Indian- apolis, Ind., a monthly, uses short, crisp articles pertaining to practical agriculture and its related branches, PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 183 agricultural essays, and travel and de- scriptive articles. Contains also a household department, using the gen- eral domestic miscellany. Contribu- tions should not exceed one thousand to fifteen hundred words. The American Florist, Chicago, a weekly devoted mainly to the commer- cial aspects of floriculture. Circulates largely among florists, and articles to be acceptable must contain information of use to such readers. The Country Gentleman, Albany, N. Y.,is a 20-page weekly, devoted wholly to the practical side of agriculture. Continuation Articles and correspondence regarding of list. crops, the season and the conditions of agriculture in various sections are used. Articles should not exceed three col- umns — about twenty four hundred words — and shorter ones meet with readier acceptance. The Farm and Fireside (Springfield, 0.,) is a semi-monthly journal of 16 to 24 pages, devoted about equally to practical matter about the farm and to fiction and miscellany for the household. Agricultural and floral articles should be brief and pointed, not exceeding five hundred words. The fiction may be either for juvenile or adult readers. The Farm and Home (Springfield, 184 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Mass., and Chicago,) is a semi-monthly journal using short articles of a practi- cal nature that relate either to the farm or household. Short stories for the little folks, and a serial for older readers help make up the contents. The Maine Farmer (Augusta,) the State publica- Ohio Farmer (Cleveland,) the Indiana tions. Farmer (Indianapolis,) The Michigan Farmer (Detroit,) the Nebraska Farmer (Lincoln,) and others, are journals de- voted mainly to the agriculture of in- dividual states or of certain sections. Their needs are consequently somewhat narrower and more limited than those of the journals previously named. CHAPTER XIV. JUVENILE WORK SOMETIMES CONSIDERED AS GOOD PRACTICE TALENT REQUIRED TO PRODUCE GOOD WORK LEADING JUVENILE PUBLICATIONS THE CLASS OF MATERIAL USED BY THEM OTHER FIELDS FOR JUVENILE WORK LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. Beginners in literary work are often advised to write for children. This ad- vice is sometimes good, and sometimes it is not. It cannot properly be consid- ered that writing for children is a direct preparatory- step toward writing for adults. There are some who have fol- About lowed this advice to their profit, and writing for have found that they possess a happy children. faculty of writing in a pleasing, simple way that attracts young readers. But we do not think that it will often be found that writers who have started in this work have used it as a stepping stone toward other forms of literary endeavor. Rather, if they have been successful in writing for children at the outset they have probably kept on doing that in preference to expeiimenting 185 188 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP along other paths of literary endeavor. It can hardly be said that the writing of juvenile literature requires less ability, or less training in literal work, and so should be taken up by the novice who is not competent for greater things. Such successes as were made by Miss Extremes Alcott in "Little Women," and by Mrs. of juvenile Burnett in "Little Lord Fauntleroy," work. certainly place one high in the scale of ability. And Mr. Kipling's Jungle Stor- ies, which are probably the best things (in point of literary^ quality) for young readers that any writer of recent years has given us, are the work of a literary master, who has directed his best pow- ers to the entertainment of } 7 ouths. If we go to the other extreme of juvenile work, and take the little stories and sketches that appear in our domes- tic and religious publications, we will probably find that they are just as well done and have demanded just as much effort and literary skill, as other work in publications of the same character. When we consider that the American boy and girl are as a rule well-educated, bright and intellectual, and that there are many millions of them, it appeals to us as a somewhat singular fact that we have comparatively few periodicals dis- tinctlv devoted to their interests. We PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 187 are not now considering the publications for little children, but those which are adapted to the wants of young people of twelve or thirteen years. These may almost be numbered on the fingers of one hand, and as a consequence of this limited market, this field is a somewhat The field restricted one. Yet it is not quite so not a narrow narrow as appears at first glance, for one. we must include in it also a large num- ber of religious, domestic and other pub- lications which use juvenile matter. Some of the Sunday School papers also use matter of the highest grade, not dis- tinctively religious, for young readers. To gain a clear and comprehensive idea of what is most desired in juvenile work, a writer should take the three leading journals of that class, The Youth's Companion, St. Nicholas, and Harper's Round Table, and analyze their contents. Without doubt these three journals glean the cream of all juvenile work offered for the delectation of Young America. Anything that is acceptable to these should be acceptable to the other publications that use juvenile mat- ter; so if one can write up to their stan- dard, they need hardly fail to find a mar- ket somewhere. St. Nicholas, and Harper's Round Table use serials. The Youth's Com- 188 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP panion is not favorably disposed toward such, unless they should be short serials, running through from two to five issues. The Youth's Companion uses no fairy stories. St. Nicholas does not object to What them, on account of being fairy stories, some journals provided their quality is of the first class. want. Articles of information for young readers are wanted by all these journals. Har- per's Round Table is more particularly a magazine for boys and so has an es- pecial liking for stories of adventure. Other juvenile journals which deserve honorable mention are Golden Days, Philadelphia, and the Sunday edition of The Philadelphia Times, which has an excellent Boys' and Girls' Department. The David C. Cook Co., Chicago, pub- lish a number of papers for children and young people, and are large and liberal buyers of material of the class that may properly be offered to Sunday School journals of the highest grade. Some writers who might do acceptable work in this line make the mistake of writing matter adapted to the needs of children, in a way that renders it most unattractive. The plainer and more di- rect the manner is in this work, the more quickly will recognition be gained. No better general survey of the field of Juvenile Literature can be had, than PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 189 is contained in an article upon that sub- ject, contributed to "The Editor" mag- azine for its issue of October, 1898. So concisely is the information set forth regarding publications of this class, and so good are the suggestions and illus- trations given, that we prefer to repro- duce the article almost in its entirety, even though there is some slight repeti- tion of that which has already been said. It is a singular fact that we have very few periodicals distincth 7 juvenile. The first- class magazines and papers of this sort may be almost numbered on the A review fingers of one hand, and this field of lit- of the juvenile erature at a first glance seems a re- field, stricted one. However, it is not so narrow as it appears when we take into consideration the large number of reli- gious and household papers which use juvenile matter, and the amount of such manuscript required by Sunday School papers. The character of the few magazines distinctly juvenile, is so well known that it seems unnecessary to refer to them at great length. Of these, St. Nicholas perhaps holds the highest rank. The Januarj- number of this year is a most excellent one, and may be taken as a criterion of what this magazine desires in the way ofmaterial. There is the usual number of serial stor- ies furnished by writers noted for pro- ducing the best work of this kind. One of Mr. Kipling's "Just So" stories ap- 190 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP pears in this issue, which is also rich in verse, there being two long poems of two or three pages each, as well as shorter ones. There is also a delightful giant story and a Christ-play. But the articles of most interest to the general writer are these: First, a paper called "A Bird Store-House/' giving an ac- count of the California wood-pecker's Suggestions strange habit of hiding food for winter for use. The article is not long, and the in- juvenHe work. formation is given in an interesting manner. Any one who has made a study of birds, either from nature or from books, and can write articles suitable for children, will find little difficulty in dis- posing of them. The interest in our feath- ered friends is steadily increasing, and I recently saw a statement in a local newspaper that more books on birds were published during the last year than ever before in the history of the United States. Another paper of interest to writers is one called Reasoning Out a Metrop- olis. This comes under the head of the article of information. It is not too long, and though rather solid reading for children, the knowledge imparted is put in an interesting shape. This article is suggestive in this way: The article of information is used by almost every magazine and paper that requires juve- nile matter. These articles vary greatly in length. Anywhere from two or three paragraphs to five hundred or six hundred words seems to of articles of information PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 191 be the length most in demand by the Sunday School periodicals, the household, the religious and secular family papers, while St. Nicholas, The Youth's Companion, Harper's Round Table and Golden Days use articles of greater length. An article of this kind, as I have intimated, must not be long, and it must be written in an interesting way. The subjects vary as much as the length. This year's volume of Harper's Round Table shows some fine examples of this sort of article, among them be- ing a paper on "Seaweed and Amber," xam P ,es P and one on "The Romance of The South Seas," both valuable for their informa- tion and entertaining in their way of imparting it. In Golden Daj-s, I once saw an article on "Glass in Ancient Times," while the Sunday School papers show a great variety in this line. I have seen in these periodicals articles entitled "Oriental Churning," "A Kla- math Baby- Cradle," "A Wonderful Clock," "How Paper Money is made," "A Banana Story." These titles merely hint at the wide range of subjects. Some of these articles are copied from other periodicals; a few are written to cuts; many of them are original contributions. Short comprehensive articles of this class will find ready acceptance with both Sunda} r School and other juvenile publications. To return to St. Nicholas: in the Jan- uar}" number appear two little sketches, so brief that they cannot be called stor- 192 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP ies, entitled "Unspoken Sympathy" and "The Parrot's Resolution." These are simply incidents, the one illustrating the good manners born of a kind heart, the other the contagiousness of a bad ex- ample. They are told in a bright, story-like way, without preach- ing. I mention these because similar articles are in demand by other periodi- cals more accessible to the average wri- ter than St. Nicholas. The Sunday School papers are glad to obtain such hints as relate to behavior at school and in the home, especially when they are put in attractive shape. The current (September) issue of St. Nicholas, like the magazines for adult writers, devotes a part of its space to war material. Two articles of this sort Examples of are "The Voyage of the Oregon," and miscellaneous "The Gun Foundry at Washington, D. material. C." It will thus be seen that timeliness is an element which enters into the mak- ing of even the juvenile periodical. There is a large amount of verse in this number — poems, long and short, most of them illustrated, and jingles. Among the stories, there are a fairy tale, "The Prince of The Toadstool City," a puzzle story, and a story of adventure, "A Brush With Malay Pirates." "Photo- graphy: Its Marvels," and "Some Vaga- bond Words," are the titles of two arti- cles of information. When Harper's Round Table became a monthly, it appeared to become dis- tinctively a boy's magazine. Besides PRACTICAL ALTHOESHIP 193 the serials by well-known writers and the articles of information to which I have alluded, the Round Table uses in each issue a number of short stories. Many of these are tales of adventure on sea or land, such as are dear to the hearts of boys of all generations. Stir- ring stories, articles of information, and descriptive articles dealing with travel, Articles sports, occupations and other subjects of interest to of interest to boys, are in demand for boys. this publication. The September Round Table contains articles entitled, "The Snipe, and Snipe-Shooting," "The Hin- doo Game of Tether-Ball,'' "An Episode of the War of 1870-71," "The Latest Explorer of Asia," a reminiscence of Dewey's boyhood, called "The Boy is Father to the Man," a golf story, and much other good matter of interest to boys. Golden Days differs from the Round Table in that it is a journal for both boys and girls. While most of the ser- ials appeal principally to the boyish love of adventure, there are some of special interest to girls. The short stories include quiet stories of home life as well as the more exciting narra- tives which depend upon incident for their entertainment. The articles of information are for young people of both sexes. This paper uses some verse suitable for youthful readers. The Youth's Companion, strictly speaking, is not a juvenile publication, but a paper for young people. It has, 194 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP however, a children's page for which lit- tle poems and jingles are in demand, as well as stories of interest to young chil- dren. These tales vary from five hundred to eight or nine hundred words in length, and deal with incidents of school-life or play or the doings of pets. Little poems and stories suitable for special seasons or days, such as Easter, Christmas, Arbor Day, Thanksgiving Day, etc., often appear on this page. It is per- haps unnecessary to say that the ma- terial used by this periodical is not only wholesome in tone, but of the highest literary excellence. Little Folks, is the name of a com- parative! y new candidate for childish favor. The first number appeared in . .. November of last year, and if this mag- Anew juvenile. azine for yotmgest waders and little listeners fulfills the promise of its early issues, it bids fair to one day become for 3^oung children what St. Nicholas is for older ones. Its appearance is most attractive. The type is excellent; the illustrations are numerous and beautiful. Cuts that were old ten years ago do not appear in this magazine. The stories are somewhat longer than usually appear in publications of this class, and are bright and interesting, for they are free from that ultra-baby- ishness which is almost an insult to the child's intelligence. Four or five short poems appear in each number, as well as little nature talks, and natural his- tory articles. These, with some feat- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 195 ures new to most publications of this character, go to make up an ideal mag- azine for youngest readers. Manu- scripts should be addressed to the Edi- tors of Little Folks, Warner, N. H. The Favorite, Springfield, Mass,, is a magazine for school and home. Its special line is nature study and litera- ture, although it uses some stories a- A magazine dapted to children from six to nine for school and years of age. Eight hundred words is home. the length preferred by the editors for articles. They require simple language, short sentences and paragraphs, and desire that little description and much action shall be introduced. Several poems appear in each number. These are in keeping with the general charac- ter of the magazine: they are poems of nature. Most of the family papers, both re- ligious and secular, as well as the house- hold publications, have a children's de- partment. The Outlook devotes two pages to the little people. For these are required little articles of informa- tion. Not long ago I noticed one of these called, "Straw and What is Made of It." This department also uses sto- ries of child-life, little sketches, poems, and incidents of animal life. Indeed, most periodicals that use juvenile mat- ter, publish these little animal stories. It is well, therefore, to keep an eye on the family cat, and to be not entirely oblivious to the performances of Fido, as they may be turned into cop\ r . 196 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP The Churchman, New York, has an attractive children's department. It devotes several pages to stories, which are illustrated, and poems. Sometimes an article of information, expressed in a sto^-like way, and ilkistrated, is used. Such an one is "A Visit to the Quarries." Other religious family papers which use material for children are: The Con- gregationalist, The Advance, The Inte- rior, The Evangelist, The New York Observer; and occasionally The Living Church, The Epworth Herald, and The Christian Endeavor World also require Juvenile brief articles and stories for young folks, work for family Eight hundred words seems to be the journals. maximum length of stories desired by most of these publications. These sto- ries should convey lessons in manners and morals; or they may be of a relig- ious trend. The household publications and sec- ular family papers use some stories similar to those required by the relig- ious papers: that is, those which set forth good manners and morals without preaching. Incidents of school-life and of play, incidents that teach kindness to our animal friends, and incidents which show what a child's relations should be to parents, to teachers, bro- thers and sisters, the aged, to school- mates, are some of those which may be used. Fairy tales are published 63^ a number of these household and family papers. I have seen these in the Home PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 197 Monthly, of Pittsburgh, The Ladies' Home Journal, Woman's Home Com- panion, and The Ladies' World. The Home Magazine, of Washington, The Home Queen, The Household, and The Housekeeper, all have departments for children. The stories vary in length from five hundred to fifteen hundred or two thousand words. Such, papers as The Ladies' Home Journal, Woman's Home Companion, and The Ladies' World devote more space to juvenile matter, than The Household or The Housekeeper can spare. Little poems and brief articles are also used by most of these publications. The Ladies' Home Journal does not seem to use What children's stories and poems every certain journals month. The September number shows use. no children's page, while that of July has a bit of verse, a short storjr and a story article called "The Story of a Bit of Coal." The Woman's Home Com- panion, which has printed stories for quite young children, is now publishing a stirring serial by Mr. Stoddard, for young folks. It is well before sending Mss. to these or any other publications to examine several recent issues, for periodicals, like people, change some- what in character as the } r ears slip by. The New York Ledger has a depart- ment called Children the World Over, for which stories of one column in length are required. The Sunday edition of The Philadel- phia Times has a youth's department 198 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP for which short stories and articles suitable for young people are in de- mand. Before mentioning the Sundaj^ School publications, it may not be amiss to say a few words in regard to the sort of short stories desired by editors in general, for they are unanimous on sev- eral points. First as to length. The shorter a story the better its chances of accept- ance. The maximum length used by a journal is never the most desirable to offer. This is true especial^ of the household, agricultural, religious, and Some editors secular family papers, and it also ap- want short plies to the Sunday School publications. stories. From one of those unpleasant little slips with which most of us are familiar, I quote, "Brief comprehensive articles always stand the better chance of ac- ceptance." This is the utterance of the editor of a Sunday School publication. Another writes: "Our special difficulty is in getting desirable brief sketches, as our authors seem inclined to rear three story and a basement fabrics, when a little glimpse of a bay window is all we have space for. The length of the story that we especially need is from six hun- dred to seven hundred words." The periodicals distinctively juvenile have, of course, space for longer stories. In Forward, published by the Pres- byterian Board of Publication, and The Young People's Weekly, issued by the David C. Cook Co., stories of from PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 199 two thousand to twenty-five hundred words sometimes appear. They must be remarkably good ones, however, to do so. The inexperienced writer is apt to be extravagant in his use of material. Economy is as desirable here as else- where. A good rule is to plunge into the story without preamble, or if a pre- amble is absolutely necessarj 7 -, to cur- tail it as much as possible. It will not do to stop to tell who little Johnny's grandfather was, or that his maiden aunt was subject to rheumatism. All purchasers of juvenile literature desire stories not only about children (or young folks), but for children (or young folks). When writing a child's story, one must be for the time being Write for as a little child. We must go down on children as well the floor, as it were, and build houses as about with blocks, and take a real interest in them. paper dolls. Not only must the lan- guage be comprehensible to a child's mind, but the attitude of mind must be that of a child. The secret of Miss Al- cot's magic lies, I think, in the fact that she became one of the young people for whom she wrote. She thus avoided any tendenc}^ to preach, and yet her books are full of lessons. Editors desire bright stories — stories told in a sprightly, or otherwise pleas- ant manner. Miss Keeler, speaking of children's stories, says in her admirable little work on English composition: — "The charm of many short stories lies 200 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP not so much in the incident upon which they are based as upon the way they are told." Conversation judiciously used will brighten an otherwise dull story, but it should carry forward the action of the tale, and reveal the char- acter of the little people about whom we write. It must be dropped before it becomes tiresome. Editors desire stories that are not only wholesome and elevating but cheer- ful. They do not want stories that are What is not depressing in their tendencj^; that leave wanted in juve- behind a feeling of sadness. A well- nile work. known writer for the Sunday School publications said to me the other day, — "I have learned two things: These papers do not want sad stories. And they want stories with a plot, stories full of action." The preaching or sermonizing story is not wanted by any editor now-a-days. The moral must be obvious in the story of to-day, and the tale that requires preaching, explanatory or otherwise, is regarded as a failure. Editors do not desire worn-out plots, although the lesson conveyed by the story may be as old as time itself. Some of these, familiar to Sunday School edi- tors, are "heaping coals of fire/' " sav- ing one's enemy from drowning," "school-girls slighting a poorly-dressed pupil," etc. For the writing of really good chil- dren's stories, abilities of the first order are required, as I think even this super- ficial study of the subject has proved. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 201 A word in regard to the needs of Sun- day School publications. These period- icals use serials (historical, religious and moral), poems, little stories of ani- mal life, natural history in attractive form, biographical sketches, articles of information, little travel articles, hints as to behavior, and material for special numbers, such as Easter and Christmas issues. This is a good field. Many of these papers compare very favorably in appearance and matter with the secular publications. They pay promptly, their rates are fair, and they use a large About amount of Ms. Sunday School David C. Cook, Chicago, publishes journals. The Young People's Weekly, The Weekly Magnet and others (six in all). The American Tract Society, New York, is- sues The American Messenger, The Child's Paper, Apples of Gold, etc. The American Baptist Publication Society is represented by Our Boys and Girls, Our Young People, and others. The Presby- terian Board of Publication (like the Baptist Society, of Philadelphia) pub- lish Forward, The Sabbath School Vis- itor, and others. The Classmate, and The Sunday School Advocate, of New York are attractive papers of the Meth- odist Church. The Youth's Temper- ance Banner, and The Water Lily, of New York, use material similar to that required by the papers I have mentioned, as well as matter suited to the temper- ance work. The Child's Hour, and Our Sunday Afternoon, bright little periodi- A table of addresses. 202 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP cals of Boston, use material similar to that desired by the Sunday School pub- lications I have mentioned. ADDRESSES OF THE PUBLICATIONS MEN- TIONED IN THIS ARTICLE. Periodicals for children and young peo- ple: — St. Nicholas, New York City. Harper's Round Table, New York City. Golden Days, Philadelphia. The Youth's Companion, Boston. Little Folks, Warner, N. H. The Favorite, Hyde Park, Mass. Religious and family papers: — The Outlook, New York City. The Churchman, New York City. The Congregationalist, Boston. The Advance, Chicago. The Interior, Chicago. The Evangelist, New York City. The Observer, New York City. The Living Church, Chicago. The Ep worth Herald, Chicago. The Christian Endeavor World, Bos- ton. Secular family papers: — The Home Monthly, Pittsburg, Pa. The Ladies' Home Journal, Philadel- phia. The Woman's Home Companion, Springfield, 0. The Ladies' World, New York City. The Home Magazine, Washington, D. C. The Home Queen, Philadelphia. The Household, Boston. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 208 The Housekeeper, Minneapolis. The New York Ledger, New York City. The Times, Philadelphia. Sunday School and similar publica- tions: — The Child's Hour, and Our Sunday Af- ternoon. Address the editor, in care of W. A. Wilde & Co., 25 Bromfield St., Boston. The Sunday School Advocate, and The Classmate. Address all Mss. to Rev. J. L. Hurlbut, D. D., 150 Fifth Ave., New York City. Morning Light, Apples of Gold, The Addresses — American Messenger, The Child's Paper, continued. Address The American Tract Society, 10 East 23rd St., New York City. Our Young People, The Young Reaper, Our Little Ones, Our Boys and Girls, The Colporter. Address The American Bap- tist Publication Society, 1420 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. The Sabbath School Visitor, Forward, The Morning Star, The Sunbeam. Ad- dress ail Mss. to Rev. J. R. Miller, D.D., 1319 Walnut St., Philadelphia. The Weekly Magnet, The Weekly Wel- come, Dewdrops, Happy Hours, His Jewels, Young People's Weekly. Ad- dress Mss. for any of these to the Editor- ial Rooms, David C. Cook Publishing Co., 36 Washington St., Chicago. Youth's Temperance Banner, and The Water Lily, National Temperance Soci- ety and Publication House, 58 Reade St., New York City. m CHAPTER XV. THE ENGLISH LITERARY MARKET AMERICAN WRIT- ERS FOR ENGLISH JOURNALS A WIDE FIELD FOR GOOD MATERIAL OBTAIN AND STUDY ENG- LISH JOURNALS A LIST OF PUBLICATIONS THAT PAY FOR CONTRIBUTIONS THE MATTER OF POSTAGE. Three or four years ago there was a great deal of comment upon the fact that English writers were more popular than our own among American readers. A Among the dozen most popular and foreign best selling books, English authors were field. represented by a majority. Magazines were filled with their articles, they oc- cupied our lecture platforms, and their names were upon all tongues. But we overlooked the fact that Americans were very much in evidence in England and quite as popular there as Englishmen were here. Both Mr. Harold Frederic and Mr. Robert Barr were residing in England and doing work largely for Eng- lish publications; Stephen Crane, after his great success of The Red Badge of Cour- age, had retired to a modest little home 204 PBACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 205 in Surrey, and was there preparing to win fresh laurels; while Mr. Edgar Faw- cett had almost wholly expatriated himself and, aside from one or two American journals with which he main- tained regular connections, his work was going to the English press. All of which proves only that the An- glo-Saxon writer need not limit himself to an audience on either side the water, but may write for both English and Americans. A number of regular and versatile literal workers upon this side "The °f the Atlantic have found that for cer- world's our tain classes of material the English mar- stage." ket is even better than the American. The statement has recent^ been made • that there are more than 2,000 maga- zines and literary journals in England. It may be presumed that these are all buyers of material to some extent. Cer- tainly we do not approach these numbers in America. It may seem a long cry to send an ar- ticle or story from Boston or New York, New Orleans or San Francisco, to Lon- don, merely upon the chance of accep- tance. It is not, however, so much of an undertaking as it seems. When we consider that the average editor upon this side requires a month to determine whether a contribution is acceptable, seems. 206 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP it does not demand a very great stretch of patience to add to this month the two or three weeks required for transit/twice across a continent and an ocean. And Not in the matter of postage, the American so far as it contributor to the English journal has rather the advantage over his brother who confines himself wholly to the American press. This anomaly in pos- tage rates will be commented on later in this chapter. In contributing to the English press the usual journalistic rules hold good. Offer fresh, bright matter. Do not think they are provincial over there, and that you can work off hackneyed stuff that our own editors are too keen to accept. Type- write all manuscripts sent to the English market, for many English jour- nals will not consider manuscripts pre- sented in any other form. Enclose stamps for return. If you cannot se- cure English stamps, send enough silver to pay full return postage. Copies of all the leading English mag- azines may be obtained through The American News Company. Never go to the trouble of sending even the slight- est thing so far afield unless you have first made an exhaustive study of one dr two numbers of the magazine which you propose to honor, and are convinced PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 207 from this study that your offering is at least somewhat in line with its needs. We have stated elsewhere that the most salable literary material in this country is the good, bright, short story. This is equally true in England. Almost all of the English magazines and many of the daily papers make constant use of such, and as a rule pay rather better Short ^ or them than do our American journals. stories in While it is impossible for us in this demand. work to cover the whole scope of Eng- lish publications, we will give here a few suggestions that may prove of value to writers who care to try this market: The Strand Magazine prefers illus- trated articles or articles capable of be- ing illustrated. For these their usual rate of remuneration is about $7.50 per thousand words. But sometimes much better prices are paid. The Cornhill Magazine pays about $5.00 per page for its articles and short stories. Blackwood's Magazine has earned a reputation for encouraging new talent. Good Words, and The Sunday Maga- zine, use many short popular articles and stories, usually illustrated. Rate of payment is about $5.00 per page of about 800 words. The Queen pays something more than $6.00 per column (about 1,300 words). The Fortnightly Review pays $125 for a " topical" article of 3,000 words, and 208 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP $250 for a "front page" article of mod- erate length. The Pall Mall Magazine, the very first in rank, and the owner of which is an American, pays most liberally and will not haggle over price if it can get what is wanted. The editors of this magazine will neither read nor return a manu- script that is not typed. The English Illustrated Magazine, Pearson's Magazine, and Cassel's Fam- ily Magazine are standard publications, as is also The Quiver (religious.) "The Religious Tract Society," pub- lishes The Sunday at Home, which con- Some tains a serial, short stories, sketches of journals worth foreign travel, a children's page, etc. considering. This society also owns The Leisure Hour, The Girl's Own Paper, and The Bo3''s Own Paper. Chums, an excellent journal for boys, uses w t ell -written tales and articles suited for the rising generation. The Humanitarian uses short stories,, for which it pays about $5.00 each. Among the weekly journals, we may mention The World, which pays about $15.00 for its short story each week;; Truth publishes a "queer story" each week, for which it pays $10; To-Day states that it is always ready to con- sider interesting articles and stories, if the}' are type written. Among the popular penny weeklies are The Golden Penny, The Saturday Journal, Pearson's Weekly, Tit Bits, and Answers. All go in for the light, the PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 209 popular and the amusing. Brevity seems to be with them the soul of wit, most of their stories being under three thousand words. The usual rate of re- muneration is $5.00 per column. The column of The Saturday Journal is about 800 words. Forget-Me-Not offers $5.00 each week for the best original tale under 2,000 words. The Family Herald buys fiction only. Among the journals devoted to femi- English nine interests are The Queen, The Gentle- household and woman, The Ladies' Pictorial, and The other jour- Woman. The latter uses stories of na!s. 2,000 words or thereabouts, paving at the rate of $5.00 per 1,000 words. Among the best juveniles are Little Folks and The Family Circle. Anecdotes states that it wants short, bright, up-to-date articles. It uses par- agraphs — humorous, informative, or personal. The Sun newspaper publishes each day a story of not more than 800 words, for which the remuneration is $5.00. Stories not accepted are not re- turned. The Figaro is a penny weekly, whose editorial notice is as follows: "The edi- tor will be pleased to consider para- graphs, stories and verse suitable for insertion. Accepted contributions will be paid for at our usual rates. Type written manuscripts preferred." Short Stories is a penny weekly that uses bright, but not sensational short 210 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP tales. Some of them run no more than 700 words. The Evening News uses a short story of 1,000 to 4 1,200 words each day. Nothing solid need apply here. Lloj^d's Weekly uses each week a story of about 2,000 words. The Weekly Budget is a penny paper, now in its thirty-sixth year, which runs all the time two or three serials, which must be of a somewhat exciting nature and adapted to the wants of the masses rather than the classes. Sunday Hours is a penny weekly for boys and girls, which uses ''interesting and helpful reading for boys and girls from the age of 12 upwards, and for young men and maidens." The address of all the above publica- tions is London, England. One matter in connection with con- tributions to be offered to English pub- lications is worthy of consideration. jh e Manuscripts mailed from one point to matter of another within the United States must postage. pa}^ postage at letter rates, 2 cents an ounce; but they may be sent to Great Britain, or anywhere throughout the Postal Union, as "commercial papers," if unsealed, and if no letter or any- thing in the character of personal cor- respondence is enclosed, at the rate of 5 cents for 10 ounces or less; exceeding 10 ounces, at the rate of 1 cent for each PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 211 two ounces or fraction; the maximum weight for such a packet being four pounds, six ounces. If a printed form with name and ad- dress of sender is used in submitting manuscripts, there will be no need of enclosing a letter. The manuscript en- Observe this. velope should be marked on the outside "Ms. only, unsealed." Then place upon it stamps at the above rate. Enclose an envelope directed to yourself and similarly marked and stamped. If you cannot get English postage to pay the return trip, enclose silver securely wrap- ped. CHAPTER XVI. CHOOSING A MARKET. A knowledge of the right avenues in which to offer work is of so much im- portance that the fact cannot be too often reiterated. This is knowledge that comes in its most complete form from experience, and from experience alone. The average young writer, or even the older writer, whose work has been confined within narrow limits, has but Necessary little idea of the vast range of the liter- knowledge, ary market. Ordinarily the young writer has in his mind's eye a few of the leading magazines only, when consid- ering what journals shall be honored with the opportunity of accepting his productions. We would never discourage a young writer from shooting at a shining mark, provided he has at all the right sort of ammunition. But the chances for accep- tance with those publications are nat- urally of the slightest, as they receive such a vast amount of material in ex- cess of their possible needs. They have continually also the first chance at the 212 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 213 work of men and women whose ability in the literary field has already been proven, whose names are the warrant for good work, and whose work helps to sell the journal in which it is pub- lished. After these shining lights among cur- rent publications, come a large number The best °f excellent magazines of somewhat less opportunities, repute, which use good work, which pay fair prices, and whose pages are less given up to the work of master hands. With these is doubtless one of the best avenues for the young writer to prove what he can do. We do not wish to be understood as meaning by the above that such maga- zines as Harper's, Scribner's, The Cen- tury, The Atlantic, Lippincott's, The Cosmopolitan, or McClure's discrimi- nate against the young writer. Editors of all these are men of ability and judg- ment, who are always on the lookout for the new writer who has something new to say. We know of more than onefsuch who has made his first appear- ance|before the reading public in their pages. But directly in the class following these magazines we have many literary weeklies which use general literary mis- cellany; then a few religious papers and 214 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP magazines which use miscellany of high character and pay good prices; juvenile Other journals, which use a wide range of good buyers. contributions; household and domestic journals; class journals, among which are the trade papers; agricultural and society journals, scientific and popular- scientific publications — all good buyers ■when a writer knows just what is wanted and where to send it. Following these comes perhaps the widest field of all, if not the best in point of compensation, and one that is neg- lected by many writers either because they do not know or do not appreciate its value— the daily newspaper. Per- haps it has not occurred to them that The the modern daily newspaper does not newspaper as a differ very greatly in its general make-up magazine. from the modern magazine. We are speaking now of the newspapers of the higher class, not those which are popu- larly designated as "yellow journals." The papers of this better class not only give us the news of the day, but their columns are open to everything which touches upon the literal and social life of the hour, to advancements in science, to new discoveries in every realm of nature, to travel, biography, anecdote, sociology, the short stoiw, in fact everything which affords material for the writer's pen. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 215 Even in point of compensation, the newspaper as a literary market is not to be lightly regarded. Contrary to the impression of many writers, the rates paid by some of these journals are better than those of a great many Newspapers as other publications of higher literary paymasters. pretentions. Newspaper space rates run from $3.00 to $10.00 per column, of about 1,500 words. While this is not extravagant payment, it is at least as good as that of some of the literary weeklies and smaller magazines. One who is producing a great deal of copy can hardly afford to ignore the news- paper field, as it is the only one that is practically unlimited. The writer of this has a friend who is a well-known and somewhat volum- inous contributor to the press, includ- ing both newspapers and magazines, and he has that rare abihHw that en- ables him to write well upon almost any subject that can be suggested. If Timely topics. he has any one point which disqualifies him from becoming a pre-eminently suc- cessful all-round writer, it is that he cannot always choose subjects in line with editorial requirements. Occasion- ally the writer suggests topics to him, and these are immediately worked out and sent off. Recently commenting up- 216 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP on this, our friend said: "My subject book shows that articles upon topics suggested by you alwaj^s sell, and al- most always at the first intention." The explanation of this is not difficult. The subjects suggested were alwa} r s such as seemed to be in line with current topics of public interest. They had the element of timeliness, and so commended themselves at once to editors. Further, no theme was ever suggested unless a publication was in mind at the time which might fairly be thought to care Avoid for an article of that sort. Thus there firing at was very little firing at random. It was random. no t as though one had said to himself: "Here is a good topic. I will write an article upon it," and forthwith did so, without stopping to consider whether any publication would be apt to use matter of that sort. Good articles may wander about aimlessly and forever, unless they are directly suited to the needs of some certain journal. There is nothing more important for the writer to learn than this. CHAPTER XVII. THE TYPEWRITER. Undoubtedly the typewriter has its own sins to answer for. It has made possible a greater production of manu- scripts than formerly, and has rendered it easy for many writers who are ex- A boon to tremely ready in the use of words, but editors. rather barren as to ideas, to deluge ed- itors with masses of stuff that are only a burden to their desks. Still, it has been a great boon to these same editors in making easier their work of reading and passing upon manuscripts, as near- ly everything is now put before them in so much plainer shape than formerly. Writers may well call the typewriter their friend. To the majority of people, continued labor "with the pen is weari- Makes work some to the last degree. More than easier. one writer has found that while the brain is yet fresh and active, the hand and the eye have tired of the constant strain to which the pen has subjected them. The tj^pewriter has enabled writers to do their work more rapidly, more easily and in some ways more 217 818 ?:.^:::.al ArTz;:.-zi? correctly than ever before. We beHeve it is True that the average man or wo- n:aa ;aa stand twice as many hours af work at the machine as with the pen At least rable the rapidity in the pro- icti ::: : : : apymayl e ac paired, so that the ratic rfproduction as between the machine and pen may be stated as :::.: t : : a e rhere is nc loubt that a writer is able tc put his sentences into better form by the aid :: the aiachine, where e a : h w :::'. as soon as on;: s t a n f. s : a t m : r e de arry b ef or e him A help toward than with the pen In tins manner he clearness of zriticiees his ywnwork as he goes along, expression. ; with the very slightest labor may recast a sentence, a paragraph or a page. Then tc : the use of the type- writer tends t: make the operator more careful in his choice of words, in the form of his sentences and in spelling and in punctuation. Thesr lefects are not so glaring in the script, but stand Mit with an accusing listntctness in the type copy. I ; a : t a:\ e :t t : : mn .a fix m the typ e- writer for it is : ::a mechanical It cannc: ;aa ran ana: a ftmctj a/a : at it can bring me's a.aa :rt in such a laring manner that :a- wiD at Dnce _ _ set about nana: errors :: a PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 219 without this light upon them, he would scarcely have believed himself capable. The following extract clipped from a publication of large circulation shows in the plainest manner the comparative values of type written and pen written manuscripts: "It is singular, when the general use of the typewriter makes legibility cheap, that many aspirants for the emoluments of authorship con- tinue to complete their creations in their own chirography, and send them in that shape to the publishers. If they only knew what delay, to say nothing harsher, was incurred by such a course, they would have their copy neatly type- written before entrusting it to the mercy of the critics who are to judge it. The sight of hand- An editor's written copy makes the spleen of a publisher's opinion. reader rise as soon as he opens it. So the author already has a certain feeling of enmity against him before a word is read. Then the critic begins to wade through it, more intent upon ascertaining its poor qualities than upon discov- ering any real merit it may contain. Then he closes it with a bang and takes up a slip: — 'Crude, ill-fashioned, poor taste and weak treat- ment. Plot involved and disconnected. Char- acters ill-formed and unstudied.' He pins this on it and sends it into the office, and the man- uscript is returned to its author as unavailable. This, mind you, happens after the thing has been in the publisher's possession for weeks, because he won't examine a hand-written con- tribution until he has cleaned up all the type- written stuff. Old authors are familiar with these tricks of the trade, and young ones should become acquainted with them, and remember that typewritten manuscript, where everything else is even, stands ten chances for acceptance against one for the other kind." Yet it must not be thought that the 220 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP mere fact that a manuscript is type- written will commend it to editors. It has been found that much t}'pe copy prepared bj- incompetent persons, or by copyists who are accustomed to doing commercial work, comes from the ma- chine in the worst possible form for the printer's use. The average copyist who has had no training in the preparation of literary material knows very little about punctuation, capitalization, or paragraphing — to say nothing of spell- ing and grammar. It may be expected that the author's original manuscript, being correct in these particulars, will be a sufficient guide to the copyist. But in the first place, all writers are not beyond criticism in these particulars, Type copy an d second, all copyists do not follow has best chance copy. of acceptance. it cannot be disputed by any one who is familiar with the inside of an editor- ial office of any importance, that type script is always the first read, and that pen scripts often suffer by being neg- lected until all the material needed has been accepted. Then there is nothing to do but to send the pen script back to its owner. No matter how conscien- tious and impartial an editor may en- deavor to be in the fulfillment of his duties, no matter how earnestly he may PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 221 endeavor to discover the very best work among the whole, the typewrit- ten manuscript will always be the favored one. Entirely aside from the fact that type- written manuscript is the one sort that all editors like to handle, the possession of a typewriter will prove an item of economy and profit to anyone who makes a business of preparing material for the press. Composition by its aid is so much more rapid than is possible to the best penman, that the gain alone in the quantity of output greatly increases The machine an one's earning pow r er. The labor of writ- economizer. i n g a given number of pages upon the typewriter is wonderfully less than in doing the same work by hand. Further, the machine is an economizer both of paper and of postage. A sheet of paper 8V2 x 11, double spaced and with proper margins, will contain about 325 words of copy. An ordinary bold hand would place about 125 to 150 words on the same sheet. If a good quality of linen paper is used, as should be, the saving in the cost of this is considerable, and the saving in postage is much more. Another item worth considering is that a copy of one's work may be had upon the typewriter with very little extra trouble. By using a carbon sheet 222 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP a second copy ma} r be made, which for the author's purpose is quite as good as the first. It is not advisable to send Carbon copies, carbon copies to editors, but it is a wise plan to keep a cop}^ of all the work sent off, to guard against possible total loss of a valuable article. CHAPTER XVIII. PREPARING COPY. It is important that your marmscript be correctly paragraphed. It is very annoying to an editor to be compelled to go over an entire manuscript line by line for no other purpose than to cor- rect an author's omissions regarding its paragraphing. No general rule can be laid down in this matter. In writ- ing conversations, the general rule is to About have each new speaker begin with a paragraphing. new paragraph, and to let no conversa- tional paragraph run beyond 125 or 150 words. Yet in a running conversa- tion where theseparatespoken portions are of but a few words each, some writers prefer to blend into one para- graph a number of these short sentences. This method, however, is not generally popular with editors. While, as we have stated, no conver- sational paragraph should run bej'ond 100 or 150 words, the same rule can hardly be applied to descriptive matter or interludes. Yet a short paragraph is almost always preferred to a long 223 224 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP one; and no paragraph should be per- mitted to run to the entire length of a printed page, as to do so gives the matter when in print a heavy appear- ance. A writer's own judgment, based upon observation as to the practice in our most carefully edited publications, is the only guide on which to rely. Italics are very sparingly used by the most careful writers. It has been said, and properly, that each sentence should be so formed that it will emphasize it- self at the proper points, if emphasis is Omit italics. needed. There is no reason why we should indicate by a special mark where emphasis is to be understood, any more than we should indicate ironj^, humor, etc. We have seen manuscripts so un- derlined that the printed page, if copy had been followed, would have been little more than a succession of italicized words, strung together by a few con- necting words in Roman type. Such would of course be absurd in the printed page, and is no less absurd in the man- uscript. Italics may be used for foreign words, and to indicate the titles of pa- pers and magazines. But the profes- sional writer will have little use for them beyond this. Where numbers are used, many writers carelessly indicate them by figures with- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 225 out regard to any rule. Figures thrown heedlessly into one's cop} r give it a bad In regard to appearance, and careful editors will not numerals. let them appear on the printed page, except when in adherence to strict rules. Our own practice is to write out in words all numbers under one hundred. This custom will meet the approval of all editors. Use no quotation marks, unless they are absolutely necessary, and they are not necessary unless a direct quotation is made. Some writers use them for the sake of emphasis, and copy in which they are so employed is a nuisance to editors. CHAPTER XIX. THE QUESTION OF TIMELINESS. There are two distinct ways in which timeliness will apply to contributions of- fered for current publications . One is the timeliness which will apply to special days and seasons, such as the Christ- mas holidays, the Fourth of July, Wash- ington's Birthday, etc. The other, the timeliness that will enable an editor to present to his readers material touch- Special ing upon important events, while they days and are engaging the public attention. As seasons. an illustration of the latter, it may easily have been observed that during the late war editors of all sorts of publications took eagerly not only material that bore directly upon the war itself, but every- thing connected with war, and the move- ments of armies. Industrious writers ransacked both ancient and modern his- tory to find how troops were equipped, and fed, and handled; how navies were built, what improvements had been made in engines of war, how fortifica- tions had been and now are constructed, how prisoners of war were treated, in PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 227 Timeliness in regard to public events. fact everything that pertained to hos- tilities between two nations. As soon as the war was finished such material fell dead. Editors then could only be persuaded to use war material from the pens of men who had made themselves famous in the conflict, de- scribing the important events in which they had part. Even war poems, that had been so marked a feature of our magazines and newspapers for months, could hardly be given away a week after the declaration of peace. Of course am^one who has material that is timely in its connection with public events, will be wise enough to offer it for sale without the loss of a single day. But some writers never seem to learn just when to send out material that is timely in connection with special days and seasons. We have known writers of considerable ex- perience who would send an article on Easter to an illustrated magazine late in February or earfy in March, or one upon Christmas to a syndicate the 15th of December. Only some knowledge of how publica- tions are made up and printed and issued will help one to arrive at the correct methods of practice in these cases. An illustrated magazine is often i528 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP on the press sixty days before it makes its appearance upon the news-stands. Or if not actually upon the press, the type has been set, the illustrations pre- pared, and the magazine is in process of make-up. At least a month prior to this, and often more, the material for the number has been selected, and the How editor knows just what is to be used. and when timely Stories having a bearing upon a special material is season must be selected even in advance of this period and put away with the material that is to go into the Christ- mas or Easter number. Thus it may readily be seen that work submitted so late as the dates mentioned above can have no possible chance of acceptance. Then comes the other question, how early or how much in advance of the time of publication may such seasonable work be offered? One editor has said, and this not entirely with the desire to be facetious, that the best time to offer a Christmas story is— the day after Christmas. There is a grain of truth in this, but we should rather prefer to offer the Christmas material in March or April. That is, if it is intended for the larger illustrated magazines. For the smaller magazines and syndicates, it ma}^ be offered as late as September or the 1st of October; and for the news- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 229 papers, up to within a week or two of the time of publication. However, in this latter case the work that comes in toward the end of the time limit will have a slighter chance for acceptance than that which is offered earlier. It rarely happens that an editor after ac- cepting all the material that he will need to make tip an approaching special issue, will take on other material that must be held over until the following year. We have known this to be done, but it was only when the material was so very good that the editor could not afford the chance of its escaping him and falling into other hands. As a rule all editors desire fresh material, and not Jake that which. has been carried in their time by the files from season to season, forelock. It must be considered also that a manuscript is not always accepted by the first editor to whom offered. Rarer still is it, unless one pos- sesses an overshadowing reputation, that a writer may send out a manu- script with a certainty that it will be thus accepted at the first intention. Consequently, with these seasonable articles time must be taken b} r the fore- lock, so that if a manuscript must make two or three or more journeys be- fore arriving at the proper anchorage, 230 PRACTICAL AUTHOKSHIP it will have time to do so before the special season has passed. This is a point that should not be overlooked. The following table of dates and top- ics, together with dates at which ma- terial should be offered, will be found worthy of a place on the desk of every writer. Jan. 1, New Year's Day July to Sept. Feb. 2, Ground Hog Day — Can-^j dlemas. " 12, Lincoln's Birthday. ' . Q " 14, St. Valentine's Day. f AUg ' t0 UCt * " 15, Maine blown up. ,. " 22, Washington's Birthday. , of M'rch 4, Inauguration Day, ) j a i es [every four years.] > Sept. to Nov. "17, St. Patrick's Day. ) or April — Easter. Sept. to Nov. " 1, All Fool's Day. " 13, Jefferson's Birthday. " 14, Lincoln's Assassination J> Oct. to Dec. " 23, Shakespeare s Birthday " 27, Grant's Birthday. May 1, May Day, Dewey's vie- ^ tory at Manila. " 24, Queen Victoria's Birth- ^ Qy tQ Jan day. " 30, Decoration or Memorial Day. Dec to Feb. June — Graduates, Vacation, etc. " 12, Flag Day. July 3, Schley's victory at ) Santiago. > Jan. to Mar. " 4, Independence Day. ) Aug. — Midsummer Day. Feb. to Apr. PRACTICAL ALTHORSHIP 231 Sept.— School. "| " — Second Monday, Labor I,, ,, Daj J ' >Mar. to May. " 10, Perry's Victory. J Oct. — Harvest, Fruit, etc. ) " 8-11, Great Chicago Fire. > Apr. to June. " 31, Hallowe'en. ) Nov. — Nuts, Turkeys, etc. ) 11 — Last Thursday Thanks- V May to July. giving Day. ) Dec. 16, Boston Tea Party. ) T , . - 25! Christmas Day. | June to Aug. To these may be added the principal Some Chinese and Jewish feast days of the national year, or a few of other nationalities days. which are celebrated in our country by foreigners. Stories of general information relative to these days will stand a much better chance of acceptance in the right season, than miscellaneous contributions. CHAPTER XX. SYNDICATES. The literary syndicate is an out- growth of the great expansion of the metropolitan newspaper. It is a thing of comparatively recent \ r ears, the past decade having witnessed almost its en- tire development. The newspaper has grown from a mere chronicler of local events and hap- penings into a compendium of all that A necessity to takes place in the wide world. It has newspapers. added to this the publication of fiction, it has sent travelers and explorers every- where, correspondents with every army that has taken the field, and its repre- sentatives have been present at even- great event in the civilized world. Some discerning man discovered that it was a severe tax upon newspapers to have their own representatives every- where, and that there was no reason why two or three, or more journals situated at widely separated points, should not combine for the gathering of expensive news. Then someone thought of tak- ing it upon himself to gather this mate- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 233 The development of the syndicate rial and dispose of it to various papers. Finally, from the gathering of news, the syndicate man went to buying newspaper material of all sorts, includ- ing fiction, and selling it to as many journals as he could, for simultaneous publication. During recent years some of the leading authors both of England and America have found it to their ad- vantage to sell the serial rights of their work to S3 r ndicates, who supplied it to newspapers throughout the English- speaking world. As a rule a syndicate limits its service to one paper in a city. We now have American syndicates that handle everything that newspapers can use. Others devote themselves to special branches. One makes a specialty of short stories, 1,500 to 2,500 words, for which it pays about the price that would be paid by a good newspaper. It has been known to syndicate work bought in this manner, to more than eighty journals, receiving from each one fair compensation, so that the total amount brought to it for a story was of course vastly in excess of the amount paid the author. Another syndicate devotes itself entirely to feature articles — articles that can be illustrated. Some of the syndicates supply their material in the form of proof sheets, while others 234 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP send out stereotyped plates ready for the press. There is much to be said both for and against the syndicate, both from the standpoint of editors and writers. It might seem at first that editors would not be willing to pay a very liberal price for matter not exclusively their own. Yet by utilizing the services of the syndicate, they are saved much time and labor that would have to be given to handling and examining great Its merits amounts of manuscript in order to and come at just what they want lor them- demerits. selves. The syndicate acts as a middle- man, sorting out and rejecting the chaff and bringing to the attention of news- paper editors only that which seems best. The newspaper, in distinction from the magazine, is only a thing of the day and its field of circulation is limited. It is read to-day and to-mor- row it exists not; and although the same material may appear in papers in adjacent cities, it will not come before the readers in both. Magazines thus . duplicating material would neutralize the value and originality of each other, but not so with the newspapers. From the author's standpoint the syndicate is not a good thing — unless one can sell to the syndicate. To a cer- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 235 tain extent the s^mdicate cuts off the wider marker which the newspapers might afford were it not for the syndi- cate. On the other hand, it pays a rather better price for material as a Its rates of rule, and gives wide distribution to its payment. material, so that the author and his work become known more widely afield than would be possible through the medium of am r single journal. It is also true that some of the papers patronizing syndicates would not be bm r ers of original material. CHAPTER XXI. THE ETHICS OF POSTAGE. Any package not exceeding four pounds in weight may be sent by mail. Manuscripts, whether t}'pe- written or pen-written, are subject to the letter postage rate,two cents for each ounce or fraction thereof. It does not make any difference whether they are sealed or not; the post-office department considers a manuscript the same as a letter. While the full rate of postage must be paid, it does not matter to the govern- ment whether it is all paid at the be- Prepay postage ginning of the route, or whether a in full. portion is paid by the receiver. So a four pound manuscript package, upon which the full postage would be $1.28, may be sent from New York to San Fran- cisco if one two cent stamp is affixed. But the man at the other end will have to pay $1.26 before it will be delivered to him. Right here is where some writers make a serious mistake. They either knowingly or carelessly put on less than the full amount of postage required, 236 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 237 Deficient pos- tage may cause trouble. and trust to the editor or publisher to whom their manuscript is sent, to make up the deficiencj^. Some of them will do this, some will not. There are publish- ing offices which make it a rule to ac- cept from the post office no manuscript that is not fully prepaid. Other Mss. go to the dead letter office, and from there notification is sent to the owner. If an editor takes from the office an underpaid package, making up the de- ficiency himself, he is already prejudiced against the sender. If upon opening the package, he finds also that the sender has omitted to enclose return postage, the chances are that the manuscript will receive scant consideration. This may seem but a little thing when one considers a single manuscript. But there are many offices in which so many underpaid manuscripts are received, that the thing becomes really burden- some. A writer should have enough respect for himself and enough confi- dence in his work to fully prepay it, and to send the entire amount needed to insure its safe return. A manuscript of more than one pound weight may be sent to points not too far distant, by express, at a less charge than by mail. When sending an express package, it is best to notify the editor 238 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP briefly by mail, giving the title of the Put name on manuscript and the express line by Ms. which forwarded. Be very certain also that your name is affixed to your man- uscript. CHAPTER XXII. A NEGLECTED FIELD. There is one branch of work largely in demand by certain journals of vari- ous classes, which seems to be over- looked by the majority of writers. We refer to editorials. It is the general im- pression that editorials of newspapers, magazines, weekly literary journals, Writing trade publications, etc., are entirely the editorials. work of their editors. This is not al- ways true. Of course the business of an editor is to write editorials, and this a great many of them do, supplying the entire material of this sort needed by their respective journals. Yet there are other publications that are alert to se- cure good articles bearing upon topics of the day, that may be used in the edi- torial columns. We have known a number of high class weekly journals which make a specialty of clear and concise editorials dealing with the pert- inent topics of the time, to use contrib- uted articles in their editorial columns, and to invite the senders to supply other work of the same sort. 239 240 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Contributed articles some- times used as editorials. Of course it is understood that when a contributed article is used as an edi- torial, the writer loses the credit. On the other hand he usually receives abet- ter rate of compensation than would be the case if the article were used else- where in the same journal. The writer some time ago found that an article submitted in the ordinary manner to a class publication of high rank was used in this manner, and taking the hint, he adapted much of his work upon current topics to such use; never offering it as an editorial, but preparing it in such manner that it could be so used almost absolutely without change. A fair pro- portion of such work was accepted and used in that manner, and the compensa- tion received was invariably better than for other contributions to the same journals. Some of the large daily papers are glad to have such contributions, as the editors are not always able to keep up with the demands made upon them, for fresh and original treatment of the var- ious topics that they must bring up for the consideration of their readers. An over-worked editor is sometimes only too glad to avail himself of the assis- tance of an intelligent contributor who may relieve him once in a while from the PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 241 What a newspaper editor does. Some examples of good editorial work. drudgerj- of his daily task. What this daily task may be in a great newspaper office is shown by the recent statement of one of the older and abler journalists of our country, one who was for a long time editor-in-chief of a great metropol- itan newspaper, to the effect that for twenty years he had been accustomed to write three columns of editorial mat- ter each night between the hours of eleven and one o'clock. A little observation will teach a writ- er what journals really use editorials, and what merely have some editorial comment upon matters and things. Perhaps the New York Sun, among newspapers, Collier's Weekly, among literary weeklies, and The Country Gentleman, among class publications, afford the best examples of original and trenchant editorial work, sustained in every issue throughout the year. CHAPTER XXIII. ARTICLES OF INFORMATION. It has been well said that to be a writer one need not be an author. In our current publications, there is room for a vast amount ol material which could not by any stretch of the imagina- tion entitle its writer to claim a place among authors. This is not said by way of belittling such work, but to show the immense opportunities for all Material in who can write intelligently upon prac- great demand, tical subjects. Articles of information are in demand by all classes of journals, from the newspaper and domestic monthly up to the leading magazines. These articles may be the result of study, of travel, and of research along many lines. These are the higher levels of ar- ticles of information, and are usually the product of those who make journal- ism a profession. But there is another field to which we would call particular attention. That is the One which demands practical ar- ticles which are the result of experience upon matters of homelife,child-training, 242 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 243 the care of the health, culinary affairs, education, etc. Those most competent to write along these lines are house- keepers, mothers, teachers, who are Practical lines careful observers and who have sum- tor work. cient tact to choose wisely what to say, and who are acquainted with the or- dinary rules which govern the accept- able preparation of manuscript. Such may not only receive a fair recompense for such work from the press, but may discover a medium for doing much good thereby. Such articles will find the readiest ac- ceptance with the many journals de- voted to the home. They should not often be long. Papers of 200 to 500 words will be found more acceptable than those of greater length. Much What various literary skill is not needed in the prepa- journals ration of these, but one should be able to give clear expression to facts and ideas, and to write good, terse, vigor- ous English. The agricultural journals use a great deal of such material, as do also the religious journals which have a household department. In the home, or woman's department of some of the larger metropolitan dailies, space is also given to such material in one issue each week — usually the Saturday or Sunday issue. use. 244 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP In preparing articles of this sort, we would suggest that writers observe Plain what we have said in our chapter upon methods for writing for trade journals. That is, practical that in practical work one may write best and succeed best by confining one- self to the topics regarding which he has the widest and most explicit knowledge CHAPTER XXIV. THE LITERARY CRITIC. The part of the critic, as commonly accepted in literature, is to take the fin- ished and printed work of the author, and to tell the public whether it is good or bad and to show why it is so. But there is another view-point for tire critic, and that is in his relations to His the literary beginner. The beginner in value to the literature, as the beginner in art, or in beginner. j^ e sciences or the trades, is often chiefly remarkable for the things that he does not know about the profession upon which he has chosen to embark. It is not uncommon for the } r oung writer to think that because he has something to say he must necessarily know how to say it. But this does not always follow. If he wishes to get the ear of editors and through them reach the ear of the great public, he must con- form to certain standards. Not only must he be grammatically correct and technically correct in other particulars, but he must avoid certain forms of ex- pression, and the introduction of cer- 246 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP tain matter which is almost invariably the sign manual of the amateur. It is more the sins of commission than of omission of which the young writer must beware. The trouble usually is that he overdoes his matter, rather than the reverse. He is apt to be too Common verbose, too flowery, too redundant of errors of young speech. In such a case, if he can sub- writers, mit his work to one who understands the technique of his art, who can ex- amine and criticise it from the stand- point of the editor, before it is submitted for editorial approval, he certainly should be the gainer. In this connection we must warn the young writer that the criticism of friends is not to be depended upon. Nor is it always safe to trust, as some writers seem bent upon doing, to other and older writers for an opinion. It is a fact well known among editors that many able writers are wholly unable to judiciously criticise their own work. In them the editorial faculty appears to be wholly lacking, and they are not com- petent to pass judgment upon the work of themselves or of others. It is only after an author has occupied an editor- ial position that he can safely be de- pended upon to give to others criticism and advice which is wholly reliable. So PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 247 if one can command the services of a Secure competent professional critic, who will competent read his manuscript with no purpose criticism. but to determine and report upon its character and availability for publica- tion, it will often be well to do so. CHAPTER XXV. THE VALUE OF WORK. Writers are made, — not born. There may be some exceptions, which only prove the rule; but skill in composition, in literary technique, in concise and dra- matic expression, is acquired, — as all things else that are worth having are acquired, — by application. It matters little what direction your work may take, your first efforts will Skill have a certain crudeness which you can- the result of not be rid of by criticism, by the study application. of models, or by any aid outside your- self. True, criticism and advice may help, but only to direct you toward the paths in which you may do for yourself. Longfellow was a poet from his youth. The poetic instinct was early and strongly developed in him, yet in his mature years he would have been glad to consign to oblivion much that his pen had given to the "world before he had schooled himself by assiduous ap- plication, and so perfected his art. Guy de Maupassant, who became the master of the fueilleton, giving within a few 248 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 249 years more than three hundred admir- able short stories to the Parisian press, studied for seven years under an inexor- able master, who destro\^ed daily that Some examples which had been written. At last, the of pupil having perfected his method by application. unceasing practice, the master per- mitted him to print. Well would it be for many of us if our creations were thus destroyed by somekeen^ed critic, more alive to their defects than we can ever be to our own, yet seeing the promise of better things if we have but the cour- age and patience to work toward their accomplishment. Practice perfects. We do not question this in any physical matter. No one pretends to perfection in any handicraft Practice until a long apprenticeship has -been perfects. served. The painter goes to school and learns, by patiently following the work of a master, all the details of his art, be- ginning with the mixing of his pigments. But the writer! — But the writer, you say, cannot al- ways have a master. True. Then let each be his own preceptor. Write, and destroy, and write again. Do not write the same thing, but take new ideas, new scenes, new characters, and clothe them with new literary form. Thus you will acquire facility, and diversity. 250 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP A young story writer often fears that a time will come when his stories will all have been told. Sometimes he looks ahead and is perplexed that no more images arise upon the palimpsest of his brain, to be set forth upon the written page. This is most often so during a period when creative work has been suspended. I think all writers of fiction ' will agree with me that the longer these creative faculties have been in disuse, the stronger is this haunting fear. The One thought writer questions if he will ever again be doth tread upon able to conjure up those fancies that another's once came so readily. I have seen facile writers of stories almost in despair at this thought. But when they were once more really at work, fancies would arise more thick and fast than ever. Perhaps there was difficult}^ in getting the foun- tain started again. Thought was slug- gish, and the first story proved formless and unsatisfactory. But the next was better, and more easily done, and the next, and the next, and the next, until they fairly tumbled over one another so rapidly and eagerly did they press for utterance. The writing of a story may start a train of thought that will bring forth a dozen, as fast as they can be put upon paper. The more stories one writes, the more are conjured forward heel. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 251 from the recesses of the brain where they have been hidden. Thus, work develops the imagination. The writer who has his harness on steadily is never at a loss for "something to write about;" this plaint is the sign- manual of the writer who has not yet learned the first lesson in his literary Searching primer. II you must search and cudgel for something your brain for "something to write to write about" you may feel pretty certain that when the thing is done it will prove to have been not worth the doing. Real, earnest writers, who are thoroughly in the work, find their difficulty to be quite another sort; they have all the time so many topics pressing them that it troubles them to pick and choose which shall have first attention. Now, when the thought-waves have been started by actual application to the task in hand, let them come as the water flows from a fountain that is overfull. Do not be afraid of writing too much; — you need only fear offering too much for publication. Write all that you can; then scrutinize closely, destroy the bad, and put aside that KeeD right on which you think good, until it may ripen, writing. -Let "there be no cessation in your work. It will be more difficult to get started again, than to keep right on. 252 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Do not be afraid of an accumulation of manuscripts. A writer is hardly se- riously in the field unless he has a half hundred manuscripts of various sorts, ready for and seeking a market. The athlete makes himself still more strong by constant exercise. The pugi- list trains and hardens himself for the conflict. The builder and the machinist toil to perfect themselves in the details of their work. The painter and the A lesson from sculptor grow continually by the accom- the athletes. plishment of each successive task. Among all men, it seems that only the writer hopes to evolve out of his poor little egg-shell of a brain, at once, with- out practice, application, or training, something that the world shall think of value. The earliest productions of a writer usually deserve the flames, — nothing more. Because editors return them as unavailable, only shows that editors have a modicum of worldly wisdom. And a writer who is discouraged by such re- fusal, and who is not willing to take it as a hint that he has yet somewhat to learn of an art in which the greatest of the world have striven, deserves only failure. The art of literature is vast, all-reach- ing. Have yon a message for men, now PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 253 That and for all time to come? Then is it not which you do — worth your while to learn to say it so do well. that } t ou may compel them to hear? CHAPTER XXYI. THE PROFESSION OF AUTHORSHIP. The press has recently had much to say about writers, and particularly a- bout writers for the publications em- braced in the classification, ' 'periodical literature," viz: — the monthlies and lit- erary weeklies, and to which should now be added the Sunday editions of the great dailies. The various articles published have mainly pui ported to give advice and in- formation to beginners in the art of authorship, and to literary aspirants in general: and while some items have been Comment of the given showing the financial compensa- press. tion of certain writers, or the pa}anent received for certain work, little has been told upon which the average income might be predicated, or the average re- turn for accepted work be arrived at. Perhaps it is true that no average basis can be arrived at for these matters; yet information is available that ma}^ help to convey a more or less exact idea of the probabilities and possibilities — a more exact idea certainly than offered 254 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 255 by any of the above articles that have come under my observation. In this country now are some thous- ands of persons who are gaining — or trying to gain — a livelihood by writing. Among them are a few men and women of brilliant genius, and there are a few dolts. The success of the former is as- sured, and we will not concern about the exact amount of their incomes; they are at least enabled to keep the wolf from the door. The failure of the latter is equally sure, and consequently the public can have little interest in their ephemeral appearance in the liter arj- The earnings of arena. writers. After dismissing these extremes there 3^et remain a large number of honest, industrious workers, who have consider- able intellect, if no great degree of gen- ius. Upon these — the rank and file of the pen-wielders — the editors of our magazines and other periodicals depend mainly for the great bulk of the mater- ial that fills their columns. A few great names may be advertised in the pros- pectus, but an examination of the index will show that comparatively obscure writers have furnished the major por- tion of the contents. "Comparatively obscure" means that while their names may be somewhat known in the purely 256 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP literary world, and familiar in editorial rooms, they are as yet almost wholly unrecognized by the great mass of the reading public. Names that are wholly new to the cursory reader appear con- tinually; and that brings me to the first question asked b} r the literary aspirant —"How shall I get in?" A newspaper paragraph, said to have been inspired by a reader for a promi- nent magazine, has been going the rounds, stating that onty a small por- For the tion °f "the manuscripts received by the consideration leading periodicals are even examined, of unless coming from some one who is the beginner, already a contributor or whose name is well known. It is strange that such a statement should meet with any cre- dence. A magazine following such methods would be largely cut off from new thought and new ideas. A very practical refutation of this is found in the fact that new names are constantly appearing, and that the old ones do not appear with such frequency as to preponderate among the whole. If the miscellaneous offerings were not ex- amined these new writers would not be discovered, nor their contributions be- come available for making up that in- finite variety which the best periodicals aim to place before their readers with each recurring number. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 257 In looking over my accounts I find that within three years from the time of offering my first manuscript, I re- ceived pay from nearly thirty publica- tions, the list embracing many of ac- knowledged standing and a few of the very highest class. Had there been any prejudice against the beginner in litera- ture this of course would not have been possible. It shows rather that even the most unpromising offerings are eagerly scanned in the hope of finding something new and printable. And it may interest some to know that I never had a man- uscript returned without having reason to believe that it had been read at least far enough to convince the editor that it would not meet his needs. I do not mean by this that I have ever laid puer- ile traps by which I might catch an edi- tor in the dereliction of his duty. I believe that letters of introduction are very rarely of any use, although I have never tried them for myself. But Depend it was my fortune recenth^ to make the on your own acquaintance of a young man of fine ed- ucation and wide experience of the world, a Harvard graduate and son of a foreign minister of note, who had been for two years knocking in vain at the doors of almost every editorial sanctum in the country. He had been backed (or merits. 258 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP handicapped) by an appalling array, of letters of introduction from .leading statesmen and litterateurs, but had not succeeded in getting a single line pub- lished. This young man also confided to me that he was certain his manu- scripts were often returned unread; for he had at times inadvertently (?) al- lowed certain pages to become fastened The only together by stray drops of mucilage, way to gain and other pages to become disarranged favor. from their proper numerical order. I suggested that perhaps this was one reason why his work was returned, and advised him to be done with such devices, to throw away his letters, and begin anew solely upon his merits. The only way to "get in" is to offer material that editors want. If you have the goods and send them to the right shops, you will eventually succeed in selling them. But after getting in — Does it Pay? I know it is rather the fashion to sneer at one who avowedly writes for money, at one who makes the financial aspect of his work the first consideration. But in this, as in other emplo\ntnents, men will usually put forth their best ef- forts for the purpose of securing some tangible reward, and so in hoc signo ($) vznces. In discussing the question of remuner- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 259 ation I shall confine mj^self to the great body of writers who are not famous: those who write for periodicals, and send their Mss. wherever the chances seem best for finding a market. Not only is the matter of acceptance left to the discretion of the editor, but he is also the arbiter of the value of their ■work. And right here is where a large amount of misinformation obtains, and upon this misinformation is based the wildest estimate regarding a writer's income. One's friends learn that he has received a hundred or even two hundred A wide range of dollars for a certain article or story, payment. One or two weeks of stead\^ application were required for its production, and from this is figured an income of $100 per week, or a possible Hyc thousand in a year. They do not know that the number of periodicals that pa} r one hun- dred dollars for a single article is ex- tremely limited, and a new writer may be considered fortunate to sell even one of his productions at this price. Those not upon the inside, either as sender or recipient, would be surprised to see how great a part small checks play in mak- ing tip the income of the average writer. Those ranging from five dollars to twenty dollars are much more frequent and vastly easier to obtain than those of larger denominations. 260 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP A modest beginning is best. A wide difference. It may be considered rather a misfor- tune than otherwise for a writer to re- ceive large compensation for his work at the outset of his career. In my own case it was distinctly a detriment. The first two manuscripts disposed of brought me one hundred dollars each. And it was some little time thereafter before I was thoroughly convinced that it was compatible with my literary dig- nity to accept much smaller sums for work that I believed equally good. The variation in the rates of payment by different periodicals, for the same class of work, is confusing to a new writer. The manuscript which, if ac- cepted, would bring an hundred dollars from one periodical may finally be dis- posed of for one-tenth that sum: and some publications of good standing and large circulation do not disdain to send even as little as five dollars for an arti- cle or story of good length — say 3,000 to 5,000 words — and of quality, to say the least, which is acceptable to them. It may be disheartening to an ambi- tious writer to sell for so paltry a sum the brilliant figment of his brain, for which so much better payment was confidently expected when it was first sent abroad: but this is better than not to sell it at all. PRACTICAL ALTHORSHIP 261 But at such prices, does literature pay? Let us see. Almost the best practical advice for writers that I have ever seen, is con- Practical tained in Mr. Eugene Field's answer to advice. one who asked what were the best aids to literar\^ success. "A good stub pen, and eight hours of steady work every day," said the serious humorist. This rule means simply steady application. One cannot well write eight hours per day without turning off something of value. If he cannot accomplish some- thing, the drudgery of it will soon prove so exasperating that the self-imposed task will be abandoned. If something salable is evolved each day, though it be small in itself, and a market is per- sistently sought, and found, the final outcome will be fairly remunerative. One reason why many who attempt it fail to make the business of authorship profitable, is that they neglect to make Despise and to market these little things. The not the small rondeau may seem almost too small to things. offer an editor, but it may be just what he needs to lighten a page, and he ac- cepts it and sends you a check for a couple of dollars, and bears you grate- ful^ in mind when you come again. The little adventure, the anecdote, or the singular coincidence that has come 262 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP under your own observation may be written out in a little time, and may bring a cheek for four or five dollars without interfering seriously with the more important tasks in hand. These matters, thrown in as an addition to the "regular grind" will help materially to supplement the income. Now about the "regular grind." A writer who is at all prolific, who can keep his stub pen going eight hours per day, or even less, should be able to turn off four or five thousand words of copy. To keep this up he must be versatile, or at such a pace he will soon be out of ma- terial. But if he can write short stories, The amount articles on current events, travel and of a writer's descriptive sketches, etc., he should be output. able to maintain this rate of production. Yet, supposing .him inclined to give more attention to quality than toquan- ity,then this amount may be condensed, refined, polished and rewritten, and re- sult in two thousand or twenty-five hundred words of good material. Now that the "machine" has so largely taken the place of the stub pen,this amount of production should be possible for any writer. Taking even the lowest rates of payment, such a day's output cannot bring less than Hyq dollars, if it brings anything at all, and one would have to PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 263 -cater to a very poor class of publica- tions indeed, if it brought no more than this. Consequently, even at the lowest rates, if one can sell his entire product, a fair income is assured to a steady wri- ter. And probably most of those who follow the profession of literature, de- vote enough time and attention to the Figuring up the business end of the work to ensure a total market finally for all or nearly all that they produce. One trouble is, that wri- ters are not often steady workers. Either the elation of success or the de- spondency of failure will serve them as excuse for leaving their desks for a pro- tracted period, until some new inspira- tion moves them toresumetheir labors. Young writers are often cautioned against writing too much. If a man has his bread to earn he will probably turn off all the work of which he is cap- able and for which he thinks he can find a market, although much of it may be very poor, and such as he will wish to disclaim in after years. Notwithstand- ing this, a writer cannot w^rite too much. The writing habit grows with that it feeds on: the more one writes, the more he can write . There are other rewards for the liter- ary worker, besides the purely financial 264 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Dollars not the only rewards. one. Notwithstanding Mr. Field's eight hours per day, few writers habit- ually give more than five or six hours of the twenty-four to their desks. This permits more leisure, greater opportun- ity for rest, study, reading, recreation and social duties than the majority of business or professional men can afford. Their work often being performed at home permits more intimate associa- tion with their own family circle. Not being tied to an office or business that demands constant attendance in one place, they are free to travel as fancy dictates, and the purse permits, and this travel enlarges their scope in their chosen profession. If you are ready to work hard, and wait patiently, there is nothing to dis- courage you from entering upon the pursuit of literature. CHAPTER XXVII. THE WRITER OF TRAVEL. Over the hills and far away! "I want a change of scene and out- look for a few months, and would like a position as traveling correspondent and contributor. Would be content, as a beginning, with traveling and living ex- penses, and a small salar\^. Can 3^ou put me in the way of gaining a position of this kind?" The above is an extract from a letter recently at hand from a writer who has done much work in stories, and other departments of literary endeavor, but What now wishes to broaden her field. We one writer quote it, because it is a sample of the wanted. requests that come to us almost daily, and we have thought that a few words upon this subject might be appreciated by many of our readeis. All the world loves to travel, and the majority of people who become able to gratify their pet ambitions do journey hither and thither over the earth. At a certain stage in their career most writ- ers become possessed strongly with the desire to travel; they wish to write 265 266 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP travel, and they believe, and rightly, that such broader knowledge as they may obtain by seeing how the other half of the world lives, will help them in many ways in their work. This is true. One who can travel, and who studies attentively and appropriates to himself Travel "the numberless things that present a universal themselves to his observation, will desire. gather a fund of information, and will find his field broadened most wonder- fully. It would not be difficult to name a dozen writers who at the best were winning but small renown in limited fields, but who, having opportunities for travel, made their names known and their work appreciated by a wide circle. So w r e acknowledge that the desire of our correspondent is a wise and legiti- mate one — but how shall it be gratified? Few writers have the means to travel broadly. It is expensive, and the risk is too great to be assumed individually, or at least they imagine so, and conse- quently look for some publication to back them with expenses "and a small salary." But it is quite as easy for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle as to secure this desideratum. Very nearly all publications like good travel work, — PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 267 but not well enough to employ- a writer regarding whose powers in this parti- How cular line they know nothing. After one travel writer has done this work, and shown his may begin. adaptability- for it, very good arrange- ments ma^^ easily be secured. But the thing that hundreds wish to know is, how can the start be made? It is not realry difficult to find the chance to show what you can do. Are you contributing with any frequency to anY journal? No matter how small or insignificant it is, only so that it pay-s for what it uses. If you have such a connection, the editor will be glad to give you what aid he can, in your en- deavor to broaden out. Do not take your map now and look for the farth- est point upon the surface of the earth, and ask him to send you there — for he would not do it. But select the point nearest home, where there is anything worth writing about in a descriptive way r . It will not cost you much to get there, and y r ou must expect to go upon your own expense. Now having select- ed your point, and knowing what you will find there to write about, ask your friend the editor if he will use such an article, if you will go there and prepare it. The chances are that he will. Now make the most of this little entering PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP Good travel work in demand. All classes of publications open. wedge. Do the very best work that you are capable of, even if you know you will not more than pay expenses. If it is acceptable, he will give you another chance, and next time you can go a little further afield, and do more articles, with very little added expense. Perhaps you can find another paper that will take something from the same trip. Once in, as a travel writer, with any journal, the connection is more easily held than almost any other. As I have said, very many journals desire such material, and good material of this sort is not easily secured. After a time, if you have developed an adaptability for good descriptive writ- ing, foreign travel will beckon you. Now comes the culmination of your de- sires. These journals for which you have been working will give you a basis, an agreement to take a certain number of letters, at a given price. If these contracts will cover your ex- penses, you can safely start out. The other material that you will secure, and of which you know nothing in ad- vance, will enable you to gain a footing with still other and better publications; and by the time you have written and sold all that you have gleaned, possibly 3 7 ou will be glad you were not under contract with any single paper. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 269 Travel an education. As the seasons change. The writer of this began to do travel work in the manner here indicated, and not so very many years ago; and now would not care greatly to accept a commission from any single publica- tion, as a half dozen are ready to take all the material of this sort that he will offer, whenever he desires to go afield, at prices that well repay the journey- ing. The field of travel is one of the most enticing to which a writer can devote himself. It gives such great opportuni- ties for increasing one's knowledge, for broadening his ideas, for procuring new material for fiction, — if that be within his compass. It affords change, a thing that writers need, in order to keep them physically up to the demands made up- on their nervous energies. And, if suc- cessful, there are few branches of work that return a better financial reward. The travel writer may properly take account of timeliness. In the winter the residents of the northern states journey south, and Florida, the Gull Coast, Mexico, Cuba, the Bermudas, etc., are localities of interest to those who re- main at home. In the summer the north Atlantic sea coast, the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence, etc., are of equal interest, and the writer should be 270 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP guided by these facts. The large news- papers in winter will devote consider- able space to letters from the southern resorts, and in summer to the same ma- terial from the north. These letters may describe the scenery and different phases of life, together with notes upon the movements of people. That places have been described once or many times is no bar to their utility for later comers. They may be written of from different view points, and the Old individual treatment of different writers materia! served mav fit the same topic exactly for the afresh. needs of different editors. Then too, one writer ma}^ be able to discover some- thing of interest that another writer has omitted; and there are so many places for the publication of such work that one need hardly be afraid to give his time and talents to a careful descrip- tion of almost an3^ place in the world, provided he will give equal time and care to finding the proper market when it is done. talented. CHAPTER XXVII L SONG WORDS, AND HYMN WRITING. Considering the important place oc- cupied to-day by the song, it seems strange that in this country the depart- ment of literarjr work upon which it depends should be so little cultivated. In England the writing of song words has attained a high point of perfection. In Germany the development is proba- An bly not inferior. But here in America a opening for the composer is fortunate if he can obtain words which, so far from giving impe- tus to his imagination, do not positively ♦ trouble him to render acceptable at all. To seek all the reasons for this neglect would be beyond my present purpose. The field is remunerative — more so than for most other forms of verse, and the work is less exacting. It is probable, therefore, that no particular obstacle presents itself, but that our American literati have merely failed to turn their attention in this direction; and believ- ing this, it seems that consideration of song words, their qualities and the 272 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP methods of attaining these, may be of use. The essential requirement in all song words is that they appeal strongly to the feelings. This they will do according as they employ the emotional qualities of style, or picturesqueness. Naturally i these qualities are very nearly akin, and so may readily give place to each other. The natural inclination, too, is for the picturesque to pass into the emotional: for, in poetry, at least, no vivid image is likely to be presented that does not The technique at once arouse some emotion: this, in of poetry, is the chief object of the pictur- song writing. esque./ Nevertheless, there are many songs in which the emotional predomi- nates, and calls upon the picturesque only to occasionally reinforce it. Such songs are to be found more frequently in operas and kindred works, where the picturesque is mechanically provided for. The famous numbers "Hear Me, Norma," "Ernani, Involami," and "Salve Dimora," are of this kind. In- deed, when in the opera, such songs may forsake the picturesque entirely, and be- come pure expressions of feeling. But with the isolated song this is rare; and it is the isolated song that chiefly con- cerns us. If we turn to existing song words, PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 273 An illustration of the picturesque and emotional. abundant illustration of the above points will be found. Take, first, Sir Arthur Sullivan's song/' Let Me Dream Again," the words of which are by B. C. Stephenson. The first stanza and re- frain are as follows: — "The sun is setting and the hour is late. Once more I stand before the wicket gate. The bells are ringing out the dying day, The children singing on their homeward way, And he is whisp'ring words of sweet intent While I, half doubting, whisper a consent. Ref. Is this a dream? Then waking would be pain — Oh ! do not wake me, let me dream again.'" This is an excellent illustration of the picturesque leading into the emotional. As the scene, by deft descriptive touches, is made more vivid and complete, it gives place naturally to an expression of strong feeling. Such a song presents to the composer excellent opportunities for a well-rounded composition, and the form is therefor a favorite. To it belong most songs with a refrain, such as "Maid of the Mill," "Blue Alsatian Mountains," and "Anchored." Many songs too that have no formal refrain, but simply lead at the close of each stanza or at the close of the whole to an emotional climax, are to be classified here; as, for instance, the popular song "Answer." For a song with more of the pictures- 274 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP q tie and less of the emotional, let us now consider one of the best of later songs, "Daddy," written by Mary Mark Lemon, composed by A. H. Of the Behrend. Here is the first stanza:— picturesque. A picture in a song. "Take my head on your shoulder, Daddy, Turn your face to the west. It is just the hour when the sky turns gold, The hour that mother loves best. The day has been long without you, Daddy, You've been such a while away, And now you're as tir'd of your work, Daddy, As I am tired of my play." Then comes the refrain (which is al- tered in language, but not in spirit, for each stanza) — "But I've got you, and you've got me, So ev'ry thing seems right. I wonder if mother is thinking of us, Because it's my birthday night." Pure painting is this, disguised though it be. Each word, as it falls from the lips of a singer, suggests an image, adds a picturesque detail. The childish voice rambles on, — wonders at the father's tears, wonders whether, when they go to heaven, the mother there will know them; but we are hard- ly conscious of what it says. Somehow it all but serves to strengthen the picture — that picture of lonely affection, disappointed hopes, uncomplaining sor- row, at which we gaze with dimmed eyes. That is what we are gaining PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 275 from the song; that, and nothing else. But so well do we gain it that at the close of the last stanza we find that "Daddy" and the child are not any longer for us the creations of a song, but have taken fair place with the realities of our lives. A song illustrating as well, perhaps, the predominance of the emotional as any song not from an opera will do, is "Take Back the Heart," by ''Claribel." We give an amount that makes one stanza in music, there being two such:— "Take back the heart that thou gavest, What is my anguish to thee ! Take back the freedom thou cravest, Leaving the fetters to me. Thp Take back the vows thou hast spoken, purely Fling them aside and be free. emotional. Smile o'er each pitiful token, Leaving the sorrow for me. Drink deep of life's fond illusion, Gaze on the storm-cloud and flee Swiftly thro' strife and confusion, Leaving the burden to me." Here the first stanza is purely emo- tional, even the figure in the fourth line being used in too abstract a way to be picturesque, while yet full of feeling. An analysis. In the second stanza, however, the line, "Smile o'er each pitiful token," is dis- tinctly picturesque, and is good. In the last stanza, "Gaze on the storm-cloud and flee," is, like the first figure, too ab- 276 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP stract to call any very distinct image to our minds; and it is further out of harmony with what has preceeded, and in its elaboration in the succeding two lines has a tendency to give the whole stanza the somewhat ludicrous sound of petulant complaint. Before ending the quotations we will give one where the picturesque is em- ployed toward a different end from the above. The song instanced is "The Owl," written by T. E. Weatherly, probably the best of English writers of song words. The music is by Stephen Adams. We give the words entire: "There pass'd a man by an old oak tree. 'To-whoo! 1 said the owl, 'to-whoo!' His hair was wild, and his gait was free. 'He must be a lover,' said the owl in the tree. 'To-whoo, to-whoo, to-whoo.' 'Whither away?' said the owl as he passed. . . -Whither away, fair sir, so fast?' An example ^ g0 ; quo th he, 'a maid to woo, of A maiden young and fair and true.' the humorous. ' To woo?' said the owl, 'to woo?' 'Is anybody true in the world? To-whoo !' 'Ha, ha,' laughed the lover, as away he sped, 'That's just like an owl,' he said, 'That's very like an owl,' he said. There pass'd a man by an old oak tree, 'To-whoo!' said the owl, 'to-whoo!' His face was as long as long could be. 'He must be married,' said the owl in the tree. 'To-whoo, to-whoo, to-whoo.' His gate was neither slow nor fast. He shook his fist at the owl as he pass'd, 'Oh! oh!' said the owl, 'it's you! it's you! PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 277 And haven't you been the maid to woo?' 'To woo?' said the man, 'to woo? There's nobody fair or young or true.' 'Ho, ho,' laughed the owl, as he went to bed, 'That's just like a man,' he said, 'That's very like a man,' he said." While this is a very clever bit of humor, the type will not, perhaps, com- pel so much attention as others, for the reason that it is well fitted only for "encore" work, or in double numbers, and therefore does not ever create a large demand. The type is nevertheless a wholesome antidote to sickly senti- mentality, and deserves to be cultivat- ed. In concluding, a few words of practi- cal bearing may be acceptable. The writer who wishes to turn his atten- tion to song words would better begin by studying a wide range of songs. 5 ome The quotations given cover the more suggestions. common t3'pes. But there are many more, which are exemplified by "Bed- ouin Love Song," by Bayard Taylor, "Queen of the Earth," "King Davy," "Across the Bridge," "Calvary," and others. These are all of different character; yet in all the merit depends, as we have seen, upon the picturesque and emotional force of the language. No rules can create a talent for these; but talent might be directed by observ- ing the following: — 278 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP r Outline the scene at the very begin- ning. Choose only salient points for descrip- tion. Make the movement rapid. Rules, Do not appeal to reason or reflection t but to feeling and imagination, and as aids to this, — Be objective and concrete, not sub- jective and abstract; Avoid similes except for a sparing use of those that are very short and simple, and have picturesque or emotional force; and * Be brief with metaphors, besides mak- ing them picturesque and emotional. Finally, let me observe in confirma- tion of the last four rules, that almost all of the "words for music" that the greater poets have given us are ludi- crously unfit for the purpose because of the exercise of the reasoning faculties The effort that they compel; to illustrate this we of a famous close by requesting the reader to exam- poet, ine the following "Stanzas for Music," by Lord Byron, referring the lines back to the rules mentioned (particularly the second stanza to the last rule) and imagining, if he can, the effect of the stauzas in the mouth of a singer: — "There's not a joy the world can give like that it takes away, When the glow of early thought declines in feeling's dull decay; PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 279 Tis not on youth's smooth cheek the blush alone, which fades so fast, But the tender bloom of heart is gone, ere youth it- self is passed. Then the few whose spirits floats above the wreck of happiness Are driven over the shoals of guilt or ocean of excess ; The magnet of then course is gone, or only points in vain The shore to which their shiver d sails shall never stretch again. Oh ! could I feel as I have felt, or be what I have been, Or weep as I could once have wept, o'er many a vanish'd scene; As springs in deserts found seem sweet, all brackish thought they be, So 'midst the wither 'd waste of life, those tears would flow to me." Literary work in most of its various A departments has been freely discussed, neglected but ver\- little has been published about branch of hymn writing. poesy. While many inferior hymns have ap- peared before the public, these have generally received just condemnation. The best music writers of the day are constantly trying to raise the standard of gospel hymns b} r paying for good work, even though they are flooded by gratuitous contributions of a doubtful quality. In hymn writing, even more than in writing poetrj', care should be given to rhythm, and the science of lyrical verse. One cannot make a hymn by stringing technicalities of hymn-writing. 280 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP a lot of religious phrases together, but must have a definite thought to ex- press. Having decided upon a subject, next find a meter. If a verse has al- ready formed in your mind, prove its correctness by singing it to some re- liable tune. If the subject is of a solemn nature, select a meter of like import; if glad or gay, or inspiring, select a cor- responding movement to be your guide in writing the hymn. Be careful that two syllables are m , Q L . r n °t crowded into the space designed for one; and see that the accented words or syllables are placed where they belong — on the accented notes of the measure. This method has proved a great help to many writers, but the hymn must be carefully sung and corrected before it is submitted, as faults of accent or sylla- bication will condemn it in the eyes of any good composer. The flippant, familiar way in which some writers have used sacred Bible truths, is greatly to be deplored. It lowers the work and has raised a just prejudice against gospel hymns, some churches completely discarding them, using for all their services the regular Church Hymnal. Opening a book at random, we read: PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 281 "I'm kneeling at the mercy seat Where Jesus answers prayers. I feel the blood, it's coming now, I know I'm almost there.'''' Where? Evidently the last line is used only to fill up, and rhyme with the word "prayer." The third line is an irrever- ent allusion to the shedding of Christ's blood on Calvary, and is wholly inex- A bad example, cusable as the words have neither sense nor reason. How often we are hurled from the sublime to the ridiculous by some thoughtless phrase, or irreverent simile. One should criticise his own hymns and revise every doubtful or awkward sentence, cut out superfluous words, stick to the theme, and see that every line is pure and reverent. As to the market for hymns, there is constant demand for the best. Ira D. Sankey writes: "I have about a thousand hymns on hand, but there is room for great hymns." E. 0. Excell, one of our most success- ful composers, is always glad to exam- ine new hymns. While particular as to quality of the verse he accepts, he is kind and generous in his dealings with writers. W.J. Kirkpatrick is a favorite music writer. He is glad to examine hymns, and is friendly and prompt in his corre- spondence. desire. 282 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP One of our most experienced and pro- lific composers, Asa Hull, writes: "My most pressing need is for first-class ma- terial. I want hymns that have inspir- ation and soul. Good ideas, perfect rhythms, strong rhymes. Sunday School anniversary hymns are needed. It seems as if the whole United States are sending me hymns, but good ones What are hard to obtain." the composers g. S. Lorenz uses a good deal of ma- terial, is prompt and considerate in his dealings. He writes: "The characteris- tics I look for in a successful hymn are as follows: A happy title. A good, strong, helpful central thought, ex- pressing not an individual, unusual ex- perience, but one common to all pious souls. Good literary form and style. Suggestive musical rhythm varied to suit the sentiment of the hymn. A writer who can not get out of the grooves of common meters, lacks liter- ary power and resourcefulness." T. Martin Towne, who has long been the musical editor of David C. Cook's Sunday School publications, has used many hymns adapted to that line of work, as well as gospel hymns for his own compositions, song words, and lib- rettos for his popular Cantatas. Years of literary work render his criticism espe- composers. PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 285 daily valuable as regards either words or music. There is a wide range of prices for hymns. As before intimated, there are many writers who for the sake of seeing their names in print will give away their work. Some composers never pay more than one dollar per hymn, others two or Prices paid for three dollars apiece. One writes: "I hymns. can get all I want for ten dollars a dozen, but I am willing to pay two dol- lars each for any that just suit me." Another writes: "I am delighted with , it is a great success. I would gladly pay ten dollars for another song like that." It is like every other branch of literature; stand at the head and you will receive good remuneration. The following composers purchase hymns: J. Lincoln Hall, 1020 Arch Street, Philadel- phia, Pa. Asa Hull, 132 Nassau Street, New York. Chas. H. Gabriel, 56 Washington Street, Chi- cago, 111. List of James M. Black, Willianisport, Pa. Geo. D. Elderkin, Oak Park, 111. Alfred Bierly, 215 Wabash Ave., Chicago. S. V. R. Ford, 150 Fifth Ave., New York. J. P. Vance, 262 Wabash Ave., Chicago. J. E. Sweeney, Chester, Pa. W. K. Kirrpatrick, 2009 N. 15th St. Phila. 284 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP J. H. Kurzenknabe, Harrisburg, Pa. T. C. O'Kane, Delaware, O. Ira D. Sankey, 148 South Oxford Street, Brook- List of lyn, New York. composers — E. O. Excell, Lakeside Building, Chicago. continued. T. Martin Towne, 1218 Wrightwood Ave., Chicago. E. S. Lorenz, Dayton, 0. Geo. F.Roche, 940 W. Madison Square, Chicago. CHAPTER XXIX. dox'ts for writers. Don't fail to remember: That editors hate cringing letters. That your manuscript, if accepted will be on its own merits, not on yours. That you must never get discouraged because your manuscripts come back. That an author is no judge of his own work. Pithy points. That success comes onry through per- severance. Don't send a pen written manuscript to any editor if you want it read prompt- ly and carefully. Don't send any manuscript without stamps for its return. Don't paste the stamps on your man- uscript(nor to your letter)so that they must be torn off. Don't omit to put your name and ad- dress at the top of the first sheet. It is a good plan to put it also at the bottom of the last one. Don't send an editor a dozen other manuscripts the minute he has accepted 286 PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP your first one. He may wish to take something from other contributors. Don't put stampsloosein an envelope. They are apt to drift into the waste basket. Don't send stamps at all, if you can possibly send a return envelope with the stamps already affixed. Don't fancy that editors are prej- udiced against you. Don't wrong the editor by thinking that the stuff in the latest number of his Pithy points. magazine is not half so good as yours which he returned. Don't send an editor a long list of the work that you have published and ex- pect him to be influenced by it to accept the manuscript submitted. Don' tell him that he can have your work for nothing. He will reason that the laborer is worthy of his hire. Don't write long letters to editors. Don't fasten the sheets of your manu- script to one another with clamp, thread or ribbon. Page the sheets plain- ly at the top, and leave them so loose that an editor may shuffle them like a pack of cards. Don't re- write a rejected manuscript and return it to the editor asking con- sideration again. Don't send a lot of newspaper clip- PRACTICAL AUTHORSHIP 287 pings about yourself and your work, and expect to have them returned. Edi- tors are deluged with that sort of thing; and it is troublesome to keep track of Pithy points. the clippings; and if they are not re- turned, the editor is probably bothered by a request for them weeks after they have passed beyond his possible know- ledge. THE end. 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