the figures of its circulation? No one can say how many people will
handle one single copy, or how many people will find in that single copy
bracing laughter and healthy humour. The numbers printed each week can
only represent a fraction of its actual readers.
And the same applies to a good many books: they pass from one to
another, are borrowed from libraries, borrowed from friends (often
without being returned, alas!), and by varied routes they penetrate to
out-of-the-way corners of the world where the authors would least
expect to be able to reach the inhabitants.
The most famous preacher living has not the possibilities of power that
lie in the hands of a popular writer; and the gravity of this
responsibility cannot be over-estimated.
While this does not mean that we must take ourselves too seriously, it
does mean that we must take our work seriously, and recognise that it
stands for something more than money-making, even though money-making is
not to be despised.
To the beginner this may seem a weighty subject and rather outside his
orbit. But in reality this point needs to be taken into consideration
from the very earliest of our literary experiments. We must induce a
certain attitude of mind, and keep definite ideals before us, if our
work is to shape in any particular direction.
And the probability is that you will have to choose between good and ill
when selecting the theme for your first story. You will naturally look
around and study the type of fiction that seems to be selling well, and
perhaps you may light on something peculiarly noxious, since there is an
assortment of such books being published nowadays. The book in question
may have been designated "strong" (the word reviewers often fall back
upon, when they cannot find any adjective sufficiently truthful without
being libellous, to convey an idea of a book's malodorous qualities!);
or you may have heard the book lauded by people who make a boast of
being modern, up-to-date, or advanced. And as we none of us aim at being
weak, or old-fashioned, or behind the times, it is not surprising if the
beginner feels that he, too, had better try his hand at something
"strong," if he is to get a reputation for ultra-modernity.
Quite a number of novices choose unpleasant topics because, and only
because, they fancy such themes show advanced, untrammelled thought, and
"a knowledge of the world." They forget that of far greater importance
than the extent of the writer's ability to defy the conventions, is the
moral effect of a book on those who read it.
[Sidenote: Wider Views are Needed when Characterising Literature]
I use the word "moral" in its widest sense. It is unfortunate that we
have got into the habit of pigeon-holing literature--and especially
fiction--in very narrow compartments. When we speak of a book as "good,"
or "helpful," or "uplifting," we usually mean that it contains specific
religious teaching in one form or another. Yet a book may be very good
and helpful and uplifting without a single sermonic sentence, or
anything approaching thereunto.
In the same way, when we say that a novel is undesirable or immoral, we
generally mean that it deals with one particular form of evil: yet there
are books having little or nothing to do with promiscuous sex
relationships that are pernicious and unhealthy in the extreme, and
possibly all the more dangerous because their immorality is not of the
kind that is definitely ticketed for all to see, and beware of, if need
be.
Everything tending to lower the tone of the soul is immoral; everything
that debases human taste is unhealthy; everything that gloats on
unpleasantness, for the mere pleasure of gloating, is as devastating as
poison gas; everything that preaches a doctrine of hopelessness, that
spreads the black miasma of spiritual doubt over the mind is
bad--fiendishly bad.
But do not misunderstand me: I would not seem to imply that only fair
things should be chronicled. There are certain facts of life that must
be faced: sin cannot be ignored--but it must be recognised as sin, not
be touched up with tinsel, and placed in the limelight, to look as
attractive as possible.
Poverty, grime, sickness, gloom cannot be banished from every horizon;
but they need not be dwelt upon exclusively without any alleviation, to
the shutting out of all else. The wave of so-called "realism" that has
swept over fiction of recent years has been a very injurious element in
modern literature. It is bad from an artistic point of view, since it is
one-sided, unbalanced, and not true to life itself, which invariably
provides that compensations go hand in hand with drawbacks.
Some people speak of "realism" as though the only realities were
sordidness and crime; whereas the earth teems with lovely
realities--beauty of spirit, beauty of character, beauty of thought, no
less than beauty of form and colour.
The slum at first glance does not look a pre-possessing subject; yet
read "Angel Court": the writer who is a real artist can find gold even
here!
ANGEL-COURT
By AUSTIN DOBSON
In Angel-Court the sunless air
Grows faint and sick; to left and right
The cowering houses shrink from sight
Huddled and hopeless, eyeless, bare.
Misnamed, you say? for surely rare
Must be the angel-shapes that light
In Angel-Court!
Nay! the Eternities are there.
Death at the doorway stands to smite;
Life in its garrets leaps to light;
And Love has climbed that crumbling stair
In Angel-Court.
_From "London Lyrics," by permission._
Those who acclaimed these recent books of so-called "realism" as works
of exceptional genius, did not see that, far from being any such thing,
they were, in most cases, preliminary manifestations of a hideous
malady, which has since culminated in all we understand by the word
Bolshevism.
To dilate on ugliness, coarseness, harshness, without showing the
counteracting forces at work, and to dabble continuously in dirt without
showing the way to cleanliness, is not art, no matter how accurately
every detail may be portrayed: it is merely systematised brutishness.
Even themes with a rightful motive may be exceedingly harmful under some
circumstances. Studies of dipsomaniacs, drug-victims, and the like, may
be necessary as matters of psychological or medical research, just as
studies of any other diseases are necessary; but they should be issued
as such, and not put forward in the guise of fiction intended for all
and sundry among the general public.
I have enlarged on this matter, because there has been a great tendency
on the part of amateurs lately to revel in descriptions of crudity and
repulsiveness, with never a thought as to the effect of such literature
on the reader. At no time is it desirable to circulate indiscriminately,
much less as fiction, reading matter that can only induce morbidity,
neuroticism, depravity, doubt, or depression. But in an age like the
present, when most of the civilised world is bowed beneath an
overwhelming weight of sorrow, shattered nerves and physical weakness,
it is positively criminal to manufacture pessimism, gloom and horrors,
and scatter this type of literature broadcast without any sense of the
appalling responsibility attaching thereunto.
[Sidenote: Qualities which cannot be Dispensed With]
There are three qualities which all authors should aim to incorporate in
their writings if they are to be a blessing rather than a curse to
humanity: these are cleanness, healthiness and righteousness. They may
be introduced in many and various forms; and are often to be found in
wholesome laughter, spontaneous gaiety, good cheer, breathless
adventure, revelations of beauty, as well as in direct appeals to the
higher nature. Anything that will arouse sane emotions, and divert the
mind from self, is to be welcomed as a benefaction in this world of many
sorrows.
The late Charles Heber Clarke--better known to the public as "Max
Adeler"--enjoyed great popularity at one time as a humorist. He was a
man of strong religious convictions; and there came a day when he ceased
to write his humorous pleasantries, seeming inclined to regard them as
so much wasted opportunity. On one occasion however, a clergyman whom he
met while travelling, on discovering his identity, grasped his hand and
said, "You have made me laugh when there seemed nothing left to laugh
about; you have helped me to get over some of my darkest days. I owe you
more than I owe any other man in the world."
"And when he had finished pouring out his gratitude," said "Max Adeler,"
(who told me this himself), "I began to wonder whether, after all, one
might not be doing as much good in the world by making people smile and
forget their troubles, as by preaching at them."
To help humanity God-ward is the greatest privilege we can aspire to;
but this can be done by other means besides the writing of hymns and
commentaries. Everything that tends to lift humanity from the low-lands
of sorrow or sordidness or suffering, and to point them to the great
Hope; everything that will aid them to live up to the best that is in
them, and to strive to recapture some long-lost Vision of the Highest,
will be helping in the great work of human regeneration that was set on
foot by the One who came to give beauty for ashes.
While only a few are entrusted with the message of the prophet or the
seer, we all can specialise on whatsoever things are lovely and pure and
of good report; and we shall be of some use--if only in a quiet way--to
our day and generation if we can help others also to think on these
things.
[Sidenote: Goodness does not excuse Dulness]
But one point must not be overlooked--and in saying this I am summing up
most that has gone before: If a book is to succeed, it must be well
written.
Because a certain number of highly unpleasant books have succeeded, and
a certain number of highly moral books have failed, beginners sometimes
consider this as an indication of public preference. What they forget,
or do not know, is this: The nasty book succeeded, in spite of its
nastiness, because it was well and brightly written; while the moral
book failed, in spite of its goodness, because it was badly written and
superlatively dull. If the moral book that failed had been as well
written as the nasty book that succeeded, it would not only have done as
well as the nasty book, _it would have done a great deal better_.
All but a small degenerate section of the public prefer wholesome to
vicious literature--but nobody wants a dull book! And the amateur writer
of good books often overlooks this latter fact.
Therefore, bear in mind that it is not sufficient that you make a book
clean and healthy and good; you must endeavour to make cleanness as
attractive as it really is, and healthiness as desirable as it really
is, and God-ordained Righteousness the most satisfying of all the things
worth seeking.
When you can do this, you will find a fair-sized public waiting, and
anxious, to buy your books.
You will not know what good you may be doing--it is never desirable for
any of us to hear much on this score, humanity is so sadly liable to
swelled head! But occasionally some one in the big outside world may
send you a sincere "Thank you." When this comes you will suddenly
realise, though you cannot explain why, that there are some things even
more worth while than the publisher's cheque.
INDEX
A
Abbreviations to be avoided in verse, 247
Abstract qualities to be gauged, 25
Alexander, Mrs., _Burial of Moses_, 75
Allen, James Lane, and local colour, 176
Allingham, Wm., poem by, 170
Allusions, hackneyed, 155
Amateurs, what they need to cultivate and avoid, 47
Amateurs, two classes of, 139
Amateurs copying unawares, 203
Amateurs and marriage offers in stories, 209
Amateurs' lack of first-hand knowledge, 198
Ambiguity, avoid, 157
American writers and local colour, 174, 175
Ancient facts undesirable except in text-book, 149
_Angel Court_, Austin Dobson, 290
Anthologies, verse, 75, 76
Antiquated expressions, 52
Arnold, Matthew, 75
Article, settle object in writing it, 147
Articles that are not wanted, 151;
big subjects to be avoided, 155;
"How to ----," editors overdone with, 154;
which fail, 138;
useful divisions, 136;
ruled by form, 136;
on subjects already dealt with, 153;
study type of, in magazine you are writing for, 152;
must be sent to editors in time, 150;
must be topical, 150;
starting in the middle, 147
Artist and detail, 100
Artist's fragments, an, 167
Artistic atmosphere, 178
Artistic training and literary first attempts, 4, 98-100
"Atmosphere," healthy and otherwise, 181;
as a time saver, 180
Atmospheric purpose of story writer, 89
Audience, settle on your, 126
Austen's, Jane, old-world "atmosphere," 184
Author's aim to help readers God-ward, 293
Authors must have something in their heads to write down, 11
Authorship compared with dressmaking, 5, 7
B
Baby prattle in amateur verse, 239
Barclay, Mrs., _White Ladies of Worcester_, 41;
_The Rosary_, 210
Barrie, Sir J., and dialect, 195
Barrie, Sir J., short stories, 91;
_Window in Thrums_, 224
Beautiful thoughts do not guarantee beautiful writing, 98
Begin in the middle, 147
Be natural, 48, 106
Benson, Dr. A. C., 65
Big subjects to be avoided, 154
Birrell, Augustine, 65
Blackmore and local colour, 174
Blue pencil to be used by writer rather than editor, 252
"Body," needed in writing, 123
Bolshevism in literature, 291
Booksellers as readers, 118
Books that shriek, 38
Books which survive. Why? 29
Boothby, Guy, and proof corrections, 223
Boudoir stories, 206
Brain misuse, nature's revenge for, 36
_British Weekly_, for style, 56
_Broad Highway, The_, "atmosphere" of, 184
Browning, Mrs. and Christina Rossetti, 76
Browning, Mrs., "Sonnets from the Portuguese," 244
Browning's _Paracelsus_, 71;
"rough-hewn" method, 70
Bryant and Longfellow, 76, 77
Bullock, Shan F., and local colour, 174
By-gone models of amateurs, 209
C
Cable, George, 176
Cabmen, article on, 113
Callers on editors, 274
Canton, William, 42
Caricature is not characterisation, 142
Carlyle's "rough-hewn" method, 70
Cataloguing instead of art, 140
Causes of actions to be studied, 27
Central idea, necessary to story, 79
Character delineation needed in love-stories, 215
Characterisation is not caricature, 142
Characters in story, values of, 84;
should not be multiplied unduly, 220;
should explain themselves, 216, 219;
to be introduced early, 219
Chatterton, 269
Cheap books, the flood of, 38
Chesterton, G. K., paradoxes of, 165
Children, mistakes of writers for, 127
Chimney-pot, evolution of the, 43
Chimney-pots, Ruskin's chapter on, 44
Choate, Joseph H., on Dickens, 231
Choose topic from your own environment, 200
Clarity, aim for, 161
Classics, our purpose on reading them, 111, 112
Clarke, Charles Heber, 293
Cleanness should be made attractive, 295
Cleverness must not be obtrusive, 109
Climax, do not anticipate, 228
Climax in article, 147
Climax, never lose sight of, 89
Coleridge's _Kubla Khan_, 75, 170
Colloquialisms, avoid, 195
Condensation, need of, 106
Condensation never spoils beginner's work, 257
Contrasts, incidents inserted in stories as, 86
Copy, universal tendency to, 202
Copying unrecognised by amateurs, 203
_Country of the Pointed Firs, The_, 224
Craddock, Chas. Egbert, and local colour, 176
_Cranford_, 184, 201
Creating an "atmosphere," 185
Creation and copying, 203
Criticise your own work, 129
Criticism, editors have no time for, 9
Crockett, S. R., and dialect, 195
Curtailment of sentences may be carried to excess, 50
"Curtains" are sound business, 229
"Curtains," Dickens', 231
"Curtains" necessary for serial publication, 231
Cut down your MSS., 253
Cynic really gets nowhere, 30
D
Dante, why we read, 111, 112
David and Jonathan, 155
Defects overlooked by fame, 124
Delay in editorial decision on MSS., 276
Delete superfluities in your MS., 254
_Denouement_ as a surprise, 213, 225
Detail, knowledge of, imperative, 21;
study of, 100;
too much, 92, 140
Devices to reach editors, 283
Dialect an extra mental strain on reader, 194;
requires exceptional skill, 195
Diary form of story, 191
Dickens, Charles, an adept at "curtains," 231
Dickens, central ideas of, 79
Diffusiveness, 106
Divine discontent, 197
Dobson, Austin, _Angel Court_, 290
Does the public want it? The publisher's question, 267
Dog, the real, 19
Doll heroines, 26
_Dombey and Son_ in U. S. A., 231
_Dream Days_, Kenneth Graham, 224
Dreams of youth valuable, 235
Dressmaking and authorship, 5, 7
Dull book not wanted by anyone, 295
Dulness not necessary to goodness, 294
E
Earle, Mabel, _Valley Song_, 248
Eccentricity will not secure permanent interest, 122
Editorial routine, 283
Editors do not purchase MS. because first attempt, 263;
have no time to criticise and advise, 280;
only buy what pays to publish, 264;
take time to read MSS., 276;
unmoved by irrelevant appeals, 261
Emotionalism, 184
Emotions of author not always interesting, 220
Ending, a happy one best, 226
Entertaining, every book should be, 128
Environment and circumstances to be studied, 19
Environment, your own, as your subject, 200
Every generation allows special characteristics of speech, 49
Exclusive information necessary, 45
Extracts, lavish use undesirable, 161
Expressions, antiquated, 52
F
Facts, ancient, to be omitted, 150
Facts needed, 21
Fame overlooking defects, 124
Farnol, Jeffrey, and old-world "atmosphere," 184
Feeding the brain with snippets, 37
Fiction, monotonous character of MSS., 80
Fiction, "strong," 287
Field, Eugene, _Limitations of Youth_, 249
"Fiona Macleod," 171
First attempts rarely acceptable, 102
First attempts in literature compared with art and music, 4
First-hand knowledge, need of, 198
First-person limitations, 188
_Forest of Wild Thyme_, Alfred Noyes, 250
Form as applied to articles, 136
Formless fragments, 167
Fragments, 166
Framework of story, 82
Freak writings cannot be forecasted, 268
G
_Garden of Verses, a Child's_, R. L. Stevenson, 250
Genius, mistaken ideas of, 4
Genius scarce, 13
Gloom manufacture is wrong, 227
Glow-worms as a hat-trimming, 153
God-ward help in literature, 293
_Golden Age_, Kenneth Graham, 224
Goodness does not excuse dulness, 295
Gosse, Dr. Edmund, 65
Graham, Kenneth, _Golden Age_ and _Dream Days_, 224
Grandmothers in amateur fiction, 210
Gray's _Elegy_, 67
Green, Dr. S. G., and _Pickwick Papers_, 232
"Grip" needed for selling, 117
"Grit" necessary in a novel, 122
H
Hackneyed phrases, 155
Healthiness, authors should aim at, 292
Healthiness should be made desirable, 295
Hearn, Lafcadio, and local colour, 174
Heroine, the rose-petal, 209
_Hiawatha's_ appeal to children, 250
"How to ----" articles overdone, 154
Human characteristics to be studied, 18
Human heart, pivot of great stories, 28
Hysterical "atmosphere," 184
I
Idea, original, lost, 160;
ornate language cannot cover lack of, 160;
starting, forgotten by amateurs, 126;
the central, 79, 81
Ideas and words, 59;
as varied as human nature, 81;
more important than rhapsodies, 236
"Imaginative writing," 162
Immoral fiction, 288
Improbabilities, 162
Inaccuracy in detail fatal to success, 23
Incidents should not be crowded, 220
Income expected without training, 4
Indefinite style to be avoided, 150
Ingelow, Jean, 75
Inner workings of mind and heart to be studied, 26
Interest readers, the need to, 116
Interviews with editors undesirable, 272
Introductions to editors useless, 270
_Invisible Playmate_, 42
Involved sentences, 159
Isolation foolish for an author, 31
J
Jacobs, W. W., and local colour, 173
James, Henry, long sentences of, 165
Jewett, Sarah Orne, 176;
_Country of Pointed Firs_, 224
Journalists as models for the amateur, 57
K
Kernahan, Coulson, 65
Keynote of story, 79
Kipling, Rudyard, and local colour, 174;
short stories, 91;
"The Recessional," 75
Kipling's "Cat that walked by itself," 142;
varied styles, 104
Know your characters, 29
"Kubla Khan," 75, 170
L
_Lady of the Decoration_, 194
_Lady of the Lake_, 173
Landscape painting, 178
Language, pleasing, 71
Learning must not be obtrusive, 108
Leave off when finished, 147
Length of story must be considered, 134
Letters, story in the form of, 193
Life ever offering new discoveries, 29
Literary student at disadvantage compared with students of arithmetic, 6
Literature, an elusive business, 7;
good, what constitutes it, 7;
intangible, 8
Little, Frances, _Lady of the Decoration_, 194
_Little Women_, 201
Local colour and American authors, 174
Local colour subordinate to personality, 28
Locality should be known to story writer, 220
Longfellow, Bryant and Swinburne, 76, 77
Lovers' outpourings in amateur verse, 239
Love-story difficult for amateur, 211, 224
Love-story, need for character delineation, 215
Love-stories outlets for girls' emotions, 221
M
Magazine is a business proposition, 264
Main theme should make universal appeal, 27
Major, Charles, 184
Mannerisms not tolerated, 164
"Mark Twain" and preacher, 251
Marriage offers in amateur stories, 207
"Max Adder's" humour helpful, 293
Men and women as they really are, 29
Mental "atmosphere," conveying our own, 187
Mental food needed, 12
Mental indigestion, 37
Metrical composition, laws to be studied, 235
Meynell, Alice, "Song," 238
Minor details in stories, two purposes of, 86
Mitford, Miss, _Our Village_, 185
Modern English seldom used by amateur, 48
Modern style gained by reading modern stuff, 54
Modernity of style desirable, 50
Money-making should not alone be object in writing, 148
Monotony fatal to success, 120
Moral books should be as well-written as nasty ones, 295
Morley, Viscount, and prize poem, 73
Motif important, 81
Motives that prompt actions, 26, 27
MSS., proportion of accepted, 3
MSS. rejected, reasons why, 10, 148, 197
MSS. should be typed, 278
Music and art compared with literature, 4, 5, 6, 132
N
Nature dissertations in amateur verse, 239
Nature and mind, effects of nutriment, 11
Nature's revenge for misuse of brain, 36
Negatives, double, 159
New reliable matter will find acceptance, 46
Newspaper leading articles for style, 54
Notes of observations, 17, 20, 21
Novel, "grit" necessary for, 122
Novel, three-volume, 132
Novel, wedding need not be chief aim of, 80
Novelty desirable, 120
Novice must train himself, 6
Noyes, Alfred, 75, 250
O
Object, be sure of your, 127
Observation saves from pitfalls, 22
Observation to begin just where you are now, 32
Obvious not the whole of the story, the, 26
Old-fashioned style not wanted to-day, 52
Old-world "atmosphere," 183
Omar Khayyam, pessimistic "atmosphere" of, 184
One-sided view of life due to isolation, 31
Other people's brain-work not acceptable, 46
Originality necessary, 46
Originality not peculiarity, 164
Original work is rare, 202
_Our Admirable Betty_, "atmosphere" of, 184
_Our Village_, Miss Mitford, 185
Out-doory "atmosphere," 185
P
Padding stories, 85
Painting, three-part basis of, 132
Peculiarity not originality, 164
Peculiarity will not secure permanent interest, 122
Pedantic style, avoid, 161
People, study of, needed, 30
"Personal" marking does not carry to editor, 283
Personal outlook of readers, 119
Pessimism manufacture is criminal, 292
Pessimistic "atmosphere," 184
Pett Ridge and local colour, 173
Phil May's methods, 255
_Pickwick Papers_ and school holiday, 232
Picture palaces _versus_ reading, 39
Pigeons in war, amateur article on, 146, 149
Plato, why we read, 111, 112
Plausible imp, the, 257
Plots, making, 108
Plots, well-worn, 204
Poems for comparison, 76
Poems should have some definite thought, 236
Poetic idea in every poem, 237
Poetry anthologies, 75, 76
Poetry leads to good prose, 72
Poetry, reading aloud, 74
Poetry, the so-called "new," 244
Point, necessary to a story, 214
Polish, 222
Preliminary studies for perfect work, 101
Press dates are long before publication, 150
Proposals in fiction and real life, 212
Psychological bearings to be noted, 24
Publisher better judge than author, 267;
not a philanthropic agent, 265
Publisher's requirements must be conformed to, 282