Short Story Writing

ITING Rinfil

II tiiiilllllliil

wm liH'

!!

!

F l,llf';l;l

IHlil

III

i.

ill

!:l|{|

iiii li

I

!

II '

lilbiiiHiiiiii

Illllllliltlflllill

mnumTinTmitmimriBXTimiTriiTmimriHimniiHl

HiisriiiiLm

RAYMOND BARRETT iiii

Pi

B

The tine

Cornell University Library

original of

tliis

bool<

is in

Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright

restrictions in

the United States on the use of the

text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027193998

Short Story Writing A

Practical Treatise

on the Art

of the Short Story

By

Charles

Raymond

Barrett, Ph. B.

(FOURTH THOUSAND)

New York The :

33-37 E. 17th

Baker and Taylor Co.

Street,

Union Square North

Copyrighted, i8g8, by Charles

Raymond Ban-eR

Copyrighted, igoo, by Charles

Raymond

Barrett

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

Preface

;

Introduction

II

I

The Short Story

15 II

Short Stories Classified

a6

III

The Plot

45

IV Titles Good and Bad

64

V The Use

of Facts

78

VI

The Characters

94

VII

Methods of Narration

I19 5

TABLE OF CONTENTS yiii

PAGE

The Beginning

132

IX

The Story Proper

149

X Climax and Conclusion

171

XI

The Style

189

XII The Labor of Authorship

209

XIII

The Quest of a Market

"

The

appendix Ambitious Guest "

222

234

PREFACE This book

is

an attempt to put into

principles observed

by

form the

definite

the masters of the short story

a careful

It is the result of

in the practice of their art.

study of their work, of some indifferent attempts to imitate them,

and of the

critical

examination of several

of short stories written

thousands

by amateurs.

It is

designed to be of practical assistance to the novice in short story writing, from the

conceived until

it is

moment

the tale

is

dimly

completed and ready for the editor's

judgment.

The

rules

and principles here presented embody not

what I conceive to be right, but what the great masters of the short story have thought to be right, and what they have proved to be at least successful. only as a delver into the secrets of other

seem arrogant, I keep. artifices

My

it is

I

men and ;

if I

due to the influence of the company

deductions are

made not only from

the

and triumphs of the successful, but from the

struggles and failures of the unfortunate as well I

speak

;

and

have endeavored to make clear both the philosophy

and the application of

all

the principles so deduced. 1

PREFACE Though

in theory these rules are obligatory

on

who

all

essay the short story, they are frequently and knowingly

evaded or violated by the masters of the genius

whose

art,

great enough to excuse their disregard of the

is

conventions, or whose

smooth over

skill is sufficient to

their technical lapses; but for the novice the only safe

course

To

a careful observance of

is

merely a catalogue of " Don'ts " Don't write "

writing I

conventions.

all

may seem

the aspiring writer this book

but that

;

is

",

the gist of

to misread me.

not easy, and I cannot make

is

would; but

it is

any person who

and who has the

But that

call

is

my

from

far

and

will

but a

its

to

it

ability

even

call to

if

illy

write,

to respond to

summons

but half-heartedly,

so,

purpose to discourage

to

labor

labor the severest and most persistent.

comes

is,

Short story

it

Heaven-sent

feels the

to be

which

—

^and

it.

to

To one who

prepared, shirking

requirements, I can predict certain failure ; but to the

earnest, serious, conscientious worker, I

The promotion from

word of hope.

teur to the dignity of authorship ing, but this

it

will

come

at last.

the rank of

may be

Fame,

would say a

ama-

long in com-

like all else that

world has to give, depends largely upon down-

right hard

work; and he who has the courage

to

strive in the face of disappointments will achieve suc-

cess in the end.

Throughout

this

book

I

have endeavored to give 8

my

PREFACE statements definiteness by the employment of numerous

examples, both good and bad. to present

I

have made no attempt

an exhaustive analysis of the technique of

individuals or of schools, but have chosen tions with a single

view

to their aptness

;

my

illustra-

how-

I have,

ever, for the convenience of reference, taken these para-

digms

chiefly

from the published

by the older and better known

collections of stories

My

writers.

" awful

examples " are verbatim excerpts from manuscripts

my

which have passed through is

hands

;

their authorship

concealed for obvious reasons.

To which

the best of

my

knowledge there

no book extant

is

treats solely of the technique of the short story.

The nearest approach to it is " How to Write Fiction," an anonymous work published by Bellaires & Co., London; but to

my

mind

that

and too enamored of the

is

too slight, too theoretical,

artificial

of practical value to the amateur.

French school to be

Far

better, as

work-

ing guides, are the frequent fragmentary articles on the short story,

many

of them by successful short story

writers, published in current periodicals, to

considerably indebted. a course in "

But

The Art of

my

which

greatest obligation

am

is

to

—the subject—con-

the Short Story "

university course ever offered in that

I

first

ducted at the University of Chicago in i8g6 by Dr. E.

H. Lewis. Chicago, August

CRR i,

1900.

9

INTRODUCTION The

was

short story

class of literature in

Hawthorne*

first

recognized as a distinct

when Poe's

1842,

called attention to the

criticism of

new form

of fiction.

Short story writing had, however, been practiced for

many years before Homer and the tales

that:

perhaps the narratives of

of the

first

be considered as the

fitst

story

poems, allegorical

traditions,

and

it

tales,

development

:

progress

;

Later writers aided in

and some of the work of Defoe and Addison

we know

it

teenth century; and

not

its

its

romances marked a further

would almost stand the modern story as

and mouth-to-mouth

Mallory's " Morte D' Arthur " and Cax-

ton's popularization of old

if

may

certainly the short

can be traced surely to the fa bliaux^

of the thirteenth century.

thorne,

;

closely associated in its early history with nar-

is

rative

books of the Bible

examples

to-day it

owes

is

tests.

But the short

a product of the nine-

its

position in literature,

very existence, to the work of Irving,

and Poe.

They

first

recognized

* " Hawthorne's ' Tales,' " by Edgar Allan Poe. Magazine, May, 1842.

II

Haw-

its possibilities

Graham's

INTRODUCTION and employed

it

seriously

;

and the

art

and genius which

they put into their tales assured the short story a per-

manent place matter and

They

in literature.

style,

differed in subject

but they recognized the same require-

ments and limitations; and the canons which they

es-

tablished then obtain to-day.

The modern

short story

is essentially

product; and our masters of

its

art

an American

have established

precedents for literary workers of the old world.

In

England, Stevenson, Kipling and Haggard are considered the originators of the Zola, de Maupassant,

modern short

story;

and

Daudet and Paul Marguerite

in

France, Tolstoi in Russia, and other famous foreign authors have their claims for consideration; but

of

all

them, admittedly or not, are but disciples of the earlier

American

trinity.

This book will confine

itself to

the

English- American short story.

To-day the short story be in a

new

—and

there

literary is

is

we seem

so popular that

—the epoch of the short

epoch

no apparent cause

to expect

diminution in the demand for such literature the

young writer the short

ist.

The

Then,

too,

;

so that to

it

has the ad-

an excellent school for the novel-

short story and the novel have

differences

much

story

an early

story offers the best oppor-

tunity to prove his mettle. ditional value of being

;

to

many

radical

but in material, treatment and aim they are

the same, and the

same general training la

is

neces-

INTRODUCTION sary for both.

All short story writers do not become

great novelists, nor have tellers

;

but

it is

all

novelists been short story

a fact that the majority of the present

day novelists served

their 'prenticeship in the ranks

the short story writers.

•3

of

SHORT STORY WRITING I

THE SHORT STORY There little

is

no modern

understood as

short story

is

literary

form which

the short story.

is

is

as

The term

applied to every piece of prose writing

of 30,000 words or

without regard to

less,

matter,

its

aim, or handling; but our purpose demands a definition of

some accuracy.

" In the

first place,

a short story? It

may

then,

Many

be an episode,

-

what

is,

and what

things a short story

like

is

not,

maybe.

Miss Ella Hepworth Dix-

on's or like Miss Bertha Thomas'; a fairy tale, like

Miss Evelyn Sharp's; the presentation of a single character with the stage to himself (Mr. George Gis-

sing); a tale of the uncanny (Mr. Rudyard Kipling)

;

a dialogue comedy (Mr. Pett Ridge)

orama of street,

;

a pan-

selected landscape, a vision of the sordid

a record of heroism, a remote tradition or

SHORT STORY WRITING some

by

old belief vitalized

bearing on our lives

its

to-day, an analysis of an obscure calling, a glimpse

but one thing

at a forgotten quarter

never be " It

A

—

it

can never be

'

must lead up

short story

should have for

its

it

a novel in a nutshell

can *

'."

to something.

structure a plot, a bit of

life,

an incident such as you would find in a brief news-

He

paper paragraph

(Richard Harding Da-

vis) takes the substance of just such a paragraph,

and, with that for the meat of his story, weaves

around

descriptions

it details,

complete story

is

the result.

and dialogue,

Now, a

story

thing more than incidents and descriptions. thing.

definite

rives

somewhere.

It

progresses constantly.

It

until is

someIt is

read

it

a

It ar-

must enforce some idea (no

matter what). It must be such a reality that a

who

a

would carry awav a

man

definite impres-

sion."t It is evident, then, that the

properly used only rative,

when

which presents

*"The

it

term short story

means a short prose nar-

artistically a bit of real life;

Short Story," by Frederick Wedmore.

Century, Mar.,

is

Nineteenth

'98.

An interview with F. t " How to Write Short Stories.'' Hopkinson Smith in the Boston Herald. Current Literature. June,

'96.

16

THE SHORT STORY the primary object of which

may

to

amuse, though

it

also depict a character, plead a cause, or point a

moral

;

amusement

this

der which sort

is

we

is

neither of that aesthetic or-

derive from poetry^ nor of that cheap

which we gain from a broad burlesque

:

it is

the

simple yet intellectual pleasure derived from listen-

ing to a well told narrative.

The

first requisite

of a short story

writer have a story to

—that

tell

present pretty scenes and

word

is,

a

is

plot.

that the

He may

pictures if he will, but

he must vivify and humanize them by the introduction of certain characters, patterned after the people of real life;

act

and

The

The

live.

and simple

is

and these characters must move and presentation of "

still life

" pure

not in the province of the short story.

question of length

is

but relative; in gen-

eral a short story should not

exceed 10,000 words,

and

it

could hardly contain less than 1,000;

from 3,000 to 5,000 Hawthorne's words; Poe's

is

the most usual length.

while

Yet

"The Gentle Boy " contains 12,000 "The Gold Bug," 13,000; and per-

haps the majority of James' exceed the maximum, while " The Lesson of the Master " requires 25,000, and "

The Aspern Papers "

the length of any story

is

17

32,000.

Indeed,

determined, not so

much

SHORT STORY WRITING by some arbitrary word with which

it

more nor

neither

Every

deals.

number of words

for

cide for himself.

should

writer

its

plot requires a certain

proper elaboration, and

less will do.

for any particular story

may

Just

what the

be, the writer

" It seems to act,

as by the theme

limit,

must de-

me that a short

metaphorically,

like

limit

story

this

—

^he

should put his idea for a story into one cup of a pair of balances, then into the other he should deal out his

words;

five

hundred; a thousand; two thousand;

three thousand; as the case

number of words thus paid

may be—and when

in causes the

on which his idea hangs, then If he puts in a

word more or

is

beam

the

to rise,

his story finished.

less,

he

is

doing

false

work." *

The that

is

short story does not need the love element generally considered necessary to the novel,

and many short

stories disregard it altogether.

Love

moods and varying

scenes

usually requires time and for

normal development, so that

its

to treat

story;

it

it

is

difficult

properly within the limits of the short

and then only when some particular phase or

scene admits of isolation.

Then, too,

many

* Robert Barr in " How to Write a Short Story ; posium." The Bookman. Mar., '97.

18

A

short

Sym-

THE SHORT STORY stories are

merely accounts of strange adventures,

wonderful discoveries or inventions, and queer occurrences of

—themes which amuse us from

mere oddity; or they are verbal photographs of

their life,

sorts

all

which are interesting from

chological

and

sociological problems;

them requires love as the and

their views of psy-

none of

aijid

chief motive.

Ingenuity

originality, the principal constituents of such

tales,

a re the story

bases his hopes. individuality,

great virtues ; on them he

teller's

Therefore, he must have strong

and the power of forcing

his readers

to view life through his eyes, without perceiving

him. Also, and as

if

to compensate for the lack of the

love interest, the short story has a " touch of fan-

tasy " which gives quality ural,

is

a

it

distinctive

—

the hint of

;

a vague presentation of the that are not explainable is

This

necessarily the supernat-

^not

but rather the weird

charm.

it is

a recognition and

many

strong influences

by our philosophy of

life.

It

the intrusion into our matter-of-fact lives of the

uncanny element, which the novice so grossly misuses in his tales, of premonitory dreams and visions,

and of most unghostly ghosts. to catch a ghost white-handed 19

" It

and

is

not enough

to hale

him

into

SHORT STORY WRITING

A

the full glare of the electric light.

use of the supernatural

brutal mis-

perhaps the very lowest

is

degradation of the art of

But

fiction.

'

min-

to

gle the marvellous rather as a slight, delicate,

and

evanescent flavor than as any actual portion of the substance,' to quote

from the preface

of the Seven Gables,' this

is,

to the

'

House

or should be, the aim

of the writer of short-stories whenever his feet leave

ground of

the firm

this

even in Poe's. to

thorne's

efifects

of.

In no one's writings

There

is

is

a propriety in Hawthorne's

which Poe could not

fantasy

The

physical.

he strays in the unsub-

exemplified than in Hawthorne's; not

better

and the

fact as

realm of fantasy.

stantial

are

situation

efifects to

Haw-

attain.

moral where Poe's are merely

and

its

be got out of

logical development it

are

all

Poe

thinks

In Hawthorne the situation, however strange

and weird, inward and

is

only the outward and visible sign of an

spiritual struggle.

Ethical consequences

are always worrying Hawthorne's soul; but

know there were any ethics." * The short story usually treats of

Poe

did

not

brighter side of

*"The thews.

life.

It is

the lighter and

seldom in deadly earnest;

Philosophy of the Short-story," by Brander Mat-

Lippincotfi.

Oct., '8$.

ao

THE SHORT STORY tends somewhat to superficiality; and

it

prefers

it

cleverness to profundity,

in both

conception and

treatment. Naturally, then,

comedy

rather than trag-

edy

is

its

end

in

gloom,

may

usual sphere; and though the tale it

more

frequently suggests a possi-

ble tragedy in order to heighten the effect of the

happy denouement.

For

similar reasons the short

story avoids the didactic tone, either presenting lesson in clever disguise, or limiting forts to providing innocent

its

amusement

moral

an

for

its

efidle

hour.

In the

strife

between realism and romanticism the

short story adopts the middle course, taking advan-

tage of the better phases of both, but siding with neither; for every life

is

subject to both influences,

often at the same time, and the short story aspires to present life as

" Without true realism and

it is.

genuine romanticism

—

actuality

and

work was never done, nor did any to be

may

an author." *

No

—good

worthy work of

fiction

properly be labelled romantic, realistic or sym-

bolic, since

in

"

ideals

writer ever rise

some

every great work of art contains

proportion.

Love and

all

these

fighting are not nec-

* " Magazine Fiction and How Not to Write It," by FredM. Bird. Lippincotfs. Nov., '94.

erick

21

SHORT STORY WRITING romance; nor are soup-kitchens and divorce

essarily

Ugliness

—the

monotony of

dreadful

not necessarily real

and

Malice, futility

courts necessarily realism

nor the

life;

existence

—are

summer

tales of

love and marriage ceremonies, successful fightings,

or sacrifice and chivalry necessarily romance." *

In

its

technique a short story demands the ut-

most care;

minor

it

lacks the bulk of the novel,

shall be

must have a

It

defects.

and

wrought out

in a

parts prop-

its

and

related;

its

conception to

its

must be

it

workmanlike manner.

extreme care from

It requires

completion,

when

it

yet

must reveal no signs of the worker's

it

must stand forth a perfect work of

of the pains by which

From what short story

is

was and

artificial,

gree unnatural. it

it

has been said

It

which

definite form,

compact, and which shall have

proportioned

erly

which hides

art;

and

tools,

or

achieved. it

is

evident that the

to a considerable de-

could hardly be otherwise, for

takes out of our complex lives a single person

or a single incident and treats that as

complete in nature: *

"

itself.

There

The Art of

all

Such

isolation is not

things

Fiction,"

work

aa

it

were

known

together,

by Gilbert Parker.

Dec. 'ga

if

The

to

and Critie,

THE SHORT STORY man

every

by them.

influences all about

him and

Yet

and exclusion are

this separation

is

influenced re-

quired by the conventions of the short story; and after

there

all,

the feeling,

is alwajrs

to

though we have chanced

will continue to live,

come

in contact with

charac-

have been living

ters are well handled, that they

and

if tlie

them

for only a short time.

It is this isolation, this magnif)ring of

one char-

acter or incident, that constitutes the cliief differ-

ence between the novel and the short story.*

In the

novel we have a reproduction of a certain period of real

life:

complex

all

lives

the characters are there, with their

and

varied scenes,

their varying emotions; there are

each one the stage of some par-

ticular incident or semi-climax whicla carries the

action

on to the

final chapter;

and there are per-

sons and scenes and conversations which have no reason for being there, except that just such things are parts of is

very different

incident,

many

the short story

that permits of but one scene

one or two

inant emotion; In

:

With

life.

trivial

real characters,

all else is

it

and

with one predom-

a detriment to the

respects the art of the short story

inter-

and the novel

are so closely allied that I have been able to reenforce my observations with majraiine articles which were meant to apply primarily to the novel.—Thk

Acthor,

•3

SHORT STORY WRITING est

and success of the

a novel even

if it is

each complete in

story.

composed of a

itself,

a slender thread of

A book may be called series of incidents,

which are bound together by

common

characters; but a story it

has

and

cli-

cannot properly be called a short one unless simplicity of plot, singleness of character

max, and freedom from extraneous matter. a short story the starting point nite notion, this

an

is

" In

idea, a defi-

an incident, a surprising discovery; and

must have a

our view of

life;

velopment of one

definite significance, a bearing

also

must be applied

it

life course,

on

to the de-

one character.

The

novel, on the other hand, starts with a conception

of character, a man, a

woman, a human

heart,

under certain circumstances works out a

makes a world

sult,

group of characters,

Lastly

who

together

develops a

it

life

course of

*

one.

To

prove that these various requirements are rec-

ognized and observed by masters of the ask you to consider the following Critic selected "

definite re-

make a complete

community, instead of tracing the

*

which

How

Bellaires

&

to Co.,

from nearly

five

list,

art, I

would

which The

hundred submitted

in

Write Fiction." Published anonymously by London. Part I, Chapter I.

24

THE SHORT STORY competition for a prize which

it

offered for a

list

of the best twelve American short stories:

"The Man Without

a Country,"

Edward Everett

Hale.

"The Luck of Roaring Camp," Bret Harte. "The Great Stone Face," Nathaniel Hawthorne. " The Snow Image," Nathaniel Hawthorne. "

The Gold Bug," Edgar Allan Pee. in the Rue Morgue," Edgar Allan

"The Murders Poe. "

The Lady, or

"The Legend

the Tiger?" Frank R. Stockton.

of Sleepy Hollow," Washington Ir-

ving. " Rip

Van Winkle," Washington Irving. Marse Chan," Thomas Nelson Page. " Marjorie Daw," Thomas Bailey Aldrich. "

"

The Revolt

*" 10,

of Mother,"

Mary E.

The Best Twelve American

'iff-

•5

Stories."

Wilkins.*

The

Critic.

Apr.

II

SHORT STORIES CLASSIHED The

treatment demanded by any particular story

depends more upon

much

upon the

tale it-

less

is

exacting than one which attempts to de-

manners; and, in general, the more the writer

relies is

class than

a story which recounts an actual occurrence

self;

pict

its

on

his art, the

more

difficult is his task.

and

therefore both possible

It

profitable to separate

short stories into definite groups and to consider tbera collectively rather than as units.

clas-

based chiefly upon the necessity of a

sification is plot, the

This

purpose or aim of the narrative, and the

skill

and care required for

It is

crude and arbitrary from a hterary standpoint,

for a

good short story

under several different tical

purpose.

its

capable of being listed

is

classes,

Each story and the

is

but

it

serves our prac-

placed according to

classes are

dominant

class;

gressively

from the simplest

treatment.

successful treatment.

to the

its

arranged pro-

most

difficult

of

The examples are presented only as •

t6

SHORT STORIES CLASSIFIED definite illustrations; there is

short stories, or

all

all

no attempt

to classify

the stories of any particular

author.

The Tale

I.

and

is

the relation, in an interesting

literary form, of

ring fact.

to imravel, or

tion of the characters; chiefly accidents

on

incident or stir-

has no plot in the sense that there

It

any problem

some simple

it

any change in the

is

rela-

usually contains action, but

or odd happenings, which depend

their intrinsic interest, without regard to their

influence

(a)

on the

lives of the actors.

It is often

observant of

facts,

a genuine True Story, jealously

and embellished only

vivid

and picturesque.

the tendency of the

news

in

good

Such

his style

stories are a result of

modern newspaper

literary form.

to the ex-

make

tent that the author has endeavored to

The

to present its

best illustrations

Ray Stannard

are the occasional contributions of

Baker to McClure's Magazine. (b)

It

may, however, be an Imaginative Tale,

which could easily happen, but which of the author's imagination.

ward narration of bounds of

It is

possible events;

if

is

the

work

a straightforit

passes the

probability, or attempts the utterly im-

•7

SHORT STORY WRITING possible,

it

Class VIII.)

and

It

has no love element and no

workmanship

its

(See

becomes a Story of Ingenuity.

is

The

loose.

plot;

best examples

are the stories of adventure found in the better class

of boys'

and

children's papers.

The Moral

II.

examples

tiful

left

Story, in us by

spite of the beau-

Hawthorne,

is

usually

too baldly didactic to attain or hold a high place in literature.

Its

avowed purpose

as ordinarily written, preach

termined way.

it

is

to preach, and,

does in the most de-

Its plot is usually just sufficient to

introduce the moral.

It is susceptible of

a high

lit-

when

at-

erary polish in the hands of a master ; but

tempted by a novice

mess of moral (a)

it is

apt to degenerate into a

platitudes.

The Fable makes no attempt

didactic purpose, but publishes

it

to disguise

by a

" Moral," which epitomizes the lesson

its

final labelled

it

conveys. In

Fables the characters are often animals, endowed

with

all

the attributes of men.

because of

its

It early lost favor

bald didacticism, and for the last cen-

tury has been practiced only occasionally. is

To-day

it

used chiefly for the purpose of burlesque and sat-

ire,

as in George Ade's " Fables in Slang."

38

yEsop

SHORT STORIES CLASSIFIED is

of course the immortal example of this sort of

story.

The Story with

(&) coat

its

a Moral attempts to sugar-

sermon with a

little

narrative.

sticks

It

rather closely to facts, and has a slight plot, which

shows, or

is

made

to show, the

some other

drinking, stealing, or is

consequences

of

Usually

sin.

it

either brutally realistic or absurdly exaggerated;

but that

it

can be given literary charm

Hawthorne's use of

is

proved by

Maria Edgeworth

it.

is

easily

the " awful example " of this class, and her stories,

such as "

Murad

the Unlucky " and "

Negro," are excellent

Many

write.

stories of

Lady

Guest,"

and

The

how

Grateful

not

to

come under

this

Eleanor's Mantle," "

The

of Hawthorne's tales

head, especially "

Ambitious

illustrations of

"Miss

Bullfrog."

The

Miss Wilkins usually have a strong moral

element, but they are better classed in a later di-

Contemporary examples

(See Class IV.)

vision.

of this style of writing

may be found

in the

pages of

most Sunday School and Temperance papers.

The Allegory

(c)

of the

the only really literary form

Moral Story, and the only one which survives

to-day. it

is

It

has a strong moral purpose, but disguises

under the pretense of a well-told story; so that 89

— :

SHORT STORY WRITING it is

read for

scious of rative.

its

lesson only

its

and the reader

story alone,

when he has

con-

finished the nar-

or gives concrete form

It usually personifies

to the various virtues

is

Examples

and vices of men.

" Rappocini's

Hawthorne's "The Birthmark," Daughter," and " Feathertop." Altegories which deserve the

name

are sometimes found in current peri-

odicals.

III.

The Weird Story

owes

its

interest to

the innate love of the supernatural or unexplainable

which

the

same

is

a part of our complex

feeling

still

more " ghost

story, while they

shaken with the terror of the

may have a

definite plot in

are actors; but

nature

which prompts a group of children

to beg for " just one

are

human

more often

last one.

It

which supernatural beings it is

slight in plot, but con-

tains a careful psychological study of

some of the

less pleasant emotions.

(a) in

The Ghost Story

which the ghost

is

an

usually has a definite plot, actor.

The ghost may be

a " really truly " apparition, manifesting the

conventional

methods,

plained to the end, as in Irving's "

groom," and Kipling's "

itself

by

and remaining unex-

The

Sceptre Bride-

The Phantom 'Rickshaw; " 30

SHORT STORIES CLASSIFIED or

it

may

prove to be the result of a superstitious

mind dwelling upon as in Irving's "

when

The Legend

it

and

of .Sleepy .Hollow,"

A Gentle Ghost."

Wilkins' " to render

periecfely natural occurrences,

It requires art chiefly

plausible; particularly in the latter case,

the mystery must be carefully kept up until

the denouement.

(b)

The

Fantastic Tale treats of the

phases of the supernatural. described as whimsical,

means of playful delicate

humor.

Examples

its

fancies,

The

plot

and

Hawthorne'5 "

:

Hall of Fantasy," and

"

lar

in

A

is

to

amuse by

usually exhibits a

and subordinate.

Select Party," "

ble

It is

charm

bungled.

and

tales.

Horror was

first

if

made popu-

unhealthy and morbid,

full

of a terri-

well done, but tawdry and disgusting It requires

facile vocabulary,

a daring imagination, a

and a keen sense of the

crous to hold these two in check.

The,plot

only to give the setting to the story.

is

and

the Pendulum," and "

SI

The

full

ludi-

used

Most any of

Poe's tales would serve as an illustratipn, but " Pit

The

Monsieur du Miroir; " and

by Poe, and he has had almost no successful imi-

tators.

if

The Study

it

slight

is

most of our modern fairy (c)

purpose

lig^hter

might be well

Its style

Fall of the

The

House

SHORT STORY WRITING of

Usher"

are particularly apt.

Poe's, but his are better

some work approaching

(See Class VIII.)

classed as Stories of Ingenuity.

IV. story in

The

Character

which the chief

Study

short

a

is

interest rests in the develop-

ment and exposition of human treat of either a type or

Doyle has done

an

character.

It

may

Good charac-

individual.

one of the surest proofs of a wri-

ter delineation is

ter's literary ability.

(a)

When

resultant

no

plot,

work and

is

the character depicted

not really a story.

is

is

inactive the

It usually

has

properly a Sketch, in which the au-

thor makes a psychological analysis of his subject. It inclines to superficiality

ate into a It

mere

and

is liable

to degener-

detailed description of the person.

demands of the writer the

ability to catch strik-

ing details and to present them vividly and interestingly.

Examples

:

Hawthorne's " Sylph Ether-

ege " and " Old Esther Dudley; " Poe's "

The Man

of the Crowd; " James' " Greville Fane " and " Sir Edmund Orme; " Stevenson's " Will o' the Mill; "

Wilkins' "

The Scent of

the Roses " and "

A Village

Lear." (h)

When

the character described

have a Character Study proper, 3«

built

is

active

we

upon a plot

SHORT STORIES CLASSIFIED which gives the character opportunity to work out

own personality before us by means of speech and action. The plot is subordinated to the character

his

sketching.

The

psychological analysis

sented by the author in so

many

is

not pre-

words, but

is

de-

duced by the reader from his observation of the character. est art

must of

Such

studies constitute one of the high-

forms of the short story, for the characters

live

on the printed page.

The

short stories

Henry James and of Miss Wilkins could almost

be classed in toto under this head;

Miss Wilkins'

characters are usually types, while those of are

more often

individual,

James

though rather unusual.

Other good examples are Hawthorne's " Edward Randolph's Portrait;" Irving's

Tom

"The

Devil and

Walker," and " Wolfert Weber; " Stevenson's

"

Markheim" and " The Brown Box; " and Davis'

"

the several stories

Van Bibber," as depicted in of " Van Bibber and Others."

Notice that in both subdivisions nearly every tle

ti-

embodies a reference to the character described,

showing that the author intentionally

set

out to

sketch a character.

V.

The Dialect Story

might be considered

as a subdivision of the preceding class, since

33

it

is

SHORT STORY WRITING in effect a Character

seems to warrant chief distinction

Study; but

its

recent popularity

being treated separately.

that

is

its

it

is

written in the broken

English used by the uneducated classes of our country, and

by

foreigners.

Its plot is either

slight or hopelessly hackneyed,

from sheer commonplace only by guage.

and its

It is usua!lly told in the first

English-murdering

Its

ignoramus.

sometimes has a homely pathos.

It

it is

own very

redeemed

picturesque lan-

person by some is

It

simple,

may

and

present

character as either active or inactive, though usually the former.

Its

excuse for existence

gives truthful expression, in their

own

is

that

it

language, to

the thoughts of certain classes of society ; but as written

by the amateur the

dialect is a fearful

and won-

derful combination of incorrect English that

was

never heard from the mouth of any living man.

Joel

Chandler Harris' " Nights with Uncle

Remus

" con-

tains genuine dialect; other varieties correctly han-

dled

may

be found in almost any of the stories of

George Washington Cable, Ian Maclaren, and Miss Wilkins.

The

Dialect Story as literature and as a field for

the novice

is

considered at length in Chapter VI.

34

SHORT STORIES CLASSIFIED The

VI.

Parable

the

of

Times

is

a

short story which aims to present a vivid picture of

our

own

times, either to criticise

some existing

how

or to entertain by telling us something of other half " of the world lives.

has a more definite plot.

it

It is the

form of the short story to-day, and responsible for a mess of inane

bald realism that

is

written

its

matter

(a)

and

The

though

most favored popularity

is

by amateurs, who think For

life.

gathered from our everyday

is

some degree of

individual

its

I.),

commonplace and

they are presenting pen pictures of

requires

a sense a

It is in

The Tale {Class

further development of

evil,

" the

skill to

make such

since

lives,

it

narratives

interesting.

Instructive Story of this class

may

be

further subdivided as (i) that which puts present

day problems in concrete form, with no attempt at a solution; and (2) that which not only but attempts also to correct. to

reform by education;

it

criticises,

In either case,

it

aims

deals with actual prob-

lems of humanity rather than with abstract moral truths; if

and

possible.

it

seeks to

It

Story of Class

amuse always, and

to reform

must not be confused with the Moral II.

Octave Thanet writes

this style

of story almost exclusively, and any of her

35

work

SHORT STORY WRITING random would be a good

selected at

illustration;

her " Sketches of American Types " would be listed

under (i), and such stories as

"The Scab" and

"Trusty No. 49" under (2). Under (i) would come also Brander Matthews' " Vignettes of Manhattan; "

"

and under (2) Edward Everett Hale's

The Man Without a Country " and

" Children of

the Public."

The most

(6)

usual story of this class

the

is

Story of To-day, which uses present day conditions as a background,

and

and which endeavors only to amuse Naturally, however, since

interest the reader.

new

the scenes and persons described must be

the reader, such a story

ening in

when

its

is

Its plot

influence.

analyzed, but

also educating

it is

may seem

trivial

selected with a view

should

list

nearly

all

of our

modem

more Here

to naturalness than to strength or complexity.

we

to

and broad-

so-called

" society stories," and " stories of manners."

Any

of Richard Harding Davis' short stories will serve as an excellent illustration,

and most of the

in current periodicals belong in the

VII.

The

of the most

Story

of

modern forms of 36

stories

same category.

Ingenuity

is

one

the short story, and,

SHORT STORIES CLASSIFIED may

if I

be pardoned the prolixity, one of the most

ingenious.

It

called the " fairy tale of

might be

the grown-up," for

its

interest

depends entirely upon

appeal to the love for the marvelous which no

its

human being

ever outgrows.

It requires

fertility

of invention, vividness of imagination, and a plausible

and convincing

Yet

style.

it is

an easy sort of

story to do successfully, since ingenuity will atone for

many

technical faults; but

rious interest

inator

and

and

is

usually lacks se-

it

short lived.

Poe was

the orig-

and great exemplar of the Story of Ingenuity,

all

of his tales possess this cleverness in

some

degree.

The Story

(o)

of

Wonder has

generally the vivid description of

covery (Poe's "

little plot.

some amazing

Some Words with

a

It is

dis-

Mummy,"

"The Spider's Eye"), impossible invention (Adee's "The Life Magnet," Mitchell's "The

Hale's

Ablest

Man

in the

(Stockton's

World

"Wreck

"), astounding adventure

of the

Thomas Hyde,"

Ste-

venson's " House with Green Blinds "), or a vivid description of

End

of

New

heim "). (6)

It

The

what might be (Benjamin's "The

York," Poe's " The Domain of Arn-

demands unusual imaginative power. Detective Story requires the most com-

37

SHORT STORY WRITING plex plot of any type of short story, for

inter-

its

est depends solely upon the solution of the mystery

presented in that plot.

mind much the same which

lem, first,

it

resembles.

greatly

Rue

examples. ries, is

Poe wrote the

one in " The Murders

best,

Morgue; " his "

Roget " and "

human

an algebraic prob-

interest as

and probably the

in the

arouses in the

It

The Mystery

The Gold Bug

of Marie

" are other excellent

Doyle, in his " Sherlock Holmes " sto-

a worthy successor of Poe.

VIII.

The Humorous

Story

almost

be-

longs in the category of Stories of Ingenuity^ largely does

it

depend upon the element of the un-

usual; but for that fact earlier,

because

it

has

it

should have been care for plot.

little

these stories are the freest of for conventions; with

them

a laugh," and the end

means.

so

is

all in

it is

listed

Indeed,

their disregard

" anything to raise

supposed to justify the

In general they are of transient interest

and crude workmanship,

little fitted

to

be

called

Mark Twain, at least, has shown us humor and art are not incompatible.

classics; but

that

(a) it

may

The

simplest

be justly

form

called.

is

the Nonsense Story, as

Usually

38

it

has the merest

SHORT STORIES CLASSIFIED thread of plot, but contains odd or grotesque characters

whose witty conversation furnishes

amusement

If the characters

necessary.

in horse

The work of John Kendrick Bangs

well

il-

His books, " The House

lustrates this type of story.

Boat on the Styx " and "

the

do act they

have an unfortunate tendency to indulge play.

all

The Pursuit

of the

Boat," are really only collections of short

House stories,

for each chapter can be considered as a whole.

(6)

which

The Burlesque has a is

but usually one

absurdly impossible, or which

The amusement

in a burlesque style.

chiefly

plot,

is

is

treated

derived

from the contrast between the matter and the

method of

presentation.

its

stories are of this type

the Tiger ?

"

:

Most

of

notably his "

Stockton's

The Lady, or

Mark Twain, too, usually writes in " The Jumping Frog " and " The

this vein, as in

Stolen

IX.

White Elephant."

The Dramatic Story

type of the short story.

is

It requires

the

highest

a definite but

simple plot, which enables the characters to act out their parts. life

" which

sent.

In

its

it is

perfect form

it is

the " bit of real

the aim of the short story to pre-

It is the story

shorn of

39

all

needless verbiage,

SHORT STORY WRITING and told

as nearly as possible in the

tions of the characters themselves;

a strong climax. Therefore

and

ful

its final

skillful

It is the

it

ac-

possesses

demands the most care-

it

workmanship, from

polishing.

words and

and

its

conception to

most modern type of the

short story.

The

(o)

short story has Dramatic

Form when

the author's necessary comments correspond to the

Such a story

stage directions of the drama. a miniature drama, and

fact,

ing acted iust as but

it

is

action.

it

It

It is

" stagey "

plot,

and

modern tendency

the extreme of the is

just a

little

too

be a perfect short story.

artificial to

however, in good literary standing and in good

is,

favor with the public, and tise for

the tyro, for in

it is

The

most excellent prac-

he has to sink himself

it

completely in his characters. "

has a definite

developed by dialogue as frequently as by

toward dramatic narrative, and

It

in

often capable of be-

is

stands.

is,

Examples:

Dolly Dialogues; " Kipling's "

Hope's

The Story

of

the Gadsbys; " and Howells' one act parlor plays, like

"

The Parlor Car,"

"

The

Register,"

"

The

Letter," and " Unexpected Guests."

(&)

A

short story has Dramatic Effect

when

it

deals with a single crisis, conveys a single impres-

40

:

SHORT STORIES CLASSIFIED sion, is presented chiefly

and culminates

may

or

from padding and

is

ter,

and just as vivid

" "

just as free

finish, for

method of

his

It is

in effect.

It

irrelevant mat-

allows of greater

the writer has wider freedom in

Examples:

presentation.

Poe's

Thou Art the Man! " and " Berenice; " James' The Lesson of the Master " and " A Passionate '

'

"A New

Pilgrim;" Wilkins' "

may,

than the story of pure Dramatic Form,

but

and

It

not, be capable of easy dramatization.

less artificial

art

by the actors themselves,

in a single, perfect climax.

Amanda and Love

;

''

England

Stevenson's "

Voices; " and Irving's "

Nun"

The

and

Isle of the

The Widow and Her Son

and " Rip Van Winkle."

"

But, indeed, every good

short story belongs in this class, which

is

not so

much

a certain type of the short story, as the "honor class " to

which each story seeks admittance.

Every story located,

cited in this book, unless otherwise

can be found in one of the appended pub-

lished collections of short stories

George Ade " Fables in Slang." John Kendrick Bangs: "The Bicyclers;" "Ghosts I Have Met; " " The Houseboat on the Styx; " " Mantel-Piece Minstrels, and Other Stories '' " Paste Jewels " " The Pursuit of the Houseboat; " " The WaterGhost and Others." :

;

;

4«

"

SHORT STORY WRITING J.

M.

Barrie:

"An

Auld Licht Manse;" "Auld

Licht Idyls." ;

George Washington Cable " Old Creole Days " Strange True Stories of Louisiana." ; Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) " Merry Tales " The Stolen White Elephant." " Richard Harding Davis " Cinderella and Others " The Exiles and Other Stories " " Gallegher, and Other Stories; " " The Lion and the Unicorn; " " Van Bibber and Others." Charles Dickens " Christmas Books " " Christmas Stories " " Sketches by Boz." A. Conan Doyle " The Adventures of Sherlock :

:

:

:

;

;

:

;

:

Holmes " " The Captain of

the Pole Star ; " " The ExGirard " " Memoirs of Sherlock

;

;

ploits of Brigadier

Holmes My Friend the Murderer " " Round the Red Lamp." Maria Edgeworth " Popular Tales." Alice French (Octave Thanet) " A Book of True ;

" "

;

:

:

; Lovers " " The Missionary Sheriff " " Stories of a ;

Western Town." H. Rider Haggard: "Allan's Wife."

Daddy Jake, the Runaway; " Remus; " " Tales of Home Folks

Joel Chandler Harris

" Nights with Uncle in Peace

:

"

and War."

" Colonel Starbottle's Client " " In the Hollow of the Hills " " The Luck of Roaring Camp "

Bret Harte

;

:

;

;

"Mrs. Skagg's Husbands;" "Tales of the Argonauts;" "Thankful Blossom;" "The Story of a Mine."

"

SHORT STORIES CLASSIFIED Nathaniel Hawthorne: "Mosses from an Old Manse; " " Twice Told Tales." Anthony Hope: "The Dolly Dialogues." William Dean Howells: "A Fearful Responsibility and Other Stories;" "The Mouse-Trap and Other Farces " " The Sleeping Car and Other Farces." Washington Irving: "The Sketch Book;" "Tales ;

of a Traveler."

Henry James of Beltraffio

don Life;"

;

:

" "

The Aspern Papers " " The Author The Lesson of the Master " " A Lon"

"A

;

;

Pilgrim;"

Passionate

"The

Real

Thing."

Rudyard Kipling: "The Day's Work;" "In Black and White;" "Indian Tales;" "The Jungle Book;" "Life's Handicap;" "Many Inventions;" "The Phantom 'Rickshaw " " Plain Tales from the Hills " " The Second Jungle Book " " Soldiers Three and Military Tales;" "Soldier Stories;" "Under the ;

;

;

Deodars."

Brander Matthews " Outlines in Local Color and Fact " " Vignettes of Man;

:

" Tales of Fantasy

;

hattan."

Guy de Maupassant " The Odd Number." Thomas Nelson Page " The Burial of the Guns :

;

:

" In Ole Virginia." Scribner's series

:

" Short Stories

by American Au-

thors."

Robert Louis Stevenson " The Island Nights' En; tertainments " "The Merry Men;" "New Arabian :

Nights."

43

"

SHORT STORY WRITING Frank R. Stockton " Amos Kilbright " " The Lady, or the Tiger? " " Rudder Grange; " " A Story Teller's ;

:

Pack."

John Watson (Ian Maclaren) " Auld Lang Syne; Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush." :

"

Mary E. Wilkins:

"A

Humble Romance;" "The

Love of Parson Lord " "A New England Nim "The Pot of Gold;" "Silence;" "Young Lucretia." ;

;

in

THE PLOT The

plot is the nucleus of the story, the bare

thought or incident upon which the narrative

When

be builded.

me

the story of

a child says,

how

is

" Grandma,

to tell

the whale swallowed Jonah,"

he gives the plot of the story that he desires; and the grandmother proceeds to elaborate that primal

In

idea to suit the taste of her auditor.

you put pen

ner, before

in

mind some

interesting idea

like

man-

you must have

to paper,

which you wish to

express in narrative form; the absence of such an idea

means that you have no

no story

plot,

to

and therefore have no business to be writing. undertake to

manlike phrases,

tell

a short story, go about

manner:

and

begin

don't

it

in

If

scribbling

A

pretty

trust to Providence to introduce the

you do not begin

to begin at

you

a work-

proper story, but yourself provide the basic If

tell,

correctly,

it is

facts.

useless for

you

all.

—

plot implies action

^that

45

is,

something must

— SHORT STORY WRITING happen; at the conclusion of the story the characters

must be

dififerently situated,

The

serious; but

it

elty

and

form.

must be of

sufficient importance,

In general the plot of a short story involves

for good.

supreme

The

crisis in

crisis

a

human

is

There may be a strong

life,

more

is

possible in the short story. tragic element

usudly to obtain the

may

that the

elaborate preparation

which makes

seem that the denouement must be

the short story

rather

which makes or mars a man

chief reason for this

crisis requires

and treatment than

is

nov-

interest to justify its relation in narrative

than the supreme

that

at the

event need not be tragic, or even

an incident or a minor

it

differently

from what they were

related one to another,

beginning.

and usually

tragic,

effect of contrast.

be a supreme

and a

crisis

but

Yet tra-

gedy, as are Stevenson's " Markheim," Hawthorne's " The Ambitious Guest " * and " The Birthmark,"

and many of Poe's

tales;

exceptional

which the whole

t3TJe,

in

but these are stories of an life

of the chief

actor comes to a focus in the crisis which

makes the

story.

"The

Ambitious Guest," because of its technical perfecand its apt illustration of the principles discussed, will be used throughout as a paradigm. It can be found in full in the Appendix. The AutSor. tion

46

THE PLOT The

short story plot must be simple and complete.

The popular

idea of a plot, derived

from the

quirements of the novel and the drama,

is

re-

that

it

should be a tangled skein of facts and fancies, which the author shall further complicate in order to ex-

Such

hibit his deftness in the final disentanglement.

a plot of

no

is

impossible for the short story, which admits

side issues

and no second or under

must not be the synopsis of a to compress into the tiny

It

plot.

novel, or the attempt

compass of the short story

a complicated plot sufficient for a novel, as are so

many

of the " Short Stories of the

lished

by newspapers.

As

Day " now

nearly as possible

it

pub-

must

deal with a single person, in a single action, at a single place, in a single time.

modern form of

More than any

other

literature, the short story requires

the observance of the old Greek unities of time, place

and action:

its

brevity and compactness do not ad-

mit of the proper treatment of the changes wrought

by the passage of time, the influences of scenes, or the complications resulting

terrelation of If the plot

time, if

it

many

different

from the

in-

characters of varied importance.

chosen requires the passage of ten years' involves a shift of scene from

to Timbuctoo, or if

it

introduces

47

New York

two or three

sets

SHORT STORY WRITING of characters,

make a

In "

one.

it

may by some

readable story, but

be a model

the time

is less

a single room, and the

is

the development of the guest's ambition.

is

Yet the

plot is only relatively important.

always be present or there it

miracle of ingenuity

will never

The Ambitious Guest "

than three hours, the place action

it

to exploit the plot,

is

The

takes second place.

CO give

a glimpse of

a means

to that end.

is

clever that

is

not written

may

be,

and the plot

real life;

This

must

no story; but once there

short story

however

It

is

well illustrated

but

only

by the

Character Study, in which the real interest centres in the analysis plot

is

and exposition of a character, and the

incidental.

we have

In

many

classes of stories, as

already observed, the plot

is

used only to

hold the narrative together, and the interest depends

on the

attractiveness of the picture presented.

plot must not be allowed to force

itself

The

through the

fabric of the story, like the protruding ribs of a half-

starved horse; but must be

made

substantiality to the word-flesh

to give

form and

which covers

it.

In Detective Stones, however, the plot

is all-im-

portant, for the interest depends entirely

upon the

unraveling of some tangle; but even here contain but a single idea,

though that 48

may

it

must

be rather

THE PLOT Such

involved.

much

stories are really

simpler than

they appear, for their seeming complexity consists

and so reasoning

in telling the story backwards,

from

effect to cause, rather than vice versa as in the

ordinary

may "

The

tale.

plot itself

simple enough, as

is

be proved by working backward through Foe's

The Murders

in the

Rue Morgue."

This

way, a method of plot-making which incorrectly,

of

any

employed by novices

story.

It

is

is,

by the

often,

and

in the construction

has been aptly called " building the

pyramid from the apex downward." *

results

It

from an exaggerated conception of the importance

But

of the plot. ters

"

do that

The

it is

not so

interests us, but

true

method

the development of

Take two or three

much what

how

for the

the charac-

they do

it.

making of a

what may be

plot is

called a plot-germ.

characters, strongly individualized

morally and mentally, place them in a strong situation

and

let

them develop

There are hun-

dreds of these plot-germs in our every-day versation

and newspaper reading, and the

change in the character at starting

•"Have

the Plots Been Exhausted?" June,

con-

slightest

will give a

wide

Change the country

difference in ending

Current Literature.

life,

'96.

49

Editorial

Comment

SHORT STORY WRITING and the atmosphere

new

jetted to

dents and so a

is

changed, the elements are sub-

influences

which develop new

inci-

new

....

vital

plot.

Change any

part in any character and the plot must be different.

One might

almost say two plots thus developed from

the same plot-germ can have no greater resemblance

than two shells cast up by the ocean." *

main things

evolution of a plot the

are that

it

shall

some

the

to be considered

be reasonably interesting, that

not violate probability, and that

shall

"In

it

it

shall possess

originality either of subject or of treatment

Not the

possible, but the probable, should

be the

novelist's guide." t

The surest test of a usable plot is, " Every ized in

plot is its

founded upon

of the imagination.

A

it ^^^ll

In the

would be termed

romantic

which

fact,

it

natural ?

may

be

"

util-

original form, or so skillfully disguised or

ingeniously distorted that

story

Is

seem

first

like

a product

case the resulting

the second case

realistic, in

story built on a plot that

is

an unvar-

nished fact will be of course a True Story; and there are incidents and events in real * "

Have

the Plots

Curretit Literature.

life

Been Exhausted? " June,

that need

Editorial

little

Comment

'g6.

t " Rudimentary Suggestions for Beginners in Stoty Writing," by E. F. Andrews, Cosmopolifan. Feb., '97.

—

THE PLOT more than There

is,

isolation

make them good

to

is

not forget that the short story

is

The

best plot

is

true to

con-

Do

life.

a form of art.*

derived from the action of an ar-

imagination on a commonplace fact; the simpler

tistic

and better known the the purpose, for tion

may

however, a danger that the novice

any matter usable which

sider

stories.

then

:

it

it

fact

is,

the better will

it

serve

must be accepted without ques-

must be

built

up and developed by imag-

inative touches, always with a view to plausibility, till it

attains the dignity of a distinct

and interesting

Recent discoveries and the attainments of

plot.

modern

science

have introduced us to so many

strange things that

we have

almost ceased to doubt

any statement which we may see ters

have become so ingenious

fact

and fancy that

by Poe.

His

sometimes more

This was done with pe-

story,

now known

Balloon Hoax," originally appeared in the

Sun

and wri-

weaving together

their tales are

plausible than truth itself. culiar skill

in

in print;

as "

The

New York

as a correspondent's account of an actual occur-

rence.

The

tale

gained credence through

its

remark-

able accuracy of detail in regard to recognized scien*

For a complete discussion of the proper use of Chapter V. ^The Author.

fiction see

facts in

SHORT STORY WRITING tific

principles^

and the

fact that at that time the

world was considerably agitated by similar genuine

As Poe makes one

feats of aerostation.

acters to say, " the feat sole

wonder

before "

Yet

—

is

only so feasible that the

is

why men have

at least

of his char-

scrupled to attempt

it

on paper.

in spite of the

many

curious and interesting

things that happen daily, and in spite of the inventive faculty of the mind,

it is

impossible to find a

new plot.

" History repeats itself " in small afifairs as well as in great,

and the human mind has not changed ma-

terially since the first

some one has

days of story

said that

Indeed,

telling.

the stories ever told can

all

be traced to less than a dozen original plots, whose origin find

is

But

lost in obscurity.

nor invent a new story

if

we can

changes on the old ones, and in this day.

Each one of these old

infinite variety

friends looked at

How many

from a

is

at least ring the lies

our hope

to-

capable of an

we

are constantly

merely one of our old

different

point

of view.

good, fresh stories have you read that

were based on the ancient elemental in love

neither

is

plots

of phases, and what

hailing as an original story

we can

plot of

two men

with one woman, or on that equally hoary

one of fond lovers severed by disapproving parents ?

THE PLOT Irving's "

The Legend

of Sleepy

Hollow "

is

derived

from the £rst, yet few readers would so recognize on

perusal; for unless

first

you stop and analyze

it

it, it

seems distinct and new.

For further ideas, I

illustration of this

reworking of old

have carefully searched the leading Ameri-

can magazines for March, 1900, for short stories based upon the old, old elemental plot of two love with one

synopses of such stories. ber of ries

men

in

woman, and append herewith rough

The Munsev

with this basic

Note

that this one

num-

contains no less than three stoplot.

The Munsey. "

The

Folly of It," by Ina Brevoort.

Fred Leighton and John Marchmont are in love with She loves Leighton, but they have agreed that he is too poor to make their married life happy. Marchmont, who is rich, proposes to her. She and

Angela.

Leighton calmly discuss the situation at their last dinner together and confirm their former decision; but when the matter erty

is

logically settled they decide to defy pov-

and marry. " With a Second to Spare," by

Tom

Hall.

Labarre and I both love Nellie, but Nellie marries me. Labarre leads a big strike on the railroad by which

we

are both employed as engineers; I refuse to join.

53

SHORT STORY WRITING One noon Labarre overpowers me, between the wheels of

rails

moving slowly so

that

Nellie always brings

my

will crush

it

my

expects to marry her.

dinner.

binds

me by

twelve,

After

my

Nellie arrives

(This story

just in the nick of time.

me on

the

engine, and starts

and is

it

when

death he

releases

really

me

a scene

from an amateur melodrama.) " Mulligan's Treachery," by David

H. Talmadge.

Mulligan and Garvey love Ellen Kelly.

They agree

not to take advantage of each other in wooing her, and

go

to the Philippines together as soldiers.

vey, leading a charge,

is

There Gar-

shot through the head, but

Mulligan goes on and receives a medal for his bravery. Garvey recovers, but is blind for life. On their return to America Mulligan finds Ellen's face terribly mutilated by an accident, He would still gladly marry

makes Garvey believe he won the medal, him nothing of Ellen's disfigurement, and brings

her; but he tells

Then he is conscience stricken which he has taken advantage of his

about their marriage. at the

manner

in

friend's disability.

The Cosmopolitan. " The Pilot of the

Sadie Simmons,' " by Joseph Mills Hanson. '

Tommy Duncan, a Mississippi River pilot, is engaged to Tillie Vail. Her aflfections are alienated by Jack Cragg, a disreputable steamboat engineer, whom Duncan, believing he is deceiving the girl, threatens to S4

THE PLOT on sight. Cragg kills a man in a drunken brawl on shore, and Duncan assists the sheriff to save him from would-be lynchers, and swears to protect him, ber kill

fore he knows who the prisoner is. When he learns he refuses to be bound by his oath, but as he is about to carry out his threat he is led to believe that Cragg

Cragg is attacked by a mob, jumps into the river to escape. Duncan rescues him and loses his own life. Cragg reforms and marries Tilly. honestly loves the

girl.

and, though he cannot swim,

Aitislee's

"Mr.

Sixty's Mistake,"

Magazine.

by Chauncey C. Hotchkiss.

William Lewis Idves Lillian Blythe. His brother comes between them and William shoots him and flees west to Pleasant Valley, where he goes by the name of " Cockey Smith ". One night he tells his story to his companions. Harry Blythe, brother to Lillian, Lewis' old friend, and now sheriff of his home

Tom

who arrived that night, overhears him. Blythe reveals his identity to " Sixty ", the butt of the camp, county,

and tells him that Tom did not die and that Lewis can go back home, where Lillian is still waiting for him. Sixty breaks the news to Lewis while the latter is mad with drink, and Lewis, thinking the sheriff has come for him, "

kills

A

him.

Later he shoots himself.

Kentucky Welcome," by

Edmund Cabell, a

Pierce, a

Kentucky

New

belle;

Ewan

Yorker,

is

in love with

and hearing 55

Macpherson.

Lucy

that her cousin,

SHORT STORY WRITING " Brook " Cabell, is endangering his chances, he sets out to pay Miss Cabell a visit. He gets off at the

wrong

and

station

by the

in his confusion is arrested

marshal as a Russian diamond robber. He telegraphs to the Cabells, and Brook rescues him at the point of the revolver, though he knows that the

local

Northerner

These

Miss Cabell's

is

stories,

robbed of

all

even in

favorite.

this crude,

condensed form,

the beauties of imagery and expression,

reveal the virtues

which won for them

proval and which contribute to the

editorial ap-

enjoyment of

Their apparent freshness

their readers.

the treatment of a thread-bare plot in a

and the phase, tion of

in turn,

some new element, unimportant

The

its

Folly of It "

plot is old

is

due to

new

phase,

depends upon the introducin itself, per-

haps, which presents the old story in the

"

is

new

light.

the best illustration, for though

and apparently hopeless, the brightness

and naturalness of the conversation which

constitutes

almost the entire story makes it most readable. In " Mulligan's Treachery " the personality of Mulli-

gan gives the necessary freshness. the

'

Sadie

Simmons

'

"

The

Pilot of

" depends on local color and

the interest in Duncan's struggle to distinguish right

from wrong,

And

so some

little

freshness of treat-

ment makes each of the others a good

story.

THE PLOT These vivifying elements are by no means extraordinary, or difficult to find.

They

are

new

ideas

concerning old subjects, such as you are continually

meeting in your everyday

life

A

and reading.

new

new scene, a new invention or discovery, or merely a new mental bias on the part of the writer, character, a

work wonders

will

in the revivifying of an old plot.

Think how many new phases of old

plots have been

produced recently by the incorporation of the " ray, or

by the influence of the war with Spain.

then, to get a to use, to it

If

in

new

view

it

light

on the

plot that

from an unexpected

—

an unusual manner

for

"

you

better cease

will only

Try,

you purpose

side, to

handle

in short, try to be original.

you have not the energy or the

you would

X"

your

ability to

do

this,

literary efforts at once,

waste your time.

But .... there are some themes so hackneyed

—such

as the lost will, the glorified governess, or the

persecuted maiden

—

daughter

that they

side the pages of a

who

turns out to be an earl's

would not now be '

penny

tolerated out-

dreadful,' where, along

with haughty duchesses, elfin-locked gypsies and

murderous abductors, they have become part of the regular stock-in-trade of the purveyors of back-stairs literature.

The only theme 57

that never

grows

trite

SHORT STORY WRITING commonplace

or

....

is

the

theme

light

amounts to nothing. that

we

"

love." *

is

It

that,

Another

offense

being analyzed,

may, be so cleverly handled

—and then

read with pleasure

at the

end are

disgusted with ourselves for being pleased, and en-

raged at the writer for deluding us; for there

would be something beneath

ners and airy persiflage, and

The

there

lo,

we thought

his graceful

man-

not." t

is

plot of a short story should allow of expres-

sion in a single short, fairly simple sentence;

cannot be so compressed there

wrong with

it.

This

or " true " plot.

may

It

is

if it

something radically

" be called the " elemental

will be in

perhaps

general,

vague, terms, and will permit differing treatment

by

different writers; yet

will

be definitely

fixed.

its

trend and

This true

its

outcome

plot, in turn,

can

be expressed in yet more general terms, often as the

primal truth which the story illustrates; this called the " theme " of the story.

Thus

may

in "

be

The

"

Ambitious Guest," the theme is The futility of abstracted ambition; " or, in its most general terms, "

The irony

of fate."

The

true plot is:

* "

Rudimentary Suggestions for Beginners in Story Writby E. F. Andrews. Cosmopolitan. Feb., '97. " Magazine Fiction and How Not to Write It," by Fred-

ing," t

erick

M.

Bird.

Lippincotfs.

Nov.,

S8

'94.

THE PLOT An unknown tain tavern

but ambitious youth stops at a moun-

and perishes with

its

'

inmates.

In the development of a plot from this germ into the completed story,

what may

it

often of advantage to

make

be called a " skeleton " or " working plot."

This skeleton story as

it is

is

produced by thinking through the

has been conceived, and setting

down on

paper in logical order a line for every important idea.

These

lines

will

roughly correspond to the para-

graphs of the finished story, but in a descriptive par-

agraph one

line will not suffice, while

represent a dozen paragraphs of dialogue

paragraphing cal,

;

may

then, too,

partly logical and partly mechani-

is

and varies considerably with the person. Plot of "

Working 1

a line

The Ambitious

Guest."

I.

The scene White

The The

is

a tavern located at the Notch in the

Hills.

time, a

place

is

September night. in danger from landslides and

falling

stones.

— —are

The family

father, mother,

and children

12,3. The tavern

is

grandmother, daughter

gathered happily about the hearth.

on a well-frequented road. 59

SHORT STORY WBQTING A

young stranger

enters, looking rather travel-worn,

but quickly brightens up at his

warm

reception.

18,9.

A stone rolls down the mountain side. 1

lo.

The

guest,

though naturally

reticent,

soon becomes

familiar with the family.

In. The

secret of the

young man's character

is

high and

abstracted ambition.

1

12.

He

t

is

as yet

unknown.

13. 14-

He

is

sensible of the ludicrous side of his ambition.

1 IS-

The daughter 1

is

not ambitious.

16-19.

The

father's ambition is to

sent to General Court,

1

and

own a good

farm, to be

to die peacefully.

20-23.

The

children wish for the most ridiculous things.

1 24-27.

A wagon stops before the inn, but drives on when the landlord does not immediately appear,

60

THE PLOT T

28-31.

The daughter

I32. The family

is

not really content

picture.

1 33-37The grandmother

tells

of having prepared her grave-

clothes.

Fears

if

they are not put on smoothly she will not

rest easily.

t

38,39-

She wishes to see herself If

40, 41-

They hear

1

in her coffin.

the landslide coming.

42.

All rush

from the house and are

instantly destroyed.

The house is unharmed. The bodies are never found.

1

43. 44-

Even

You little

the death of the ambitious guest will notice that this

details

working

which are too

and

all

to

in doubt.

plot omits

trivial to set

which probablv would not occur tual writing:;

is

many

down, or

one until the ac-

the artistic touches that

make

the story literature are ruthlessly shorn away, for

they are part of the treatment, not of the plot. 6x

SHORT STORY WRITING This method of permitting yon to study your crude material in the concrete will prove of value to you.

It enables

you

to crystalize into ideas

what

were mere phantasms of the brain, to arrange your thoughts in their proper order, and to condense or

expand efifect

details

with a ready comprehension of the

of such alterations

tions of the story.

objective

It

upon the general propor-

makes your purposed work

enough so that you can consider which were

coolness ajid impartiality

while

was

it

still

in

embryo

in

it

with a

impossible

your brain; and

it

often reveals the absurdity or impossibility of a plan

which had seemed to you most happy.

I believe that

the novice can do no better than to put his every story to this practical

The use

test.

of this skeleton in the further develop-

ment of the story depends upon the methods of the writer, or the matter in hand.

writers waste set

down

no time

Many

short story

in preparations, but at once

the story complete; and to

my mind that is to

make

spontaneous and technically correct.

But

the ideal method, for

story quires

is

it is

more apt

not well defined in your mind, or

some complexity of

plot, like

the tale if

the

if it re-

the Detective

Story, this plan can be followed to advantage in the

63

THE PLOT completion of the work. skeleton,

It

may be used as

upon which the narrative

is

a regular

built

by a

process of elaboration and expansion of the lines into

paragraphs; or

it

may

be used merely as a reference

to keep in mind the logical order of events.

you

will forget the

scheme

Usually

in the absorption of

com-

position; but the fact of having properly arranged

your ideas

will assist

in the elaboration.

you materially,

if

unconsciously,

:

IV

GOOD AND BAD

TITLES Too often

the novice considers the

He

a matter of no import. handle, the result of

title

looks upon

of his story

it

as a

mere

some happy afterthought,

af-

fixed to the completed story for convenience or reference, just as

a

library.

introduces,

numbers are placed on the books

The

title is really

and many a MS. has been

demned by

its title

a poor

usually

how

title

a fair test of what

alone; for the editor

means a poor

story.

often you yourself pass a story

casual glance, because

experience has

its title

shown you

"A

book's

name

it

justly con-

knows

that

Think,

too,'

by with but a

does not interest you

that

you seldom enjoy

reading a story which bears an unattractive

ence on

in

title.

often has an astonishing influ-

its first sale.

A

title

that piques curiosity

or suggests excitement or emotion will draw a crowd of readers the berly

moment

named must

former has

all

force

book so-

it

appears, while a

its

merits on the public.

The

the advantage of a pretty girl over a

64

TITLES GOOD plain one;

it

prove

itself

worth while.

title

('In

an instantaneous chance to

g-iven

is

AND BAD

A middle aged,

Search of Quiet,'

unalluring

may

instance)

for

away from what proves to be a mine human interest. A book headed by a man's

frighten people

of wit and

name unmodified and uncommented upon '

Horace Chase

'

—

is

—such

as

apt to have a dreary, unprepos-

sessing air, unless the

name

is

an

incisive

suggests an interesting personality.

one that

Fragments of

proverbs and poems are always attractive, as well as Biblical phrases

the

magic

curiosity.

Evolution

'

and

colloquial expressions, but

the one that excites and baffles

title

is

The

publishers of a recent

'

Primer of

received a sudden flood of orders for

the book simply on account of a review which

spoken of Genius.'

it

under the sobriquet,

Many

copies were

'

indignantly

revealed." *

had

From Gas

to

returned

" In 1850 Dr.

when

the true

O. M.

Mitchell, Director of the Astronomical Obser-

title

was

vatory in Cincinnati, gave to the press a volume entitled

book

'The Planetary and fell

dead from the

Stellar

press.

The

publisher com-

plained bitterly of this to a friend, saying,

not sold a single copy.' " Literary Chat."

'

Well,'

was

Munseys Magazine. 65

The

Worlds.'

'

I

the reply, May,

'98.

have '

you

SHORT STORY WRITING have "

book by

killed the

The Orbs

of

Heaven

Why

its title.

"

The

'

?

hint

not

call it

was accepted

and acted upon, and 6,000 copies were sold in a month." *

The story;

title it

migrht almost be called the " text " of the

should be logically deduced from the plot;

so a poor

title

usually indicates a poor plot and a

poor story.

This name

phase of the

plot, rather

it

will be too abstract

allied to the plot that

ously

—or

if

line

and general. they should be title

plot; for the story is built

he wrote " more."

At

title

the

long before the story it

bom

synchron-

should precede the

much

" about the

title is

of the

It is so closely

up around the

expresses,

The Raven least,

grow out

than the basic theme, else

anything the

thought that the

should

as

central

Poe

said

word " never-

should be definitely fixed

completed, and often before

has taken definite form in the writer's mind.

this is the practice of professional writers

That

may

be

proved by a glance at the literary colximn of any periodical,

where coming books are annotmced by

word of them has been

title

written.

So

an appropriate

title

* '• Misleading Titles of Books " by William Mathews. Saturday Evening Post. Apr. 21, 1900.

The

vfken scarcely a if

you have

difficulty in finding

66

— TITLES GOOD for your story,

first

examine your

sure that the cause does not

and make

plot,

In case you

lie there.

among

are unable to decide titles,

AND BAD

a number of possible

any one of which might

you may

do,

find that

your plot lacks the definiteness of impression quired by the short story; but a

number of good

suggest a

only difficulty

A good thor,

is

story

and so

re-

may

fertile intellect

from which your

titles,

to select the best.

may

be given a bad

toward

started

by

title

au-

its

Novices are

failure.

peculiarly liable to this fault, usually through allow-

They go

ing themselves to be too easily satisfied. to infinite pains to

individual,

make

and then cap

phrase that

the story it

with

worse than no

is

A

title is

apt

if it is

to

ipate

^but

An

the curiosity almost as

Examples

A

good

short.

plot

It stands definitely for that

the denouement and so

the reader too soon.

self.

commonplace all.

an outgrowth of the

only a suggestion,

Knell;" Poe's

a

and gives a suggestion of what

particular story,

come—

and

at

new, and

title is apt, specific, attractive,

a text, as I have said.

title

fresh

itself

:

apt

title

should antic-

excites

and piques

as does the story

Hawthorne's

67

it

satisfy the curiosity of

much

"'Thou Art

lest

is

the

"

it-

The

Wedding

Man!'"

Wilkins'

:

:

SHORT STORY WRITING "

The Revolt

Each of

of Mother."

these

titles

con-

veys an idea, though a vague one, of the theme of the

and so

story,

its

aptness

the relevancy of the

apparent; but frequently

title is

evident only after the

read, as in the case of

James' " The

Thing" and "The Lesson of

the Master."

story has been

Real

is

Such a

title is

almost

ideal.

This suspension of apt-

ness, carried to the extreme, produces such

and weak

vague

as

titles

" Happiness " Almost

Won." Too Late."

" After All." " Reorganized."

The is

title

must be

specific

or

it is

seldom

apt.

It

in this particular that the novice generally fails.

He

deduces his

title

rather from the original plot,

or even from the theme, than from the particular

phase which he presents; but

its

title

should dis-

tinguish his story from the host of tales builded upon the

same basic

plot, just as the Christian

Smith distinguishes him from the family of which he titles

is

a member.

as the following,

name

of a

rest of the great

Thus we have such

which are more appropriate

for essays in psychology,

moral philosophy, or some

kindred subject, than for fiction

68

— TITLES GOOD "

How

AND BAD

Dreams Come True."

" Moral Vision." "

Sorrow and Joy."

"

The Straight Path."

More

often the unspecific

title

15

simply a vague

reference to the general style of the story:

A Wedding in a Texas Jail." A Frightful Night Ride." " A Unique Rescue." " A Lynching Incident." " "

" Nature's Freaks."

"

A Valuable Discovery."

"

The Widow."

"

A Valued Relic." A Strange Case."

"

"

The Old Clock." The Office Boy."

"

None

of these

in nearly

titles

represents

every case

it

any

definite idea,

and

served to introduce a story

which was equally vague, ordinary, and uninterestSeveral of them, too

ing.

were not scription

stories at

all,

—notably the

first

four

but were simply bits of de-

by narrative, as

their titles

would suggest.

In general a phrase, otherwise indefinite, becomes specific

as "

in

Lady

when united with Hawthorne's

the

name

" Howe's

Masquerade " and

Eleanor's Mantle; " but such

69

of a character,

titles

are U9U-

SHORT STORY WRITING quently found in these in

Some words

and unattractive.

ally ordinary

compound

are so vague

titles

meaning or so worn from use that

avoidance

the

is

only

their total

Such

course.

safe

fre-

are

" Christmas," " Adventure," " Romance," " Story,"

A

" Vision." and " Dream." sion "

is

"

usually the relation of

Dream

some commonplace

incident with absurd adornments;

ture "

is

more often a

narration.

I

know

" or a " Vi-

and an

"

Adven-

piece of description than of

that these

words may be found

m combination in many happy titles, but it is best that the novice

let

them severely

alone.

That such

titles

are really a serious impediment to the success of their stories

Record.

Record to

is

shown by

the action of the Chicago

For some vears

it

was the custom of

the

offer substantial cash prizes for the best

Christmas stories written by school children; and

prominent among the rules governing the competition

was the announcement that

stories bearing such

as " Johnnie's Christmas," " Nellie's Christ-

titles

mas," " Mary's Christmas," would not even be read.

The following

titles

these obiectionable tions

show how fond words

is

the novice of

in their baldest combina-

:

" Sarah's Christmas Present"

70

TITLES GOOD AND BAD " Adventures with a Bear." " Nettie's Romance." " Lee's Romance." " Woman's Love Story." " The Captain's Story."

A

"

A

"

The Story of a Vision." The Dream at Sea."

"

True Story."

" Viola's Dream." " Mabel's Dream." " Eleanor's

The

title

Dream." should be attractive because

and

test of the story,

it

must be

it

will

be the

sufficiently inter-

esting to arouse at a glance the curiosity of the

and induce

reader,

rative that

cause

it

in

offers.

of the

him a

desire to peruse the nar-

Commonplaceness

unattractive

title,

usually traceable to the plot ever, be

is

and that

itself.

It

the chief fault is

may, how-

due to a conventional expression of the dom-

inant idea of the story, as in the

list

just given;

and

also in the following:

"

How Amy Won

"

Fred Norton, the Artist."

Or the

the Prize."

may be unattractive through name of the chief character:

it

" Lucy Bonneville." " Lester Rice."

7«

comprising only

SHORT STORY WRITING The use

of a

is difficult

name

for a

a matter which

title is

If the story

to settle.

one character, and particularly

if

is

it

dominated by a genuine

is

it

Character Study, the writer naturally feels that he

cannot do better than to name it

depicts;

in the

after the character

it

and he has good authority for so doing

example of Poe ("Berenice," " Elenora,"

"Morella").

Hawthorne

("Sylph

Etherege,"

"Ethan Brand," "Wakefield"), Irving ("Wolfert

Webber," " Rip Van Winkle "), James (" Sir "

Dominic Ferrand,"

Nona

" Greville

Vincent,"

Fane"), Stevenson ("Olalla," " Thrawn Janet,"

"Markheim"), " Gallegher," (

"

("Louisa"),

Wilkins

Davis

" Cinderella " Kipling ( " Lispeth," ) ,

Namgay Doola"),

A

etc., etc.

good

rule to ob-

name

of the chief per-

sonage gives a hint of character, or

if it is sufficiently

serve

would be

this

:

If the

unusual to attract attention, title;

but in general

it

will

it

may

be used as a

be stronger

if

used in

combination.

In the endeavor to

make

his title distinctive

and

attractive the novice is liable to fall into the error of

making

it

cheap and sensational.

A

title

which

of-

fends against good taste must not be used, no matter

how

desirable

it

may

appear in the matter of at72

";

TITLES GOOD

AND BAD

The newspaper

tractiveness.

who

caption writer

" headed an account of a hanging " Jerked to Jesus!

attained the

acme of

com-

attractiveness, but he also

mitted an unpardonable sin against good

The

taste.

short story writer seldom descends to such depths of sensationalism: his chief offense consists in the use

of double

titles,

connected by the word " or."

either title alone

would be passable,

if

Often

not really

good; but their united form must be placed in the category of bad

bad

chiefly

used to be

Such

titles.

throueh the

common

rated

are

titles

effects of association.

for a story to bear a double

as It

title

but to-day the custom has been relegated to the cheap, sensational tale of the " penny dreadful order,

of

and the conjunctive

"yellow"

literature.

usually be corrected by alone, as

may

title is

a recognized

This fault in a

mark

title

can

the use of either of the titles

be seen from a study of the follow-

ing:

(i)

"The

Story of Dora;

or.

Innocence Trium-

phant." (2) " Jessie Redmond; or, The Spider and the Fly." " Outwitted or, The Holdup of No. 4." (3) " The Battle of the Black Cats or, Tragedy (4) ;

;

A

Played with Twenty Thousand Actors and Only Spectator."

n

One

"

SHORT STORY WRITING " Fate; or, Legend of Say Au Revoir, but not (5) Goodbye.' (6) " The Romance of a Lost Mine; or. The Curse '

of the Navajos." " Little (7)

A

Bunch of Rosebuds;

or.

Two Normal

Graduates."

"Her

(8)

Quilt;

Silk

On

or.

the Crest of the

Wave." ( I )

Neither part

Story of Dora " of largeness

is

particularly

is

happy.

"

The

too general, and conveys an idea

and time that

better suited to the

is

novel than to the short story; " Innocence Trium-

phant " sie

is

cheap, sensational and

Redmond

"

The

out years ago.

(:\)

"

The Holdup

definiteness.

Either

of No.

(4)

4

"

"

is

The

do,

(5)

title is

though the

is

alone

is

good;

preferable because of

its

"Fate"

its

"

hint of sensational-

of course ludicrously

is

is

too

indefinite;

the

cheap and first is

old. Either would (6) somewhat vague, and " Curse "

savors of sensationalism.

though the

title

Battle of the Black Cats

ism; but the second part impossible.

to be a

Spider and the Fly " wras worn

alone would pass, in spite of

second

name

too commonplace a

is

good head line; "

(2) "Jes-

trite.

first

(7) Either would do,

sounds rather

good; the second

is

silly.

(8)

vague and rather 74

The

old.

first

TITLES GOOD AND BAD That a

title

should be

new

is

so obvious that of-

fenses against this rule are usually unconscious; yet

some cases

in

stories

have been capped with stolen

headings, where the theft was so apparently intentional that

it

seemed as

if

the writer wished to faiL

Lapses in this regard are usually due to the writer's ignorance of the value of a

or to the too ready

title;

use of the abstract theme, as mentioned before.

such

titles

are " All's Well that

Ends

Labor Lost," and " The Irony of Fate,"

all

are great favorites with the beginner. ity,

they will cover a multitude of

stitute so

Of

Well," " Love's

sins,

of which

Like charbut they con-

great a literary sin in themselves that

they should be rigorously eschewed. belongs also such a

title

as "

Cuba

To

this class

Libre " which !

is

so very old, and which during the last few years has

been so twisted and mishandled in every conceivable title

way

that

its

mere use

will frequently

in application,

reader that

For

its

is

be apt,

new; but

an

irritation.

Such a

specific, attractive,

it

and,

will so exasperate the

use will be perilous.

self-evident reasons the title should be short.

Aptness and specificness do not require an epitome of the story; and a

title like

"

Why Tom

Changed

His Opinion of Me," or " What the Rabbit Drive Did 75

"

:

:

SHORT STORY WRITING for

Me "

is

prosy as well as long.

custom to make the sis

title

It

used to be the

of a writing a regular synop-

modern

but

of the matter contained therein;

what

readers object to being told in advance exactly is

No

happen.

to

ruling concerning the proper

length of a short story

title is

speaking, the shorter the

pound

titles

title

possible; but generally

the better

it is.

Com-

connected by " or," like those previously

mentionedv are as offensive in their length as in their sensationalism.

To

illustrate further these several points I intro-

duce here a few good

They

story writers.

titles

used by successful short

are roughly divided into three

classes according to their derivation.

The

title

may

be the text of the story

Edgeworth " Murad the Unlucky." Hawthorne: "The Wedding Knell;" "The Pro:

phetic Pictures."

James:

"The

Real Thing;"

"The

Lesson of the

Master."

Poe: Art the

"The Masque

Man

Stockton:

Wilkins:

!

of the

Red Death;" "'Thou

'

"The "The

Transferred Ghost." Revolt of Mother;"

"Two

Old

Lovers."

The

title

name

may

represent the principal character by

or by some apt appellation

76

TITLES GOOD Davis

AND BAD

" Gallegher."

:

Hawthorne: "The Ambitious Guest;" "Feathertop."

Irving

"

:

The Spectre Bridegroom

;

"

" Rip

Van

Winkle."

Poe: "Morella;" " Ligeia." Stevenson " Markheim." :

Wilkins:

"A

Modern

Dragon;"

"A

Kitchen

Colonel."

The

title

may mention

the principal object:

Adee " The Life Magnet." Burnett: " The Spider's Eye." Hawthorne: " The Great Stone Face;" "The Great :

Carbuncle." James " The Aspern Papers." Kipling " The Phantom Rickshaw." :

:

Poe: " The Black Cat; " " The Gold Bug." Stevenson: " The Bottle Imp."

17

V THE USE OF FACTS All

fiction is

imagination

must have some

which to take is

founded upon

its flight;

seldom literature in

fact, for

the boldest

from

definite point

but the ungarnished truth

though

itself,

may

it

offer

The

excellent material for literary embellishment.

amateur, content with knowing that he

what did tistic

recounting

is

most

actually happen, falls into the

inar-

ways, because he does not understand that

facts are properly

only crude material for the

fic-

tionist.

The one place where the average short story writer should not seek his material ture.

is

the world of litera-

Almost from the time when men

to dabble in letters they

first

began

have drawn on their pred-

ecessors for their subject matter; but this practice

has produced a deal of unconscious plagiarism, which is

responsible for most of the conventional

ot)rped stories with

which we are

Of any one hundred average 78

and

stere-

afflicted to-day.

stories submitted for

THE USE OF FACTS sale,

probably seventy-five are damned by their hope-

lessly

hackneyed conception and treatment ; and they

sufifer

because the writer, reading some attractive

story built

and do

upon a similar

plot,

has attempted to go

and has unconsciously used

likewise,

all

the

conventional parts while omitting the essential individuality.

go only

It is safe for the novice to

literary material. intrinsically the

The matter

to the

world for

so obtained will be

same as that gained from the writ-

ings of others, but the fact that you get your infor-

own

mation through your

senses will considerably

obviate the danger of adopting the conventional view in the matter.

I

do not mean to say that you should

deliberately set out to search for

dents as Dickens did,

mend such

new

though! would

a course; I

mean

types and incicertainly

com-

rather that you should

be content to write of what you personally and

inti-

mately know, and not attempt to treat of matters of

which you have only a vag^e

superficial

knowledge,

or of which you are totally ignorant.

Excellent

stories ally

have been written by men who were person-

unacquainted with the matters with which they

dealt,

but they were in every case masters of their

who knew how to

art,

eain and use second-hand informa-

79

SHORT STORY WRITING tion

and how

to supplement insufficient data with

literary skill.

Too many

novices have the mistaken idea that

only those things which are dim and distant are

They have not

for artistic treatment. their

powers of perception, and have

the truth that

human

same the world

nature

over,

is

in

cultivated

failed to grasp

most

respects the

and that persons and

places,

apparently the most ordinary, have stories to

Before

Mary

England hills

E. Wilkins began to write her

tales

few thought

New

tell.

New

to look to those bleak

and commonplace people for

and doubtless many

fit

literary material;

Englanders, feeling the im-

pulse to write, viewed with scorn their unpoetic sur-

roundings and longed for the glamour of some halfguessed clime; Miss Wilkins, appreciating her environment,

won fame and

fortune through her truth-

ful depictions of those things

which

able to write but less able to see, It is

a

common

their stories in

certainly of

lords

and

others, equally

had

despised.

trick of aspiring writers to locate

England, to speak proudly but un-

grand

ladies,

estates,

and

to

noble castles, and haughty

make mistakes which would

be ridiculous were they not so inexcusable.

There

is

a certain half-feudal glamour about England yet

80

THE USE OF FACTS which appeals strongly to the callow author that rosy haze of

:

it

lends

romance and unreality which

popularly associated with fiction; but

it

is

was long

ago done to death by mediocre writers and laughed out of good literary society, and to-day America will not suffer any such hackneyed fol-de-rol. Similarly the amateur will locate his story in the

" best " society of

some American

metropolis,

he has never been out of his native

knows nothing of the

class

village,

and

with which he deals ex-

column of

cept through the society

when

his newspaper.

Therefore he will of course "

fall flat

tempts to delineate manners.

It is too evident that

he has not had the entree to the scribe: his

circle

gentlemen commit too

his ladies are

from the wrong

when he

at-

he would de-

many

blunders,

side of the town, the

love-passages are silly and vulgar, the whole result is

stupid

and offensive

—

^to

thing hopelessly lacks tone; stairs, is

but

not

in

the

those it

who know.

The

might pass below

drawing-room." *

It

who

are

not only those of wealth and leisure

eligible for literary purposes; indeed, their lives, ap-

parently so * "

Bad

gay and

exciting; are often a dull

Stoiy-Telling," by Frederick

Oct., '07.

8i

M.

Bird.

and

Lippincotfs.

"

SHORT STORY WRITING regular series of attempts to If the

own

kill

young writer would look

the dawdling time. into the lives of his

simple neighbors he would find

ter for his

much better mat-

intended stories.

Again, the novice, in his search for something ferent, will place his tale in the

men were brave and

when

all

in so

doing

will

dim and

all

dif-

distant past,

women

lovely;

and

expose himself to ridicule and con-

tempt for his evident ignorance of the matters of

which he pretends to

any age seems

that

who

live in

treat.

dull

is

very probable

and commonplace to those

for " familiarity breeds contempt

it,

though we of to-day have

for almost anything; but

no

It

valiant knights,

armed

cap-a-pie, riding forth to

the iousts to do battle for their ladies fair,

men just more full

as brave

sensible;

and deeds

we have

fully as valorous

and the world

is,

and always

and

far

will be,

of noble and romantic and marvelous things.

If,

however, you

feel that

you must write of times

and scenes and peoples which are eign,

it is

your

first

either past or for-

duty to inform yourself to the

best of your ability concerning them. lieve that

I

do not be-

any writer can successfully locate

in a foreign country unless

his story

he has personal knowl-

edge of the scenes and persons that he describes, or 83

THE USE OF FACTS unless he

is

thoroughly versed in the language and

—and

literature of the country

would probably be

At

stories.

cult to

first

.too pedantic to write readable

thought

it

does not seem so

diffi-

handle English subjects, for there

we have

common language and, common racial traits;

to a con-

the advantage of a siderable extent, of

that

he

in the latter case

common

but even

language, as spoken on the other side

of the Atlantic, has an every-day vocabulary differ-

ing from ours, and the English government and social

system present

ble to

one

who

difficulties

almost insurmounta-

cannot study them face to

dealing with themes of the past there

There we are

tunitv.

all

is

more oppor-

on the common ground of

an absolute dependence on such books as serve for us pictures of those times,

—

information

may

pre-

and complete

complete, at least, in the sense that

—can be had

one knows more

number

In

face.

no

at the price of a certain

of hours of painstaking study.

If,

then,

you

desire to write of the days that are gone, see to

that

you

first

it

thoroughly acquaint yourself with the

historv of those times.

There are few towns too

small to possess a library, and few libraries too small to contain such historical

books as you

83

may

need.

SHORT STORY WRITING In these days the writer

may

when

all

things

come

to

Mohamet,

gain a valuable though impersonal

insight into the world at large through the

The newspapers

of the public press. full

to

medium

of to-day are

of incipient plots, needing only the skillful pen

make them

Reporters go everywhere

literature.

and see everything, and they place the

result of their

multifarious labors in your hands every

They recount

morning

actual happenings accurately

enough

for literary purposes, they strain for the unusual side

of things, and their purpose

yours to make you if

you rework

liable to

is

too different from

the charge of plagiarism

The

their material.

receptive perusal

of any newspaper ought to furnish the reader with

Such matter

a fresh stock of literary material.

is

particularly valuable to the short story writer be-

cause of the present and ever increasing

demand

for stories of the day, plots, characters, situations,

and

local color for

which may be culled from any

newspaper.

But short story writing

may

an

and

all facts

not be capable of literary treatment.

" Even

actual fiction.

occurrences

—a

art,

may be improper

Nature can take

art dare not

is

liberties

subjects for

with facts that

truth that has passed into a proverb.

84

THE USE OF FACTS .... Art may but the

moment

fill

it

us with anger, fear, terror, awe,

condescends to excite disgust,

passes out of the realm of art." *

no reason why the ject, if

artist

should not choose any sub-

the production itself contributes to the satis-

faction of the world,

a phase of art,

it

" There seems

life,

beauty,

and

making a

picture of

in compliance with the

Taste

truth.

is

or of

demands of

the arbiter of the

subject, for taste is always moral, always

of the angels.

life,

on the

side

There are certain things which are

only subjects for technical reform, for the sanitary inspector, ist."

t

"

and for the physician

The carnage

—not

for the novel-

of a battle-field, the wrecked

cafe or theatre after dynamite has done

had best be handled sparingly

its

work,

A good many

things that happen on this planet are not good subjects for art

:

the pathetic (within limits)

in order, but not the shocking.

always

Moral are worse

Even genius may waste on an unmanageable theme; it cannot make

than physical horrors." X itself

is

"

* " Rudimentary Suggestions for Beginners in Story Writby E. F. Andrews. Cosmopolitan. Feb., '97" The Art of Fiction." lecture by Gilbert Parker. The

ing," t

A

Dec, '98. " Magazine Fiction and How Not to Write X erick M. Bird. Lippincotfs. Nov., '94. Critic.

85

It,"

by Fred-

SHORT STORY WRITING the cleaning of fish interesting, nor the slums of

New York

or Paris attractive." *

It is rare

indeed that a fact can be used without

Mere

embellishment.

facts are frequently

most un-

Hterary,

though they may be susceptible of a high

literary

polish.

The

A

"

sub-title

True Story,"

which young writers think so valuable a part of the tale,

too often the trademark of an tmreadable

is

mess of conventional people, ordinary incidents and

We find

commonplace conversation. true stories,

and when we do

care to read stories

which

knew

it

them we seldom

I

have read many

Life

abounds with

to be literally true, because

much

of the hackneyed and the

itself is

a very conventional affair;

they contained so irrelevant.

find

them through. I

few genuinely

dull events

and stupid people; and

for that reason alone fiction

would demand some-

thing out of the common.

Commonplace persons

and commonplace things do appear

in literature, but

they must have something more than their placeness to

"

The novice

that truth *" Oct.,

Bad

is

common-

recommend them. in story

....

telling

stranger than

fiction,

Story-Telling," by Frederick

'£17.

86

has

heard

and supposes that

M.

Bird.

Lippincotfs.

'

THE USE OF FACTS the

more

truth he can get into his tale the stronger

and more reality, is flat

effective

it

will

be

very seldom strange;

Truth,

usually tame

it is

and commonplace; and when

i.

strange

it is

apt to be grotesque and repulsive.

Most of

e.,

and it is

the ex-

periences of daily life afford material only for a

and most of the 'strange' or

chronicle of dulness;

unusual happeningfs had better be

left to

the newS;-

paper and the records of the police courts. statement

may be

reporter select

Does not the

strengthened.

and decorate

This

his

facts,

some, emphasizing others, arranging

able

suppressing his

'

story

with reference to picturesqueness and effect ? " In other words, verisimilitude, not verity,

wanted in

The

fiction.

is

observer notes his facts, and

then the artist seizes on the ideas behind them, the types they

embody.

the spiritual

represent,

The

result,

though

substances they

goes well,

is

as

life-

not a copy of anything

that really lives

The budding

writer of fictitious tales at least in his

own

nature, or his

work

this

all

it is

like as life itself,

(in detail)

when

must be familiar with

range: he must is

naught.

know

facts,

life

and

But when he has

knowledge, he must put the facts in the back-

ground of

his

mind

Real incidents, dragged 8?

SHORT STORY WRITING against their will into an (alleged) imaginary narrative, are apt

by no means to improve

sound as

and untunable

'

flat

'

as our

it,

own

but to praises

mouths." *

from our own

" There must be no misconception about great fiction

tion

is

being a transcript of

work

not the

no need of

Mere

life.

transcrip-

we should have

of an artist, else

painters, for photographers

would do;

no poems, for academical essays would do; no great works of

fiction, for

—

information

if

we have our

information

is

usual sources of

—

we want

all

the

Divorce Court, the Police Court, the Stock Exchange, the Register,

Young

Ladies' Seminary, the Marriage

and the House of Parliament

—

those happy

hunting-grounds of sensation-mongers and purveyors of melodrama.

All these things certainly con-

tain the facts of life

constructive

work

which one must know for the

of the imagination, for they are

the rough material, the background of knowledge

from which the

illusion of real life

But they are not

life,

tion of

life.

*

though they are the transcrip-

The human

that concerns one.

siernificance of facts

The inwardness

" Fact in Fiction," by Frederick

July,

must proceed.

'O"!.

88

M.

is

pl'i

of facts makes

Bird.

Lippincotfi

THE USE OF FACTS fiction; the history of life, its emotions, its passions, its sins, reflections,

tograph nor transcribe.

two profound

These you cannot pho-

values.

Selection

and rejection are

essentials of every art, even of the art

of fiction, though

it

be so jauntily practised by the

amateur." *

And even

if

the facts which you purpose to use are

of undoubted value for artistic treatment, there

be other reasons which In the

people do not really prefer truth

They

require plausibility, but they are

too familiar with

idle

their use questionable.

first place,

to fiction. all

make

life

themselves, and in the

hours in which they turn to

to be

may

lifted

fiction

they desire

out of reality into the higher realm of

fancy.

Nor

tolerate

what seems

will they,

even in the form of

like too

fiction,

gross an invasion of the

privacy of the home, or the sanctity of the soul of

a man.

They must always

feel

suflfering characters are really

for their

In using

*"

only puppets created

amusement, or their pity for the characters

will develop into

what

vaguely that the

anger and disgust for the author.

facts,

to suppress

then, the first thing to learn is

and what to

The Art of Fiction." pec, '98. Critic,

elaborate,

A lecture by 89

and that

Gilbert Parker.

The

SHORT STORY WRITING involves that most necessary possession of the story teller,

Because a conversa-

a sense of proportion.

tion about the

ten minutes

is

weather occupies two dull people for

no reason that

should receive an

it

equal number of pages; and because an important event is almost instantaneous is no excuse for pass-

ing

it

with a single

what

are relating

Again, the fact that you

line.

actually occurred does not reUeve

you of the necessity of making ers

it

Paint-

plausible.

acknowledge that there are color combinations

in nature

which they dare not reproduce,

be dubbed unnatural; and

which the writer may present only carefully prepared the

truth

is

that

conform to possible

The

we have

way

lest

things

similarly

after he has

for their credence.

they exist

most

The

declared that even nature shall

certain conventions,

and we

reject as im-

any deviations from our preconceived

ideas.

upon which Hawthorne

"The

facts

Ambitious Guest " are these

:

—

^The

built

White

Hills of

which he speaks (Ti) are the famous White Mountains of

name

New Hampshire;

the Notch (Ti)

of a real mountain pass, which

scribes

it;

the

Flume (T22)

is

is

where he places

it.

The 90

the real

just as he de-

a waterfall not far

from the Notch the valley of the Saco ;

is

(1" i ) is really

references to

Portland

:

THE USE OF FACTS (13), Bartlett (I5), Burlington (t;), Bethlehem

and

Littleton (1^i8) are all references to real places

At

in the vicinity.

the point where

cates his story there actually called the Willey

Hawthorne

lo-

was a mountain tavern

House, and a

modem

inn stands on

Concerning the catastrophe which

the spot to-day.

he describes I found the following account "

Some time

in

June

—before

the great

'

slide

'

in

August, 1826-^there came a great storm, and the old veteran,

Abel Crawford, coming down the Notch,

noticed the trees slipping down, standing upright, and,

was passing Mr. Willey's he called and informed him of the wonderful fact. Immediately, in a less exposed place, Mr. Willey prepared a shelter to which to flee in case of immediate danger; and in the night of August 28th, that year, he was, with his family, awakened by the thundering crash of the coming avalanche. as he

Attempting to escape, that family, nine in number, rushed from the house and were overtaken and buried alive under a vast pile of rocks, earth, trees and water. By a remarkable circumstance the house remained uninjured, as the slide divided about four rods back of the house (against a high flat rock), and came down on either side with overwhelming power."*

The book goes on

to state further that the family

* " Historical Relics of the White Mountains," by John H. (Boston, 1855.) "Destruction of the Willey

Spaulding.

Family," page s8.

9>

SHORT STORY WRITING consisted of the father

and mother,

eldest a girl of thirteen

bodies

of

children,

—

—the The

^and two hired men.

the

parents,

the

five children

and youngest

oldest

and the two hired men were found.

It is probable that

Hawthorne derived

his infor-

mation from the newspapers, though he may have heard the story by word of mouth, for there

is little

doubt that he actually visited the spot where the astrophe occurred.

But the bald

however gained, are here,

and that

we have them

essentially as

is sufficient

for our purpose.

In writing his story Hawthorne took several ties

with the

facts.

He made no

change

August

to September

He

liber-

in the loca-

tion because even he could not improve

scene for such a story.

cat-

facts of the case,

upon the

changed the month from

(f i) to

make

plausible, per-

to

make

seasonable the bitter wind which he introduces.

He

haps, the rain necessary for such a slide,

omitted

all

names

to

mystery that haunts the

add to the story.

and

air of unsolved

He

introduced the

guest (Tf4) and the grandmother (Ti), increased the age of the daughter (li), retained the parents

and younger children (l"i) and omitted the hired

men

to suit the

requirements

of

his

story.

He

omitted the warning but retained the establishment 92

THE USE OF FACTS of a place of refuge (I9) to heighten the climax.

He it

used the flight from the house (^[42) because

just suited his purpose.

He

retained the strange

preservation of the house (I42) to increase the air of mystery, it

and

to intensify the tragedy

by making

He

suppressed

appear in a manner unnecessary.

the finding of any of the bodies (1^42) to aid the plausibility of his narrative,

and to increase the pa-

thos of the guest's death.

Compare

carefully the account given

by Spauldr

ing and the story of Hawthorne, for you have here

an excellent the

illustration of the difference

commonplace

recital of facts

mation into a work of true story, but

art.

Hawthorne's

93

and

between

their transfor-

Spaulding's relation is literature.

is

a

VI

THE CHARACTERS It

is

the tritest sort of a truism to say that the

characters in a story are important, for stories are

and

life is

It is the

hopes

stories only in so far as they reflect life,

impossible without

human

and

and sorrows, the

fears, the joys

victories of

ceited

lot,

men

and

lates to us.

actors.

that interest us.

sins

and moral

We men are a con-

find nothing of interest except as

Thus

most ingenious

in the

it

re-

stories,

where some marvelous invention or discovery

is in-

troduced, the interest centers, not in the wondrous

things themselves, but in their influence on the people of the story

;

and

few

in the

or a thing plays the hero,

it is

stories

where a beast

always given human

attributes.

Fictitious characters, like the plots that they develop, are based primarily

on

fact,

and they further

resemble the plots in being different phases of a pri-

mal

idea, rather

many

than intrinsically diverse.

characters in fiction

—Miss

94

We find

Wilkins' stories

THE CHARACTERS

—which are

are full of them realistic,

exact reproductions.

him

meant

to be

and which impress us as word photographs

of existing persons; yet

much

evidently

it is

improbable that they are

A real person ordinarily has too

of the commonplace and conventional about

—

where

to serve in fiction,

paradox

despite the apparent

—a character must be exaggerated A person in fiction

natural.

is

to appear

at the best but a blur

of hieroglyphics on a sheet of paper, and can be com-

prehended only through the mentality of the author; therefore his description, his actions, his words, his

very thoughts must be made so unnaturally striking that through the sense of sight alone they will stimulate the

imagination and produce the effect which

actual contact with the real person

The

would induce.

character which seems most real

is

usually a

composite of the most striking characteristics of several

real

characters

is

To

persons.

due the

this

fact that

source of fictitious

a literary puppet

is

often thought to be the reproduction of several very different real persons; for the reader, recognizing a

particular trait his

which

acquaintance,

is

characteristic of

thinks

that

he

some one of

recognizes the

character.

" While the popular idea that every creature of

95

SHORT STORY WRITING the

imaffination

novelist's

somewhere among egregriously false,

has a definite original

his acquaintances it

has yet this

is,

much

of course,

of truth, that

they are, to a large extent, suggestions from

Not one by the

person, but half a dozen, often

same

for the

sit

life.

as models

picture, while the details are filled out

writer's imaeination.

There are few people

in real life sufficiently interesting or

uncommonplace

to suit the novelist's purpose, but he

must

them before they are

intensify

fit

idealize or

subjects for art.

Dickens intensified to the verge of the impossible, yet

we

never

that

feel

Dick Swiveller and Sam

Weller and Mr. Micawber, and the unnatural; they are only, '

may

coin the word,

It is the business of art to idealize.

hypernatural.'

Even

if I

rest of them, are

at its best art

is

so inferior to nature, that in

order to produce the same impression tensify

its effects;

contrasts, omit line there,

it

has to

in-

to deepen the colors, heighten the

an object here, exaggerate an out-

and so on,

until

it

has produced the proper

picturesque effect."*

A

careful

characters

description

may be

"Rudimentary ing,"

by E.

F.

of the appearance of the

necessary to the understanding

Suggestions for Beginners in Story WritCosmopolitan. Feb., '97.

Andrews.

96

THE CHARACTERS of the story, as in Irving's perfect picture of Ichatx^d in "

Crane

The Legend

of Sleepy Hollow "; but in

our model the people are rather typical than individ-

and Hawthorne devotes but

ual,

A

their external characteristics. suffices to tell

us

all

minds to body them

that

is

forth.

little

space to

word or a phrase

necessary to enable our

Even the hero

is

out-

wardly distinguished only by a melancholy expres-

—a

sion

slight of

would have been

" school-girl " authoress

which no guiltv.

It is

more often necessary

to give the mental characteristics of the puppets, and in "

The Ambitious Guest " we have a

detail

deal of such

concerning the young stranger; but here, too,

you must exercise forbearance, as Hawthorne did

in

his partial analysis of the other characters. It is

by no means

essential that the personages of

a short story be attractive in person or in character.

The

taste of readers

used to be so

artificial

that

no ro-

mancer would have dared to present a heroine who

was not

perfect in face

and

figure, or

a hero

who was

not an Apollo for manly beauty; but in these more

we have substituted good deeds for good looks and have made our characters more human our men more manly and our women more

practical days

—

97

:

SHORT STORY WRITING womanly; and we

exalt

them now for heroic

acts,

rather than heroic mould.

A

mistake which

avoid

is

it

seems hard for the novice to

that of telling everything possible about a

character and leaving nothing to the imagination of

the reader.

This exhaustive method leads to a mul-

which verges on baldness, and

tiplicity

of

which

very apt to contain considerable irrelevant

is

detail

matter; the details are usually arranged with

little

regard for their true value; and the intended description

becomes a mere

charms.

For example,

detailed

though they

catalogue

of

personal

in these three descriptions,

are, there is

nothing to

distin-

guish the particular person described from the scores of other people possessing the same general traits

He

was a

having a

tall,

deep-chested, broad-shouldered man,

light complexion,

dark moustache, hair and

eyes.

We

will take

a look at our heroine, as she

sits lazily

She is of medium height, with black hair and eyes and a winning smile that makes friends for her everywhere. rocking, the sunshine touching her hair.

Lura was yet but a

slight school girl

;

she was

now

and equally as large as Grace. She looked very beautiful as she came out to meet Grace and Mrs. Morton, on their return from the village. Her dark brown hair fifteen

98

:

THE CHARACTERS had been carefully combed back, but the short locks had fallen and formed in ringlets about the snowy neck and

Her full large gray eyes were bright. were red, and in laughing and talking revealed two rows of small, even, pearly white teeth. Her cheeks were round and well formed; although at the present time they bore no marks of roses, they were generally rosy. The gray eyes, by the changing of the expression, often became almost black and greatly comface.

Her

curved

lips

pleted her beauty

Clever character depiction consists in selecting and presenting only those salient details which will serve to

body forth rather a vague image, which

shall yet

possess a definite personality, to which the reader

may

give such distinctness as his imagination

impart to the hints

ofifered.

building a complete character teristic,

after the familiar

impressionistic

is this

It

is

in a

may

manner

upon a single charac-

method of Dickens.

method which

is

It

most used by

masters to picture those characters which seem to us real persons.

In " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," Irving thus describes the hero (?), Ichabod Crane, roine,

Katrina

Van

and the he-

Tassel

The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow

person.

99

:

SHORT STORY WRITING shoulders, long

arms and

legs,

hands that dangled a

mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for

and his whole frame most loosely hung toHis head was small, and flat at the top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe shovels,

gether.

nose, so that

it

looked like a weather-cock, perched

which way the wind blew. hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield.

upon

his spindle neck, to

tell

'To see him striding along the profile of a

She was a blooming lass of fresh eighteen, plump as a and melting and rosy-cheeked as one of her father's peaches, and universally famed, not merely for her beauty, but her vast expectations. She was withal a little of a coquette, as might be perceived even in her dress, which was a mixture of ancient and foreign fashions, as most suited to set off her charms. She wore the ornaments of pure yellow gold which her great-great-grandmother had brought over from Saardam, the tempting stomacher of the olden time, and partridge, ripe

withal a provokingly prettiest foot

and ankle

short petticoat

to

display the

in the country round.

Here are Hawthorne's pictures of Beatrice and her father in " Rappaccini's Daughter "

On again beholding Beatrice the young man was even startled to perceive how much her beauty exceeded his recollection of

—so

it

brilliant,

loo

so vivid in

its

char-

:

THE CHARACTERS acter, that she

glowed amid the sunlight, and, as Gio-

vanni whispered to himself, positively illuminated the more shadowy intervals of the garden path. Her face being now more revealed than on the former occasion,

he was struck by

its

—

ness

qualities that

expression of simplicity and sweethad not entered into his idea of

her character, and which

made him ask anew what be. Nor did he fail again

manner of mortal she might

to observe or imagine an analogy between the beautiful girl

and the gorgeous shrub that hung

like flowers

over the fountain

—a

its

Beatrice seemed to have indulged a fantastic in heightening both

and the

gem-

resemblance which

humor

by the arrangement of her dress

selection of its hues.

His figure soon emerged into view, and showed itself no common laborer, but a tall, emaciated, sallow and sickly-looking man dressed in a scholar's garb of black. He was beyond the middle term of life, with gray hair, and a thin gray beard and a face singularly marked with intellect and cultivation, but which could never, even in his more youthful days, have exto be that of

pressed

And

much warmth this is the

the old miser, in "

Oh! stone,

of heart.

way Dickens

A

Christmas Carol "

But he was a Scrooge!

a

sets forth Scrooge,

tight-fisted

squeezing,

hand

at the grind-

wrenching,

scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!

sharp as

generous

flint,

grasping,

Hard and

from which no steel had ever struck out and self-contained, and solitary

fire; secret,

lOI

SHORT STORY WRITING as an oyster.

The

cold within

froze his old fea-

him

nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue and frosty rime spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry

tures,

;

A

He

chin.

carried his

own low

temperature always

about with him he iced his office in the dog-days didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas. ;

There

is

very

little

and

;

of the catalogue style of de-

scription here; indeed, the characters can hardly be

said to be described sations

:

the author gives rather the sen-

which they produced on observers and so ex-

cites similar sensations in the

When

they

must not be

Their charac-

listed like invoices

must themselves

di^lay

the

of goods:

psychological

powers with which they were endowed by

results of mental processes,

not logical; indeed,

and must appear natural,

it is

an open question

can be both at once, for there are few people

always

their

Their speeches and actions must seem the

creator.

if

al-

their identities with the least pos-

interference from the author.

teristics

reader.

once introduced the characters should be

lowed to work out sible

mind of the

logical.

One good method

mind

they are

of presenting the

characteristics of a fictitious personage in a bit of

if

who

is

to indulge

reading, and give his thoughts as he

103

THE CHARACTERS way

thinks them; another and better

man "

to

is

show the In

actuated by his dominant mental qualities.

Cask of Amontillado " Poe builds a whole

The

on an elaboration of the

story

method, and

latter

presents the picture of a

man

temporarily mastered

by the

It is

only by thus allowing

spirit of revenge.

the characters to

work out

you can make them

real;

own

their

otherwise they will appear

mere painted puppets, without

as

On

life

short story the

number of

general only two,

in

or volition.

account of the technical limitations of the characters which

have principal or " speaking " parts

—

destinies that

There

are

usually

is

and frequently but characters

other

may

very small one.

present

to

help out the action, but they are merely supernumeries,

are

influence.

There

violations of this rule, I admit,

among

without

many

form,

life

or

them such stories as Hawthorne's " Face," "

The Great Stone The Seven Vagabonds," and " The Great

Carbuncle;" but analysis shows them to be pano-

ramic or episodic in

effect,

and

really violating the

unity of action which the short story demands. similar reasons the characters presented

naturally isolated, with

little

and most strangely lacking 103

For

must be un-.

past and less future,

in relatives; for the

few

SHORT STORY WRITING thousand words of the short story permit but a cursory treatment of the ancestry, birth, breeding and If

family of the one or two important characters.

by any

trick they

can be made the

and be snatched from obscurity

much

glare of the lime light, so

reader and character; but history bears

upon the

so

that

a long

line,

momentary

the better for author,

some portion of it

their

be presented by

by references

in the dia-

the necessary

obtains

reader

the

into the

story, let

subtle touches, preferably

logue,

if

last of

knowledge without being conscious of the means.

The few

real characters in the story

must be made

unusually interesting on account of their loneliness.

They compose the race,

and

if

they

human

story, they represent the

fail

us

we

are in sad straits.

They

must be individual; they must stand out sharply from the page, clear and attractive, and leave no doubt of their personalities. fiction,

heroine,

More than any

who have

stage of action.

We

actual personages.

its

hero and

" star parts " and monopolize the

when they speak and that

other form of

the short story depends upon

must act

It is

see

we

them so

vividly that

shall perceive

them

as

such accuracy of depiction

makes Rip Van Winkle, Sherlock Holmes, Van 104

THE CHARACTERS Bibber,

and a host of others enter

and speech as

if

they had really lived.

The names with which we

sound

may

we

still feel

may

label these dolls

In these days names have

of importance. nificance, yet

into our thoughts

that a

be

little sig-

name from

its

very

be appropriate or otherwise, and no care-

ful writer

would give to

selected at

random.

good advantage

his characters appellations

Names

are frequently used to

as aids to character depiction or to

enhance humorous

effects, as in

the case of

Haw-

and Monsieur du Miroir, and

thorne's Feathertoo

Irving's Ichabod Crane,

and

in

many

other instances

familiar to readers of Dickens.

" Dickens's

names are marvelously

from the passing them.

into

common

we see many of

apt, as

phrase of so

Not a few have become sjTionyms

for the

kind of character to which they were attached If a

name

is

to hint at character

the subtlest

manner

as to escape

all

the inartistic as to detect

the

for

in a

manner so

who

in their pride at

writer's

when craftsmanship

more than

—

but the quickwitted,

method

days,

possible

should do so in

it

will forgive

being so clever

In these

intention is

cared for and looked

novelists

ever,

105

subtle

must

sacrifice

SHORT STORY WRITING nothing that will lend a trick of reality to their imaginings.

If they take

any pains

their characters they should hit

when

seen to suit them

names

to select

upon such as

for

will

be

books have been read

their

Patterne or Gabriel Oak)

Willoughby

(like

Sir

names

that attempt with clumsy impertinence to give left to the

a clew to character at the outset are best inept amateur of letters

who

;

has not wit enough to

dispense with such aid. "

To be avoided, also, are out-of-the-way names No that may have livine owners in the real world.

Tom

John Smith or

Jones can complain

if

christen their characters after them; but

owns a

name he

peculiar

and attached

to

some

ceedings very likelv do writer must

an is

'

know

dislikes

having

figure in fiction it

little

it

if

writers

a

borrowed

whose proEvery

credit

the satisfaction that comes

exquisitely right

'

name

is

man

when

But

hit upon.

it

just as well to take reasonable precautions to avoid

indignant protests such as that which Hawthorne

drew upon himself "* Pyncheon

in "

The dramatic *"

Names

for his use of the

The House

trend of the short story

in Fiction,"

by H. H. F.

'99.

106

name Judge

of the Seven Gables." is

responsi-

Literature.

Jan.

19,

THE CHARACTERS ble for its tendency to

Good

advance action by speech.

short stories have been written and will be

written which contain

little

or no dialogue; they suc-

ceed through vividness of plot, piction,

skill in

ingenuity of construction,

character de-

or

some such

but they would be more interesting and

quality;

more natural

if

A

they held more conversation.

short story should be full of talk of the proper kind; there are few people

and

in the exciting

usually presents,

who preserve

moments which a short story

most persons would

voice their teeming thoughts.

it

find tongue to

Speech adds natural-

ness and vividness to the actors,

sonal interest,

silence at all times,

it

lends

them a per-

gives insight into character,

and

it

aids the development of the plot.

This ling,

is

a modern tendency, for the stories of Kip-

Stevenson, Wilkins, Davis and Doyle contain

much more of the conversational element than Where the of Poe, Hawthorne or Irving. would present a mental struggle or a paragraphs of description, the short exciting

the.

crisis

those latter

by some

former express

it

in

words of the actors themselves;

even soliloquies and asides and other of the most mechanical devices of the drama are forced into the service of the short story, to replace the long ex-

107

SHORT STORY WRITING planatory passages such as were used by Irving.

It

has been predicted that in the short story of the future the characters will be briefly introduced will be

and then

allowed to speak for themselves;

we

prophecy comes true

shall

have

if

Hope's " The Dolly Dialogues," or Howells' dramas, where there author.

It is

more

this

stories similar to little

almost no comment by the

is

probable, though, that there is

something of a " fad " in the present liking for pure dialogue,

and that the short story

will

never attain

the absolute purity of the drama. If these fictitious personages are to talk, however,

must

they

naturally

talk

" there's the rub

!

"

shows himself to be a

As

and

interestingly

in real life

fool

when he

a

man

begins to

—and often

talk, so

in fiction a character frequently proves to be but a

poor puppet of straw when he opens his mouth. The

way

only

to

make your

characters talk naturally

to imitate the speech of the persons

some degree talk

whom

is

they in

represent.

People in general do not

by book: they use

colloquial language, full of

poor grammar, slang, and syncopated words; and their sentences are neither plete.

"edit"

In it

reproducing a

little,

always logical nor com-

this,

using your io8

however,

you must

own judgment

as to

THE CHARACTERS which are the

characteristic idioms; for the speech

of the people in books

—except

than in real is

little

it

you must avoid equally the

usually worse; and style

of

extreme romantic

the

and the inane commonplaces of the

school,

better

where

in dialect stories,

life

heavy rhetorical

admittedly a

is

radical

realists.

Conversation

following

the

like

termed "bookish";

it is

boriously profound

^but it is

—

commonly

is

painfully correct and la-

not natural.

If

it

were

" meant for a burlesque upon polite and " cultured society ill

it

would be

exquisite, but

which the writer believes people

is

manner

the

really talk,

easy to guess that he himself

it is

it

is

far

though

from such

absurd affectations in his familiar speech. " is

By way

Athlee

of preliminary, I have to say that

—Felix Athlee,

and yours

is

my name

Miss India Le-

mare. I've seen you before." " In the flesh, I hope," she answered. " Yes, I like you better that way, though you

wear the expression of one older ence.

" is

Wherefore,

Shadows

fall

may

I

ask?

in years

now

and experi-

"

on the young as well as the

old.

One

fortunate, indeed, to keep always in the sunshine." " And flit like the butterfly, without volition or ef-

fort?

Human appointments

are different.

109

Work

is

the

"

SHORT STORY WRITING inevitable,

and with the proper

tools,

it

is

pleasant

enough." "

They must, long ago, have

rusted, for the

want

of use." " No,

we have simply to consider our specialty and " them ready at hand. Have you done so ? " I am dazed, and my brain works capriciously." " Except in the interest of your desires. What arc they?" " Wealth for independence, leisure for indulgence, and fame, the outcome of talent." His luminous eyes looked out over the water, as he said " The universal hunt of mankind is for happiness, and he searches for it in as many ways as there are peculiarities of disposition. Does he ever really find Many weary hearts are covered with the soft down it ? Mischief lurks in indulgence, and fame of wealth. dazzles but to elude. It is wiser to accept what the gods give, and use the gifts for the betterment of others

we

find

:

as well as ourselves." " Meaningless words,

gods for withholding. tals have

when one

What

fine

is at enmity with the spun theories we mor-

!

To

the listener every conversation contains a deal

of commonplace

:

it

may

be that the speakers really

have nothing interesting to

say,

and

it

may

be that

their conversation is so personal as to interest them-

selves only. listener,

and

The it is

reader occupies the position of a the duty of the author to suppress

no

—"

:

THE CHARACTERS commonplace

all

pens,

it

assists

Conversation

sometimes hap-

dialogfue, unless, as

in plot or character

like the

following

—

is

^let

development.

us hope

—

in-

teresting to the parties concerned, but the reader

would be delivered from

it

as

from a plague.

" I am so glad to get one desire of " And that is? "said Al.

my

heart."

"Snow!" "

So glad that is all. I thought you had spied my tie and was planning some crazy design upon it." " Oh, let me see Now, really, that is becoming to your style, but I think it would suit mine better. Brown eyes and black hair should never wear blue

new

'

'

I

'

" that is for grey eyes, the tried and true.' See ? " Neither the eyes nor the tie," said Al, as he turned his

back and looked up at the

The

real difficulty

ceiling.

with this dialogue

writer attempted to

that

the

his characters " smart

make

and so permitted them

is

to indulge in repartee; but as

they were only commonplace people the privilege was

much for them and they merely twaddled. They did succeed in being humorous, but the humor

too

is

unconscious.

Yet unconscious humor and desperate attempt

at

is

preferable to the forced

fun-making which we have

in this extract

III

SHORT STORY WRITING " I don't believe he is proud," said Joe to Tom, his younger brother. " But you know he has been to the Holy Land and cannot now associate with such wicked Or else he has turned Jew and sinners as we are. thinks we are Samaritans." " You two are getting no better fast," said the doctor, " Wait until you get sick, I'll after a hearty laugh. pill that will make you repent." are never going to get sick," said Joe, " but

give you a "

We

we are so old that we will dry up and blow away with the wind, or go to heaven in a Chariot of Fire.' " Turning to the doctor Joe continued " You know Will has a girl, and he is awful pious. If one looks off his book in church, even to wink expect to live until

*

:

at his best girl, he thinks

it

an awful

sin.

And

guilty one should be dipped in holy water, or

that the

do peni-

tence for a week."

It is

a

common

mouths of cheap

trick for the novice to put into the

his characters just such stale jokes

jests,

with the idea that he

extremely funny.

He

is,

is

and

doing something

but his audience

is

laugh-

ing at him, not at his characters.

But most exasperating: of

all is

the author who,

while making his characters suffer the most dreadful afflictions, lets

monplaces

still,

them think and

like the

talk only

com-

poor sawdust dolls that they

are:

113

.

THE CHARACTERS "What

Annie?" I said one months after she had come home " You will know some time. Cicely," she answered. " Why can't you tell me now ? " I asked. is

the matter with you,

day, about five

.

"

You

will

she answered. " By going to Mr. Denham's

know soon enough,"

the by," she went on, " I

am

to-morrow."

"Alone?" "

No,

"

When

am

going with Cousin Ivan." you be back ? " I asked, for Mr. Denham lived twenty miles away. " I don't know," she answered sadly. The next morning I went over to see Annie off. I had been there but a few minutes when her cousin, Ivan Carleon, came. He was about six feet high, with dark, brown eyes, and black hair and moustache. He was a quiet man and I liked him. When they got ready to start, Annie came and kissed me. " I am ready now, Ivan." And then he helped her into the buggy, and they drove off. Two days afterwards, as I was sitting under the shade of a tree, where Annie and I had played when we were small, Miss Jones, an old school fellow, came I

will

along. " Have you heard the

had got up

news ? " she asked, before she

to me.

"What news?" "

Why, Ivan Carleon has killed Annie." " Explain yourself, Daisy," I answered anxiously. " Well," she said, "

eyery one thinks

so.

we

ain't sure

You know

"3

Ivan killed her but ;

that big gate, about

a

SHORT STORY WRITING mile this side of

Mr. Denham's?

Well, day before

Denham, and Annie had shot herself, down at the big gate. went down and found Annie stone dead. A

yesterday Ivan came running up to Mr. said that

They

all

note in her pocket merely stated that she was tired of

But every one thinks Ivan killed her, and that he wrote the note himself. I hope Ivan didn't do it," she said, as she started oS, " for I liked him."

life.

The evening

was sitting under was startled to feel a hand on my Looking up, I saw Ivan Carleon standing shoulder. by my side. I gave a low cry, and shrank from him. the

same

of the third day, as I

tree, I

He

turned pale to his lips. " Surely you don't think I murdered her?" he said. " I don't

know what

to think," I answered, bursting

into tears. " Sit down

moving

He

and tell me all about it," I continued, him on the bench. down beside me; and laid his head in his

for

sat

hands.

Imagine,

if

you

can. the bearer of terrible

would unburden as

on

herself with as

Miss Jones exhibits; hearing

of

or

the tragic

little

a real

news who excitement

who,

girl

death of her bosom

friend, would be merely " anxious " and bid her

formant " Explain yourself " !

The author

in-

of this

could not have had the slightest conception of the

tragedy which he had created, or even his poor 114

life-

THE CHARACTERS less

puppets must have been galvanized into some

show of

real feeling-.

It is neither necessarv

nor

should report every conversation

though

bear upon the story.

it

even

length,

at

Do

you

that

desirable

not reproduce

long conversations simply to say something or to air

your views on current

topics.

it

is

page after page with descriptions of unused If the

much

It is just as

a fault to introduce useless chatter as

to

fill

places.

hero and the heroine, by a brief bright conver-

can put the reader in possession of the facts

sation,

concerning the course of their true love, they should be given free speech but ;

moralize or prose or nothing," shut

if

talk

they show a tendency to

an

" infinite

them up and give the

deal

of

gist of their

dialogue in a few succinct sentences of your own.

Note how

in

T

lo,

ii

Hawthorne has condensed

the conversation which doubtless occurred

at the

supper table, and has given us the salient points

without the commonplaces that tained

must have con-

:

He was served

it

of a proud yet gentle

among

spirit,

haughty and

re-

the rich and great, but ever ready to

stoop his head to the lowly cottage door and be like a

brother or a son at the poor man's fireside.

"S

... He

:

SHORT STORY WRITING had traveled

and alone his whole

far

indeed,

life,

;

had

with the lofty caution of his

been a solitary path, for, nature, he had kept himself apart from those who might . . otherwise have been his companions. The secret of the young man's character was a high and abstracted ambition. He could have borne to '

live

an undistinguished

life,

.

.

but not to be forgotten in

the grave.

and how in

13 he has given us the trend of the

1[

young man's rhapsody,

instead of wearying us with

what was probably rather a long and tiresome speech There was a continual flow of natural emotion gushing forth amid abstracted reverie which enabled the family

to

understand

this

young man's

their

own.

though so foreign from

One form

of the talkative short story that forms

a serious stumbling block to the novice lect story.

If

stories never

is

the dia-

you have an idea of trying that

of composition,

let

me warn

were very

doxical attempt to rhetoric

sentiment,

you: Don't!

artistic, for

make good

and worse grammar.

Dialect

they are a para-

literature of

poor

They have never been

recognized or written by any great master of

They

style

fiction.

are a sign of a degenerate taste, and their

production or perusal

is

a menace to the formation

and preservation of a good 116

literary style.

They

THE CHARACTERS are merely a fad, which

already of the past; and

is

to-day public and publisher turn in nausea from

a mess of dialect which yesterday they would have

now

greedily devoured; so that

pecuniary excuse for dialect

doomed

to

there

even no

is

They were

stories.

an ephemeral existence, for what

little

charm they ever possessed was based upon the hu-

man

craving for something odd and new; the best

stories of Barrie

intense

human

and Maclaren

feeling,

because of their

live

and they would have suc-

ceeded as well and endured longer

if

they had been

clothed in literary Ensrlish. "

That there

but that good

is

is

eood

only

be good dialect; when

and made the

efifect

in dialect

when it is

it

none

may

deny;

chances, as rarely, to

used with just discretion

of circumstances naturally aris-

ing, not the cause and origin of the circumstance itself.

When

the negro, the

cracker

'

taineer dialect occurs naturally in an it

American

often gives telline effects of local color

shading.

can be

But the negro or

made

'

moun-

or the

'

cracker

'

story,

and of

story per se

bearable only by the pen of a master;

and even then

it

may

be very doubtful

if

that

same

pen had not proved keener in portraiture, more just to

human

nature in the main, had the negro or the 117

SHORT STORY WRITING '

cracker

'

been the mere episode, acting on the main

theme, and

Study

itself

carefully,

and

analysis

reacted on by that." *

models of good character

as

presentation,

Stevenson's

" Mark-

heim;" Hawthorne's "The Great Stone Face;" Ichabod Crane in Irying's " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; " Poe's "William Wilson; " Louisa Ellis in Wilkins'

"A New

in Davis'

"Van

George

James' "

*"

Nov.,

in

The Day of

England Nun; " Van Bibber

Bibber and Others;"

The Lesson

Dialect,"

by T.

'97.

I IB

C

Henry

St.

of the Master."

De

Leon.

Lippmcotfs.

VII

METHODS OF NARRATION Not must

only must you have a story to

The charm and

tell it well.

come not from the ling of

The

it.

narration

is

tell,

but you

interest of

a story

from your hand-

plot itself but

question of the proper method of

to a considerable extent a matter of

—of giving the narrative an appropriate a matter of the point of view of the — narrator ^whether he the story as one of the suitability

also

setting;

it is

actors,

or simply

is

to

tell

as an impersonal observer.

dozen master story writers would in a

tell

the

same

A tale

dozen different ways, and each of them would

seem to be the right wav: for each writer would view the events from a particular angle, and would his point of

novice

is

view seem the natural one.

But the

not always happy in his choice of a view

point; or rather, he lacks the knowledge

perience that would teach ject

make

from the particular

chosen to consider

it.

him how side

and ex-

to treat his sub-

from which he has

Yet a capable and clever 119

SHORT STORY WRITING writer

may sometimes

find himself puzzled to choose

between a number of methods, any one of which seems appropriate and any one of which he himself competent to handle satisfactorily tion ful

is

which one

will be for

method of exploiting

him

:

feels

the ques-

the most success-

his thoughts.

That question should be

settled

with regard to

the suitability of the method to the matter of the story

—and here

uralness.

ing

is

It

suitability is

synonymous with

must not be forgotten that story

nat-

writ-

only a modern phase of the world-old custom

of story telling, and that the printed page should

appear as natural and easy to the eye as the voice

would

When

to the ear.

in the twilight the grand-

mother gathers the children about her knee for a story,

whether

it

be a

bit of

from a book, she does not

her

own

strive after

life

should

tell

his tale

—

And

so naturally

reader will forget that he

is

but

efifect,

the story simply and naturally, just as she will best suit the children.

or a tale tells

knows

it

so the story writer

and

easily that the

gazing at the printed

page, and will believe himself a spectator at an actual scene in real

The his

life.

great difficulty of the novice

own

personality.

He knows I30

is

to subordinate

that he

must

in-

METHODS OF NARRATION dividualize his story, and that that

putting something of himself into not always understand that is

it is

is

best done by

it;

and he does

only his spirit that

wanted, and that his body will be very

the way.

Then,

too,

he

apt to be a

is

scious, if not actually self-conceited, likes the idea of

little

much

in

self-con-

and he rather

putting himself into his

work

so

thoroughly that the reader must always be conscious of

his

He

presence.

likes

to

show

knowledge and to take the reader into

his superior

his confidence;

so he indulges in side remarks, and criticisms, and bits of moralizing,

and

in general exhibits

an exas-

perating tendency to consider himself and his personal opinion of far greater importance than the

story which he

But above

is

all

expected to

tell.

things else the author must keep

himself out of sight, and must refrain from interpolating his opinions.

personal person, a

He

dium of which the story no proper place

is

supposed to be an im-

human machine through is

the me-

preserved, and he has

in his narrative.

One no more

ex-

pects or desires a speech from him than a sermon

from a penny-in-the-slot phonograph which has been paid for a comic song.

He may

stand behind the

scenes and manipulate the puppets and speak for 131

SHORT STORY WRITING them, but his hand must be unseen, his voice carefully disguised,

and his personality imperceptible;

no one cares for the

Judy show tation of

—

^he is

life,

man who makes

the

Punch and

judged by the success of his imi-

and

his

own

disillusionize his public.

appearance will speedily

Every time you address

—

your pubUc as " dear reader," " gentle reader," or, " ^you force as Mark Twain has it, " savage reader

—

upon that public a is

realization of

your presence which

as disagreeable and inartistic as the appearance

of the

Punch and Judy man, hat

few coppers

in

in hand, seeking a

payment of the amusement he has

provided.

In the short story no personal confidences, moralizing comments, or confessions are allowed.

must express your opinions and ality felt,

ters

for

stories.

make your

If

person-

write lectures, sermons, essays, books, press—

the public

Men

instructed;

^but

you

let-

don't write short

read short stories to be amused, not

and they

will quickly revolt at

any

at-

tempt on your part to introduce into your narrative a sugar-coated argument or sermon.

There are certain methods of story affected ficult

to

by the amateur which are do

well.

He

should I2S

telling

much

particularly dif-

especially

eschew

METHODS OF NARRATION stories related in the first person, those told ters,

and those

in the

form of a

diary.

by

let-

Notice, I

do not say that these methods are absolutely bad: they have been successfully used by masters; but they are at least questionable, and they contain so

many

pitfalls for the

unwary

for the uninitiated to let

that

it

them severely

is

far better

alone.

Narrative in the first person gives a certain realism through the mere use of the pronoun " I," and

some measure of the desired personal

so excites

terest; but the

same

result

may

be secured, without

the accompanying disadvantages, characters do a

good

in-

by making the

deal of talking.

That method

escapes the danger of getting the narrator between the story his

and the reader;

way through

for the puppet

the narrative

who and who

is

" I's "

apt to be rather

an important fellow,

intrudes

private

prefers

scenes,

who

on

the

most

moralizing and

philosophizing to the legitimate furthering of the plot; thus

he runs no small risk of making himself

unpopular with the reader, and so proving of detriment to the success of the story and of the author.

Then, too, when the author

is

speaking in his

own

proper person, the reader cannot help wondering at times

how one man

could

know

133

so

much about what

SHORT STORY WRITING was going

on, even

he were a veritable Paul Pry", so used to granting the

we have become

while

niscience

and omnipresence of the

we

person author that

however,

If,

if

modesty and profess to but cerning the story, he teresting

attempt

natural

slight information con-

usually a most dull and unin-

is

who

fellow,

invisible third

never question his knowledge.

hero-narrator

the

om-

is

endeavoring to relate a

matter of which he has missed the most essential

And

parts. all

at

all

times,

though he be a model

other respects, the very fact that the hero

ing the story lessens

its interest,

harrowing experiences he has

since

in

is tell-

no matter what

suffered,

he has come

safely through ; thus the narrative lacks that anxiety

for the hero's welfare

which

is

so large a factor in

the delights of fiction.

" It

(first

person narrative)

is

better adapted,

no

doubt, to adventure than to analysis, and better to the expression of

tragedy.

As

this

:

a

to the realization of

far as the presentation of character

concerned, what is

humour than

it is

usual for

life size, full length,

it

to achieve

is

....

generally too flattering

—a personage who —on whom no incon-

portrait of the hero of the story

has the limelight

all

to himself

venient shadows are ever thrown;

1*4

and then

METHODS OF NARRATION a further graceful

you may

call

it,

idealization,

an attractive

pastel,

the lady he most frequently admired,

and, of the remainder, two or three Kit-Cat portraits, a head and shoulders here, and there a stray face." * Stories written in the epistolary or diary

form

suf-

fer all the disadvantages of first person narrative;

but they are also liable to others, equally serious,

They

which are peculiarly their own.

are seldom

natural, in the first place, for granted that people really

do keep interesting

diaries or write literary

letters, it is rare in either

ratives are usually

And

such nar-

poor in technique, for their form

necessitates "the introduction of

monplace or

would

case that a story

be told with technical correctness.

irrelevant,

and

it

much

that

is

com-

also requires the pas-

sage of time and causes breaks in the thread of the plot.

These forms are favorites with the inexperi-

enced because they seem to dodge some of the difficulties that beset

Their form their style

is

the

way

of the literary aspirant.

necessarily loose

*"The Century.

disjointed,

and

rambling and conversational, and these

qualities are characteristic of the

" But

and

if fictitious

work of

letters are so

Short Story," by Frederick Wedraore. Mar.,

'08.

"S

novices.

seldom anything Nineteenth

SHORT STORY WRITING but tiresome, ing

is

tolary

past?

'

is this .

•

because

The

.

.

form as a method

quite as

much

the age of letter writ-

'

unpopularity of the epis-

of authorship

is,

in fact,

due

to a chanee of taste as to the decay

The

of letter writing.

was of a

old practice

piece

with the unrealities of the eig-hteenth century, both in art

and

It necessitated

letters.

superfluous detail, and cial

way

better,

it

an abundance of

was a roundabout,

of doing what the true artist could do

simply and directly.

It

shades

'

fictitious

But

of feeling.

is

certainly

many fine much more '

carry conviction in inventing letters for

persons than in making them converse.

the latter case there life

it

much

gave, of course, an

opportunity of exhibiting subjectively

difficult to

artifi-

a background; there

is

is

In the

and movement of the various characters, the

spontaneity of question and reply, and the running

interchange of talk, the reader. illusion,

The

all

helping to keep a spell upon

letter gives

much

less

chance of

and we may very soon become conscious

of the author

—beating

—

instead of the suffered correspondent

his brains for

something to say next." *

Another poor method, indicative of callowness, is

making the •"The

hero, so to speak, an animal or a

Epistolary Form."

Literature.

126

Apr.

7, '99.

METHODS OF NARRATION thing,

and permittine

it

to

tell its

own

has peculiar charm for the tyro because of

posed originality, but telling itself.

for

sup-

its

really as old as story

is

It offends greatly against naturalness,

however one may

ass,

it

This

story.

believe in the story of Balaam's

or delight in .(Esop's talking brutes or Greece's

talking statues, one cannot restrain a feeling of skepticism

human

when a dog

or a coin

is

put forward, given

and made to view the world

attributes,

through man's eyes.

On

the other hand,

if

the

writer attempts to read the thoughts of the brute

or the thing, the difficulty at once presents

itself

that he can only guess at the mental processes of

the one, and that the other

is

incapable of thought;

so that in either case the result

One

is

unsatisfactory.

exception to this statement must be

ling, in his

" Jungle

Book

made Kip:

" stories, seems to have

achieved the impossible and read for us the very

thoughts of the brute creation. is

not given us to

know how

Unfortunately

it

nearly he has hit their

mental processes; but his animals certainly do not think with the thoughts of men. and their cogitations, as

he interprets them, appear to us perfectly

logical

and

not at

all

natural.

Yet the success of Kipling does

lessen the force of

127

my

general statement,

SHORT STORY WRITING who would care to cross pens with him here. Even our own Joel Chandler Harris, in his delightful Uncle Remus stories, has succeeded only in giving his animals human ideas for there are few writers

and

The whole endeavor

attributes.

oughly

artificial

endow

to

with man's intelligence

rest of creation

the

too thor-

is

to offer a profitable field to the

short story writer.

Again, novices err frequently through introducing a multiplicity of narrators, either writing a patch-

work

story in

narration

within

persons

narration

a

"Arabian

in the

number

a

allowing

to

carry on the plot

offers

it

personally

as

of

consecutively

very attractive, since

ducing

take a hand, or placing

all

The method

Nights." of

which

interested

a

way

of introwith-

narrator

out making him preternaturally wise; and

it

also af-

fords opportunity for the author to exhibit his in viewing events from

minds of several very ever, it is

is

all

sides

first

skill

and through the

different persons.

open to most of the

is

It

is,

how-

person objections, and

liable to produce a disjointed narrative; but

it

in the short story because

it

particularly

unhappy

necessitates the introduction

number of important

people.

128

and disposition of a

METHODS OF NARRATION The

use of narration within narration

jectionable. story, or

how

came

it

appears the better. narrator

is

importance

It is of little

to be told

is

more ob-

who

tells

the

the less the narrator

;

seldom that more than one

It is

necessary, yet two, three, or even

more

are often introduced, with full descriptions of per-

"

sons and circumstances.

It is

a frequent device of

the unpractised to cover pages with useless expla-

nations of

how

they heard a tale which

orately put too far off

One

his sympathies. ral station, his

when

it

from the reader

so on, is wrecked,

with an old farmer,

thus elab-

to appeal to

writer, after describing a ru-

waiting for the train,

arrives, the

is

its

appearance

companions of his journey, and

and spends the night on a log

who

spins

that has nothing to do with

him a domestic yarn

what went

before.

Why

not give the tale direct, in the character of the old

farmer?

There

This practice ally

is

is

no law against

that." *

due to the fact that amateurs usu-

begin by writing strictly true stories, and they

always consider

had the

tale

it

of prime importance that they

from grandmother, or that

it

actually

occurred to John's wife's second cousin's great aunt; * " erick

Magazine Fiction and

M.

Bird.

Lippincotfs.

How

Not

Nov.,

139

to

'94.

Write

It,"

by Fred-

;

:

:

SHORT STORY WRITING in their unconscious egotism,

forgetting,

that the

reader cares only for the narrative, and nothing for Stories told to interested listeners

the narrator.

by

" grandma," an " old hunter," or some loquacious " stranger," usually need to be so revised that the

merged

intrusive relater will disappear,

obtrusive author.

Indeed,

it

in the un-

policy so to re-

is

vise them, for the editor usually considers the au-

thor "

who begins

thus too amateurish for him

Your turn now. Captain," was the exclamation of who were seated around a table, tell-

several gentlemen

ing

narrating adventures, playing cards and

stories,

drinking each others' healths. " .What will you have, gentlemen ? " inquired Captain

R— in

,

a

tall,

handsome man of middle

command

who had many years.

age,

of a large ocean steamer

been

" Oh, one of your adventures," said one of the party " for surely you must have had some." " Ah, very well, gentlemen I remember one that

—

will

no doubt

For

at the outset he

interest

you here ;

it is

" :

knows, and he knows that his

readers will know, that the tale ends thus "

So ends

my

story,

gentlemen

;

now

let

us have a

drink to the health of the young sailor's wife, the dearest woman in the world." " And why not the sailor's health, too ? " asked one

of the gentlemen.

METHODS OF NARRATION " All right,

was that

sir,

just as

you

please, gentlemen, for I

sailor."

and that the intervening story

is

whit as stale and conventional as its

all

method may be used

of Irving' s art to

sages readable, and ries

its

beginning and

Irving's " Tales of a Traveller "

end.

this

apt to be every

successfully; yet

make

it is

best

method of

most natural, son, as

if

is

to

tell

an open question

if

the sto-

isolation.

narration, the simplest

and

the story in" the third per-

you were a passive observer;

characters active and conversational;

nothing, not even your

required

the extra-narrative pas-

would not have been improved by

The

show how it

own

and

make

the

to permit

personality, to get be-

tween the reader and the story.

tji

to

VIII

THE BEGINNING The crucial test of the short story is the manner in which

it

Of

bejfins.

three-fourths of the

MSS.

sub-

mitted to him the editor seldom reads more than the page, for he has learned by experience that

first

the story lacks interest there, bility

you

be lacking throughout.

to

make

if

will in all proba-

it

Therefore

it

behooves

the beginning as attractive and correct

as possible.

The beginning

of a good sihort story will seldom

comprise more than two or three paragraphs, and often

it

can be compressed into one.

If

get to the story proper in that space there

thing radically

—^probably

wrong

it

is

cannot

some-

in the plot; for the

conventional brevity of the short story requires particular conciseness in the introduction.

In

every

story

there

are

certain

foundation

facts that

must be understood by the reader

at the

outset

he would follow

easily.

if

These basic truths

the

narrative

differ greatly in different stories,

132

:

THE BEGINNING so that

it

difficult to

is

give a complete

but

list;

they are usually such details as the time and scene of the story, the names, descriptions, characteris-

and

tics,

and the

may

relationships of the different characters, relation of events prior to the story that

influence

You must make

development.

its

sure that the details which you select are fundamental

and that thev do have a

some knowledge of them.

quires facts,

however,

rative

when

mav

their

in abeyance to

which

definite influence

Any or all

re-

of these

be introduced later in the nar-

need appears; or they

may

be

left

enhance the element of suspense or

mystery.

But because they are necessary these

facts

need

not be listed and ticketed like the dramatis personae of a play

They should be introduced

bill.

that the reader will

comprehend them

so deftly

involuntarily;

they must seem an intrinsic part of the warp and

woof of the

narrative.

In themselves they are com-

monplaces, tolerated only because they are necessary;

and

if

thev cannot be

can at least be thus

is

to

made

make a

made

unobtrusive.

false start that

To begin a story may prove fatal

This happy family consisted of six

two

sons,

and two daughters. 133

interesting they

;

a father, mother,

Clara, the eldest,

had

SHORT STORY WRITING completed a course at college, and during the past few months had been completing one in cooking, guided and Bessie, the youngest, was instructed by her mother.

She sat rocking Amanda, her new doll, and was asking her all manner of questions. John and Henry, aged respectively ten and. fourteen years, were five years old.

helping their father.

Grandma and grandpa were expected to dinner Mr. Draco, or " Harry," as every one called him. was a friend of the family's, and Clara's lover.

;

also

He

Note how Hawthorne handles a very ily

group

in the

tious Guest."

parent

efifort;

initial

He

similar famparagraph of " The Ambi-

inserts his details

without ap-

and yet he makes the persons

ual and distinct.

He

individ-

does not say:

This family was happy, and comprised father, mother,

grandmother,

daughter

of

seventeen,

and younger

children.

but:

The

and mother had a sober gladThe eldest daughter was the image of Happiness at seventeen, and the aged grandmother, who was knitting in the warmest place, was the image of Happiness grown old. faces of the father

ness; the children laughed.

Sometimes,

in stories

versation, as so

many

which consist largely of conof our

modern

stories do,

the author never directly states the situation to the

»34

THE BEGINNING reader:

is

it

made

sufficiently plain either directly

in the conversation itself, or indirectly in the neces-

Or

sary comments and descriptions.

may

it

be pre-

sented as a retrospect indulged in by one of the char-

On

acters.

oquy

;

the stage this takes the form of a

but since few

men

in their right

think aloud, in the short story

it

is

minds

solil-

really

better for the

author to imagine such thoughts running through the

mind of the

character,

indirect discourse.

the author surprise

Such

as

or

stories

incredulity

facts,

at

very

approach

These are

and the most

ing essential

are

to reproduce

artistic

them as

used to consider

so

we

omniscient that

Dramatic Form. natural

We

and

such nearly at

experience no

mind-reading. to

the pure

once the

most

methods of introduc-

and they are methods which

can be advantageously employed to some extent in almost any story.

With

this

method

in

mind read

carefully any one of Hope's "Dolly Dialogue" stories

and note how cleverly the

facts are presented

through the words and actions of the characters. In the novel essential details are frequently held in

suspense for some time, in order that the opening

pages

may

be made attractive by the introduction

of smart conversation or rapid action. 135

A

similar

SHORT STORY WRITING method

is

often followed in the short story, and

cannot be condemned offhand, for it is

if

used

it

skillfully

a clever and legitimate device for immediately

fixing the reader's attention; but

the uninitiated, for the amateur

it

holds danger for

is liable

to postpone

the introduction of the details until the story is hopelessly obscure, or until

he

is

reduced to dragging in

Even

those essential facts in the baldest manner. if

he

otherwise successful, he runs the risk of

is

destroying the proportion of his story by practically

beginning

it

middle and endeavoring to go

in the

The conventions

both ways at once. story allow of

little

space for the retrospection neces-

sary to such an introduction; and

begins to say, " But

first let

me

charm of the opening sentences of

dreariness

ers,

is

of the

ensuing

used to

all this

forgotten in the

This

explanations.

excellent

The Prophetic

example of how

advantage; and

lustrates the

how

yawn, and the

to is

the writer

modern school of short story

but Hawthorne, in "

gives us an

ried,

the

when

explain

came about," the reader begins

method

of the short

the

136

Pictures," it

may

following well

absurd lengths to which

and the desperate means

writ-

to

it

may

be il-

be car-

which the writer

:

THE BEGINNING must then

resort to patch

up the broken thread of

the narrative

Joseph Johnson was a young man whose name aplist of the dead heroes who had fallen at

peared in the Santiago.

When Mamie

Williams read the startling

fact,

her

with tears, as past history was unfolding itin her mind, presenting one event after another.

eyes

filled

self

She thought about their early love, how she had clasped his hand and how his lips lingered long upon hers when last

they parted before he started to the cruel war.

With a wounded heart and

tear-stained eyes, she sank

and with her hands over her face, many of the past chased each other through her

into a chair, reflections

mind.

She

tried

to

console herself and smooth out the

wrinkles in her troubled mind with the thought that

God knows and telligent girl,

does

things well.

all

She was an

and reasoned farther with herself,

In-

"As

hope for Joseph has fled, I ought to marry some one else, and make most of what I have. There is

all

Thomas Malloy, who ever,

my

affection for

I shall unite

my

life

loves

him

with

is

me

his,

myself and the world around

almost as well; how-

not very great, but

and do

me

my

I

think

best to

make

happy."

Her mind, moved by an emotion of a noble heart, caused her to make the last remark. Soon they were married, but there was no happiness 137

SHORT STORY WRITING for the one she lived for was gone, and had carried o& her affection with him. Returning to the war we find that Joseph was not killed in the battle but was taken prisoner by the enemy. in life for her

There might be

is

;

a questionable sort of beginning, which

called dilatory, that consists in carrying the

literary aspect of the essential facts to the extreme,

and making them occupy a deal more valuable space than

is

This

rightly theirs.

is

generally the method

of a past school of short story writers, or of the writers of to-day

who

technique of their

Irving

is

are not yet well versed in the

art.

Of

this class

In " Rip

a great example.

Washington

Van Winkle "

and " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow " he devotes to the introduction almost as

much

to-day would give to the whole ful in gently

introduces

space as a writer

tale.

He

is

so

skill-

urging the narrative along, while he

new

essentials

and

interpolates literary

but non-essential matter, that in neither story can

one exactly

fix the

bounds of the beginning; but

each a modern story

teller

would combine the

ten paragraphs into one introductory paragraph.

do not mean to say that it

is

a fault at

all it

this is a fault in Irving

in

first

I :

if

belongs to his time; then, too,

these tales were supposed to be written by the gar-

138

:

THE BEGINNING rulous

Diedrich

antiquarian,

their discursive style

is

Knickerbocker;

but

not in vogue to-day, and

is

therefore to be avoided.

As an awful example of the extent dilly-dallying may be carried, let me

which

to

this

introduce the

following

The

train rolled

onward with a speed of twenty-five

miles an hour, the great iron engine puffing and screech-

ing as

if its

very sides would burst.

the six coaches

which seemed

In the rear car of

to follow the

man

iron horse with dizzy speed, sat an aged pretty child of four summers,

who was

monstrous holding a

fast asleep.

The

grandfather gazed on the sleeping face and deeply sighed.

His thoughts returned to the long ago when was the same age as the little one he held

his only child

so fondly clasped in his dear old arms.

how

years ago he had held his

own

He

thought

darling thus;

how

happy and bright his home had been in those sweet bygone days. He recalled how she had been reared in a home of plenty, how she had everything which constitutes the happiness of a young girl.

The

Story.

The time was a warm summer evening the place one of those quiet

little

in August, towns west of the great

Mississippi, and the scene opens in a neat little parlor where a number of youUg folks had gathered to tender a fitting reception to a newly married couple. A few days previous a stranger had arrived in the town to

»39

SHORT STORY WRITING some former friends; these friends attended the The reception and were accompanied by their guest. of the crowd to introduced formally stranger was merry-makers as Elmer Charleston. He was a tall, splendidly formed, intelligent looking young man. Among the young women present was one Jennie Shelby, who was but little more than twenty she was a blonde, visit

;

of graceful figure, with a peculiarly animated expression of countenance. Her complexion was beautiful, her dimples deep and mischievous, her large blue eyes

full

and her features would pass muster among sculptors. Suitors had she by the score. At last she had met her fate. Elmer Charleston accepted a position in the town and at once began to court the

of latent

fire,

only daughter of Squire Shelby. It

seems almost incredible that any writer, however

inexperienced, should begin his fashion.

The

narrative

introductory paragraph

entirely unnecessary

is

in

this

of course

—even the author had some

ling of that fact, for he takes pains to specify

ink-

when

"the story" proper actually begins; but even after he

is

supposed to be in the midst of his narration, he

stops to give us wholly gratuitous information con-

cerning the time of day, the state of the weather, and the occasion

—

nie Shelby

when Elmer Charleston all

first

met Jen-

of which was apparently introduced

for the purpose of discouraging further interest least, that is

what

it

certainly accomplishes.

140

:

at

THE BEGINNING short story has no space for the " glittering

The

generalities " with

which young writers delight to

A

preface their work.

tale

which requires a page

or even a paragraph to elucidate

and things

in general is

much

the

less

seldom worth the perusal,

These

writing.

marks are usually

relation to life

its

introductory

re-

in the nature of a moral, or a bit

of philosophizing; but

if

the story has any point

will be evident in the narrative itself,

it

and no pre-

liminary explanation will atone for later neglect to

make it of human unless

it

interest.

be the perversity of

There

is

human

should begin a story by making

no good reason,

nature,

trite

why you

remarks about

things in general, as this writer did:

Love

a very small word, but the feeling that it exand choicest fruit of any vine that curls its clinging tendrils around the human heart. And a bosom without it is a bosom without warmth; is

presses bears the richest

a

life

without

it is

like

a honeysuckle without

its

nec-

tar; a heart that has never felt its sweet emotions like

a rosebud that has never unfolded.

people

it

But

is

some like an

remains latent for a number of years,

in

apple which remains green and hard for a time, but

suddenly ripens into softness, so when love flashes into human breast, the once hard heart is changed into

the

mellowness.

Mary Green was

just such a character as the one

last described, etc.

141

:

SHORT STORY WRITING It

would be wrong, however, to say that the pref-

atory introduction

many good

is

the sign of a poor story, for

writers produce such stories, and

many

A

large

accept and publish them.

critical editors

majority of Poe's tales begins so; yet in nearly every case the beginning could have been cut and the story improved.

Kipling, too, has a liking for this

method of beginning; usually he

states his abstract

a preacher announces his text, and then pro-

idea, as

make

ceeds to

the practical application.

With

these

masters the transition from the general to the usually easy

cific is

and gradual, but

ing example from Kipling's "

On

Likeness " the line of demarcation

Next

the Strength of a is

well defined

most conyoung man can carry about with

to a requited attachment, one of the

venient things that a

him

spe-,

in the follow-

at the

beginning of his career

is

an unrequited

at-

makes him feel important and businesslike, and blase, and cynical; and whenever he has a touch of liver, or suffers from want of exercise, he can mourn over his lost love, and be very happy in a tender, tachment.

It

twilight fashion.

Hannasyde's to him.

There

It is

affair of the heart

was four years

no

had been a godsend

old, etc.

real abruptness here,

and the author's

observations are apt and sound; but the fact re-

mains that they are not

essential

14a

and so a

strict

THE BEGINNING observance of

conventions requires their elimina-

tion.

"

The background

of a story should always be

the last thing to be chosen, but

when one comes to

to consider

much

the

it is

first

thing

actual writing-out.

A

a painting. ... In story writ-

story

is

ing

appears to be simple portraits that need least

it

like

background." *

Scenes

may

play an important part

by influencing the actors or by

in a story

ofifering

a contrast to the events; in such cases they must be

made

specific,

but rather after the broad free man-

ner of the impressionist. contrast or

The employment

harmony of man

£^nd nature is

of the

one of

the oldest devices of story telling, but also one of

the most artistic and effective. cial device, its

misuse

:

though it is

it

It is

not an

artifi-

occasionally appears so from

a fact that

all

perienced in some degree, for

of us must have ex-

we are all, though often

unconsciously, influenced by the weather or by our

may be so we are suf-

environments; and though our emotions intense as to counteract that influence, ficiently self-centered to think it

ture should not be in

*"How &

Bellaires

to Co.,

strange that

harmony with

all

na-

us.

Write Fiction." Published anonymously by London. Part I, Chapter VII.

143

SHORT STORY WRITING You

should, however, take care that the scene is

important before you attempt to present

does influence the action of the story or

it

sary for the understanding of what

no place be

Above

them.

all

how

"

a tale begins,

slowly sinking

among

glory over the

'

details

hills,

He knows

the orb of day

finds

it

he does not care for your

to

places.

of day

was

shedding an effulgent

distant landscape,'

pause right there.

your story

different

the discerning

whether ofHcial or volunteer,

reader,

has

it

which would serve

The golden orb

the

come

your description of

any one of a hundred

When

when

artistic

things, never clutter

with commonplaces and picture

to

neces-

is

no matter how great may

in the narrative,

beauties or

its

is

Unless

it.

exactly

is

apt to

what happens

time to disappear, and

language unless

fine

it

conveys a fact or an idea worth noting." *

The

best

method of procedure

is

to suggest the

you do the character, t by the few features which distinguish it from other scene, as

scenes,

Hawthorne gives a very

of the setting of " * "

t

The Ambitious

Magazine Fiction and

M.

similar

and to permit the reader's imagination to

in the details.

erick

specific

Bird.

Lippincotfs.

How

Not

Nov.,

See Chapter VI.

144

Guest; " and yet,

to Write It,"

'94.

fill

distinct idea

by Fred-

:

.

THE BEGINNING from

his description alone,

draw the same all

no two persons would

It suffices that

picture.

they would

possess the essential elements of loneliness, bleak-

ness and haunting- terror. effects

At

the same time he

a sharp contrast between the wildness and dis-

comforts of the night and the peace and cheer of the tavern.

In locating the story

absurdly shiftless to des-

it is

ignate the place by a dash or a single letter, or a

One

combination of the two. is

to

make your

that end

of your

story vivid, and

you

and desire

names.

If

to disguise

lation different

you are

it,

objects

will not further

by the use of impossible or

stitutes for

first

indefinite sub-

relating a true story

adopt or invent some appel-

enough to avoid detection; but never

be so foolish as to say

The

story I

am

about to relate occurred to

friend X., in the little village of latter part of the It

year i8

would be just as

Z

.

my

during: the

—

sensible to

go through the

rest

of the story and substitute blanks or hieroglyphics for the important words. tails is

Specificness in

a great aid to vividness,

minor de-

and you cannot

af-

ford to miss that desirable quality through sheer laziness.

I4S

SHORT STORY WRITING The

safest

way

to begin a story is to begin at the

beginning, state the necessary facts as succinctly as

and lead the reader into the quick of the

possible,

action before he has had time to it

For

become weary.

must be remembered that the object of the short

story

always to amuse, and that even in the intro-

is

ductory paragraphs the reader must be interested. If

he

is

not he will very likely cast the story aside

and

as dry

dull; if

he does read

it

through he

will

be

prejudiced at the outset, so that the result will be

about the same. In "

The Ambitious Guest "

T

cupies

the introduction oc-

1-4, or one-eleventh of the entire story,

measured by paragraphs.

In that space Hawthorne

locates the scene, introduces and individualizes the

characters, determines the atmosphere of the tale,

and recounts the necessary preliminaries; and this

he

does in the easiest

ing up to the story proper.

A

writer of to-day

would probably condense these four paragraphs one, without neglecting

all

way, while skillfully lead-

any

essentials

;

into

but he would

hardly attain the literary finish of Hawthorne's

work.

To

prove further that the beginning of a story

does influence

its

success, I

146

would ask you

to con-

;

THE BEGINNING sider the following,

which

is

typical of the style of

introduction most affected by the novice: It was a bright, crisp, twilight evening, and two young girls sat together in a richly furnished parlor of

a splendid country house.

One, tall and slender, with a richly moulded handsome brunette features, and raven tresses

figure

—Edith

Laingsford, the daughter of the house of

medium

;

the other, a girl

ard

height, with a figure perfectly rounded,

a fair Grecian face.

Her

eyes were of a soft gray, and her hair a waving

chestnut.

She was Marion Leland, a dependent cousin

of Miss Laingsford's.

Now, there

frankly, is

do vou care

sented that encourages

you

to

hope that the

improve upon further perusal. paragraphs you

know

Surely

to read further?

nothing in the glimpse of the plot here pre-

From

tale

these three

can construct the whole story

that the " dependent cousin "

may

:

and the

you girl

with the " handsome brunette features " will be vals for the affections of some " nice

ri-

young man " of

corresponding conventionality, and that the poor relation will finally

—

win him

chiefly because

happens so in stories and seldom in real

it

life.

always

And

you know from these specimen paragraphs that there will be

nothing in the handling of this poor old hack-

neyed plot that

will

repay 147

its

perusal.

Of

course

SHORT STORY WRITING there in

always a chance that you

is

your surmises; but the chance

you

cast the story aside with

may is

too slight, and

a yawn, even as the

editor

would

stories

do not deserve like treatment.

do.

See to

it,

«4»

be mistaken

then, that your

own

IX

THE STORY PROPER The correct short story possesses unity of form as In the novel there

well as unity of plot.

may be wide

gaps of time and scene between adjacent chapters; but the short story allows of no thought,

much

less of chapters.

such Parts

in a short story are uncanonical. is

essentially

a

unit,

and the

A

literature;

" chapters "

may

or*

chapters

short

story

necessity of divisions

indicates the use of a plot that belongs to

form of

chasms of

some

larger

but the indicated "parts" or

be

false

through the influence of the

divisions

introduced

conventions

of

the

novel.

The various

divisional signs to be avoided are the

separate entries or letters of the diary or epistolary

forms, the introduction of stars or blank spaces to indicate a hiatus,

and the

into parts or chapters.

epistolary forms

need no

division of the narrative

The

evils of the diary

and

have already been discussed and

further comment. 149

The

use of stars or

SHORT STORY WRITING spaces either

due to an improper

is

tirely unnecessary.

In the

or

is

en-

instance the fault

first

and the only remedy

is radical,

plot,

is

complete recon-

struction; in the second case the difficulty resolves itself into

an ignorance or a disregard of rhetorical

conventions.

Often the story

and forced to appear plot

deliberately divided

in several chapters

and treatment make

solely because the

is

its

when

its

unity very evident; and

amateur has an

idea,

caught from

his novel reading, that such divisions are essential

to a well told story. novels,

to

many

though they may be convenient; and they

have no place

There are which

They are not necessary

in the

stories,

divisions

scheme of the short

story.

" short " at least in length, in

are necessary to

indicate breaks

which do not seriously interrupt the coherency of the narrative; they

may

be readable

stories,

but they can

never be models.

The

ideal short story,

from the point of

one which requires the passage of the

least

presents the fewest separate incidents. lation of a single isolated incident,

only the time required to

tell it.

"

unity,

is

time and

It is the re-

which occupies

The Ambitious

Guest " impresses the reader as a single incident and

would seem to approach

this perfection,

150

but a care-

THE STORY PROPER ful analysis of

it

resolves

it

number of minor

into a

incidents, so closely related

and connected that

at

glance they appear to form a perfect whole.

first

The component tious

Guest"

incidents of the

(Tf 5-39)

T 5-7. The

body of " The Ambi-

are:

stranger praises the

fire

and reveals

his

destination.

A stone rolls down the mountain side.

T[ 8, 9.

(Lapse of time indicated here.) TT 10, II.

The

characters are described, as they reveal

themselves through their conversation.

They converse

Tf 12-23.

rather frankly of their sev-

eral ambitions. T[

A wagon

24-27.

when

stops before the inn, but goes

on

the landlord does not immediately appear.

^ 28-31. A

touch of sentimental byplay between the

stranger and the maid.

% 32. A

sadness creeps over the company, caused,

perhaps, by the wind wailing without.

T 33'39- The

grandmother discusses her death and

burial.

None

of these incidents, except those containing the

rolling stone

and the passing

travelers, possess

cient action or identity to be called

cept for

some such

sufifi-

an incident, ex-

analytical purpose.

They

are

rather changes in the subject under discussion than separate happenings. noted,

it

may

With

the exception

be said that there 151

is

already

no time gap be-

SHORT STORY WRITING tween these incidents, for each one begins at the expiration of

its

predecessor.

The connection and

lation of the sub-incidents is not

always as close as

In a longer story they could be more distinct

this.

and

re-

definite

and yet preserve the unity of the work;

but they should never disintegrate into minor

cli-

maxes,* nor into such a jerky succession of disassociated scenes as the following:

On of

a fair sweet spring morning in the lovely

May, Squire Darley

reads

it

finishes

an important

month

letter.

over the second time to see that there

is

He

no mis-

take.

" There, that'll

that'll do, I think,"

fetch him, I think.

peculiar remedies."

And

he soliloquizes.

A

New York

And

Then Mr. H. C. Dar-

he chuckled to himself.

with deliberate care he addressed ley,

"

Peculiar diseases require

it

to "

City."

few words

to

my

reader,

and we

will then follow

Five years before the time of which we write, Abner Vanclief, a poor but honorable gentleman, had died, leaving his motherless daughter

this

important

letter.

to the sole care of his lifelong friend,

Horace Darley,

a wealthy country gentleman, a widower, with only

one son. Squire Darley was quite at a loss to know what to do with this, his new charge. He did not think it fit and proper to take her to Darley Dale, with only himself and * See Chapter X.

i5»

THE STORY PROPER Then, too, she was sadly in

servants as companions.

need of schooling.

At

much worry on his part, it was satisfacarranged between himself and a maiden sister, that resided in Albany, that Violet was to remain with her, attend the best college, pay strict attention to her studies and music, and when her education should be completed, she, if she wished, was to make Darley Dale last after

torily

her future home.

Four years passed swiftly by, and then " Dear Aunt Molly," as Violet had learned to call her, was taken violently ill; and before her brother came her sweet spirit had flown away and poor Violet was again alone. But after she became fairly installed as mistress at Darley Dale, she soon learned to love the place and also to love the dear old man that had been to her so staunch a friend.

As

had heard his praises sung She had never seen him, for at the time of her father's death he was attending college, and before she returned to Darley Dale he had hied himself off to New York City, there to open a law office and declare that his future home. Many times the Squire had written him beseeching him to return, but always met with a courteous refor his son Harley, she

from morning

until night.

fusal.

When

Violet had been at Darley Dale a year she

was

surprised beyond measure by an offer of marriage from

Squire Darley.

He had enlarged upon the fact that his son was a most obstinate young man, that he himself was growing 'S3

:

SHORT STORY WRITING old,

and that he wished to see her well cared for before

he died.

She had assured him that she could work, and that was willing to work when the time came, but the old Squire proved himself to be as obstinate as his wilful son. And at last Violet, with a white drawn face, and dark frightened eyes, consented to become his wife at she

some future

And

time.

the letter addressed to

Mr. H. C. Darley con-

tained the announcement of the engagement of Squire

Horace It is

to

Miss Violet Vanclief.

seldom that even a model short story plot

be a perfect unit, for in the story, as in the it

pictures,

little

some

slight

is

which

life

change of scene and some

passage of time are inevitable.

short story there

will

Thus

in

any

usually a slight hiatus of thought,

due to these causes, which must be bridged over.

The

tyro will span the chasm

some such arbitrary

by means of

signs, but the

stars or

master will calmly

ignore such gaps and preserve the tmity of his narrative so deftly that even the lines of the dovetailing will

be scarcely

in "

Thus

visible.

The Ambitious

Guest " (T9, 10) Hawthorne had need to cate the passage of

some

little

time, during

the guest had his supper; but the breach in so matter-of-fact a

manner

and yet the sense of time

is

that there

secured

154

is

is

indi-

which passed

no

jolt,

THE STORY PROPER Let us now suppose the stranger to have finished his supper of bear's meat, and by his natural feUcity of

manner

to have placed himself on a footing of kindness with the whole family; so that they talked as freely together as if he belonged to their mountain-brood.

When

the plot comprises a series of closely related

episodes the story should be located in the time of the

most important one, and

all

necessary prelimi-

nary matter should be introduced as briefly and casually as possible in one of the several

ready given.* ally

ways

Indeed, the whole difficulty

al-

usu-

is

due to a poor beginning, and properly belongs to

the preceding chapter.

Next

to the use of divisions

comes the

error, also

caught from the novel, of making the short story a carryall for divers bits of scription,

and

wisdom, moralizing, de-

literary small talk,

in the narrative, but

which have no part

which the clever and

self-ap-

preciative author has not the heart to withhold

The

the public.

art of omission

branch of the art of authorship. sary to

tell

the novice

quently necessary to

persuade him

!

—

tell

It is

seldom neces-

to put in; but

him

from

an important

—and oh!

it is

fre-

so hard to

that to introduce an irrelevant idea

*See Chapter VIII foundation

what

is

for the best

facts.

I5S

methods of introducing

SHORT STORY WRITING is

worse than to omit a necessary

The young

detail.

writer must learn early and learn once for

all

the ab-

solute necessity for the exclusion of non-essentials.

Selection of details plays an important part in any

work, but in the short story extreme care

literary

indispensable, for the short story has too to sacrifice

any

irrelevant matter

presence

is

is

One

—a term by

is

smack of the

soil.

These

—

of local color depends :

it

story

must be

^possible of ap-

community

to

which they

are mere padding.

The need

plication to only the small

—or they

make a

details

eminently local and characteristic

are ascribed

the desire for

which we characterize

those details which are introduced to

the story

its

in conception.

of the chief causes of padding

to

Such

a serious detriment to the success of any

" local color "

seem

space

usually called " padding," and

however clever

story,

little

to pretty but useless phrases.

is

much upon

the character of

varies from a doubtful addition to the

story of ingenuity or adventure, to a necessary part

of the story portraying

human

life

and

character.

" Without blindly indulging in local color one must

be accurate in indicating

facts.

A work of art must

not be crowded with so-called local color, but certain facts

must be known and used to give the 156

ef-

THE STORY PROPER The atmosphere,

feet of

a true relation

feeling

and idiosyncrasy

—are

reveals character

the

—a word or a phrase which

the only true local color, not

passing phrases of unkempt speech." *

The

stories

of Miss Wilkins, Octave Thanet, Bret Harte, and Joel Chandler Harris are full of excellent examples

of local color.

Every perfect short story argument for good, through

will contain its

a strong

subtle exposition of

the earning of the " wages of sin," but any attempt to

make

and

it

a

medium

for the spreading of ethical

spiritual truths will

writer and failure

upon

ridicule

entail

his

didacticism

in

literature

" Novels with a purpose "

The only

work.

timate purpose of the short story

is

may

legi-

to amuse, and

always

is

upon the

inartistic.

find publishers

and

readers; but no one, except the author, cares for

"polemic of Free

stories

—such as

set forth the

wickedness

Trade or of Protection, the Wrongs of La-

bor and the Rights of Capital, the advantages of one sect

over another, the beauties of Deism, Agnosti-

and other unestablished

cism, will * "

tenets

triumph over most

obstacles,

The Art Dec,

A lecture

Critic.

of Fiction." '98.

157

Genius

and art can sugar-

by Gilbert Parker.

The

SHORT STORY WRITING coat an unwelcome

pill;

but in nineteen cases out of

twenty the story which covers an apology for one doctrine or an attack

chance than

were made up of offensive per-

it

if

"

sonalities." *

upon the other has no more

Though ordinary dramatic

stories do not have a moral which shows

under the surface in every story

is

something which

we

corresponds to the moral, and which

The

the soul of the story." f

short

itself, still

shall call

story cannot

short

properly be a mere sermon, such as are so often

penned under the

caption

of

"

The Drunkard's Wages of

Wife," " The Orphan's Prayer," " The Sin,"

and other similar

moral lesson in

its

It

titles.

own way

—

its

must teach

artistic presen-

tation of the great contrast between the sort of

who work

its

deeds of nobility and of shame.

men If

it

be saddled with didacticism or tailed with a moral, it

ceases to be a storv

when

it

is

us.

and perhaps unintentionally, the short

Indirectly,

story

and becomes an argument;

no longer concerns

The world

a great factor for good.

of the bald sermons of the Puritans, * " Magazine Fiction and erick " t

M.

Bird.

How

Bellaires

&

to

Lippincotfs.

How

Write Fiction." London. Part

Co.,

Not

Nov.,

to

158

weary

and of

Write

It,"

their

by Fred-

'94.

Published I,

is

anonymously by

Chapter V.

THE STORY PROPER endeavor to " point a currence;

it is

tale "

by every ordinary oc-

rather inclined to a Pharisaical self-

righteousness; and needs to have practical

benefits

ated; but

it

of

goodness,

can never

and the

its sins,

cunningly insinu-

admire and strive to

fail to

emulate the noble deeds of noble men, whether creatures of flesh or

phantoms of the

To

brain.

be sure,

many

of our best short stories deal with events so

slight

and

said to

really

unimportant that they might be

have no moral influence;

yet, if

they simply

provide us with innocent amusement for an idle hour, their ethical value must not be overlooked;

and when they do involve some great moral question or soul crisis their influence

invariably on the

is

right side.

The mere

point

is

that religion

is

not literature.

fact that the heroine of a story is a

and water

creature, full of bald platitudes

ventional righteousness, does not tive correct or readable it

;

indeed,

make

it is

The

poor milk

and con-

that narra-

very apt to make

neither, for the platitudes will be irrelevant and

the

righteousness

uninteresting.

When

world of ours becomes really moral we tent to read so-called stories in

characters parade their

own 159

this

may

old

be con-

which goody-good

virtues

and

interlard

SHORT STORY WRITING their ordinary speech with prayers

and hymns and

scriptural quotations; but while a tithe of the present

sin

and crime

exists

our

with the other phases of our daily

Now by this no place

I

do not at

in literature.

them

fiction will reflect

all

life.

mean

that religion has

Such a ruling would not only

be contrary to the practice of our best writers, but

would

tant element in is

human

and as

it

religious influence

man

is

sub-

plays so great a part in our lives

must necessarily it

The

Hfe.

one of the most powerful to which

ject,

and impor-

also deprive us of a recognized

But

figure largely in our stories.

must be treated there because of the manner

which

it

from the

influences

human

and

life

ethical standpoint:

action,

ature and not religious dogmatism.

That

it

liter-

can be

so treated and yet retain the full strength of

power for good Miss Wilkins.

is

best illustrated in the

Nearly every one of her

sesses a strong element of

but there

The

is

no attempt

New

in

and not

must be made

it

it

its

works of

stories pos-

England Puritanism,

to preach or moralize.

short story must be well proportioned

:

those

parts which are essential differ materially in their

importance, and they must be valued and handled in

accordance with their influence upon the plot. i6e

No

THE STORY PROPER however

scene,

must be allowed

cleverly done,

to

monopolize the space of the story, except in so far as

necessary to an understanding of what fol-

it is

lows; and no incident which furthers the plot, ever trivial or ordinary

be slighted. story

is

The

may seem

it

to you,

howmust

preservation of the balance of the

not wholly a matter of the number of words

involved: often a page of idle chatter by the characters

makes

less

impression on the reader than a

single terse direct sentence

by the author himself;

but in general the practice

is

parts of the story

to value the various

by the word space accorded them.

This rule will not, however, hold good in the case of the climax, tion

which

is

and by the manner

The

story proper

the climax.

Most

estimated both by in

which

is really

it is

posito.

only the preparation for

depend for

stories

its

worked up

their interest

upon the pleasure with which we follow the

princi-

pal characters through various trying episodes, and

the great desire which

"how

it

all

we

all

experience to

know

It is this innate sense,

comes out."

which seems to be a phase of

curiosity, that affords

the pleasure that the average reader derives from fiction. is

One seldom

written, but judges

stops to consider it

by

its

i6i

power

how a

to keep

story

him ab-

SHORT STORY WRITING sorbed in the fortunes of is

hero and heroine.

its

This

the element of suspense.

However, there

comes a point when the

finally

suspense cannot be longer continued, and the strained attention of the reader into indifference, fied

by

at least

ment of

is

when

on the verge of collapsing

the curiosity must be grati-

a partial revelation; and so the

Too

surprise enters.

interest is invariably fatal,

when

long a strain

and the thing

to relieve the tension.

Just

when

is

ele-

on the

to

know

this relief

should occur depends upon the plot and the length of the story, so that the question must be settled sep-

As

arately for each particular case.

been

a short story should not be

said, the plot of

involved; yet

it

may

be permitted some degree of

In such a case

complexity.

must be some preliminary the final relief

has already

it is

probable that there

relief

of suspense before

which the climax

offers.

However,

because of the usual simplicity of the plot, the length of the story has greater influence in regulating the relief

or

of the suspense.

less there is neither

In a story of 3,000 words

room nor

necessity for any

preliminary surprise, and the most effective method is

to withhold

climax,

as

all

hints at the

Hawthorne

outcome

did

163

in

"

until the actual

The Ambitious

:

THE STORY PROPER Guest." io,(X)o

But when the story approaches or exceeds

words it is probable that there must be some

lessening of the tension previous to the climax, as in

Henry James' " The Lesson story,

of the Master."

which contains 25,000

This

word's, is divided into

six parts, each representing a separate scene in the

progress of the story; and yet, so skillful there as a

is

no hiatus between the

parts,

whole has unity of impression.

each part the reader has

made a

is

James,

and the story

At

definite

the end of

advance

to-

ward

the point of the story, through the preliminary

relief

of suspense afforded by that part, as a study

of this brief outline will

show

At the end Paul Overt first sees Henry St. George, and the reader receives a definite picture of the great author, who has hitherto been only a name. II

At

the end the

two meet, and the

picture is given

life.

Ill

All through this division St. George reveals to Overt his real character, so that

has a

less exalted idea

when

the end comes Overt

of the master than that which

he had cherished.

163

^

SHORT STORY WRITING IV At

end Marion Fancourt

the

tells

Overt of

St.

George's declared intention to cease visiting her. This relieves suspense by making Overt's position toward her more definite, but also involves matters because of St. George's failure to give any good reason for his action.

At

V

the end Overt, by the advice of St. George, sac-

rifices in

the cause of true art

and domestic

for love

all

his natural desires

joys.

VI In the

ment

At

first

part Overt learns of St. George's engage-

to Miss Fancourt.

the end St. George

tells

Overt that he has given

up writing to enjoy those very things which he advised Overt to renounce.

A

study of this outline will show you the necessity,

in the case of this story, of these preliminary reliefs

of the suspense.

It

would have been absurdly im-

possible to have tried to hold in abeyance until the

climax

all

these matters; nor does the solving of

of these minor perplexities at in the denouement.

out at the it

Each

all

bit of

any

lessen the interest

information comes

proper time as a matter of course, just as

would come

to our

knowledge

ing a similar drama in real 164

life.

if

we were

observ-

— THE STORY PROPER When is finally t.

the outcome of the writer's meanderings revealed,

be unexpected.

e.,

easily

managed, for

ford at least ries

should be a veritable surprise

This

is

a matter that

is

rather

a poor plot that does not af-

it is

—

two settlements

either the heroine

mar-

the hero, or she marries the villain; and often

there If

it

is

a third possibility, that she marries neither.

he has provided a proper

little

that

to

author has but

plot, the

do with making the surprise genuine, and

little is

ity of the

rather negative.

He

opens the possibil-

hero doing any one of a number of things,

and he may even give rather broad

hints,

but he

should take care never to give a clue to the outcome of the story, unless he purposely gives a misleading clue.

The most

artistic

method

is

to

make

these hints

progressive and culminative, so that though each one

adds to the knowledge of the reader, they all culminate in the

it is

only

when

climax that the mystery

is

completely solved.

This preparation for the climax

is

one of the most

delicate tasks required of the short story writer.

The climax must seem and personal is

the logical result of events

characteristics already recited.

too startling or unexpected

it

will

If

it

be a strain on

the credulity of the reader, and will be dubbed " un-

165

— :

SHORT STORY WRITING natural; " in the it

for

great license

fiction allows

though

employment of strange people and

situations,

demands that they be used with some regard

plausibility.

but

its

The ending must appear

inevitableness

end has come.

It is

for

inevitable

must not be apparent

until the

only after the story has been

read that the reader should be able to look back

through the narrative and pick out the preparatory

They must have

touches.

influenced

him when

first

he read them and prepared him for what was

to

come, but without his being conscious of their

in-

fluence.

The

max

novice usually prepares the

for his

cli-

away long

before

This he does either by means of

antici-

so carefully that he gives

he should.

way

it

patory side remarks, or by making the outcome of his story so obvious at the start that he really has

no story sible.

to

The

most of the

tell,

and a climax or surprise

first fault is

side

much

is

impos-

the easier to correct

remarks can be cut out bodily with-

out injury to the story, and those which are really necessary can be so modified and slurred over that

they will prepare the revealing is

it.

The

way

for the climax without

other fault

is

usually radical

:

it

the result of a conventional plot treated in the i66

.

THE STORY PROPER conventional manner.

It is

beyond help so far as

concerns that particular story, for plot handled in

it

requires a

an original manner; but

rence can be prevented

the writer will be

if

new

recur-

its

more

exacting in his selection of plots, and more individual in his methods.

It

can usually be detected in

the beginning, as in the case of the last example

quoted in Chapter VIII.

In " The Ambitious Guest " the climax to

most

aration

Skillfully

by Hawthorne; indeed,

so clever that

is

it is

is

led

up

his prep-

not always easy to trace.

Throughout the story there are an

air of

gloom and

a strange turning to thoughts of death that seem to

portend a catastrophe; and I believe the following passages are intentional notes of warning: stones 1 ... .a cold spot and a dangerous one would often rumble down its sides and startle them at

midnight.

wind came through the Notch and wailing and For a moment it saddened them, lamentation. though there was nothing unusual in the tones. .whose fate was linked with theirs. 3 2 seemed .

.

.

.the

to pause before their cottage, .

.

.

.

.

.

8 (Entire.)

9

(Entire.)

lo ...

common

.a

prophetic sympathy

fate. ..

167

.the

kindred of a

"

.

SHORT STORY WRITING 12 (Entire.)

14 "... .a

noble

pedestal

for

a

man's

statue."

(Doubtful.) 16 "... .things that are pretty certain never to come to pass."

17 "... .when he is a widower." 18 " When I think of your death, Esther,

I

think of

mine too. But I was wishing we had a good farm round the White Mountains, but not where they could tumble on our heads I might die happy enough in my bed. ... A slate gravestone would suit me as well as a marble one 20 " They say it's a sign of something when folk's minds go a-wandering so." 22 "... .go and take a drink out of the basin of the Flume." (Doubtful; unless regarded as the result of some subtle warning to fly the spot.) 26 .though their music and mirth came back drearily from the heart of the mountain. 28 ....a light cloud passed over the daughter's .

.

.

spirit.

.

.

.

.

.

.

32 .... it might blossom in Paradise, since it could the wind through not be matured on earth

Notch took a deeper and drearier sound There was a wail along the road as if a funeral were

the

passing.

36 (Entire.) 38 (Entire.)

39 (Entire.)

A

novice writing the same story 168

would hardly

!:

THE STORY PROPER have refrained from introducing some very bald hints concerning: the fate of the ambitious stranger; for the novice has a mistaken idea that

flowerv exclamations

make sad

events

wordy and all

the sad-

der, forgetting that silent grief is the keenest. ttie

Thus

novice would have interlarded his narrative with

such exclamations as 1" 13.

Ah

!

could the unfortunate stranger but have guessed

the culmination of his bright dreams,

how would

he

have bewailed his fate

ti9Unhappy youth

!

his grave

was

to be unmarked, his

very death in doubt!

I28. Poor

girl

!

had she a premonition of her awful death ?

Such interpolations are very exasperating to the reader, for he

much

outcome of the

prefers to learn for himself the

tale;

and they

also greatly offend

against the rhetorical correctness of the story, for

they are always utterly irrelevant and obstructive.

The only their

stories

which may properly

own denouements

are what

anticipate

might be

called

" stories of premonition," in which the interest de-

pends upon comparing actual events to the prophecy 169

SHORT STORY WRITING of dreams or some other mystical agency. tales the real interest is usually in the

—though,

the whole affair

all,

weirdness of

to be sure, they

ways turn out as they are expected

to.

In such

do not

this introduction of surprise into fiction is

an imitation of nature, and " always happens."

it is

al-

For, after

simply

the unexpected that

X CLIMAX AND CONCLUSION If the overworked heap of

MSS.

skimming the

editor, hastily

before him, comes upon one which

promises well in the opening paragraphs, he will turn to its conclusion, to learn

kept his promise; and of a

good

story,

careful reading

if

how

well the author has

he finds there equal evidence

he will put the

MS. by

and possible purchase.

has taught him that the end of a story

for

more

Experience

is

second only

to the beginning as a practical test of the narrative;

and therefore to the author as well the conclusion is

of extreme importance.

The end

of a short story comprises the climax and

The climax

the conclusion. relief

more than one; tion ;

the chief surprise, the

is

of the suspense, or the greatest

it is

it is

The conclusion

all

;

it is

the solving of

termination of the narrative

severing of

there

is

the apex of interest and emo-

the point of the story is

relief, if

relations

really the story.

all

itself,

problems, the

and the

artistic

between narrator and reader.

:

SHORT STORY WRITING The

climax, in spite of

importance,

its

small part of the story, so far

is felt

in itself the

its

througfhout the whole story, which,

as already stated,

But

but a

In a properly constructed narrative

concerned. influence

is

as mere words are

is

but one long preparation for

climax

is

it.

usually confined to a sin-

gle paragraph of ordinary length;

proper, the real point of the story,

and the climax is

usually con-

veyed in a half dozen words.

For the climax, and

particularly the climax proper,

is

trated in a single phrase.

It

the story concen-

must have been

pre-

pared for carefully and worked up to at some length; but

when

it

does come

it

must be expressed so

rectly

and so forcefully that

jump

mentally,

if

it

will

not physically.

make

ters to endeavor to gain artificial force

In "

climax proper in

italics,

The Ambitious Guest

^

some wri-

by printing

or even in capitals.

we have an

"

strong and perfect climax in

the reader

It is the desire

to produce this startling effect that leads

their

di-

unusually

40, 41

.... a sound abroad in the night, rising like the roar

of a blast, had

grown broad, deep and terrible before the it. The house and all

fated group were conscious of

within

it

trembled

;

the foundations of the earth seemed

to be shaken, as if this awful last

trump.

Young and

sound was the peal of the

old exchanged one wild glance

173

—

:

CLIMAX AND CONCLUSION and remained an instant pale, affrighted, without utterance or power to move. Then the same shriek burst simultaneously from all their lips

"The

slide!

The

slide!"

—the climax of the climax

while the climax proper

occurs in the four words which compose

"The It is

slide!

The

T[

41.

slide!"

hardly necessary to say that the climax should

be very near the end of the story, for even those stories

which attempt to begin

in the

middle and go

both ways at once place the climax properly. there

is

But

a danger that the climax will come too soon.

After they have reached what

is

properly a central

point in their story, amateurs often become lazy or in too great a hurry,

and rush the

latter part of the

narrative

through unceremoniously.

part they

may have

less detail;

but

In the

first

been inclined to go into need-

when once

they come in sight of

the finish, they forget everything except that their

task

is

nearly ended; they plunge ahead regardless,

treat important matters

those skillful

little

most

superficially,

touches which go to

neglect

make a

story

natural and literary, and reach the end to find that

they have skeletonized an important part of the nar173

— SHORT STORY WRITING In such a case the reader

rative.

is

very apt to come

upon the climax unexpectedly, and so forced and illogical; whereas

if

to find

it

the author had pre-

served the proportions of his narrative, and led up to his climax properly,

would have been accounted

it

strong and inevitable.

The climax that

is, it

must be a genuine climax

of a story

must be the culmination of the

the story, and

it

must

definitely

The

the element of suspense. diate consequences,

end and eliminate

climax, or

must decide the

your characters, and the fate of If the heroine is hesitating

interest of

imme-

its

destinies of

all their

schemes.

between her two lovers

she must decide in the climax or on account of if

the hero

is

in a position of great

be killed or saved.

The

it

may

And

need not be

so John married

be hinted at or suggested in

the most subtle manner; but settled in

must

be.

some way

Stockton did otherwise in "

all

things are fair in the funny story.

which are meant to be reader

still

serious, but

it

The Lady,

or the Tiger ? " but he sought for humorous

and

it;

danger he must

revelation

couched in the bald phrase, " Kate; " but

all

effect,

Stories

which leave the

puzzling over the possibilities of the plot,

are likely to get their author into serious difKcul174

CLIMAX AND CONCLUSION ties

with the reading public, even

if

the editors can

be persuaded to overlook his idiosyncracies.

The amateur

is

prone to the conviction, deduced,

from the practice of the cheap melodrama and

I fear,

the cheaper novel, that " climax "

are

synonymous terms, and

that he

" and " tragedy is

violating sa-

cred traditions unless he ends his tale with a violent

But

death.

it

is

by no means necessary that the

climax of a short story should be or should contain a catastrophe or a tragedy.

Its

tirely

upon the character of the

pears,

and

ling if

it

it

may

nature depends entale in

which

be just as strong and just as

consists only of the "

Yes

it

ap-

thril-

" with which

the heroine answers the hero's wooing.

Indeed,

it

not infrequently happens that the tragedy or the catastrophe which appears in the climax

is

only an

accessory to the real climax, a cause or a result of

The climax

of

"The Ambitious

but the climax of Irving's "

Guest "

it.

is

a tragedy;

The Legend

of Sleepy

Hollow," though certainly a catastrophe,

anything

is

which

but tragic, if read in the ironic spirit in

it

was written: Another convulsive kick in the ribs, and old Gunpowder sprang upon the bridge he thundered over the resounding planks he gained the opposite side and now ;

;

;

175

:

!

:

SHORT STORY WRITING Ichabod cast a look behind to see if his pursuer should vanish, according to rule, in a flash of fire and brimstone. Just then he saw the goblin rising in his stirrups, and in the very act of hurling his head at him. Ichabod endeavored to dodge the horrible missile, but It encountered his cranium with a trementoo late.

dous crash he was tumbled headlong into the dust, and ;

Gunpowder, the black by like a whirlwind.

steed,

and the goblin rider passed

While in'Poe's "The Black Cat," one tragedy preliminary of the climax and the result of

it;

another is in a

but the real climax

is

is

a

manner

the discovery

of the cat ... .a fell

dozen stout arms were toiling at the wall. It The corpse, already greatly decayed and

bodily.

clotted with gore, stood erect before the eyes of the

On

mouth and whose craft had seduced me into murder, and whose informing voice had consigned me to the hangman. I had walled the monster up within the tomb spectators.

solitary eye of

Nor does

the

its

head, with red extended

fite,

sat the hideous beast

mere introduction of a tragedy make

a climax, for though the following paragraphs contain

two

tragedies, there is

no climactic force

who had been

sitting with his head on his what in the world was going to happen, raised his head, and exclaimed, on seeing his brother, " You have come after me " At this instant

Joseph,

knees, and wondering

—

176

!

CLIMAX AND CONCLUSION some one struck him on the head with a pistol, which brought him to the floor. But Harry, hearing the familiar voice, and seeing the man also, knew too well

who

was.

it

He

shouted at the top of his voice, " Stop

Wait This thing must be investigated " Telling them who the prisoner was, and pleading with them, he was finally able to disperse the mob, though against !

their

!

own

will.

The next morning, when Mamie was brought

to con-

sciousness again, she begged that he should not be punished.

On

learning the truth he was immediately released,

but the bitter grief, mingled with so

was more than he could endure.

He

much

excitement,

died that night at

ten.

The bitterness occasioned by this catastrophe remained in the bosom of Mamie, and she too died of a broken heart.

The

plot of a certain type of story requires sub-

ordinate and preliminary climaxes to relieve the tension or advance the

action,

as already stated.*

Such periods, when given genuine climactic

force,

are antagonistic to the spirit of the short story, in that

they violate the unity, and a story containing them is

usually faulty otherwise; but such stories have

been written by good writers and so must be recognized here.

The

preliminary climaxes must be suf-

* See " preparation for the climax " in Chapter IX,

177

:

SHORT STORY WRITING ficiently few, sufficiently

distant not to detract

The main

climax.

liminary climaxes

from the force of the

point

is

subordinate and sufficiently

is

to see that

chief

one of the pre-

not really the climax, for inex-

perienced writers sometimes allow their stories to

run on longer than they should; or they confuse

what the is

is

merely an incident with what should be made

main

crisis.

In "

The Ambitious Guest

only one climax; but in Hawthorne's

botham's Catastrophe " I find no

which

cal points,

I

less

" there

" Mr. Higin-

than

five criti-

here subpend with the numbers

of the paragraphs in w'hich they occur

17. " Old Mr. Higginbotham of Kimballton was murdered in his orchard at eight o'clock last night by an Irishman and a nigger. They strung him up to the

branch of a find

him

till

Michael's pear tree where nobody would

St.

the morning."

ti4. " if squire Higginbotham was murdered night before last I drank a glass of bitters with his ghost this

morning.

Being a neighbor of mine, he called me " was riding by, and treated me

into

his store as I

I21. "

No, no

!

There was no colored man.

Irishman that hanged him I

came away

last

at seven."

178

It

was an

night at eight o'clock;

CLIMAX AND CONCLUSION 136. "I left Kimballton this morning to spend the vacation

commencement- week with a

of

friend about fi/e miles

from Parker's Falls. My generous uncle, when he heard me on the stairs, called me to his bedside and gave me two dollars and fifty cents to pay my stagefare, and another dollar for my extra expenses."

l49-

He

rushed forward, prostrated a sturdy Irishman with the butt-end of his whip, and found not, indeed,

hanging on the beneath tical

it

— neck—

Michael's pear tree, but trembling

St.

with a halter round his

^the

These several climaxes form a perfect a

old iden-

Mr. Higginbotham.

little

higher than

its

predecessor, and

series,

each

all logically

culminating in the chief climax of the story in

1

49;

,and by this progressive and culminative effect they

go far

to preserve the sense of unity

presence endangers.

Such

real if

which their

minor climaxes

are entirely different from the several stages of the story illustrated in Chapter

IX by

James' "

The Les-

son of the Master."

The novice

usually has

some hazy conception of

the importance of a climax, and endeavors according to his lights to attain the desired effect, but he

dom by

successful.

his plot,

Most frequently he

which

is

is

is sel-

handicapped

not designed to produce a suc-

179

:

SHORT STORY WRITING cessful climax.

If

an introduction.

what may be

His nearest approach to success

is

called a " false " or " technical " cli-

in the use of

skillful,

is

a possible good climax by too abrupt

liable to ruin

max,

he has escaped that danger he

which he

indeed, for his

own

is

good.

very

—

skillful

^too

This false climax

produced by breaking off the narrative abruptly

is

moment

the

the suspense of the story

produces the jump in the reader's mind

at all ;

and

by

suddenness, and not by

It is italics

terminated.

an abrupt conclusion, and not a climax

It is really

its

is

it

its

concentrated force.

sometimes made more pointed by the use of or capitals.

Thus the following

final para-

work of

the novice,

graphs, which are typical of the

have no hint of a climax as they stand Mrs. Moore sat gazing into the glowing grate. " Well, truants, where have you been all this time ?

—"

She stopped suddenly as she saw Nettie's blushes, and the happy look on Guy's face.

I

" Mother, Nettie has

made me

by consenting to be come to ask your blessing." existence,

" It

is

heartily given,

my

my

man in And we have

the happiest wife.

dear children.

Nothing

me more

pleasure than to see you two hap" By the way, pily married," said she, kissing them.

could give

how ful

did you

young people happen

discovery?"

i8o

to mjike this wonder-

CLIMAX AND CONCLUSION "Well, mother, I have had some serious thoughts about the matter ever since I surprised you and Nettie last September, but I never dared to put my thoughts words till to-day." " I don't remember that you surprised Nettie.

into

was out

She

me, when you arrived." remember finding her in the or-

in the orchard, she told

" Yes, I believe

I

chard," and he gave a ludicrous description of their

first

meeting. "

That accounts for

duced you that day.

Nettie's blushes

You

when

I intro-

won't go west now, will you,

Guy?" " I shall have

to,

Adams

notify aunt

mother but ;

In the meantime

opportunity.

that she

I'll sell

I

think

doomed

is

out at the

we had to

first

better

have a son-

in-law." " I have thought of an excellent plan," said Nettie. " Let's all go east for the holidays. Only, for goodness' sake, don't tell Edith

the apple tree.

Maud

and

They would be

about

my

exploits in

so shocked at

my

lack

of dignity."

So

the

home.

following week

daughter's marriage, which the following September. " That is the month in its

If,

most

they started

Guy soon won Mrs. Adams'

delicious fruit,"

for Nettie's

consent to her

was arranged

to take place

which the old apple

Guy

tree bears

whispered to Nettie.

however, the author had stopped with the third

paragraph, he would have had at least a false or technical climax.

This

false

i8i

climax must not be con-

SHORT STORY WRITING fused with the coincident real climax and abrupt end-

ing discussed further on.

When its

the story has reached

chmax has come

the

end and the quicker you terminate

your reader

will

it

the better

With the passing of

be pleased.

the climax interest ceases, and you have only to

gather up and explain the few unsettled points, and

round

off

your

narrative

gracefully.

ther interest in your characters

due to

a sense of politeness or, at

is little

old

Any

fur-

more than

acquaintances;

most, a psychological desire for complete im-

pressions.

So when you have

told your tale,

end

it.

For the conclusion, as for the beginning, one paragraph

is

about the average length.

tice differs, of course,

An

pletes a story in the

"

not so

is

effective

much

"

way.

Hawthorne employs

paragraphs (T 42-44), exclusive of to conclude the story.

dif-

variance as

climax often com-

most satisfactory

The Ambitious Guest

self,

prac-

with different writers and

ferent stories, but there in the beginnings.

The

Each of

In three

the climax

it-

these three par-

agraphs contains matter necessary to the completion of the tale in

able that a

them

Hawthorne's

style.

It is prob-

modern writer would have condensed

into a single paragraph, because of the

demand

modem

for extreme compression; but with the pes*

183

;

CLIMAX AND CONCLUSION exception of the last two sentences of

sible

there

is

44

"f

nothing irrelevant in the conclusion.

In

"

The Birthmark," and " Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne uses but a single paragraph for his conclusion.

The

conclusion and the climax should be as nearly

The

simultaneous as possible. to

make them

story, as

ways

and so increase the

coincide,

of the climax by

present tendency

making

it

effect

the actual end of the

the end of the interest.

it is

It is

not

that the coincidence can be perfect, but

max, and be much improved thereby.

Guest " to-day

Had

it

with

it

1"

probable that he would have

is

"The

44:

I believe

must be

that any reader that

careful,

is

though

abrupt ending

T

—

42-44.

however, in the use of

a false

it is

now

would have understood

contained in

conclusion, lest your supposed climax

—

climax

You

this style of is

merely an

^which leaves unset-

some things which a further conclusion should

make ing,

slide!"

he done so he would certainly have given ad-

perfectly all

tled

The

slide!

ditional force to his climax, strong

and

cli-

For exam-

Hawthorne had written " The Ambitious

if

ended

al-

many

a story could be cut short immediately after the

ple,

is

clear.

Not every

even though

it

plot allows

may have 185

an abrupt end-

a good climax, and

:

SHORT STORY WRITING you must

suit

your method to your matter.

case, the story

In any

must convey a complete impression.

But the conclusion must not be padded with relevant matter to

make

it

ir-

appear rounded, or to

please the perverted taste of the writer.

allowed scant space and has even

less

The end

room

is

for sage

observations, or pointing of morals, or lamentations

over the sins or misfortunes portrayed than have the

In the example already

other parts of the story.

quoted the narrative drags on for some nine para-

graphs after the story

is

really ended, without add-

ing anything of interest or value.

Happily such

conclusions are infrequent, but the best of writers are occasionally dragged into

them through

reluctance to quit forever scenes

and people

have grown dear to them through close

their

that

association.

A somewhat similar method of padding out the conclusion to the detriment of the story

a catch

word

is

to end with

referring to the beginning, as in the

following example, where the " blackberry girl "

a reminder of the I

is

title

hope these few surprises of mine may serve as a some young man, and help to teach him to

lesson to

first love, though she may appear to a poor girl—yes, even a " blackberry girl,"

prove true to his be

o'jly

184

CLIMAX AND CONCLUSION Of all poor conclusions

the conventional

be feared by the novice, for story to which

it is

it is

attached.

most

is

If the story

ventional in plot and treatment

it

is

is

con-

inevitable that

we

ending should be conventional, so here again

its

see the necessity of

originality

to

surely fatal to the

of

But too

plot.

often a writer, after having successfully carried his story past the climax, will

and end

it

grow weary or

careless

with the conventional ideas and phrases

which were worn threadbare ages ago.

The

inexperienced writer of the gentler sex

is

peculiarly liable to be guilty of using conventional

To

endings.

of

man

is

a wedding.

is

is

her mind, apparently, the chief end

marriage, and the proper end of a story It

must be acknowledged

that this

the only logical conclusion to her stories, for from

the

moment they appear

the reader

knows

in the

opening paragraphs

that in the last the hero will

marry

the heroine, willy nilly, at the behest of the match-

making

" authoress."

suffered with intensely than

"

To

the author,

and on account of any reader can

who

his characters

suffer, there is

has

more some-

thing amusing in this anxiety to have the old for-

mula,

'

And

they

all

lived

happy ever afterwards,'

repeated at the end of every i8s

tale.

A

tiny

bonne

SHORT STORY WRITING bouche of happiness

sorrow that

stories of

offer

it

it

seems almost an irony to

and

to the readers;

have taken a

some

so inadequate after

is

bitter medicine,

who

yet, like children

they are very likely to

complain that they have had no taste of sweetness, if it is

much

The common

not offered to them

ing that death

is

inevitably sad

of the stress which

books.

laid

is

is

upon the endings of

live apart,

have

set

considered cheerful.

go through

fire

get rid of their

they

fulfil

in order to be

may

necessary, but they

must

if

stains

and dry

their costumes final

chap-

and the hero and the heroine must marry each

other, or,

to

life if

principal characters

The

and water

smoke

must

time to appear alive and smiling in the

ter;

love

up two formal and arbitrary

conditions which a story

in

who

That, and the belief that people

each other can have no joy or benefit of

must

feel-

responsible for

if

the writer has allowed their affections

wander further

afield,

they must at least marry

the people of their choice.

These, of course, are

not the standards of the most thoughtful readers, and yet,

like all

conventionalities, they extend further

than an author likes to believe." * * " Tlie

Problem of Endings," by Mary Tracy Earlc Aug. '98.

Bo(^k Buyer,

186

Tht

CLIMAX AND CONCLUSION The

fact

is,

however, that

if

real people

were con-

stantly

thrown

edly

would take a stronger power than even the

it

at one another's heads so determin-

omnipotent literary aspirant to force them into piat-

Nor

rimony.

are weddings, or descriptions thereof,

particularly delectable reading society ally

column for the short

very

much

—

alike

when they

desert the

They

story.

are usu-

^though one original writer did

—and the bride

perform her ceremony up a tree

al-

ways wears the same dresses and smiles the same smiles

and weeps the same

have a wedding, formula, "

And

let

tears.

So

if

you must

the reader off with the classic

so they were married and lived hap-

pily ever after; " but don't

inflict

on him such cheap

sentimentalism as this: Christmas morning was clear, cold and bright, just such a morning as had marked Fred's

first

departure

from the Blanford's some three years before. Grace's sisters had come home to take charge of affairs for the day and evening so Grace did not have

much

to see after but herself.

Fred, supposing he

would rather be in the way, did not arrive until about an hour before the ceremony was to take place, which was in the evening. A good many guests were invited and as they had already begun to arrive, Grace but barely had time to greet Fred, when she found she must withdraw and don her wedding garment. 187

SHORT STORY WRITING If Grace had looked pretty with her gown held up about her a few weeks ago, she now looked handsome indeed as she came into the well crowded room.

Her dainty

gown

rich silk

The

feet.

soft

in deep soft folds at her

fell

creamy

weU

lace fell about her

shaped neck in clusters the color of the ;

gown made

hair and eyes look black as jet; and the excitement

her still

Fred did not look so kept the roses in her cheeks. handsome, but no one could help admire the manly form as he stood beside Grace answering the questions that were to acknowledge them man and wife. As soon as the ceremony was over and congratula-

had been extended to the bride and groom, they merry were ushered in to a nicely prepared supper. Christmas evening was spent. Grace's brothers did not tions

A

lose their housekeeper, as she

and Fred made

their

home

with them.

They spent but grasped

And ter

all

their days not like the

the sunshine that

in general

manners

—

it is

for

much

you

to

hurrying brook,

was meant for them.

—

better

draw

^better art

and

bet-

the reader politely

aside as soon as the heroine has whispered the inevitable

"Yes;"

spied upon by

for

what follows should not be

any third

party.

188

XI

THE STYLE The

method of presentation of the short story

a matter of import.

Its

workmanship;

skilled

readable by

devices;

its

brevity, too, per-

mits and demands a higher finish than

And

in the novel.

a writer

show

who

is

an

artist in

question of style is of serious so

is

is

necessary

altogether the short story oflfers

not exactly a genius a rare chance to

his ability as

Style

is

artificiality calls for

must be made pleasant and

it

known

all

very

much a matter

Hence

words.

the

moment.

of individuality, and the

short story comprises so broad a range of subjects, that

it

is

not easy to lay

cerning the proper

style.

down

general rules con-

No two

masters would or

could treat the same plot in precisely the same way,

and yet the method of each would be

correct.

How-

ever, certain generalizations concerning the style of

the short story

As always

may be made without being arbitrary.

in literature, the style should

priate to the matter.

This 189

may seem

be appro-

entirely gra-

— SHORT STORY WRITING tuitous, yet the

examination of the work of ama-

They

teurs will justify the remark. serious subjects with the

and

in

levity,

an absurdly ornate

and at times they so far disregard propriety

style;

that they offend against

The and

most unbecoming

commonplaces

to dress

are apt to treat

good

taste.

style of the short story should

Usually the matter

concise.

moment;

be simple, easy

is

not of great

incidental rather than critical;

it is

and

it

offers little reason for exaggerated expressions, or

Above

rotund periods.

the short story, despite is

its

should be natural, for

many

conventionalities,

The extreme

very near to nature.

affected

all it

by many amateurs

is

sensationalism

most absurd, for na-

ture and things true to nature can never be really sensational

—a

fact

which

is

unconsciously

recog-

nized by the offending writer in his resort to ficial

means

to

make

arti-

his narrative sensational.

I

say " extreme sensationalism " because I believe a certain

amount of what

sationalism

is

thrill

and to produce that

is,

sen-

delightful

" which accompanies a clever scene.

best rule for the novice

that

commonly designated

permissible in the short story to sus-

tain the interest,

"

is

to fact.

is

He may

The

to stick close to nature

present

190

what

startling ef-

THE STYLE he

fects

but

will so that

he can prove them copies of

and so that they do not offend against

nature, it is

not permitted him to harrow the feelings of

his readers

by unduly dwelling upon exciting

Any undue exaggeration of this to create

taste. it

will

yawn

It at

points,

is

in

topics.

or any attempt italics,

capi-

extremely bad

once disgusts the intelligent reader, and

soon so weary even the ignorant that he drearily over the

" scare "

The

style,

excitement by sheer force of

and exclamation

tals

art;

most

will

startling display of

lines.

necessity for a simple style

must not be made

an excuse for commonplaceness; and here the author confronts rather a serious question, for every-

day

life

abounds

in

we

we

we cannot wholly

However, the

solved than at

the very life

first

appears,

life; if

we

rep-

we become

un-

more

easily

and the solution

lies in

difficulty

which we portray.

is

Life certainly

is

of the baldest facts, but they are so subordinated

to the relatively

our

stories readable

avoid commonplaces;

do not avoid commonplaces

literary.

full

we make our

must, in some degree, represent

resent life if

commonplaces, which literature

If

will not tolerate.

few but important events by which

lives are checkered that

191

we

shortly forget the

SHORT STORY WRITING commonplaces and remember only the striking ocIn

currences.

manner we should

like

so preserve

the proportion of our stories that the necessary com-

monplaces, while they properly perform their parts,

be carefully subjugated to the interesting hap-

shall

This

penings.

is

largely a matter of the handling,

seem great or small

for in fiction events

in accord-

ance with the space and treatment that they receive.

The way, slight

commonplaces

then, to dispose of

them

as

much

as possible: to

is

crowd them

the least possible space, and to couch

them

to

into

in ordi-

nary language; for thoughts that are rendered unu-

by

sual

By

their expression

become conspicuous.

ordinary language I do not

mean

the stereo-

typed phrases which the mentally lazy employ in the expression of their thoughts, but the simple, correct

and rather

colorless speech

is

heard among

Indeed, sensationalism

the truly cultured. able to the deadly

wont

which

monotony of

to clothe his ideas in the

is

the writer

prefer-

who

is

ready-made garments

of conventional phrases; for sensationalism has at least

the

merit

of

vividness.

The

writer

who

penned the following could hardly have been more absurdly commonplace and stereotyped in his phrase-

ology

if

he had been ridiculing some " popular " auiqz

THE STYLE thor of cheap literature, but he wrote earnest; the story throughout

a perfect gold mine

is

of such hackneyed expressions. the

most

offensive,

though

it is

serious

in

I

have

italicized

hardly necessary.

Faint rumors of a church scandal permeated the very atmosphere in Frankton, and every one was on the alert to catch the faintest whisper in regard to the matter;

was a social favorite, and it was known by an inside few that he was the one most seriously in-

as the minister

volved.

For a long time the matter was suppressed, and then one hint after another leaked out that Mrs. Daniels, was a most unhappy woman, and that there was another woman in the case. At first the members of the congregation hooted at

fi'rst

the minister's wife,

when item

after item of scandal came to begun to take a little notice, and it was that a good many enquiries were going the

the idea; but

their notice they

noticeable

rounds, " just to satisfy themselves as to the ridiculous part of

it ",

so the curiosity seekers explained.

Other writers attempt to make literary

then

by couching them

we have what

ing."

It

phrases

is

as,

to

is

this

their

commonplaces

in stilted language,

tendency that

we owe such

" After the customary salutations he

sought the arms of Morpheus," and " in the

and

technically termed " fine writ-

Upon

morning he partook of an abundant 193

rising

repast,"

SHORT STORY WRITING when

the author

to say, "

meant merely

After say-

He

ing good night he went to bed," and "

This error

fasted."

things which are

is

break-

due to the mistaken idea that

common

are necessarily vulgar, and

to an absurd squeamish objection to " call a spade,

a spade."

worst possible

It is the

commonplaces, for

way

to handle

attracts particular attention to

it

the very things which

it is

supposed to hide.

But the writer may purposely subordinate commonplace style, if is

and yet

facts,

he

fails to

from a commonplace

sufifer

give his narrative character.

poetry, quoted

and

lards his stories

original,

with which he

and the speeches of

The poetry may be good, even it

It

then that the young writer resorts to the use of

may

inter-

his characters.

if it is original,

be very apt, but few people in real

poetry in their ordinary speech. read in poetry and the kindred

life

You may

artfe,

but

it is

and

quote

be well hardly

the part of modesty or discretion for you to force

your quotations upon a reader

who very

likely cares

neither for your erudition nor the poets themselves. It is

bad

technically, too;

and

case of the following specimen,

usually,

as in the

shows that the au-

thor has a wider acquaintance with the poets than

with the rhetoricians. 194

;

:

THE STYLE Algernon Long was not a person of unbalanced mind, nor was he superstitious in his interpretations of signs, visions and dreams to which so many attach supernatural importance ; he was simply a successful man of the world, full of life and buoyancy, devoted to his occupation, that of a stock-broker, and to his domestic and

And

social relations.

yet he believed with

Lord Byron,

that

"

life is twofold sleep hath its own world. And a wide realm of wild reality. And dreams that in their development have breath, And tears and tortures and the touch of joy

Our

;

They leave a weight upon our waking thoughts, They take a weight from off our waking toils. They do divide our being. They speak like sibyls of the future."

A

number of his most cherished friends had recently away into that " undiscovered country, from whose bourne no traveller returns." The loss to him was intolerable the experience the most painful he had Each case seemed more cruel than its ever known. predecessor to himself personally most suggestive. He was now in mature manhood, and could thoroughly appassed

;

;

preciate the poet's lines

" Life

And So strong ward

is

is real, life is

the grave

is

earnest,

not

its

goal."

the tendency of the short story to-

simplicity that even figures of speech are to

be avoided.

This does not mean that we are care195

SHORT STORY WRITING fully to

discard any expression which savors of

the figurative: such a thing would be absurd, for literature

and everyday speech abound in figurative

But

language which passes current unquestioned. figures

which are introduced simply for

are

really

figures

excrescences—

digressions,

^beautiful

in themselves, perhaps,

no beauty

They

and so are to be avoided.

fect are unnatural,

enough

literary ef-

to the narrative.

but assuredly adding

Principal

among

such

employed by amateurs are the long com-

plex metaphors and similes in which epic poetry delights

by

;

the figure of apostrophe, too,

tyros, because

it

affords

is

much

affected

them opportunity

to coin

orotund phrases concerning the irony of

fate, the

and kindred

favorite

haplessness of true lovers, topics.

Foreign words and phrases form another sad stumbling block in the

They have

way

of a simple natural

—and one

their uses, of course

tray the novice.

He

is

style.

to be-

fondly imagines that a sprink-

ling of French phrases gives his narrative a delightful air of

cosmopolitanism; and that as an evidence

of " culture " a line from Horace or to a college degree. dictionary,

culls

Homer

is

equal

So he thumbs the back of

therefrom 196

trite

quotations

his

with

THE STYLE which

to deck his writing,

and never uses an English

word when he knows a similar French

The em-

one.

ployment of a foreign word or phrase to express an idea which can be equally well couched in English

the cheapest sort of a literary trick, and

is

it

unmistakable badge of hopeless mediocrity and complacency.

may

Expressions

and they

self-

from other languages

be judiciously and legitimately used

local color,

is

the

give

to

are, of course, indispensable in

the speeches of certain character types; but as a rule there

is

no

better

medium

for your thoughts than

good wholesome English.

You

will notice that I specify the sort of

you should fall

use, for

many who

into the equally

incorrect

English.

English

avoid foreign idioms

bad habit of using poor and

am

I

not

referring

to

the

speeches of the characters, whose privileges in this respect I have already discussed ; but in the necessary

introductory and connective phrases you should take

your English pure.

exquisite pains to keep

use of slang it

is

offends against

oric;

The

of course absolutely inexcusable, for

good

taste as well as

good

rhet-

but the employment of words in a careless or

perverted meaning

is

equally condemnable.

also a mistake to use too

many

197

adjectives, to

It

is

throw

SHORT STORY WRITING every adjective and adverb into the superlative de-

and

gree,

which you

sion is

in other

ways

use.

to exaggerate every expres-

Much

of this misuse of words

due to ignorance, but more to carelessness or

ness; in

any case you can detect your

faults if

lazi-

you

seek for them, and you should take immediate steps to correct them, with the help of a dictionary, or a rhetoric, or both.

The

style of the short story should

flowing, so that ideas

be

may

afflicted

be easy and

be pleasant reading.

with a nervousness or

make

lessen

power

requisites

shall

Good

be expressed in good language and

that will its

it

the

for

work

stiffness of style

of perusal, and so

diflScult

One

to hold the reader. this

phrasing which

is

desired ease

is

of the

Try

first

a lightness of

at once a matter of thought

of rhetorical construction.

still

and

to avoid heaviness

and austerity of thought as much as you would similar qualities in writing.

Get at the

lighter, brighter,

perhaps more frivolous side of things; do not take

your work too seriously, you are seldom writing tragedies; permit yourself to be humorous, witty, a little

ironical;

do not plunge too deeply into dark

abysses of metaphysics or theology. that

you should not

I

do not mean

treat of serious things, or that

198

THE STYLE you should make are several

light of serious subjects; but there

ways of looking

any matter, and the

at

atmosphere of intense and morbid gloom which Poe

many

casts over so

of his weird tales

acteristic of the short story in general.

time I

am

ficiality,

far

is

not char-

At

the

same

from advocating flippancy or super-

for both are deadly sins in literature.

I

merely wish to impress upon you the absurdity of the solemn tone which

a mark

simple phrase

known

sion

Your

some amateurs seem

of depth of thought or feeling. is

the most forceful

easy.

is

means of expres-

bright thoughts should be expressed

There

is

tween words which it

apt,

to literature.

words and sentences which are

and

to think

An

not

in

in themselves light

a good deal of difference be-

may mean

the same thing, and

altogether a matter of length.

Words

which are heavy and lumbering, or harsh, or suggestive of unpleasant thoughts, should be used with care, for their thoughtless introduction will often in-

jure the ease of a passage. of almost as

Tone

much importance

color in

words

is

in prose as in verse.

Similarly the sentence structure should be care-

The

fully tested for ease.

practically tabooed:

it

is

periodic style should be

seldom appropriate to the

199

SHORT STORY WRITING matter of the short story, and retarding.

The very

it is

always heavy and

short sentence, which

is

so

typical of the French,

may

tion, for its excessive

employment gives a nervous

jerky style which

be used only in modera-

American writers Stephen Crane ample of sion,

this "

though

greater ease. sentences, of

Among

tiresome and irritating.

is

is

an awful ex-

bumpety-bump " method of expres-

his later

works show a tendency

The exclamatory and

to

interrogative

which amateurs use so many, under

the mistaken impression that they lend vivacity and vividness,

should be totally eschewed.

They

of-

fend against almost every principle of the short story,

and they have nothing to recommend them. ally they are irrelevant

The proper

author.

of the short story

is

and

inartistic asides

Usuby the

sentence structure for the bulk the simple straightforward de-

clarative sentence, rather loose, of

medium

length,

tending to short at times to avoid monotony and give vividness.

Exclamation points must be used

row tence

of three or four of is

them

a sign of amateurism.

at the

end of a

a

sen-

The mere

presence

make a

thrilling

of a point of punctuation will not

sentence or produce a climax.

sparingly:

Punctuation marks

— THE STYLE draw

are designed to

attention to

what already ex-

and they have no inherent power

ists,

Very few

terest.

mark

to create in-

sentences really need or merit a

of exclamation; and

if

they are properly con-

structed the reader will feel the exclamatory force,

whether the point

is

expressed or not.

as

Italics,

a method of emphasis, are seldom necessary in a well-written story.

They,

are signs of what

too,

has already been expressed, and not the expression of a

new

sufficient

force.

A

word or a phrase which needs

emphasis to excuse

italics

should be

placed that the reader will involuntarily give

it

so the

proper stress; and an expression thus brought into notice far exceeds in importance one

prominence to still

a mere change

more staring type

—small

which owes

its

Words

in

in type.

capitals or capitals

are entirely out of place. Finally, the style of the short story should be concise.

"

One

of the difficulties of the short story, the

short story shares with the actual drama, is

—

the indispensableness of compression

that every sentence shall tell." *

that * "

all

the need

not sufficient

irrelevant ideas be carefully pruned

The Short

Century.

It is

and that

Mar.,

Story," by Frederick '98.

301

away;

Wedmore. Nineteenth

SHORT STORY WRITING all

unnecessary fullness of expression must likewise

be

cut, that the

This

be crisp and to the point. ter

may

phrasing of the story

sometimes a mat-

is

word or

of the expunging of a superfluous

phrase; but

it is

a recasting of a sen-

fully as often

The

tence so as to avoid redundancy.

twofold

this conciseness is

sible of the valuable

story,

and

to

make

to waste as

the

movement

little

as pos-

of the language as

plot.

fault to be avoided here is

" padding."

object of

and abridged space of the short

quick as the action of the

The

:

always

commonly

called

Briefly speaking the term padding, as

applied to a piece of literature, denotes the presence

of irrelevant matter.

It

may consist of the introduc-

tion of scenes, persons, episodes, conversations or

general observations which have no part in advanc-

ing the action;

or,

more dangerous

consist of the presence

still,

of occasional

it

may

words and

phrases which lengthen and perhaps round out the sentences without adding to

their

vant scenes, persons, episodes,

value.

Irrele-

conversations

and

general observations have already been discussed at length, I

and need no further treatment

here.

must warn the novice against that most

form of padding which

is

But

insidious

responsible for so

many

THE STYLE long and dreary sentences, cluttered with repetitious

words and phrases which retard the narrative

and exasperate the

This redundancy

reader.

which

rhetorical fault,

is

by a

best corrected

is

a

re-

turn to the old school day methods of testing a sentence for coherence. that vigorously

and

It

must be

radically, for

An

corrected,

and

fatal to

is

it

a

how much

good short story

style.

stress editors lay

upon procuring only the " concen-

instance of

may

trated extract of the story-teller's art " in a letter received

tor of a prominent publication

for your story as

we

will

it is.

pay you $150;

If if

"

:

you can reduce

a half,

it is

style

is

to

a third,

mean

The average

fond of reading between the

cordingly he

it

$200."

upon

lines,

person

his ability in this respect; ac-

easily exasperated

subtle power, while he takes sly hints

throws out for his

is

and usually

with the exhaustive

which leaves no chance for the exercise of

panding the

ex-

bad policy to leave nothing to the

imagination of the reader.

prides himself

edi-

We will pay $ioo

Concise must not be understood haustive, for

be found

by a young writer from the

huge

his

delight in ex-

which the knowing writer

benefit.

Such a reader never

stops to consider that he has fallen into a skillfully

303

SHORT STORY WRITING laid trap; he

compliments the author upon his

artis-

method and turns from the story well pleased

tic

with himself and with the writer. ever,

the

There

is,

how-

something more than a pampering of pride

charm of

this suggestive

method

:

it

in

enables the

writer to cast a light veil of uncertainty over rather

bald facts, and thus to maintain that romantic gla-

mour

of unreality which plays so important a part

in fiction.

A

good

style

can be acquired by the exercise of

knowledge, patience and labor. is

The

first requisite

a practical working knowledge of rhetoric and

English composition. that any one

It

seems absurd to suppose

would attempt

to write stories without

being able to write correct English, but at least two-thirds of the stories submitted to editors contain inexcusable

grammatical and rhetorical errors;

and many of the

faults

which

sary to discuss in the

first

matters of rhetoric.

If

English now, respect before

set

I

have found

it

neces-

part of this chapter are

you cannot write

correct

about perfecting yourself in that

you dare

to essay story telling.

There

are books and correspondence courses galore which will assist you.

If

you won't do that you had

better

turn your energies in some other direction, for you 304

THE STYLE have neither the courage nor the

spirit necessary

for a successful short story writer.

Your next duty " Style

evitably sets

upon

what

your

to cultivate

the personal impress

is

acter in

is

individuality.

which a writer

his production.

in-

It is that char-

written which results from the

is

fact that these thoughts

and emotions have been those

of the author rather than of any other It is the expression of

human

being.

one man's individuality, as

sure and as unique as the sound of his voice, the look

from

his eye,

or the

imprint

Every person who has any personality

—

its

fluence the world

call to

problems.

by

his

thumb." *

write has a strong

manner of looking

an original

and of treating

of

He

at life

wishes so to in-

this personality that

it

will con-

sent to see through his eyes, or will at least listen patiently to

the

man

what he

sees.

It is this ego, this that is

himself, that he really desires to

through his writings.

His

first

step,

then,

show is

to

cultivate this individuality, to train his originality,

so to speak, in order that he

a

new and

distinctive light.

may

see everything in

He

should also give

attention to the expression of his personality. * "Talks on Writing English," by Arlo Bates. on " Style." ao5

It

Chapter

SHORT STORY WRITING is

not sufficient that he shall see

at a

life

new angk,

but he must so train himself that he shall be able to

way

put in an original

the

new

dividuality has discovered.

phases which his

expression of

It is this

the individuality which causes so

much

trouble, for

hundreds of stories are written which show nality in conception, but ality in the execution.

personality actly

is

which

fall

origi-

into convention-

The best way

to express your

to be perfectly natural,

and say ex-

what you think; any labored striving

effects will

produce an

in-

artificial style

which

after

will be

fatal to success. It is

a great aid to the attainment of a good style

thoroughly to understand your

may seem odd that you should your own ideas on a subject, but

put pen to paper. be ignorant of

It

often difficulty of expression

Too

mind

is

it

niteness of

voice

it

has yet sufficient

a

style.

defi-

form to justify expression, and when it

into writing he loses the thought

mass of the very words it.

in

by a happy thought, he attempts

on paper before

he would project in a

due to indecision

always the precursor of a poor

often, struck

to put

is

Vagueness or confusion of ideas

of mind. writer's

own mind before you

in

which he seeks

Again, the writer's mind 3o6

may

to

contain sev-

THE STYLE eral

jumbled

tally

ideas,

to express

any particular one before

to disentangle

itself, it is

tions of other is

each one good in

independent of the others; and

and

bound

but to-

itself

he attempts

if

has had time

it

to bring with

it

por-

Clear thinking

distinct ideas.

the basis of clear writing; and clear writing pre-

vents the chief errors that threaten your style.

Study the

stories of great writers;

that of others effect that

you desire

to produce.

should possess a certain

adapt

itself

It is

you need have closely.

For

ter to confine yourself to the

There

is

always a change in

own

age.

story, Irving,

toward a

good

to

and

writers;

fear of imi-

style alone

it

more modern style, if

style it

have any ex-

little

is

bet-

writers.

not exactly a

from one literary generation

and you should aim of your

all

sufficient individuality to

them too

progression,

enable

readily to your varying themes,

cuse for writing tating

not wise to

Your

flexibility, to

you should master the methods of

you have

work with

and see how they have obtained the

your study to any one writer.

limit

if

you know what

—compare your

most trouble you

parts

to the next,

at conformity to the canons

Those early masters of the short

Hawthorne and Poe, had a tendency

diffuse,

almost discursive 207

style,

which

is

SHORT STORY WRITING not

much

in

vogue now.

Their ease and el^^ance

are most commendable, but they lost in force

day.

and conciseness than

is

somewhat more

thought correct

to-

XII

THE LABOR OF AUTHORSHIP Because ing toward

literature is it,

an art and you have a lean-

do not therefore consider yourself a There

genius and so exempt from work.

road to success, and no one ever yet

world of

in the

letters

its

much

and

naturally

there

is

one

if

a high place

did not earn

a trade as boilermaking

rules;

no royal

it

In these days literature

sweat of his brow. as

who

won

is

make better

:

it

has

its

—or

—the matter

to genius

boilers.

just

is

tools

likes his occupation,

stories

by the

and

he will

That

is all

of aptitude for a cer-

tain thing;

and even that can be

cultivated.

If a

to a great degree

man, with absolutely no knowledge

of the tools and methods of the craft, attempt to

make

a boiler, he will create a deal of noise but

boilers,

though he may be well pleased with

efforts;

and so

So even friends

if

it is

his

no

own

with writing.

your literary

and published by

efforts are praised

local

editors,

by

don't get

the idea into your head that the world at large is

209

SHORT STORY WRITING sighing for the products of your pen likely that

your

friends'

rather by regard for

it is

:

encouragement

you than by any

is

far

more

prompted

real merit in

to

your work, and

that the editor's chief desire

get cheap copy.

You

estimate of your

work comes from those who know

is

will learn later that the truest

you the least, and that usually criticism

is

valuable in

inverse proportion to the regard which the critic has for you. real

If,

however, you

whatever the

feel that,

worth of your present work, there

you which demands

utterance,

you

is

that within

will modestly

accept this early adulation as prophetic of the true

fame

to

come, and will go about your writing in

all

humility and seriousness, with that careful, plod-

ding application which alone succeeds. Since as a story writer you purpose handling in all its varied phases,

it is

necessary that you should

acquire an intimate knowledge of

This you may

it.

do in several ways, as already indicated ter v., but

do

it

life

you must, and

seriously.

in

Chap-

You must

have in your possession and ready for instant use a large and varied assortment of

odd

characters, impressions,

cellaneous details that story.

go

and

to the

However you may gain 3IO

facts,

all

incidents,

the other mis-

making of a good this material

it

is

THE LABOR OF AUTHORSHIP much on your memory

best not to depend too tain

and

it

time.

to produce

The human memory

and unreliable.

is

apt to be treacherous

very likely

will

It

to re-

promptly at the proper

it

fail

to retain

the important details of a usable actual pccurrence, as well as the bright idea in connection with

flashed across

your mind when

The only safe

way

is

for

you

first

which

it

you found

to keep a scrap

it.

book

and a note book, or perhaps a combination of the

may

two, in which you bright ideas,

and

all

sorts of

you think may be of use

Much

that

you

preserve crude material,

to

odds and ends which

you

at

some future

day.

carefully preserve will never be of

service to you, but

you cannot afford

to risk losing

possible good matter through failure to make note

of

it.

" I would counsel the

young writer

to keep

a note book, and to make, as regards the use of nulla dies sine linea his revered motto.

It is

it,

a great

deal better that he should have his notes too copious

than too meagre. jottings

of

By

thoughts,

filling

page after page with

fancies,

impressions,

doubts and surmises of the vaguest kind

even

—

of a kind

which he himself can only understand at the time and perhaps

may

afterward

211

fail to recollect

when

re-

SHORT STORY WRITING

—he

will never, in the

reading them

long run, ac-

* count himself a loser."

When

putting your ideas into concrete depend too much on the " moment of

finally

form do not inspiration."

It is

not

my

intention to ridicule this artistic

most valuable incentive to in it

thoroughly when

vise you to take

all

story as swiftly as for

if it

will

—the

us gifted with the ability to will all

Dash

it.

off your

swifter the better,

runs easily from your pen

chance of being spontaneous.

nor

I believe

genuine, and I would ad-

it is

advantage of

you

work.

it

stands a better

But we are not

work

all

of

in this manner,

A

themes permit of such treatment.

short story that you can rush through at a sitting

should be viewed with skepticism fect

work of

call to

and

genius,

write; or, and

it,

either

it is

a per-

and you have a Heaven-sent

more probably,

trivial to justify the

bor upon

:

too

it is

trite

expenditure of serious

la-

and your " inspiration " was merely a

flush of vanity.

"

As

for trusting to the

moment,' or waiting for

it,

or deploring

'

inspired

its delay,

he (the young author) should take heed

how

he

permits any such folly or superstition to clutch him * "

Some Advice

The Independent.

to

Young Authors," by Edward Fawcett

May

14,

'96.

212

THE LABOR OF AUTHORSHIP in its vitiating grasp.

'

Inspiration

'

either means,

with a writer, good mental and physical healthj or has no meaning whatever.

.

.

Late hours and

.

stimulants are especially fatal to the

when both

it

young writer

are employed in the sense of literary co-

adjutors." *

" There

is,

I believe,

no greater

fallacy than trust-

ing to inspiration, except that of believing that a

mood

certain

who

write to

and who do rainy,

Ninety-nine

necessary for writing.

is

hundredths of the best literary work

who know

live,

is

done by men

that they

must

whether the weather

write,

whether they

like their

write,

is fine

breakfast

or

or

not,

whether they are hot or cold, whether they are in love, happily selves.

Of

or unhappily, with

course, a

for years, finds out

ing which suit methodical.

best;

or them-

has lived by his pen

by experience the hours

him

He

man who

women

for

work-

but a beginner should be

should go to his desk as any other

workman goes

to his work, after breakfast;

and eat

middle of the day, and work again

in the

He

in the afternoon.

should never begin by writ-

ing at night, unless he *

"

Some Advice

The Independent.

to

is

obliged to do so.

Young Authors," by Edgar

May

rest

14, '96.

313

He

Fawcett.

SHORT STORY WRITING of course, often

will,

to read,

way

to do

and the night

it.

is

if

he will only

what he meant to

think conscientiously of will find the

an hour

at the table for

sit

or more without writing a word, but

The evening

is

he

do,

the time

the time to sleep."*

This dependence on genius and inspiration

why the world and why so many of

is

one

so full of unliterary

of the reasons

is

writers,

real talent fail of suc-

It is

cess.

very easy, in the flush of composition, to

consider yourself gifted above your fellows, and to

go on writing reams of bosh that even you would despise, if

eye ; and

you could view

it is

it

with an unprejudiced

equally easy to persuade yourself that

anything that comes from your pen must be incapable of improvement, and that

you have reached the

goal.

your writings

But

fatal.

In short, " inspiration "

follies

are

of literary

if

and

but the conventional toil,

sell,

either delusion all its

is

attendant

accompaniments

which may be affected by the

dilet-

tante for the furthering of his pretense at art, but

which have no place

in the thoughts or plans of the

serious worker.

Such * "

inspiration as

The Art

you may need

of Authorship.''

Chapter by F. Marion Crawford.

314

to keep your

Edited by George Baintoa

THE LABOR OF AUTHORSHIP work

fresh and artistic will

and

zeal

interest with

you go

If

to

and ready till

it

to

at the first opportunity to put

if,

you

will accomplish

on the contrary, you

concentrate

all

task.

body and mind, it all

little,

then or

labor,

and

the powers and energies of your

which

will create within

more

will be of far

will

mind

upon the work in hand, the very force of your

and your desire

off

will square your-

your writing as to a physical

self to

you from the

which you approach your

half-heartedly, lazy in

the morrow,

ever; but

come

will

you an enthusiasm

practical value to

you

than any cheap inspiration drawn from some Parnassian spring. ness-like

You

can, in fact,

method of working,

by

create

this

very busi-

on demand a

species of inspiration, or mental vigor,

which

will

enable you, not exactly to dash off a masterpiece

with no real effort on your part, but to achieve by actual labor those things

There

is

much,

too, in

which you desire to

do.

going to your work regularly,

even as a carpenter to his bench; for the mental processes that produce ble of cultivation

when they

of habit.

stories are capa-

and control; and,

tions of the brain, they

fection

good short

func-

approach the nearest co per-

fall into

Indeed, they

like all

something of a routine

may be ais

so far regulated that

SHORT STORY WRITING at the usual hour for their exercise they will be not

only active but urgent, so that you will go to your appetite as hearty as that with

work with an

which

welcome the dinner hour.

you

Do

—

ship

not be afraid of the manual labor of authorthe writing and rewriting, the testing and cor-

and thorough "

recting, the persistent

shape " which gives the

Never send an

final polish to

licking into

your work.

and

editor a penciled, smutched,

dis-

orderly MS., with a note saying, " I just dashed this

and send

off last night

foredoomed to finished lay

and

let it

it;

and

get " cold; " leave

then bring

it

and rework

you are bound certain errors,

if

forth

it

possible

—

and read

don't even think it

over carefully

In the

draft

to slight certain places or to

make

ruthlessly.

which you would correct

There

formed thought which

and there

is

over

for a week, or two

will

will

be

in the course

some

half-

need elaboration, or

some word which was not quite the right let

is

first

it

of a careful revision.

which you

it

is

take your blue pencil, harden your

critically,

heart,

Such work

right on."

But when your story

away without even reading

it

weeks, or even longer of

it

failure.

one, but

pass lest you lose your train of thought;

almost sure to be some wordiness which

will need cutting away.

3l6

THE LABOR OF AUTHORSHIP " For,

the practice of composition be useful,

if

work of

the laborious

correcting

no

is

less so: it

indeed absolutely necessary to our reaping any

is

benefit

What we

from the habit of composition.

have written should be laid by for some till

the ardor of composition be past,

we have

ness for the expressions

little

time,

the fond-

till

used be worn

off,

and the expressions themselves be forgotten; and then reviewing our eye, as if

many

Then

us.

cool

and

critical

were the performance of another, we

it

shall discern

caped

work with a

is

imperfections which at

first es-

the right season for pruning re-

dundances; for weighing the arrangement of sentences; for attending to the junctures

ing particles rect,

;

and bringing

a regular, cor-

This Limae Labor ' must

and supported form.

be submitted to by

style into

and connect-

'

all

who communicate

thoughts with proper advantage to others practice in

it

will

and some

;

soon sharpen their eye to the most

necessary objects of attention, and render

more easy and

their

practicable

a

it

work than might

much

at first

be imagined." * It is this last careful,

ing which

will

* " Lectures Blair.

minute testing and polish-

determine whether or no you are

on Rhetoric and Belles

Lecture XIX.

21

?

Letters,"

by

se-

Hugh

:

SHORT STORY WRITING rious in your endeavor to break into literature, for

All that

here the real labor of authorship begins.

went before was simply

child's play

grubbing, plodding, tinkering, pottering; so

had

you have no stomach

if

"

better learn a trade.

pains with

Try

it.

learn to criticise

do

easier to

it is

do, take

good English:

and correct your work: put your

that, better

If

go

you are too lazy and

into a trade or politics

become a Congressman or

than a real author, and tellers as it is."

this

for this, you

Whatever you

at least to write

best into every sentence. careless to

compared to

and patching, and

*

If

we have

you

too

millionaire

many bad

story-

will pursue this labor of

revision courageously you will speedily find an im-

provement

in the quality of

will also find that

You

your finished work.

your manuscripts need

less after

attention, for the lessons learned in these careful re-

workings

will be unconsciously applied during

com-

position.

"

From

form

the alphabetic slovenliness which will not

its letters

legibly nor put in

lack of self-acquaintance ability to

judge one's

which

own

* "

Bad

who

Stoiy-Telling," by Frederick

318

to the

results in total dis-

products,

stantly in evidence that those

Oct., '97.

commas,

its

M.

it

is

too con-

aspire to feed

Bird.

Lippincotfs.

THE LABOR OF AUTHORSHIP other minds are themselves in need of discipline.

....

within bounds to say that not one ac-

It is

cepted manuscript out of ten as

stands."*

it

Do

is fit

to

go

to the printer

not be so lazy or so careless as

to slight the little things, the

mere mechanical de-

which go to make a perfect story and a pre-

tails,

sentable manuscript.

" There are several distinct

classes of errors to look for: faults of

grammar,

such as the mixing of figures of speech.

Faults of

agreement of verbs and participles collective

nouns are referred

such as the mixing of taste,

to.

in

number when

Faults of rhetoric,

moods and

tenses,

and the

such as the use of words with a disagreeable or

misleading atmosphere about them,

meaning makes

strict

their

use

Faults of repetition of the same

though their

correct

word

enough.

in differing

same sentence or paragraph.

Faults

of tediousness of phrasing or explanation.

Faults

senses in the

of lack of clearness in expressing the exact meaning.

Faults of sentimental use of language, that

falling

into

meaning

—

fine

is,

phrases which have no distinct

the most discordant fault of

all.

Faults

of digression in the structure of the story."t * Ibid. t"

How

London.

to

Write Fiction."

Part

II.

Anonymous.

Chapter IV.

219

Bellaires

&

Co.,

SHORT STORY WRITING Faults in

rhetoric are too easily cor-

grammar and

way of your sucshowed you how you may

rected to be allowed to stand in the cess,

and

I

have already

For they are

perfect yourself in these essentials.

and so much more important than many

essentials,

young writers

think, that I believe I

safe in saying that

rhe-

grammatical errors has ever written a suc-

torical or

are

perfectly

no one who makes glaring In spelling, too, there

cessful short story. lutely

am

is

no excuse for errors; you surely know

weak

in this respect,

dictionary will enable

magazine has

its

own

absoif

you

and the use of even a small

you to avoid mistakes. rules for punctuation

Every

and par-

agraphing, in accordance with which an accepted

MS.

is

edited before

but that

is

it is

given to the compositor;

no good reason why you should neglect

to prepare your

MS.

properly.

The

general rules

are few and easily understood, and they enable you to give

your work

and make finds a

it

MS.

definite

form and arrangement,

much more easy to

read.

An editor who

lacking in these lesser essentials will be

apt to throw

it

aside with but a superficial perusal,

naturally judging that

it

will also lack the higher

attributes.

Finally, just before sending

23Q

your story out for

THE LABOR OF AUTHORSHIP editorial consideration,

the utmost care

go over

once more with

it

and painstakingly

test

every para-

graph, every sentence, every word, to see is

necessary,

point

you

written,

and second

if

it

do not

have revised

it,

call

If at

right.

is

find yourself questioning

any

what you have

your work complete

not only to your

first if it

own

until

you

satisfaction,

but so that you honestly feel that the reader, too, will at

be

satisfied.

If

you cannot

at the time arrive

a satisfactory expression of your thought, put

the story aside for the time being

when you can come

to

it

and try again

afresh.

It

is

wearied labor which in the end spells success.

tat

later

this un-

XIII

THE QUEST OF A MARKET Even when

his story

complete the writer has

is

not yet come to the end of his has

still

to find a

difficulties,

for he

Since he

market for his work.

is

writing for publication, and not for the mere love of composition, this quest of a market

is

an im-

portant matter, for by his success in this respect the writer

must judge

terial success as

his chances of ultimate

a short story writer.

disputing the fact that good

work

There

is

no

will find accep-

tance eventually, but sometimes the delay that the writer almost loses hope.

and ma-

He

is

so long

usually goes

about marketing his wares in a haphazard fashion;

and a warning word or two

may enable which may re-

at this point

him

to

remedy some of the mistakes

tard

if

not prevent the success of really meritorious

work. In the estly

first place,

then, consider

your story hon-

and without prejudice, and make sure that

does deserve publication.

it

Get an unbiased opinion

332

THE QUEST OF A MARKET on

it

from some

I

you

can,

Never,

like

real critic,

weight to what he says.

if

and give some

many

novices

have known, send out a MS. with an accompanying

note saying that you to standard,

know your

is

and that you could improve

the time, but that

not quite up it if

you hope the editor

an exception in your favor

in order to

you had

will

make

encourage

Editors are not paid to do that sort of thing;

you.

and

story

you yourself have not complete confidence

if

your story you have no business to editor.

If

inflict it

in

upon an

you enter the profession of story wri-

ting in that spirit

you

will fail, absolutely

servedly, to gain aught but rebuffs

and indeed, your labor

will

and de-

by your labors;

be so slight and half

hearted that you cannot honestly expect any satisfactory return from

it.

Emerson's advice, " Hitch your wagon to a is

an excellent rule for the young writer.

literature

may

star,"

With you

be a profession as well as an

art,

but

you should not permit yourself to be too easily satisfied

with material success.

Do

not be content just

because you get your work published, or because you are sure

you write as well as some of your con-

temporaries; always try to rise above the crowd and to be

one of the few who 223

set the

standard for the

SHORT STORY WRITING multitude.

your

If

stories are accepted

by one mag-

azine, try to " break into " another that is a little

more

particular; if

ature, try to

win

you succeed

in

one

style of liter-

laurels in a higher class of work.

It is

this constant striving that brings ultimate suc-

—

cess

and

financial

If

artistic.

to be easily content with your ceipts therefrom, you become " old fogy " and

you allow yourself

work and your

will speedily dull,

fall

and one day

find yourself with a desk full of rejected

no hope for a brighter

At

the

same

re-

into a rut, will

MSS., and

future.

time, there are almost as

many

grades

of stories as there are publications using them, and

with but few exceptions you isfy all tastes.

A

high class magazine

may

story which

may be well

is

endeavor to

adapted to the needs

of a newspaper syndicate; and though fatal for

you

to take the

sat-

too slight for a

it

would be

newspaper story for your

standard, there can be no objection to your

making

occasional contributions to that class of literature.

Indeed,

it is

probable that at the outset you will be

forced to content yourself with writing for S5mdicates

and minor magazines, though you may aim for

the pages of the best monthlies

:

those old established

publications are both conservative

224

and overstocked,

THE QUEST OF A MARKET and though they are ready enough

to

examine MSS.,

they are slow to accept the work of a young writer.

But even among the few magazines which can be called first class there are

wide differences of opin-

ion as to what constitutes a good story, and a

which one gladly.

may

will reject decidedly another

It is

your

MS.

accept

business to acquaint your-

first

self

with the general style of the magazine to which

you

desire to contribute; or,

make

written, to

sure that

if

its

your story acceptance

is

is

already

not for-

bidden by the policy of the publication to which you

submit

It is

it.

a waste of time and postage to send

a story of adventure to a magazine which publishes

only tales of love.

The story

timeliness, or seasonal appropriateness, of a

may have much

the market. literature,

influence

and

editors in general place so

holly

its

peculiar

much

stress

at the contents of a

There are the blizzard

stories,

and the vacation

are due about January;

which begin to appear

success in

you within a month of

will often tell

date of issue.

its

Each season of the year has

upon timeliness that a glance magazine

upon

in July,

and the

its

which stories,

stories of

and mistletoe and stockings, which come with

the Christmas season.

Likewise, 225

we have

special

SHORT STORY WRITING stories for

ington's

New

Yeara", St. \'alentine's Day,

Birthdaj,

May

Easter,

Wadi-

Day, Memorial

Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and a host of

minor

The

special occasions.

plot

and matter

these stories of occa^ons are so trite tional that

it is

a wonder that the reading public did

not rebel against them long ago; but tho'e stant

demand

for such stories,

mark^

Such

stories

is

a con-

and the writer who

can give the old {dots some freshness

good

for

and conven-

is

sure of a

should always be sub-

mitted at least three months before they are to be used, for speaal editions are compiled fsi ia ad-

vance; but a story of this character

is

always a

marketable commodity and may be carried over tinm

year to year without detorioration.

Of a more qihemeral timeliness depends

current

fediion

type are the stories whose

upon

in

their coinciding with

die

For Aere

are

short stories.

feshions in literature just as surelv as in matters

of dress, and short stories are peculiariv subject to

such changes. cry,

A few years ago dialect was all the

and a story was judged and valued according

to the

amount of

unintelligible gibberish that it con-

was most in was bald reahsm; at the

tained; before that romantic adventure

demand; and

stiD earlier

it

236

THE QUEST OF A MARKET time of writing (Spring of 1900) war stories hold first

The reason

place in popular esteem.

present style

is

obvious, but in general these

for the

modes

are difficult to explain and almost impossible to fore-

Such

cast.

stories contain

timeliness depend entirely

no new

plot,

and for

their

upon the introduction of

the current fashion, whatever

may be;

it

but they af-

ford a grateful variety to the rather monotonous run

They

of light fiction. ter

also offer the up-to-date wri-

unusual opportunities to gain editorial favor, for

mode

a story observant of the current

is

sure of se-

rious consideration.

You

should

make

it

a rule from the start never to

away a story for the mere sake of seeing your name in print. What is worth writing and pubgive

lishing is

worth being paid

for.

Don't

let

a publisher

persuade you that the appearance of your work in his journal will will

bring you a fame and a

enable you to

editor

sell

MSS.

name

elsewhere.

knows how such a man

that

Every

gets his matter,

and values his contributors accordingly; and every publication

which can

for whatever matter

away your

stories

assist it

you

uses.

in

your career pays

Besides,

you injure the

by giving

literary market,

both for yourself and for your fellow workers. >27

If

SHORT STORY WRITING all

work

writers resolutely declined to part with their

except for a cash equivalent, those scheming editors

would soon be brought matter to

fill

to time

and forced to pay for

their columns.

Spare no pains to make your

The

ble.

fact that

MSS.

you are as yet

neat and legi-

little

known

is

undoubtedly against you; your mere name has no

power

to exact a careful perusal of

judgment

in accordance

with

editor.

The

MSS. from unknown

which he must worry through really

is

at a glance.

of your story,

it is

If

to judge a

he reads beyond the

good evidence

He

is

penciled MS., or one that

MS.

first

al-

page

that he found there

something of merit, even though he

A

writers

always overworked,

and he has learned by experience

it.

your

after a fashion, lest

good should escape him.

conscientious enough, but he

most

it is

easy for the

editor always has his desk piled

high with unsolicited

something

it

question of legibility sums up the whole

The average

tale.

making

and a

story,

merits; so

its

business to gain that favor by

your

is

finally reject

written on both

sides of the paper, will hardly get a passing glance.

Even a neat pen-written MS.

will fare little better,

for to the editor a typewritten story

means not only

easy reading but probably some experience on the 328

THE QUEST OF A MARKET Have your story typewritten, by some one who can put it in presentable

part of the author. then,

shape, so that

ing

it is

it

best to fold

it

as

little

two

legal envelope, requiring

Unless the

MS.

sheets,

best to fold

flat it

roll

it is

is

bulky or

as possible; the large folds,

is

is

most used.

on unusually small

at least once, for

it

usually arrives in a crumpled state.

it,

bother with

Make

sent

if

Never

under any circumstances, for a MS. once

rolled can never be

smoothed

out,

and no editor

will

it.

the letter accompanying your story as short

and business

like as possible.

your family history or the story; don't ask tions; say that

approval, is all

For mail-

will look business like.

relate

him

Don't

tell

the editor

how you came

to write

for criticisms or sugges-

you submit such a MS. subject

and give your name and address.

he cares to know about you.

stamps for return of

MS.

—

to his

That

Always enclose

or, better yet,

a stamped

and self-addressed envelope; never be so small or so careless as to It is of

underpay the postage.

course your privilege to put a price upon

any matter that you may submit for publication but ;

unless the magazine editorially requests a set price I

should advise you to leave that matter to the ed229

SHORT STORY WRITING itor,

It is

and

buyer rather than the

until

your name

rates."

seller

makes the terms,

has a value you are hardly in

Nor

run counter to custom.

j)08ition to

that

your work " at the usual

a peculiarity of the literary business that usu-

ally the

and

to submit

you have had

sufficient experience to enable

your work

to estimate

is it likely

You

justly.

you

need have no

fear of being cheated, for a reputable publishing

house able

always willing to pay a

is

price for suit-

MSS.

It will

well

fit

do you no good

known author or

to get a letter

public person

your work to the publisher; and harm. alone, ters or

Matter from novices

and no amount of

its

make your it

do

merits

from a man of

was when you gave

The most such

ing touches. complish

it

will

will often

it

accepted on

praise

an influential friend

whit better than

is

from some

recommending

let-

story one

the finish-

intercession

can ac-

a perusal of your MS., and that you can

is

yourself obtain

you imagine

if

you

make

will

it

i)rcscntable.

If

that an editor will be influenced in his

judgment by the words of an

mistaken—

is

against you.

He

^he

far is

more

outsider,

apt

to

you are sadly

be prejudiced

an experienced and competent

flJO

THE QUEST OF A MARKET man, who knoirs exactly what he wants, and who

maj natmaSy potinent

be expected to resent anj sodi im-

m ei ierence with his woik. t

^iSBS a small thing for vou to ask an editor

It

work, and

many a

jocn^ writer has loog cherished a grudge

against

to gi\~e

some

yoa a

criticism

who

editor

cm

jronr

has totally ignored his argent and

flattmi^ request ior a candid opinion. qoestioD ftat even a

word from an

TTiere

editor

is

no

woold be

of nntc^ Tahie to die noTice; hot the novice has no idea

what

a: great

expense for

' readers " to pass

nutted to

mean&

his reqoest

it.

tire

enjoyment of

trained

c^on the onscdkited MSS. sob-

woold

at kast

Tnen. too, tinee-foordis of the eviftor

is

and the acovdir^ of evai a word of

criticism to each

any

Evenr magazine

dooUe

diat expense.

MSS.

solmitted to

are sodi that he coold not honestly say

am'diii^ good of them, and no editor cares to go out of his

way

would

it

ro hurt the fedings of the writa-;

be ptdicy for him to do

so.

TOO sobmit a MS. to an editor yon are inclosing on him, so be as easv on If

yoa fed

that

E\-ery time ia a

him as

yoo most have an expert

your wofk, send

it

nor

maimer possible.

(^anicxi

on

to one of die Uterary boreans

«3«

SHORT STORY WRITING which have been established for just that purpose.

They

you a

will give

and just

careful

criticism for

the payment of a nominal fee.

Do

not rest your hopes of success upon the fate

of one

MS.

If

you never write a new story

until

predecessor has been placed you cannot possibly

its

live

long enough to win success.

constantly turning out

than the

last;

new

stories,

You

should be

each one better

or reworking an old one whose faults

you have just discovered; and you should keep the mails loaded with your work. too

many good

Do

You

can never have

on the road.

stories

not become impatient

if

you do not

receive a

check for your story within a week after sending it

out.

The

largest magazines usually require three

months and sometimes longer If

you attempt

to report

on a MS.

to hurry the editorial decision

will probably receive

you

your MS. by return mail, un-

read. It is advisable that

dum book of some

you keep a MS. memoran-

sort, in

which you may record the

journeyings of your MSS., so that you

may know

where they have been and how long they have been away.

You do

not want to send the same

MS.

to

the same editor twice, nor to continue submitting 232

THE QUEST OF A MARKET natter to a magazine which

or which

you

method, you wiU regret not only lose

It

may

is

will

There are

from an ordinary blank

take any form

would suggest that

cany

you

on the market, or you can

for yourself

number of words quired to

shod

slip

but you will be submit-

into the proper hands.

it

make one

book.

some

to

If

in a hit-or-miss fashion that is Uttle

several books of this sort easily

your work.

in the end, for

it

many MSS.,

work

likely to get

already overstocked,

your memory, or

trust to

ting your

is

careless in returning

is

it,

it

you

but

please,

I

should include spaces for

tlie

and the postage

re-

in the story

besides the publishers to

submitted and the dates

when

whom

it

mailed and re-

it is

tumed-

The

rejection of

your MS. by one or two editors

should not discourage you itors

it

it

finds place

where

it

try twelve ed-

it

It is

is first

seldom submit-

may not just meet the ideals of that editor; may already have too much matter on hand.

it

or he If

you may

and have the thirteenth accept

indeed that ted:

:

you beUeve the story has been the rounds

:

is

good, keep

you may

it

going

find that the

till

dawn

of success comes from the point whence you least ejq)ected

it.

«33

APPENDIX "the

ambitious guest"

(From Nathaniel Hawthorne's " Twice-Told

One September

I.

Tales.")

night a family had gathered

round

their hearth

wood

of mountain-streams, the dry cones of the

and piled

high with the

it

and the splintered ruins of great

pine,

had come crashing down the chimney roared the with

its

broad blaze.

drift-

trees that

Up

precipice.

the

and brightened the room

fire,

The

faces of the father

and

mother had a sober gladness; the children laughed.

The

eldest daughter

was

the image of Happiness at

seventeen, and the aged grandmother,

ting in the warmest place, ness

grown

old.

who

sat knit-

was the image of Happi-

They had found

ease " in the bleakest spot of

all

the " herb heart's-

New

England. This

family were situated in the Notch of the White Hills,

where the wind was sharp throughout the

year and pitilessly cold in the winter, giving their cottage all

on the

its

fresh inclemency before

valley of the Saco.

«34

it

They dwelt

descended in

a cold

"

THE AMBITIOUS GUEST "

spot and a dangerous one, for a mountain towered

above their heads so steep that the stones would often

rumble down 2.

its

sides

and

The daughter had them

jest that filled

came through

all

startle

them

with mirth,

when

their cottage, rattling the door with a

ing and lamentation before

For a moment glad again lifted

wind

sound of wail-

passed into the valley.

But the family were

in the tones.

when

by some

it

the

to pause before

saddened them, though there was

it

nothing unusual

some simple

just uttered

Notch and seemed

the

at midnight.

they perceived that the latch was

traveler

whose footsteps had been un-

heard amid the dreary blast which heralded his ap-

proach and waited as he was entering and went

moaning away from the 3.

door.

Though they dwelt

in such a solitude, these

The

people held daily converse with the world.

mantic pass of the Notch

is

a great artery through

which the life-blood of internal commerce tinually throbbing

is

con-

between Maine on the one

and the Green Mountains and the shores of the

Lawrence on the

other.

The

drew up before the door of the farer with to

ro-

no companion but

side St.

stage-coach always cottage.

his staff

The waypaused here

exchange a word, that the sense of loneliness 23s

SHORT STORY WRITING might not utterly overcome him ere he could pass through the

cleft of the

And

house in the valley.

way

to Portland

and,

mountain or reach the

here the teamster on his

market would put up for the night,

a bachelor, might

if

first

sit

an hour beyond the

usual bedtime and steal a kiss from the mountain-

maid

at parting.

It

was one of those primitive

tav-

erns where the traveler pays only for food and lodging, but

meets with a homely kindness beyond

When

price.

all

the footsteps were heard, therefore,

between the outer door and the inner one, the whole family rose up, grandmother, children and if

about to welcome some one

and whose

fate

was

who

face at

first

wore

as

belonged to them,

linked with theirs.

The door was opened by

4.

all,

a young man.

His

the melancholy expression, almost

despondency, of one

who

travels a wild

and bleak

road at nightfall and alone, but soon brightened up

when he saw

He

felt his

the kindly

warmth

from the old

woman who wiped

apron to the

little

him.

One

of his reception.

heart spring forward to meet them

all,

a chair with her

child that held out its

arms

to

glance and smile placed the stranger on

a footing of innocent familiarity with the eldest

daughter.

S36

"

THE AMBITIOUS GUEST "

"Ah!

5-

" especially

round

when I

it.

this fire is the right thing," cried he,

am

there

such a pleasant

is

quite benumbed, for the

circle

Notch

just like the pipe of a great pair of bellows;

blown a

my

terrible blast in

face all the

it

is

has

way from

Bartlett." 6.

"Then you

are going

toward Vermont?"

said the master of the house as he helped to take a light 7.

knapsack

oflf

young man's

the

" Yes, to Burlington,

and

shoulders.

enough be-

far

" I meant to have been at Ethan

yond," replied he.

Crawford's to-night but a pedestrian lingers along such a road as

If

this.

saw

this

as

you had kindled

if

waiting

good

my

fire

and

The

his chair

footstep

all

it

at

no matter; for when

your cheerful

faces, I felt

I

shall sit

down among

home."

frank-hearted stranger had just drawn

up

to the fire

when something

like

was heard without rushing down

side of the

I

on purpose for me and were

So

arrival.

you and make myself 8.

is

mountain as with long and rapid

and taking such a leap

strides,

in passing the cottage as to

strike the opposite precipice.

breath, because they

a heavy

the steep

knew

The family

held their

the sound, and their guest

held his by instinct.

237

SHORT STORY \MUTING "

g.

The

old mountain has thrown

a stone

at

tis

for fear vte should forget him," said the landlord,

"

recovering himself.

He sometime

nods his head

and threatens to t»me down, hui we are old neighbors,

and agree tog^er pretty

Besides,

we have a

well,

upon the whole

sure place of refuge hard by

if

he

should be coming in good earnest."

Let us now siqq)ose the stranger to have

lo.

finished his supper of bear's meat,

and bv

his natural

fdidty of maimer to have placed himself on a

test-

ing of kindness with the whole family: so that they talked together as freely as

mountain-brood. spirit,

He was

if

he belonged to Aeir

of a proud yet

g^entle

haughty and reserved among the rich and

great, but ever ready to stoop his

cottage door

poor man's

and be

like

head to the lowly

a brother or a son at the

In the household of the Notch

fireside.

he foimd warmth and simplicity of vading intelligence of

New

feeling, the per-

England, and a

of natix'e growth which they had gathered ver}- little

cliasms,

thought of

and

at the

it

whai they

from the mountain-peaks and

^'er^-

and dangerous abode.

poetr>-

threshold of their romantic

He

had traveled

alone; his whole lif^ indeed,

•38

had been a

far

and

solitary

"

THE AMBITIOUS GUEST "

path, for, with the lofty caution of his nature, he

had kept himself apart from those who might other-

The

wise have been his companions.

family, too,

though so kind and hospitable, had that conscious-

among

ness of unity

themselves and separation from

the world at large which in every domestic circle

should

still

keep a holy place where no stranger

But

intrude.

this

pelled the refined

evening a prophetic sympathy im-

and educated youth to pour out

heart before the simple mountaineers,

them

strained

to

And

fidence.

kindred of a

may his

and con-

answer him with the same free con-

thus

it

common

should have been.

Is not the

fate a closer tie than that of

birth? II.

The

secret of the

young man's character

He could have

was a high and abstracted ambition. borne to

live

an undistinguished

forgotten in the grave.

but not to be

life,

Yearning desire had been

transformed to hope, and hope, long cherished, had

become

like certainty that, obscurely as

now, a glory was to

beam on

not, perhaps, while

he was treading

all

posterity should gaze back into the

was now the present, they would «39

he journeyed

his pathway, it.

though

But when

gloom of what

trace the brightness

— SHORT STORY WRITING of his footsteps, brightening as meaner glories faded,

and confess that a gifted one had passed from cradle to his

"

12.

ing and

tomb with none

As jret,"

to reot^nize him.

cried the stranger, his chedc glow-

Were

earth to-morrow, none would as

you

"'

his ejre flailing widi enthusiasm

done noAing.

I have

his

from the

I to vanish

know

—

so

that a nameless youth came

as yet

much

of

me

tq)

at nightfall

from the vall^ of the Saco, and opened

his heart to

you in the evening, and passed through the Notdi by

sunrise,

But

Not a

and was seen no more.

ask, '^^llo

washe?

I cannot die

Then 1^ Death

soul would

Whither did the wanderer go?'

till

my destii^. built my mooo-

I hare achieved

ccnne: I shall hare

ment" 13.

Thoe was

tion gushing forth

a contimial flow of natural emo-

amid abstracted

reverie

which en-

abled the family to understand this young man's sentimoits,

though so foreign from

With guide

soisibility of the ludicnxis,

at the ardor into which he 14.

'

You

"

1^

taking the

hand and laughing at

You think my ambition

to freeze

he blushed

had been betrayed.

laugh at me," said

eldest daugiiter's

own.

their

as nonsensical as

him.'a^f if

I were

mysdf to death on the top of Moont Wash240

"

THE AMBITIOUS GUEST "

ing^on only that people might spy at

country roundabout.

And

me from

the

would be a

truly that

noble pedestal for a man's statue." " It

15.

swered the

is better to

girl,

sit

here by this

fire,"

an-

blushing, " and be comfortable and

contented, though

nobody thinks about us."

" I suppose," said her father, after a fit of musing, " there is something natural in what the 16.

young man says; and that way, I

if

might have

strange, wife,

how

my mind

had been turned

felt just

the same.

his talk has set

my

—

^It

is

head run-

ning on things that are pretty certain never to come to pass."

" Perhaps they may," observed

17.

" Is the

man

a widower ?

thinking what he will do

wife.

when he

is

"

" No, no " cried he, repelling the idea with

18.

!

reproachful kindness.

"

death, Esther, I think of

mine

ing

the

we had a good farm

Littleton, or

When

I

too.

think

But

in Bartlett or

I

of

your

was wish-

Bethlehem or

some other township round the White

Mountains, but not where they could tumble on our heads.

I should

want

bors and be called for a

to stand well with

my

neigh-

squire and sent to General Court

term or two; for a

plain, honest

241

man may do

SHORT STORY WRITING much good there as a lawyer. And when I should be grown quite an old man, and you an old

as

woman,

so as not to be long apart, I

enough

in

A

me.

my

slate

bed,

and leave you

all

gravestone would suit

a marble one, with just

my name

verse of a hymn, and something to

that

I

might

lived an honest

man and

die

happy

crying around

me

as well as

and age, and a peopte

let

know

died a Christ-

ian." 19. is

" There,

now! " exclaimed the

our nature to desire a monument, be

ble,

stranger; "

it

slate or

or a pillar of granite, or a glorious

it

mar-

memory

in

the universal heart of man." 20.

" We're in a strange

wife, with tears in her eyes.

of something

Hark 21.

when

folk's

to the children

They

way to-night," said the " They say it's a sign

minds go a-wandering

so.

" !

listened

accordingly.

The younger

children had been put to bed in another room, but

with an open door between; so that they could be

heard talking busily

among themselves.

One and all

seemed to have caught the infection from the side circle,

and were outvying each other

fire-

in wild

wishes and childish projects of what they would do

when they came

to be

men and women. 242

At

length

— "THE AMBITIOUS GUEST" a

little

boy, instead of addressing his brothers and

sisters, called

22.

he all

out to his mother.

"I'll tell

you what

"I want you and

:

I wish,

father

mother," cried

and grandma'm, and

of us, and the stranger too, to start right

away

and go and take a drink out of the basin of the Flume." 23.

Nobody could

notion of leaving a

from a cheerful

fire

help laughing at the child's

warm bed and dragging them

to visit the basin of the

Flume

a brook which tumbles over the precipice deep within the Notch. 24. rattled

The boy had hardly

spoken,

when a wagon

along the road and stopped a moment be-

fore the door.

It

men who were

appeared to contain two or three

cheering their hearts with the rough

chorus of a song which resounded in broken notes

between the

cliffs,

while

the

singers

hesitated

whether to continue their journey or put up here for the night. 25.

"Father," said the

girl,

"they are

calling

you by name." 26.

But the good man doubted whether they had

really called him,

and was unwilling

self too solicitous

of gain by inviting people to pat243

to

show him-

SHORT STORY WRITING He

ronize his house. the door, and,

the

therefore did not hurry to

lash being soon appHed, the

travelers plunged into the Notch,

still

singing and

laughing, though their music and mirth came back drearily

from the heart of the mountain. "There, mother!" cried the boy, again;

27.

" they'd have given us a ride to the Flume."

Again they laughed

28.

at the child's pertina-

But

cious fancy for a night-ramble.

it

happened

that a light cloud passed over the daughter's spirit;

she looked gravely into the that

was almost a

of a

little

sigh.

It

struggle to repress

fire

and dre^v a breath

forced it.

its

way, in

spite

Then, starting and

blushing, she looked quickly around the circle, as

if

The

they had caught a glimpse into her bosom. stranger asked what she had been thinking of.

" Nothing," answered she, with a downcast

29.

smile; " only I felt lonesome just then."

" Oh, I have always had a gift of feeling

30.

what

is

riously.

in other people's hearts," said he, half se-

" Shall I

know what a

warm

tell

to think

the secret of yours

when a young

?

For

girl shivers

I

by

hearth and complains of lonesomeness at

her mother's side. "

Shall I put these feelings into

words ?

•44

"THE AMBITIOUS GUEST" "They would

31.

longer

if

not be a

any

girl's feelings

they could be put into words," replied the

mountain-nymidi, laughing, but avoiding his eye.

love

was springing

might blossom

nity as his, is

in their hearts so pure that

in Paradise, since

tured on earth; for

soul

Perhaps a germ of

All this was said apart

32.

women

it

it

ma-

could not be

worship such gentle dig-

and the proud, contemplative, yet kindly,

by

oftenest captivated

But while they spoke

softly,

simplicity like hers.

and he was watching

the happy sadness, the lightsome shadows, the shy

yearnings, of a maiden's nature, the wind through

the Notch took a deeper and drearier sound.

seemed, as

liie

fanciful stranger said, like the choral

strain of the spirits of the blast

times had their dwelling

made

their heights

among

and

who

To

chase

away

the

threw pine-branches on their crackled

and the flame

in old Indian

these mountains

if

a funeral were

gloom,

fire till

the

family

the dry leaves

arose, discovering once again

a scene of peace and humble happiness.

The

light

hovered about them fondly and caressed them

There were the

from

their

little

and

recesses a sacred region.

There was a wail along the road as passing.

It

all.

faces of the children peeping

bed apart, and here the 245

father's

frame of

SHORT STORY. WRITING strength, the mother's subdued

and careful mien,

the high-browed youth, the budding girl,

and the

good old grandma,

warmest

knitting in the

still

place.

33.

The aged woman looked up from her

and with 34.

task,

busy was the next to speak.

fingers ever

" Old folks have their notions," said she,

" as well as

young

You've been wishing and

ones.

planning and letting your heads run on one thing

and another

till

my mind a-wandering too.

you've set

Now, what should an

old

woman wish

for,

when she

can go but a step or two before she comes to her

grave? till

Children,

I tell

35.

36.

haunt

me

night and day

you."

"What

and wife

will

it

mother?"

is it,

cried the husband

at once.

Then

tery which

woman, with an

the old

drew the

circle closer

air of

round the

mys-

fire, in-

formed them that she had provided her graveclothes

some years before a muslin

ruff,

she had

worn

—a

nice linen shroud, a cap with

and everything of a since her

finer sort

wedding day.

But

than this

evening an old superstition had strangely recurred to her. if

It

used to be said in her younger days that

—

anything were amiss with a corpse 346

if

only the

— "

THE AMBITIOUS GUEET "

were not smooth or the cap did not

ruff

set right

the corpse, in the coffin and beneath the clods, would cold hands and arrange

strive to put

up

bare thought

made her

37.

its

The

it.

nervous.

" Don't talk so, grandmother," said the girl,

shuddering. 38.

"

Now," continued

woman,

the old

with

singular earnestness, yet smiling strangely at her

own

folly,

" I

your mother

is

want one of you,

my

dressed and in the

coffin,

of you to hold a looking-glass over

knows but whether 39.

I

all's

"

children,

—

my

I

when

want one

Who

face.

may

take a glimpse at myself and see " right ?

Old and young, we dream of graves and

monuments," murmured the stranger youth.

wonder how mariners and

they,

feel

unknown and

when

the ship

is

" I

sinking

undistinguished, are to be

buried together in the ocean, that wide and name" less sepulcher ? 40.

For a moment the old woman's ghastly con-

ception so engrossed the minds of her hearers that

a sound abroad in the night, rising like the roar of

a

blast,

had grown broad, deep and

the fated group were conscious of all

within

it

it.

terrible before

The house and

trembled; the foundations of the earth 247

SHORT STORY WRITING seemed to be shaken, as

if

this

awful sound were the

Young and

peal of the last trump.

old exchanged

one wild glance and remained an instant pale, frighted, without utterance or

power to

af-

move. Then

the same shriek burst simultaneously from

all their

lips:

41.

"The

42.

The

The

slide!

slide!"

simplest words

must

intimate, but not

portray, the unutterable horror of the catastrophe.

The

victims rushed from their cottage and sought

refuge in what they deemed a safer spot, where, in

contemplation of such an emergency, a sort of barrier

had been

security tion.

and

Alas

reared.

!

they had quitted their

fled right into the

pathway of

destruc-

Down came the whole side of the mountain Just before

a cataract of ruin.

the stream broke into

window

there, but

it

reached the house

two branches, shivered not a

overwhelmed the whole

vicinity,

blocked up the road and annihilated everything in dreadful course. slide

in

Long

its

ere the thunder of that great

had ceased to roar among the

riiountains the

mortal agony had been endured and the victirns

were

at peace.

43. stealing

Their bodies were never found.

The next morning

the light

smoke was seen

from the cottage chimney up the mountain348

"THE AMBITIOUS GUEST" Within, the

side.

hearth,

and the chairs

inhabitants

was

yet smouldering on the

in a circle

had but gone forth

tion of the slide

Heaven

fire

round

it,

as

if

the

to view the devasta-

and would shortly return to thank

for their miraculous escape.

All had left

by which those who had known the

separate tokens

made to shed a tear for each. Who has not heard their name ? The story has been told far family were

and wide, and

Poets have sung their

mountains.

fate.

There were circumstances which

44. to

will forever be a legend of these

led

some

suppose that a stranger had been received into the

cottage on this awful night, and had shared the cat-

astrophe of

were

all its

sufficient

inmates

;

others denied that there

grounds for such a conjecture.

for the high-souled youth with his

immortality!

known,

Woe

dream of earthly

His name and person utterly un-

his history, his

way

of

life,

his plans, a

mys-

tery never to be solved, his death and his existence

equally a doubt,

—whose was

the

moment?

THE END

349

agony of that death

;

INDEX Action of

:

implied by plot, 45

characters,

132-138;

facts,

dilatory,

prefatory,

138-140;

ad-

102;

141;

locates scene, 143, 145 best vanced by speech, 107; admethod of, 146. vanced by preliminary cliBest twelve American short max, 177. ;

stones, 24.

Adjectives, 197.

" Bookish "

Adverbs, 198.

The

Guest,

as paradigm, 46; imities,

48,

" elemental " plot of, 58;

" :

Burlesque, 39.

observes

150-152, 154; " or " true

"theme"

Chapters, tles,

of,

scene

146 suspense in, 162; tion for climax ;

of,

144

climax of, 172, 183; conclusion of, 183; text

169; of,

104

32; of,

on

fact,

04;

;

;

of, active, 97; few, 103; interest in, names of, 105 speech ;

106-116;

models, 118. Character Sketch, 32. Character Study: defined, of,

234-249.

intrusion

ti-

pearance 102;

167-

as

necessity of,

descrip95 tions of, 96, 98-102; characteristics of, 97, 102; ap-

preparain,

names of 76;

72,

based 94; composites,

compression of dia97; logue in, lis; beginning of, 134,

149.

Characters:

58; "skeleton" or "working plot " of, S9-6i ; facts characters in, in, 90-93;

Author,

conversation,

109.

Allegory, 29. " Ambitious

to,

120-

Dialect Story

33

related

plot of, 48.

;

of Short Tale, use of, 26 True Story, 27; Im-

Classification 122.

Stories

Balance,

160.

Beginning: 146-148;

introduces

crucial test, 132,

length

of,

132;

foundation

251

:

;

27; aginative Tale, 27; Moral Story, 28 ; Fable, 28 Story ;

with a Moral, 29;

Alle-

;;

;

INDEX gory, 29; Weird Story, 30; Ghost Story, 30; Fantastic Tale, 31

;

Study in Horror,

Character Study, 32; Character Sketch, 32 Dialect Story, 33; Parable of

31;

;

Instructive

the Times, 35;

Story of ToStory, 35 day, 36; Story of Ingenu;

36; Story of Wonder, 2y, Detective Story, 37; Story, Humorous 38

Conclusion

defined,

:

with climax, 183; 184

171

coincident

length of, 182;

padded,

conventional,

;

185-

188.

Conversation:

see Dialogue. Crane, Stephen, style of, 200. Criticism, 222, 231. Curiosity, 161.

ity,

Denouement

Climax

see

:

and Conclusion.

Nonsense Story, 38; Bur- Description of characters, 96. Dramatic 98-102; of scene, 143, 145. lesque, 39 ;

Detective

Story, 39-41-

Climax 161

how

:

estimated,

preparation for, 161-

;

177-179;

170,

logical

inevitable,

165

pated,

169;

166,

166 ;

vious,

tious

Guest,"

169

as

;

fined,

a

171;

167-169;

in

premonition,

of

stories

too ob" Ambi-

in

test,

;

de-

of,

172;

171

length

defined,

of, 48.

Dialect, 117.

and Dialect Story:

antici-

;

Story:

37; plot

defined,

33;

as literature, 116.

Dialogue 106;

advances action,

:

modern use

107;

of,

natural and interesting, 108 " bookish," 109 com;

;

monplace, no, 112-114; attempted humor in, in;

172; position of, 173; ends suspense, 174; not tragic, 175-177; pre-

unimportant, 115; in Dtolect Story, 116-118; intro-

liminary, 177-179; "false"

134-

proper,

or

"technical,"

179-182;

coincident with conclusion,

foundation

facts,

Diary, narration by, 125.

Dickens, Charles: search for types, 78; intensified char-

183.

Collections

of short

stories,

Commonplaces

:

literary,

logue,

acters, 96;

acters,

41-44-

not

duces

no,

Didacticism:

in title, 71

86;

in

112-114;

diain

25

inartistic,

157;

veiled, 158.

Double 72-74;

style, 191-195-

names of char-

105.

titles

:

sensational,

too long, 75.

;

; ;;

INDEX Drama

tendency

:

toward,

Fantastic Tale, 31. Fantasy, 19.

influence of, 175. Dramatic Story: defined, 39; in Form, 40; in Effect, 40.

107;

Fashions

in

Fiction:

Editor : ing,

method

of approach-

needs

228;

223,

225-227;

224,

opinion

230 ;

229,

of,

to,

Elaboration of facts, 89. Elemental Plot defined, 58 in " Ambitious Guest," 59. Element of Surprise: de-

Element

of Suspense: 161

fined,

relief

;

max End

of,

cli-

First person

ig6.

Genius

Story,

204;

12.

de-

unities

:

in 47 ; Guest," 48.

source of plots, 50;

of,

observance " Ambitious

fiction,

78,

society, 81 utility

historical,

;

pression

use

84;

of,

not

of,

and

82

Happy

:

his

86;

30.

sup89; elaboration

Hero

False Climax, 179-182, 183.

:

103;

;

132-138.

didactic

stories,

description

97, 98-102;

" Ambitious in 89 Guest," 90-93; characters based on, 94; introduced in beginning,

ending, 185.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel fluence on short story,

of, 86,

strange,

plausibility

of,

disregard

:

of,

78; acquisition 84; familiar, 80; unfamiliar, 80, 81 ; about

87;

value of, 209 ;

:

faults of, 219.

Greek

of,

122-

Foreign words and phrases,

Fable, 28. in

narrative,

125.

Grammar

Epistolary form, 125.

Facts:

170.

pendence on, 214. Ghost Story, 30.

174.

Epoch of the Short

in,

162-

see Conclusion.

:

surprise

de-

ended by

164, 177-179;

fact,

in,

in,

los;

in,

genuine, 165.

162;

on

Figures of speech, 195. " Fine writing," 193.

:

fined,

founded

87; 88; derivation of characters in, 94; names life

231

rejection by, 232, 233.

stories,

verisimilitude

78;

of,

letter

short

226.

of,

importance

in1 1

28-

96, of,

as narrator, 122-125;

an animal or a thing, 126128.

Humor,

20;

Humorous 353

attempted, ill.

Story,, 38.

;

INDEX Imagination,

227,

51.

Imaginative Tale, 27. Individuality : style,

229;

influences

229-233; letter with, record of, 232.

Manuscript record, 232.

cultivation of,

189;

Name»:

205.

value

Inspiration:

214; dependence on, 214; creation of, 214-216. Instructive Story, 35. Irving, Washington S

ence

on short

145-

methods

of, 119,

natural, 120;

imper-

Narration: 131;

120-122;

sonal,

influ-

story,

of characters, 105; 105; of places,

in fiction,

212-

of,

11

in first person,

J25;

by letter or diary, by an animal or a

125;

beginning, 138.

thing,

of

prefatory beginning,

122-

by multi-

126-128;

plicity

Kipling, Rubyard : made hero an animal, 127; used

in,

122;

used narration within narration, 131 ; used dilatory Italics, 191, 201.

unity

narrators,

128;

within narration, 129-131. Nature, influence of, 143.

Newspapers, material from, 84.

142.

Nonsense Story, 38. Length of short story, 17 Novel: short story a school for, compared with 12; of title, 75; of beginning, :

short story, 23;

132, 146; of climax, 172; of conclusion, 182.

narration by,

Letters:,

125;

"Or"

accompanying MSS., 229; of recommendation, 230.

in title:

sensational,

72-74; too long, 7S.

Padding, 156;

Local Color, 156. Love Element, 18.

influence

of, ISO, 15s, 175-

in conclusion,

defined, 202.

184;

Parable of the Times,

Mailing MSS., Material, 84,

acquisition

of,

stereot3rped,

foreign,

119-

192;

ig6.

Plausibility: in use of facts, ; in " Ambitious Guest,"

89

131-

Moral Story,

MSS.

Phrases:

210-212.

Methods of Narration,

35.

Parts, 149.

228.

:

28.

92.

preparation of, 216, submitting, 222-

Plot:

218, 2^8;

aS4

necessity of,

fined,

45;

implies

17;

de-

action.

;

;

INDEX 45; 47;

simple and complete, observes Greek uni-

Romanticism.

ties,

importance of, Character Study,, in Detective Story, plot-germ, 49; test

Scene: location

47; in

48;

48; 48;

so; derivation of, 51; freshness of, 52, 57 ; phases

of,

hackneyed, 57;

52-56;

of,

importance

Sensationalism

tle,

Short

prise,

165;

ti-

effects sur-

66, 67, 68;

effects climax,

166, 179.

Poe, Edgar Allan first recognized short story, 11; :

on

influence

n;

short

originated

story,

Story of

Ingenuity, 36. Poetry, quoted, 194.

Preliminary

Price

short

of

II

177-

of, 169.

stories,

title,

72-

227,

12;

plot

17;

iength

ment and

school

for 15-

of,

47-63;

17,

17;

love

18;

ingenuity

.of,

in,

originality

" touch

an 12

defined,

12;

of,

novelist,

ig;

in,

fantasy

of

ele-

''

in,

tends to comedy, 20, realism and roman-

19;

46;

21

in,

technique

;

22; conjpared with novel, 23; best twelve American, 24; 22;

artificiality of,

classification

26-44

of,

collections of, 41-44; unity in,

229.

11, 12; product,

of,

American epoch

recog-

first

history of, 11;

;

masters

of,

179.

Premonition, stories

in

:

Story:

nized,

ticism

Climax,

pre-

74; in style, 190, 192. Sentences, 199.

;

relation to

of, 143, 145.

of,

144; sentation of, 144.

"elemental" or "true," "theme," in 58; 58; " Ambitious Guest," 58" skeleton " or "work61 ing," 59-61;

21.

149-155;

47,

title

of,

Punctuation, 200, 22a

facts in, 64-77; 78-93; characters in, 94-118;

Quotations,

methods

Realism, Religion

:

194.

21.

not

literature,

159; influence of, 160. Revision, 216-221.

Rhetoric :

disregard

of,

148;

body and

parts

150,

156;

255

of,

of,

119132-

149-170;

chapters

in,

influenced by novel, 15s,

175; padding in, color in, 156;

local

didacticism

faults of, 219.

telling,

beginning

149;

204

of

131;

in,

157-160;

;;

;

INDEX proportions

max

161-164

5n,

165;

162,

i6o;

of,

182-188;

surprise

in,

conclusion

of,

;

style of, 189-208;

acquisition of, 204-208.

Suppression of unimportant facts, 89; of unimportant dialogue, 115; of ir:

labor in writing, 209-221;

marketing criticism

on,

timeliness

5

231 225-227. 222,

loi,

Skeleton Plot: in "

222-233

of,

defined,

59;

relevant matter, 155. see Element of.

Surprise

148;

defined,

37;

Story

appropriate,

191

phrasing, writing,"

;

figures

foreign 19s; phrases, 196; lish,

ing,

stereotyped

" fine 192 ; 193 ; quotations,

146-

defined,

in

58; 58.

seasonal,

:

225

fashionable, 226. test of story, 64;

fluences

"text,"

76;

66,

cific,

68-70;

relation

spe-

apt, 67;

attractive, 71;

name

of character

76;

sensational,

new, 75;

in-

64-66;

sale,

to plot, 66;

189

common-

title,

132,

conclusion, 171.

Timeliness

36;

Title:

qualities of, 190; place,

179-182,

"Ambitious Guest,"

related

38.

beginning,

;

Theme:

Story of To-day, 36. Story of Wonder, 37. Story with a Moral, 29. Study in Horror, 31. Style: importance of, 189; a individuality, matter of 189;

Climax,

Test of good story:

Stereotyped phrases, 192. Story of Ingenuity: comImaginative pared with Tale,

of.

183.

64

Humorous

Element

see

Tale, 27.

Spelling, errors in, 220.

194;

:

Suspense:

Ambitious Guest," 59- Technical

61; use of, 62. Slang, 197.

to,

not exhaustive, 203;

202;

cli-

161-182; suspense

of,

short, 75;

as,

from

principal object, jy. Tone Color, 199.

"Touch

of Fantasy,"

19.

True Plot: defined, 58; of speech, "Ambitious Guest," 59. words and True Story, 27. good Eng- Typewritten MSS.. 228.

197; slang, 197; flowease of expres-

198;

compression indispensable, 201; padding,

72,

72-74;

Unity, 149-1SS.

sion, 199;

Weird Story, yx

256

in

INDEX Wilkins,

Mary

E.

Working

her moral

Plot:

I

stories,

Words use 199.

:

i6o.

foreign, of,

197;

196 ; mischoice of,

defined, 59;

in "

Ambitious Guest," 59-

61

use

;

of, 62.

"iiiiii