,,fiction ,,writers ,,on ,,fiction ,,writing ,,fiction ,,writers ,,on ,,fiction ,,writing ,advice1 ,opinions and a ,statement of ,their ,own ,working ,methods by ,more ,than ,one ,hundred ,authors ,,edited1 ,,with ,,notes1 ,,by ,,arthur ,,sullivant ,,hoffman ,author of ,,fundamentals ,,of ,,fiction ,,writing ,illustration ,,indianapolis ,,the ,,bobbs-,,merrill ,,company ,,publishers ,,copyright1 #aibc ,,by ,,the ,,bobbs-,,merrill ,,company ,printed in the ,united ,states of ,america ,,press ,,of ,,braunworth ,,co4 ,,book ,,manufacturers ,,brooklyn1 ,n4 ,y4 ,this book is dedicated to the one hundred and sixteen authors who wrote it and to every author who may profit from their writing4 ,authors ,whose ,replies to the ,questionnaire ,make ,up the ,body of ,this ,book3 ,bill ,adams ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams ,paul ,l4 ,anderson ,william ,ashley ,anderson ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey ,edwin ,balmer ,ralph ,henry ,barbour ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett ,nalbro ,bartley ,konrad ,bercovici ,ferdinand ,berthoud ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr4 ,farnham ,bishop ,algernon ,blackwood ,max ,bonter ,katharine ,holland ,brown ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley ,prosper ,buranelli ,thompson ,burtis ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain ,robert ,v4 ,carr ,george ,l4 ,catton ,robert ,w4 ,chambers ,roy ,p4 ,churchill ,carl ,clausen ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper ,arthur ,crabb ,mary ,stewart ,cutting ,elmer ,davis ,william ,harper ,dean ,harris ,dickson ,captain ,dingle ,louis ,dodge ,phyllis ,duganne ,j4 ,allan ,dunn ,walter ,a4 ,dyer ,walter ,prichard ,eaton ,charles ,victor ,fischer ,e4 ,o4 ,foster ,arthur ,o4 ,friel ,j4 ,u4 ,giesy ,george ,gilbert ,kenneth ,gilbert ,louise ,closser ,hale ,holworthy ,hall ,richard ,matthews ,hallet ,william ,h4 ,hamby ,a4 ,judson ,hanna ,joseph ,mills ,hanson ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw ,joseph ,hergesheimer ,robert ,hichens ,r4 de ,s4 ,horn ,clyde ,b4 ,hough ,emerson ,hough ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson ,inez ,haynes ,irwin ,will ,irwin ,charles ,tenney ,jackson ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson ,mary ,johnston ,john ,joseph ,lloyd ,kohler ,harold ,lamb ,sinclair ,lewis ,hapsburg ,liebe ,romaine ,h4 ,lowdermilk ,eugene ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr4 ,rose ,macaulay ,crittenden ,marriott ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney ,ray ,mc,gillivray ,helen ,topping ,miller ,thomas ,samson ,miller ,anne ,shannon ,monroe ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery ,frederick ,moore ,talbot ,mundy ,kathleen ,norris ,anne ,o',hagan ,grant ,overton ,sir ,gilbert ,parker ,hugh ,pendexter ,clay ,perry ,michael ,j4 ,phillips ,walter ,b4 ,pitkin ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell ,lucia ,mead ,priest ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes ,frank ,c4 ,robertson ,ruth ,sawyer ,chester ,l4 ,saxby ,barry ,scobee ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott ,robert ,simpson ,arthur ,d4 ,howden ,smith ,theodore ,seixas ,solomons ,raymond ,s4 ,spears ,norman ,springer ,julian ,street ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling ,booth ,tarkington ,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle ,lucille ,van ,slyke ,atreus von ,schrader ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch ,henry ,kitchell ,webster ,g4 ,a4 ,wells ,william ,wells ,ben ,ames ,williams ,honore ,willsie ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer ,william ,almon ,wolff ,edgar ,young ,,fiction ,,writers ,,on ,,fiction ,,writing ,,fiction ,,writers ,,on ,,fiction ,,writing ,,how ,,this ,,book ,,came ,,into ,,being ,since this book is not only written for the most part by others than myself and since1 for a second reason1 its coming into being is the result of an accident1 not of any inspiration on my part1 there is no reason why ,i should not state frankly my opinion of its practical value and exceptional interest4 ,the mere statement of that value is its own proof3--,there have been hosts of books1 classes and correspondence courses claiming to teach the writing of fiction1 but in all but a handful of cases these teachers have been eminently unqualified for the work4 ,the majority have no sound right to speak at all1 lacking sufficient accomplishment or even experience of their own and showing in their attempt the lack of ability as critic or teacher often evidenced by those who are themselves unable to create4 ,of the remainder a very few have proved any considerable ability as creators of fiction and these1 as a group1 are inclined to proceed on the dangerous principle that what is good for one case1 their own1 is therefore good for all other cases4 ,another few1 with some editorial experience 7though generally almost none7 and1 therefore1 at least some understanding of the general field1 are mostly barren of accomplishment as creators and so unable to enter satisfactorily into the inner problems of those who do create4 ,still another few1 while versed in the academic requirements of literature are unfamiliar with both the actual magazine and book field and the actual work of creating4 ,all of them are sadly handicapped in their undertaking by an obsession for reducing the art of writing to a performance almost altogether governed by general formulas and ironclad rules for universal application4 ,but here is a book written not by an author of negligible standing1 an editor who can not create1 a college professor speaking from the outside1 or any other theorist whatsoever1 but by the successful writers themselves1 each telling in detail his own processes of creation4 ,no one else in the world can bring us so quickly to the real heart of the matter or come so close to speaking the final word4 ,while the words of any one of them are of value1 the contrasted and collective cases of one hundred and sixteen of them are beyond estimate of value4 ,for either the beginner or the established writer4 ,even for each of these one hundred and sixteen themselves4 ,as to the accident that brought the book into being1 my own justification for venturing to act as collector and summarizer1 and the reason for choice of the particular lines of investigation3 ,having been a magazine editor for twenty years 7,adventure1 ,romance1 ,delineator1 ,smart ,set1 ,transatlantic ,tales1 ,watson's1 ,chautauquan71 ,i had become more and more rebellious against present methods of teaching fiction writing1 for year by year their fruits poured across my desk by the thousands--stories often technically correct but machine-like1 artificial1 lacking in real individuality4 ,american fiction as a whole is characterized by this result of the curse of formula and1 until that curse is removed1 ,american fiction can never attain the place to which native ability entitles it4 ,many who attempt to write can never succeed4 ,some succeed despite all obstacles4 ,but in between are a great number with varying degree of ability1 many of them appearing in books or magazines1 some of them attaining a fair degree of real success1 some of them failing of print1 but no one of them who could not do far better if he would shake himself free from the influence of machine-like methods and give opportunity to whatever of individuality may lie within him4 ,a long procession of possibilities unrealized1 regrettable because of the loss to ,american fiction1 pathetic if one looks behind the manuscripts at vain struggles and hopes unfulfilled4 ,the only chance for remedy seemed a direct attack upon the school of formula and rule itself1 followed by whatever could be done in a constructive way4 ,a lone editor could accomplish little by himself1 but he could accomplish even less than that if he didn't try4 ,he was not the only editor grumbling over the situation and among experienced writers were many in agreement as to the evils of too much formula2 perhaps1 once the challenge were definitely made-- ,as equipment1 besides editorial experience1 ,i had been a contributor of fiction to our leading magazines sufficiently to appreciate creative problems from the other side of the editorial desk1 and at two universities and elsewhere had absorbed sufficient of the academic for foundation and background4 ,there had been1 too1 sufficient rebellion against general editorial precepts and precedents to keep me from falling so deep into the editorial rut that ,i couldn't at least see over the edges4 ,most of all1 ,i was sick and tired of seeing the formula-worshippers doing all they could to increase the flood of fiction that1 however perfect by formula and however skilfully polished1 is inevitably and forever hack4 ,so ,i wrote a book in protest and in the hope that it might to some degree serve those who were willing to turn from formalism to individual expression if only they could find some small guide-posts along the way4 ,in ,fundamentals of ,fiction ,writing ,i tried to give them1 instead of rules1 an understanding of the facts of human nature upon which art and its rules must be based1 so that they might see their own way and walk upon their own feet4 ,to drive home the point it was necessary to show them beyond chance of doubt that rules applied without understanding were unsafe guides4 ,the simplest and most effective way of proving this was to show them that the writers who had actually succeeded did not blindly follow general rules but chose among them each according to his own needs and bent1 and that what was one writer's meat was another writer's poison4 ,so1 to prove that rules must be subject to individuality1 ,i sent out a questionnaire to writers1 planning to use the answers as an appendix to ,fundamentals4 ,some questions were added to gather further data on facts of human nature1 and still others were suggested by writers 7,william ,ashley ,anderson and ,l4 ,patrick ,greene7 with whom ,i consulted1 answers to these last questions being sought as data of interest to writers in general4 ,the answerers1 of course1 had not seen my book1 though the body of it was already in the publisher's hands1 and in the questionnaire ,i took pains that there should be no hint of any points ,i hoped to see established4 ,while the effort to keep the wording of the questions from tending in any way against entirely uninfluenced answers made some of them less definite and more banal than ,i should have liked1 there was more than compensation in the resulting wealth of data that had not been even hoped for4 ,when the answers began coming in1 it became at once apparent that here was material far too valuable to be tucked away in the appendix of any book4 ,the questionnaire had gone to only those writers who had contributed to my own magazine1 ,adventure1 some of them beginners1 some of them established writers appearing in all our magazines and between book-covers4 ,it was then sent to a general list of authors and their answers were added to those first received4 ,the result is a broadly representative list of authors almost perfect for the purpose4 ,it includes the tyro and the writer of life-long experience1 those little known along with our best and our most popular4 ,there are those who write avowedly for money returns alone2 those who make literary excellence their single goal4 ,they come to authorship by various roads from all walks in life1 from ,england as well as ,america4 ,they run the whole gamut of difference in schooling1 method1 aim1 ability1 experience and success4 ,the value of their symposium to the beginner is beyond easy calculation4 ,if there is an experienced writer who can not find profit as well as interest in these ideas and methods of his fellow craftsmen1 considered both individually and collectively1 ,i can not at the moment guess his identity4 ,if other editors can learn from it as much as ,i have1 they will find it difficult to name any other one thing from which they have learned so much of value in so short a time4 ,if literary critics will bring to it a consideration of fundamentals and of facts1 that their general type is none too prone to exercise1 there will be a gain both to them and to the standards of criticism and valuation they so largely control4 ,to readers of fiction it is the opening up of a fascinating world hitherto seen only in detached glimpses4 ,and if the average writer of text-books or teacher of class expounding the art of writing fiction will let go of formulas and theories handed to him by others and consider the actual laboratory facts of what he is trying to teach1 the gain to ,american fiction will be tremendous4 ,if my summaries and discussions of the answers group by group leave much to be desired1 ,i plead the difficulty of exactness in dealing with matters of infinite variations and subtle shadings1 the impossibility of covering even sketchily all the points that arise1 the limitation imposed on entirely free discussion of material furnished one through courtesy and good will1 and the fact that in any case my comments are of extremely minor importance in comparison with the answers themselves4 ,the answers have in most cases been given in full4 ,what cutting was necessary in places has been done1 ,i think1 with as little bias as is shown in the questions4 ,where specific teachers1 books1 authors and so on were mentioned1 there have been some omissions1 nearly always of those unfavorably mentioned4 ,if specific instances seem ill-chosen for either cutting or exceptions1 ,i can plead only good intent and the best judgment ,i could summon4 ,i have been editing copy for more than twenty years and have found few cases offering greater difficulties to consistency and intelligent handling4 ,the specific difficulty mentioned is1 naturally1 far from being the only one4 ,my sincere thanks go to the authors whose kindness furnished the material for this book4 ,while some of them were personal friends or acquaintances1 there were others upon whom ,i had no shadow of claim and who responded only through an innate spirit of helpfulness--helpfulness not just to the asker but to the host of aspiring writers who they knew would profit from the information experienced writers could give4 ,my thanks1 too1 for the good will of those authors who were prevented from answering by circumstances beyond their control4 ,i have dealt with writers most of my life and1 as in any other group of people1 there are disagreeable1 trying1 ridiculous and even criminal exceptions1 but as a whole ,i have found them very kindly1 human folk4 ,perhaps it is because the material of their life-work is human nature1 or because their natural bent is such as to make them choose that life-work4 ,it would1 ,i think1 be a vastly kinder1 gentler world if all who live in it were equally ready with the helping and friendly hand4 ,,questionnaire ,,answers ,,to ,,which ,,constitute ,,the ,,body ,,of ,,this ,,book ,i4 ,what is the genesis of a story with you--does it grow from an incident1 a character1 a trait of character1 a situation1 setting1 a title1 or what8 ,that is1 what do you mean by an idea for a story8 ,,ii4 ,do you map it out in advance1 or do you start with1 say1 a character or situation1 and let the story tell itself as you write8 ,do you write it in pieces to be joined together1 or straightaway as a whole8 ,is the ending clearly in mind when you begin8 ,to what extent do you revise8 ,,iii4 ,when you read a story to what extent does your imagination reproduce the story-world of the author--do you actually see in your imagination all the characters1 action and setting just as if you were looking at an actual scene8 ,do you actually hear all sounds described1 mentioned and inferred1 just as if they were real sounds8 ,do you taste the flavors in a story1 so really that your mouth literally waters to a pleasant one8 ,how real does your imagination make the smells in a story you read8 ,does your imagination reproduce the sense of touch--of rough or smooth contact1 hard or gentle impact or pressure1 etc48 ,does your imagination make you feel actual physical pain corresponding1 though in a slighter degree1 to pain presented in a story8 ,of course you get an intelligent idea from any such mention1 but in which of the above cases does your imagination produce the same results on your senses as do the actual stimuli themselves8 ,if you can really see things with your eyes shut1 what limitations8 ,are the pictures you see colored or more in black and white8 ,are details distinct or blurred8 ,if you studied geometry1 did it give you more trouble than other mathematics8 ,is your response limited to the exact degree to which the author describes and makes vivid1 or will the mere concept set you to reproducing just as vividly8 ,do you have stock pictures for1 say1 a village church or a cowboy1 or does each case produce its individual vision8 ,is there any difference in behavior of your imagination when you are reading stories and when writing them8 ,have you ever considered these matters as tools of your trade8 ,if so1 to what extent and how do you use them8 ,,iv4 ,when you write do you center your mind on the story itself or do you constantly have your readers in mind8 ,in revising8 ,v4 ,have you had a class-room or correspondence course on writing fiction8 ,books on it8 ,to what extent did this help in the elementary stages8 ,beyond the elementary stages8 ,,vi4 ,how much of your craft have you learned from reading current authors8 ,the classics8 ,,vii4 ,what is your general feeling on the value of technique8 ,,viii4 ,what is most interesting and important to you in your writing--plot1 structure1 style1 material1 setting1 character1 color1 etc48 ,,ix4 ,what are two or three of the most valuable suggestions you could give to a beginner8 ,to a practised writer8 ,x4 ,what is the elemental hold of fiction on the human mind8 ,,xi4 ,do you prefer writing in the first person or the third8 ,why8 ,,xii4 ,do you lose ideas because your imagination travels faster than your means of recording8 ,which affords least check--pencil1 typewriter or stenographer8 ,,question ,i ,what is the genesis of a story with you--does it grow from an incident1 a character1 a trait of character1 a situation1 setting1 a title1 or what8 ,that is1 what do you mean by an idea for a story8 ,,answers ,bill ,adams3 ,usually three words with a bit of a slideway to them1 thus1 ,there was once a ship--or ,the sun of morning shone upon the water-- ,i don't know how it grows1 or whether it grows--it sort of occurs1 as it were4 ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams3 ,genesis--usually from an incident1 sometimes from a single phrase which illuminates a character2 never from a title4 ,in my entire experience ,i have found so-called true stories available only once or twice1 and then in greatly modified form4 ,life is dramatic1 but it isn't fictional until interpreted and arranged by the fictional mind4 ,paul ,l4 ,anderson3 ,the genesis of a story with me may be any of the things you mention1 or something else1 entirely different2 a newspaper item1 a picture1 a story some one else has told 7,i mean ,i get a suggestion from another yarn1 not that ,i take some one else's story and tell it as my own74 ,for example1 the genesis of one prehistoric animal story1 was a picture in ,henry ,fairfield ,osborn's book1 ,the ,origin and ,evolution of ,life2 of another1 a group in the ,american ,museum of ,natural ,history2 of one story1 the fact that a man will do more and suffer more for his loved ones than for himself4 ,the genesis of the best story1 by far1 that ,i ever wrote1 which has been consistently rejected by magazine after magazine because it is too gruesome1 was this3 lying in bed one morning1 on the borderland of waking1 ,i dreamed ,i heard some one say these words3 ,far above us in the darkness ,i heard a trap-door shut with a clang4 ,the memory of those words carried over into waking1 and the story grew from that4 ,the genesis of another yarn was a trip ,i once made in my flivver1 which involved crossing a railroad track laid along a side-hill4 ,etc41 etc4 ,all's fish that comes to the net4 ,william ,ashley ,anderson3 ,no definite principle can be laid down as to the inspiration of a story4 ,it may be based on an actual occurrence2 a striking tradition2 a strange custom4 ,or an argument may suggest a point to be proved by a story4 ,an extraordinary character1 an unusual scene1 an atmosphere even 7fog1 storm1 scorching heat74 ,i think one of the basic principles is the desire to tell something unusual about things that are commonplace1 or to tell something commonplace about things that are extraordinary4 ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey3 ,nearly always in my mind a story begins with a character or characters4 ,this holds good though the main interest of the story may be incident or the surprise of its plot4 ,making the story is with me the process of providing these people with things to do and say which will express them4 ,i never began with a title 7they are my plague71 or a setting4 ,once or twice with a situation4 ,occasionally with a sentence which came into my mind from heaven knows where4 ,edwin ,balmer3 ,the genesis of a story is decided1 ,i think1 by the writer's age and experience4 ,as a story is usually the writer's reaction to that which at the time is of most interest to him1 it used to be that a story started with me with a situation4 ,i started writing when ,i was eighteen when ,i was in college1 and ,i then caught at a situation which established suspense4 ,that struck me as the best start for a story4 ,gradually1 situation became less the whole thing and a definite increase in concern for the characters came4 ,i never started with a title1 but sometimes with a setting1 or rather1 a setting creating a situation--such as the ,alps suggesting a mountain-climbing story4 ,now though ,i never really start with a character1 the situation does not mean much to me until it has a character in it4 ,ralph ,henry ,barbour3 ,an idea for a story is anything upon which a story may be built1 and story ideas come from as many sources as do ideas of any other sort4 ,the inspiration that provides the idea may be generated by an incident1 a person1 a situation1 a locality1 even1 ,i think1 by a condition of mind1 or by two or more of these in combination4 ,to me a title does not very often suggest an idea for a story2 it merely suggests the idea to write a story2 there's a difference6 ,in my case the genesis of a story is more frequently a situation4 ,after that a character1 an incident1 a locality1 in the order given4 ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett3 ,a story may grow from any of the sources you suggest--even from that mysterious or what8 ,something serves as a spark to fire the dry kindling of your imagination4 ,the two essentials are that the spark shall be hot enough and that you shall have kindling4 ,nalbro ,bartley3 ,it1 the genesis of a story1 could spring from any of the suggested things--an idea for a story to my mind suggests a theme such as capital versus labor1 love versus money1 etc4 ,konrad ,bercovici3 ,i will be hanged if ,i know what the genesis of a story is4 ,i only know ,i do not sleep well a few nights before ,i write one4 ,and after a headache or two a story comes4 ,as a boy1 it broke my heart never to be able to see the actual breaking through of a plant4 ,i always found it broken through in the morning1--if you get what ,i mean4 ,and then pictures begin to rise before me4 ,pictures of things ,i have seen and others that ,i wanted to see4 ,and then the men and women in my stories walk through those pictures and stay where they like and see what they want and ,i stand by and watch them and agree most of the time with each one of them and sometimes say what ,i would say under similar circumstances4 ,but1 like ,mr4 ,saber of ,if ,winter ,comes1 ,i can see his point of view4 ,when the whole thing has come to an end in my mind1 ,i sit down and write4 ,ferdinand ,berthoud3 ,i usually pick on an incident from some actual happening to myself or to one of my old-time friends4 ,then tack on other incidents of which ,i have heard4 ,once or twice a story has come from a peculiar expression or the manner or speaking of some man ,i have known4 ,or some man's way of looking at life4 ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr43 ,ideas4 ,some situation or idea possessing possible dramatic value will come to me2 ,i will lie awake the best part of a night or two nights thinking it over1 and put it on paper the next day4 ,sometimes the whole story seems to unfold itself instantaneously before me2 again ,i will work it out detail after detail mentally4 ,some ideas for stories have come from remarks of friends1 from some anecdote1 or an experience that was personal and of which the dramatic value was unrecognized at the time4 ,farnham ,bishop3 ,the wedding of a newly-discovered fact to something already in mind1 followed by the swift begetting1 birth and growth of a story4 ,example3 ,carranza to ,blockade ,mazatlan4 ,mexican ,navy to be sent through ,panama ,canal1 against ,stronghold of ,revolution 7newspaper head-line1 sometime in summer of #aibj74 ,that1 plus ,british naval officer's book 7which ,i had recently read7 containing description of the ,scooter or ,c4 ,m4 ,b41 developed within ten minutes into fairly complete mental outline of ,the ,rest ,cure4 ,algernon ,blackwood3 ,the genesis of a story with me is invariably--an emotion1 caused in my particular case by something in nature rather than in human nature3 a scrap of color in the sky1 a flower1 a sound of wind or water2 briefly1 an emotion produced by beauty4 ,max ,bonter3 ,anything that stirs my emotions is likely to furnish the idea for a story4 ,it may be an incident1 a character1 a trait of character1 a situation1 a setting1 a title4 ,it may be any one of them1 a combination of several of them1 or all of them4 ,an idea embodying all of them1 of course1 would really be more than an idea2 it would be practically the story itself--either a true story in which ,i had figured1 or one that ,i had heard related--and would require at my hands little else besides an amalgamation of the attributes specified4 ,pure fiction1 in my case1 seems to have its inception in a contrast1 or in a sudden break of continuity--something irregular or freakish that draws a quick focus of the mental faculties and demands of them why1 how8 ,my mind immediately struggles to paint the significance of the contrast1 or to splice the broken threads of circumstance into a tissue of normality4 ,in other words1 it is my mind's tendency to give balance to unbalanced or opposing conditions or things4 ,for example3 ,in a quiet little community of soft-spoken1 well-civilized males ,i find an old barbarian--the boss stevedore of a freight dock--who chews1 swears1 drinks1 and lives with a common-law wife4 ,their little household is practically in a state of ostracism4 ,my emotions are aroused2 my sympathies enlisted in an endeavor to place in a better light this old pariah whose chief fault seems to be the carelessness wherewith he persists in being human4 ,i bring the opposing standards together and after the clash the stevedore's chief detractor--a prominent church-goer--is found to be a sly old rake2 whereas the dockman's tough hide covers a heart that had kept him true even to an unsanctified union4 ,that is what ,i would call an idea for a story4 ,around it ,i would build plot1 detail1 incident1 characterization1 etc4 ,katharine ,holland ,brown3 ,once in a long while a story begins as a situation3 as a tangle1 a conflict1 to be unwound1 fought out4 ,but almost always the story arrives as a whole--without any planning whatever1 the story is suddenly there1 a big blurry mass of pictures and incidents and action1 that must be splattered down in black and white as fast as you can possibly write4 ,it goes racing by like a runaway movie film and the best you can do is to snatch at the most significant moments1 before they escape4 ,therefore the idea for a story is not an idea2 it is the story itself4 7,with a serial1 which must have a succession of ascending climaxes1 a rough outline is made and followed1 after the big scenes and the principal action are jotted down47 ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley3 ,the genesis of a story with me is likely to be anything4 ,occasionally a character2 more often a title2 more often still1 a good basic situation1 up to and from which the story can lead2 most frequently1 an ending4 ,story ,i liked best1 ,archangel in ,steel1 deduced from setting and period3 ,florence1 ,,xvi century2 connoted an age of plotting and intrigue2 since plots were villainous1 hero must be anti-plotter4 ,history supplied the conspiracies2 the story consisted of the hero's counter-actions4 ,prosper ,buranelli3 ,my first idea is always an incident or a situation1 sometimes several to be combined4 ,or a generic situation in some phase of life--such as an opera singer's being at the mercy of the orchestra conductor4 ,thompson ,burtis3 ,i have had stories come to me as a result of all the things mentioned in your question1 except a title4 ,and ,i'm about to try to construct a story around a title4 ,the most usual starting-points for stories with me are either incidents or characters4 ,in a large percentage of cases ,i start with an incident and then work my main character into it with regard to his particular traits4 ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain3 ,a story almost always takes its genesis with me from a situation1 sometimes suggested by an incident1 character1 trait1 setting1 title1 anything4 ,unless any other feature can shape itself readily into a situation for me1 there is no story4 ,but the situation may not mean the beginning of the story as told4 ,i may write the whole story to get that situation4 ,robert ,v4 ,carr3 ,the question involves1 at least to my understanding1 chemistry1 heredity1 environment1 psychological wounds1 tricks of memory1 and a thousand and one mysteries4 ,no doubt there will be writers who will cleverly announce that they know exactly where they secure their ideas1 but it is beyond me4 ,the writers of motion-picture scenarios should be able to tell you in a few words where they get their ideas4 ,for my part ,i do not know the true genesis of any idea4 ,george ,l4 ,catton3 ,a story with me may grow from1 to begin with1 the merest trifle4 ,sometimes ,i start with a character only2 other times perhaps it is a title1 or a peculiar characteristic of a character1 a situation or a setting4 ,but the big start for me1 the start ,i always try to get1 is a theme4 ,it's a poor story ,i'll write if ,i can't put down the title before ,i write a word4 ,i never wrote a story yet that didn't have a theme1 and ,i never will4 ,a story without a theme is a story without a soul1 and is just about as much use as a man in the same predicament4 ,an idea for a story with me1 then1 is a theme4 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers3 ,from an incident4 ,roy ,p4 ,churchill3 ,most of my story ideas come from what ,i call a condition for want of better expression4 ,that is1 affairs of life in a certain setting1 with certain characters1 assume a condition which makes for the unusual4 ,carl ,clausen3 ,an idea for a story always means to me an incident4 ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper3 ,a story always starts with me at the finish--,i write the rest of my story to a climax4 ,in other words1 ,i get the big punch of a story1 and build up the rest of the structure to fit it4 ,in a mystery story1 ,i always get the explanation of a thing1 then fit my incidents to this4 ,arthur ,crabb3 ,it seems to me that a story may grow from an incident or a character1 or even a trait of character or situation1 which it seems to me are other ways of saying the first two4 ,mary ,stewart ,cutting3 ,the genesis of a story with me usually grows from some small incident or the reverse of the incident4 ,but in an autobiographical story the character is the main theme4 ,elmer ,davis3 ,the genesis of a story1 with me1 is a situation--invariably the same4 ,i see financial obligations falling due4 ,my salary is fixed2 my credit distended to the bursting point4 ,no way to meet the bills but by writing fiction4444 ,whereupon ,i grab anything that looks as if it might start a story2 usually a character in a situation4 ,william ,harper ,dean3 ,the genesis of a story with me sometimes is a single word1 the title1 which strikes the motif of the story2 sometimes a character1 sometimes a situation1 or a setting4 ,but most frequently the beginning is the climax1 from which ,i work backward through the middle and to the beginning4 ,harris ,dickson3 ,any of these1 or a combination4 ,more usually1 perhaps1 it is a story1 or an incident that ,i hear or see4 ,for instance1 ,the ,trapping of ,judge ,pinkham1 in ,the ,saturday ,evening ,post1 is approximately true1 and happened not long ago at the very place described4 ,real incidents1 however1 generally begin up in the air and end the same way4 ,better beginnings and climaxes must be worked out4 ,it is quite rare with me that ,i deliberately devise a story out of the whole cloth4 ,i live in the ,south4 ,it is a country that has attracted the attention of much enthusiastic ignorance on the part of philanthropists1 and many attacks4 ,sometimes ,i do a story for the purpose of showing some particular phase of life that is not understood at the ,north1 and try to make it so convincing as to silence these long-distance reformers who haven't an idea as to how we live1 and why4 ,for this purpose ,i believe temperately-stated truth1 rubbed in with humor1 is the most effective vehicle4 ,captain ,dingle3 ,in general my story comes from a vision of a character and a situation4 ,sometimes only the situation4 ,then ,i make a character to fit it--usually out of material ,i know4 ,louis ,dodge3 ,with me1 the genesis of a story is usually a character1 perhaps coupled with a characteristic action4 ,i like to imagine what the logical destiny of that character would be4 ,and so ,i try to work it out4 ,phyllis ,duganne3 ,ideas for short stories usually come to me through something ,i actually see or hear about2 sometimes a person is interesting or romantic enough so that ,i begin to make up things that might happen to him--and discover ,i have a plot on my hands4 ,or sometimes a situation is a good beginning or ending for a story1 and ,i try to evolve the rest4 ,sometimes ,i do and sometimes ,i don't--,i suppose every one has loads of fascinating situations that he can not quite whip about into story form4 ,sometimes it is just a romantic spot--a house that should have a story about it4 ,and once in a great while ,i just discover myself with a perfectly formed story on my hands1 not there one minute and utterly there the next4 ,that's real magic--and doesn't happen so often as ,i wish it did4 ,j4 ,allan ,dunn3 ,it varies4 ,i am1 of course1 deliberately setting aside such stories as are suggested by the needs of editors1 expressed by themselves4 ,but ,i think the genesis of many stories is hard to trace4 ,they are evolved in the brain cortex by that comprehensive and all too liberal phrase subconsciousness4 ,i mean by that process that every writer is perforce somewhat of a dramatist1 somewhat of an artist1 and that his mind1 inclined and1 later1 trained to observe1 does this continually until an idea is born4 ,not necessarily1 not probably is this idea complete4 ,occasionally a short story that works out delightfully is thus conceived and will project itself into the conscious mind upon the proper stimulus--perhaps after a walk or during it1 perhaps while hearing music4 ,sometimes ,i read a story that a man has written down as news1 the skeleton of a yarn that needs flesh about it1 a heart and soul added4 ,very often ,i endeavor to work out some particular trait or character1 with its weakness and strength4 ,sometimes a character ,i know suggests the story4 ,but ,i believe the genesis is born very much as is the theme of a musician1 the desire of an artist to portray a certain mood or key1 the inspiration of a poet4 ,i believe that the story-teller's profession is one of the most ancient4 ,i believe it may well have antedated the artist--as animated in the cave-carver or the painter of skins4 ,that it may have prefaced the musician in the drum-beater or the blower of a conch4 ,i think there was always a tale-teller about the fires of the wildest1 earliest tribes1 one who stimulated their imaginations1 touched their pride1 bolstered their bravery4 ,there are such to-day in almost every wild tribe that ,i have met4 ,and1 as the modern musician1 the modern artist1 have evoluted from their primitive forebears1 so ,i think that the spark1 the flicker of story-telling1 has come down in the cell together with the ear for music1 the eye for color and proportion4 ,add to that your technique--use of action1 color1 suspense1 opposing forces1 laughter1 tears1 tragedy and the results of experience and observation--and your story appears4 ,i do not mean to say we are all genuises but that the story-teller1 as the poet1 is made1 that the impulse is engendered with his ego4 ,walter ,a4 ,dyer3 ,formerly ,i used to try to manufacture a plot as the starting point for a story1 but always found it very difficult1 my mind usually being ready to stop with a situation4 ,sometimes such a situation would make a story1 sometimes it wouldn't4 ,i have found it comparatively easy to get color into the settings and to do the thing up in some sort of style1 but my mind isn't inventive in the field of complete and more or less intricate plots4 ,of late ,i have had better success in beginning with character4 ,and ,i have heard that others have reached the same conclusion4 ,first visualize a real person or persons1 with distinctive and out-of-the-ordinary characteristics 7consistent and plausible1 of course71 and get them to function like human beings4 ,then throw them into the situations and settings that come easiest and see what will happen4 ,sometimes a real story grows out of it1 and when it does it is likely to be a better story than one in which lay figures are fitted into a ready-made plot4 ,this1 however1 does not apply to the requirements of all editors4 ,walter ,prichard ,eaton3 ,a story comes in a dozen different ways4 ,sometimes a title waits two years or more for a plot to plot it4 ,sometimes a character comes and grows4 ,sometimes a situation4 ,i find ,i am most successful when it is a character1 however1 which comes first1 and dictates the rest4 ,the hardest unit is to start with a general thesis 7problem7 and then get a plot and people to seem natural4 ,charles ,victor ,fischer3 ,i am writing a story that has to do with ,little ,rock1 ,arkansas4 ,sitting at the eats this evening 7two hours ago71 ,i had ,little ,rock buzzing round in my up-stairs4 ,my sister spoke of an old black mule she'd seen during the afternoon2 how sorry she was for the poor animal--skin and bone were the only things he didn't have anything else but4 ,on top of that my father pipes up about a diamond ring theft4 ,see the point8 ,i'm thinking about ,little ,rock4 7,i was there about two years ago1 shortly after ,i came out of the ,navy47 ,and whenever ,i think of ,little ,rock ,i think of coons4 ,the mule--the diamond ring4 ,and all of a sudden ,i had a story4 ,e4 ,o4 ,foster3 ,the genesis of a story with me generally grows from an incident which ,i have observed1 around which ,i weave a plot taking the characters from people whom ,i have known4 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel3 ,it differs4 ,it may be any one of these things4 ,sometimes hits me suddenly1 like an electric spark forming contact1 and the wheels begin to buzz4 ,if ,i keep them buzzing1 ,i have a story4 ,j4 ,u4 ,giesy3 ,genesis with me is generally either from an incident heard or read1 or from a title which suggests a parallel or divergent train of thought4 ,george ,gilbert3 ,all depends upon the story2 some grow out of single incidents or characters2 some out of several4 ,kenneth ,gilbert3 ,my stories seem to spring from three sources3 7#a7 ,a strange and interesting fact or incident that apparently has never been touched upon4 ,one story had its genesis in a piece of newspaper miscellany1 which stated that ,marconi was experimenting with wireless apparatus that would keep out eavesdroppers4 ,that was new1 so far as fiction was concerned4 ,using it as the basis of a plot1 ,i wove around it color from my own store of wireless knowledge1 decided on the title1 and proceeded to transcribe it4 7#b7 ,an interesting character4 ,one of my animal stories illustrates this point4 ,it was about a raccoon1 which ,i selected because he is a highly interesting animal2 very intelligent1 and with traits that approach the human at times4 ,moreover1 he had not been written out1 as would seem to be the case of the dog4 ,i had written stories about nearly all of the menagerie except procyon lotors2 therefore1 why not a 'coon story8 ,the setting ,i supplied from life2 the incident from study and experience1 and the atmosphere--a vital component of an animal story--took care of itself4 7#c7 ,a title4 ,a snappy title always suggests a story1 and while ,i have utilized this method several times1 ,i prefer a plot germ in other form4 ,holworthy ,hall3 ,to date ,i have written perhaps two hundred short stories4 ,the basic ideas arrived approximately as follows3 ,from titles1 not over ten--notably ,the ,six ,best ,cellars1 ,henry of ,navarre1 ,ohio1 ,you ,get ,what ,you ,want1 etc4 ,from a situation1 at least one hundred and fifty4 ,from characters or traits of character1 the balance4 ,incidentally ,i have never yet written a story in which the basic idea was not fundamentally serious and a part of my personal philosophy2 nor would ,i have any interest in writing a story in which the basic idea did not seem to see or partake of a certain universality of thought or conduct4 ,r4 ,m4 ,hallet3 ,as to 7,i7 ,i think the characters and the action reciprocally contribute to the growth of the story4 ,hardly anything but action will really illustrate character1 it seems to me4 ,the further you develop the characters1 the better glimpses you get of the plot2 and if you have an idea for a plot1 that will usually thicken character for you4 ,as to which comes first1 it's probably the old problem of the hen and the egg4 ,either might1 logically4 ,william ,h4 ,hamby3 ,there is no rule with me4 ,sometimes ,i start a story with a character1 and1 all things considered1 that makes the best story4 ,sometimes the plot comes first2 again a situation or an incident will start the mind to weaving a story4 ,the series of stories1 ,the ,adventures of a ,misfit1 which one of my friends assures me were the worst stories ,i ever wrote1 was suggested merely by a name4 ,red ,foam1 which other of my friends claim is the best story ,i have written so far1 was written from a motif--,i had a strong feeling that ,i wanted to visualize that frothy shallowness of judgment which is so easily mislead by a little palaver4 ,joseph ,mills ,hanson3 ,the genesis with me is usually an incident1 situation or setting4 ,i always have in mind a lot of provocative events in the history of the ,northwest or elsewhere1 and hang my stories on to them4 ,i try to make my characters appropriate to the time1 the place1 the atmosphere1 the special problem that has to be solved4 ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman3 ,i usually think of an incident1 a situation1 and roll it over like a snowball until it accumulates enough to make it a story4 ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw3 ,i've no fixed rule1 although1 in a long piece of work1 ,i try to present a certain section with its corresponding inhabitants and industries4 ,with short stories ,i either work from a single plot idea1 or propound a certain phase of human character and set out to prove it by means of the story--7as in ,madame ,justice ,i endeavored to give certain conditions under which a mother would kill her well-beloved son74 ,joseph ,hergesheimer3 ,it grows from the emotion caused by a place or an individual4 ,robert ,hichens3 ,usually some big situation arising from the clash of two characters4 ,r4 de ,s4 ,horn3 ,the genesis of a story with me is generally an incident1 a situation1 or a character or trait of character1 with the incident predominant4 ,i have some settings tucked away in my note-book1 but ,i expect they will be used only when ,i've got a situation1 character or incident idea to go with them4 ,the title is the last thing ,i write usually1 and it generally comes hardest4 ,however sometimes ,i stumble on it in the middle of the story4 ,every idea that suggests a story possibility ,i immediately enter in my note-book4 ,clyde ,b4 ,hough3 ,my story ideas generally grow out of a phrase or a sentence and this phrase or sentence most often takes its place in the story1 either as the core1 the hinging base or the climax4 ,this sort of plot germ is generated in various ways4 ,sometimes by a scene1 sometimes by a spoken word and sometimes by a man's action4 ,emerson ,hough3 ,some big motive or period4 ,not a ,peeping ,tom incident4 ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson3 ,character entirely4 ,inez ,haynes ,irwin3 ,it is very difficult for me to tell you what ,i mean by the idea for a story4 ,there is so much to say that ,i would like to answer this question in a book4 ,that idea may come from anywhere or grow from anything4 ,it may be as you suggest an incident1 a character1 a trait of character1 a situation1 a setting1 a title4 ,it may come through a conversation1 by analogy1 out of the very air itself4 ,in my experience a single scene has suddenly amplified to a whole story1 a whole novel has suddenly diminished to a story4 ,parts of stories1 quite disconnected1 have suddenly sprung together and made one complete story4 ,i have had the experience of having two or three stories develop in successive instants from a single germ2 sometimes ,i have waited years before writing because ,i could not decide which one of them was the best4 ,mere ideas that ,i have carried in my mind for years have suddenly developed into stories4 ,mere phrases and titles have spawned stories4 ,interiors1 empty houses1 geographical situations have exploded stories4 ,stories1 full grown1 have sprung without any warning into my consciousness2 and apparently with no spiritual or psychological raison d'etre4 ,i have even had stories1 all complete1 hurtle out at me from life itself4 ,reading the stories of other authors sometimes brings stories into my mind2 their first paragraphs are occasionally exceedingly stimulating4 ,certain ideas have always been highly stimulating to me--uninhabited islands1 ghosts1 fourth dimension1 murder1 they have engendered numberless stories4 ,in brief stories come in every way and through every medium4 ,everything on earth1 under the earth and above the earth is fish to the creative artist's net4 ,i would like to illustrate every one of the above statements but it would make the answer to your first question interminable4 ,will ,irwin3 ,the genesis of a story is with me usually a situation4 ,to give an example from a piece of fiction which ,i have recently finished1 a friend with much experience of the underworld mentioned in conversation a case where a convict just released struck his girl who was waiting for him at the door of the prison4 ,speculation on what circumstances might lead to such an act gave me my story4 ,sometimes1 however1 the story grows from contemplation of an interesting character and speculation as to what he would do if placed in unusual or dramatic circumstances4 ,charles ,tenney ,jackson3 ,the genesis of a story with me is more likely to spring from a single incident1 a situation--perhaps even a phrase--one might say1 a mental gleam that seems unique--and then appears to gather to itself the characters which lead on to a plot that slowly evolves4 ,but always the urge of it is the first suggestion4 ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson3 ,with me stories grow from incidents1 characters1 situations1 settings and titles4 ,give me a good title3 ,i don't ask more4 ,for example1 six years ago1 in ,new ,york1 one popped into my mind from a clear sky4 ,down she went in my note-book4 ,last spring ,i felt the urge to work4 ,not an idea in the world4 ,out came the old note-book4 ,i thought about it for a day1 then batted out the story that the title suggested4 ,the title and nothing more to start things moving4 ,for one story--the skipper who could always cross ,humboldt ,bar when other master mariners were helplessly bar-bound4 ,give me a good parody or take-off on a well-known phrase or quotation and ,i seem to ask nothing more4 ,the first story of one series evolved from the character ,i conceived4 ,the genesis of one story was a vivid picture that occurred to me of an outlaw coming over a hill to the cemetery outside a western town and finding four fresh graves4 ,three of them were occupied1 the fourth empty1 significantly so1 since the other three were filled by the outlaw's pals on their last raid4 ,a pleasing picture1 and ,i made it more so by placing three sticks of wood at the heads of the filled graves1 pieces split from a wooden box4 ,the sticks were upright in the fresh earth4 ,the top of each stick had a slit in it1 and into each slit was placed an epitaph4 ,the three epitaphs were the knaves of hearts1 diamonds and clubs4 ,in town the outlaw learns that the sheriff is carrying the knave of spades and an earnest intention to place it at the head of the fourth grave4 ,this much just came to me4 ,the rest of the story is a matter of mechanics4 ,setting8 ,the origin of the idea for one tale was a matter of setting1 the kelp-beds along the coast south of ,cape ,mendocino4 ,small vessels--fishing-boats--sometimes put into the kelp for shelter from high seas and gales4 ,the heavy kelp has much the effect of oil on breaking seas4 ,with this in mind1 the story was a matter of mechanics4 ,a steamer leaving ,eureka for ,san ,francisco1 a run of twenty hours1 and then disappearing for eleven days1 given up for lost4 ,she had lost her propeller1 her deckload1 her boats and all loose deck-gear4 ,all this came ashore north of ,cape ,mendocino--sure sign she had gone down1 with a southwest gale raging4 ,but her skipper had managed to get her into the kelp--he knew the kelp--and there piled all his cargo forward until the propeller shaft was above water4 ,he shipped a new propeller right there in the open sea4 ,the vessel lay against a background of cliff1 the country back of it is deserted1 isolated2 steamers passing there were at least fifteen miles out to sea to get around ,blunt's ,reef2 there was no wireless aboard4 ,therefore she remained undiscovered1 given up for lost1 until one morning1 battered1 smashed1 burning her lumber cargo for fuel1 she limped into ,san ,francisco ,bay4 ,fine6 ,an editor wanted a series about the character--the nervy1 never-at-a-loss young skipper4 ,the skipper was pure accident4 ,i had given no thought at all to characterization4 ,the story1 the situations1 his grasping a slim chance for life when his older officers could see no chance at all1 were what ,i thought made the story4 ,but upon close analysis it was he who made the story4 ,in the story ,i had unconsciously used the same combination of characters as in another series--the young sea captain1 the ship owner and his daughter4 ,more stories wanted4 ,not an idea in the world4 ,but a lot of promised money will make ideas come4 ,i squared off at the ,underwood and started in with the ship owner4 ,conjured up a pleasing picture of him seated in his private office with wrath oozing from every one of his pores4 ,what will make a ship owner mad8 ,loss of money was the answer4 ,how could he lose money8 ,by one of his steamers being bar-bound4 ,so the largest steamer of the fleet is bar-bound in ,gray's ,harbor--has been for three weeks4 ,empty1 she went over the bar all right4 ,with a couple of million feet of lumber aboard she couldn't get out4 ,martin to the rescue4 ,he gets her over the bar--all this is deliberately manufactured with not a single idea one paragraph ahead of my fingers on the keys4 ,then1 with the steamer at sea1 ideas come galloping4 ,it is very seldom that ,i start a yarn with not even a title to work on1 not an idea in the world as to what is going to happen4 ,but ,i finished up with a real story which brought a bigger check than any ,i had received up to that time for any story4 ,the third of the series came easier4 ,in ,the ,saturday ,evening ,post ,i read a story by ,byron ,morgan called ,the ,elephant ,parade1 a tale of motor-trucks4 ,into my mind popped the idea of using caterpillar tractors in a sea story4 ,by this time ,i had ,martin firmly in hand1 well-trained4 ,the fourth story went over nicely4 ,but in the fifth one ,i made the mistake of bringing some war stuff in4 ,editor said nix4 ,i got disgusted with ,martin right there and left him flat4 ,now in your question you have omitted the word theme1 which might be included4 ,for instance one was the growth of something that can not be called a definite idea4 ,it was hazy1 vague1 when ,i started it4 ,all ,i had in mind was the traits of blondes 7feminine7 as ,i have known them1 especially movie blondes4 ,my working title on the story was ,the ,cussedness of ,blondes4 ,i changed that to ,press ,agents' ,paradise1 and wound up with ,a ,million ,dollars' ,worth4 ,the working title changed as ,i got into the thing and began to see sunshine ahead4 ,the only thing ,i had in mind with which to end the story was a beautiful double-cross on the part of the blonde girl4 ,i ended it that way4 ,i had many a laugh at the situations ,i had conjured up and slapped into the story4 ,laughing at my own stuff4 ,read it and weep4 ,mary ,johnston3 ,sometimes one1 sometimes another4 ,but usually a character or a situation1 or an idea that seems to have ethical or evolutionary value4 ,to see the idea for a story means to see the story4 ,john ,joseph3 ,the genesis of a story8 ,the idea for a red-blooded story comes from my own experience4 ,that is1 things ,i have actually seen4 ,such stories are1 as a matter of fact1 fictionized facts4 ,some stories are based on a peculiarity of human nature4 ,that is1 they arise from a study of human nature4 ,lloyd ,kohler3 ,of course1 the idea for a story may spring from almost anything4 ,with me1 however1 the idea for the story usually springs from an incident in actual life4 ,quite often1 too1 the story grows from a very brief newspaper article4 ,incidents from my own life and the sharp brief stories of the daily press have furnished all the ideas for my stuff4 ,harold ,lamb3 ,the genesis of a story is most often some happening that comes into the fancy1 followed by the impulse to draw character in connection with that happening4 ,sinclair ,lewis3 ,varies4 ,usually from a character4 ,hapsburg ,liebe3 ,my best stories grow from a character2 then a situation to fit in with the character4 ,i have had most of my failures1 ,i think1 from inventing a situation and sticking doll-like characters in it4 ,romaine ,h4 ,lowdermilk3 ,with me1 the good stories originate around a character4 ,as the characters are supposed to seem real and be interesting to the reader ,i feel that they1 as the actors1 are more vital than their doings4 ,when ,i have my characters in mind ,i choose one upon whom to center interest and one for humor unless ,i can combine the two4 ,around this character 7or characters7 ,i work out action that ,i think true to their natures and the setting to which they are native4 ,it takes considerable thought to think up a series of incidents leading to some definite end or some theme1 but then that's the writer's business4 ,he's got it to do6 ,given a character you can make yourself acquainted with1 you can write a story around him1 and the more commonplace the character the more likely you are to hit on a story that reads true to life among a majority of readers4 ,sometimes ,i write from situation1 setting or incident1 but usually go back to the beginning and find the character who1 when properly used1 seems to work out most of the story himself4 ,the title is my stumbling-block4 ,i never find a title until after the story is done1 and then only after great effort and generally at the suggestion of some of my family who act as critics on the completed work4 ,eugene ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr43 ,the genesis of a story1 with me1 may be any bit of mental detritus lodged in the flow of thought long enough to collect about it enough flotsam to round into a missile to throw at an editor4 ,the bit may be any of those you have listed1 but ,i like best an idea1 or a theme4 ,given an idea1 ,i like to try to translate it into life--i4 e41 fiction4 ,ideas1 though1 are scarce4 ,but whatever the story germ is1 it has to bite hard1 else the story is not likely to be much4 ,rose ,macaulay3 ,i usually start from some idea ,i have in my head about the world or life or people and illustrate it with the particular plot and character that seem to suit it4 ,crittenden ,marriott3 ,the climax2 ,i always start with it--and write up to it4 ,i begin anywhere1 and half the time ,i have to begin again and perhaps again till ,i find a beginning that lets the story run smoothly4 ,i keep the false beginnings and work some of them into the story4 ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney3 ,the idea of a story with me has been of varied origin--a name1 a situation1 a character1 or a plot4 ,i have only written four yarns thus far1 and ,i have used four different methods4 ,perhaps the next will be still different4 ,and ,i wonder1 when the various methods have been exhausted1 if ,i'll be1 too--at the end of my rope6 ,ray ,mc,gillivray3 ,two people at cross-purposes1 two or more opposed forces1 or a person and a conflicting force1 usually give a yarn of mine initial impulse--at least of consideration4 ,i sketch a plan or synopsis1 then dictate it straight through from beginning to end4 ,my steno hands me a result which--because of her garbling1 my smoke-clouded diction and incomplete ideas--resembles a finished story somewhat less than a plate of steak and ,idaho baked potatoes with pan gravy resembles a fat man4 ,i chew away at the script1 and return to the girl a mess of pages upon which there is more pencilling than ink4 ,being human and slightly myopic1 she does not turn out a final draft--yet4 ,the third typing finishes a script1 though--unless it be part of a novel1 or an editor asks rewriting done4 ,given the right sort of quarrel1 dilemma or unconscious conflict between interesting persons or forces1 however1 ,i believe that setting1 incidents of development1 and atmosphere traipse right into the yarn without being paged4 ,helen ,topping ,miller3 ,my stories usually begin with titles4 ,often ,i carry a title in my mind for years before ,i am able to find the story to go with it4 ,occasionally ,i begin a story with only a character1 but ,i must have my title before ,i can write4 ,having got my characters ,i devise the conflict which is to develop those characters1 and then build the plot around that4 ,thomas ,samson ,miller3 ,there are stories which have their genesis in an author's rage at an inhumanity or injustice4 ,we writers all start out being missionaries1 ,i think1 and only slack up when we discover that readers delighted in the jam--the story--and missed the pill4 ,i have to be moved by a strong desire to expose some wrong to get across a really strong story4 ,but my commercial success 7if ,i may claim success7 falls along adventure stories for young men and boys4 ,in such stories incident is of the first importance4 ,the incident has to dovetail into a plot1 all the action flowing to a logical climax4 ,the second importance is a hero--a manufactured hero1 whose best traits only are shown1 for character is complex--the admirable traits always associated with less admirable4 ,anne ,shannon ,monroe3 ,i believe a story almost always grows with me from a character2 a certain kind of a person who always gets into trouble--or out--because he does certain sorts of things4 ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery3 ,the genesis of my stories is very varied4 ,sometimes the character suggests the story4 ,for instance1 in my first book1 ,anne of ,green ,gables1 the whole story was modeled around the character of ,anne and arranged to suit her4 ,most of my books are similar in origin4 ,the characters seem to grow in my mind1 much after the oft-quoted ,topsy manner1 and when they are fully incubated ,i arrange a setting for them1 choosing incidents and surroundings which will harmonize with and develop them4 ,with short stories it is different4 ,there ,i generally start with an idea--some incident which ,i elaborate and invent characters to suit1 thus reversing the process ,i employ in book-writing4 ,a very small germ will sometimes blossom out quite amazingly4 ,one of my most successful short stories owed its origin to the fact that one day ,i heard a lady--a refined person usually of irreproachable language--use a point-blank cuss-word in a moment of great provocation4 ,again1 the fact that ,i heard of a man forbidding his son to play the violin because he thought it was wicked furnished the idea for the best short story ,i ever wrote4 ,frederick ,moore3 ,the genesis of a story with me may be any of the things mentioned1 but generally ,i find it is some incident upon which a plot may be built4 ,and frequently the plot in its final form has no bearing whatever on the original incident which gave birth to the plot4 ,talbot ,mundy3 ,with me1 the genesis of a story is too often the need for money2 or at any rate1 the need for money generally has too much to do with it4 ,i disagree totally from the accepted theory that it does a writer good to be hard up4 ,it is true that ,i wrote some of my best stories when ,i was frightfully broke--,the ,soul of a ,regiment for instance2 but the idea of selling that story never entered into the conception or construction of it2 had nothing to do with it1 in fact4 ,it was an idea and an incident that took hold of me and thrilled me while ,i wrote it4 ,it was based on a tale that my father told me one ,sunday morning at breakfast when ,i was about eight years old4 ,he told it to me all wrong1 but contrived to put across the spirit of the thing1 and it seems that that part stuck4 ,ideas1 ,i am afraid1 are no good unless pinned down in the very beginning to a character and one main incident4 ,i can live in a world of ideas2 in fact1 ,i generally do1 dreaming along without much reference to hard facts4 ,i see pretty clearly the necessity to make ideas concrete by turning them into persons1 things and incidents4 ,a plot is otherwise a mere conundrum without much interest to the reader1 however appealing to the writer it may be4 ,thus1 an idea for a story 7in my case7 may be an incident1 a trait of character1 a situation1 setting1 title or almost anything2 and the temptation1 which ,i fall for much too often1 is to go dancing along with the idea1 letting it will-o'-the-wisp me all over the place4 ,whereas the true process is to pin that idea down and make it so concrete that the reader doesn't recognize it as an idea1 but does recognize a sort of familiar friend--concrete as a sidewalk4 ,this is a counsel of perfection2 but it's the nearest ,i can get1 after a dozen years of trying1 to an answer to your question4 ,be concrete4 ,get away from the abstract by making it concrete4 ,with that proviso1 anything whatever is an idea for a story4 ,kathleen ,norris3 ,the genesis of a story with me is usually a situation2 the feeling that such and such a relationship between persons of such and such ideals or ideas would make for human interest4 ,a servant girl who holds a baby above a flood all night--a boy who hates his father's second wife1 etc41 etc4 ,anne ,o',hagan3 ,the stories that ,i have taken the most pleasure in writing and that have seemed to me the most successful have grown out of speculation upon a character in a situation4 ,if ,i may use an illustration1 ,wings of ,healing1 a short serial published last year in ,mc,call's1 grew out of speculation upon a character1 proud1 resentful1 out-of-joint with the world1 returned to the environment which had embittered her1 brought back face to face with all that she thought she most hated in the world4 ,of course1 being a professional writer ,i have written many stories without any such genesis1 stories based on an incident or even a setting4 ,but with me1 this is not my serious method of trying to write a good story4 ,grant ,overton3 ,with me1 a story may begin with a background1 an incident1 a character1 a situation or a title4 ,my idea of a story is simply something arising in the first place from any one of these sources4 ,i should not say that a trait of character was sufficient for me in the beginning4 ,my first novel arose from a particular background2 my second novel was originated by an unusual situation1 which ,i heard of2 my third novel 7in point of writing7 was suggested by a place2 my fourth novel arose from a character1 ,walt ,whitman4 ,the only two short stories ,i ever did that are of any account whatever1 were both inspired by houses with atmosphere4 ,sir ,gilbert ,parker3 ,character always4 ,hugh ,pendexter3 ,dramatic situation4 ,a flashlight picture of a climax with no explanation4 ,then technique of going back and building up to it4 ,clay ,perry3 ,to me it has been a character1 a situation1 an incident1 a title1 striking enough to set imagination at work4 ,michael ,j4 ,phillips3 ,out of nowhere at all an idea comes into my head4 ,it may consist of a novel association of two apparently unrelated ideas2 it may be a picturesque phrase or it may be an out-of-the-ordinary incident4 ,i think to myself3 ,that might make a story4 ,immediately the other side of me pops its head out and says3 ,you poor boob1 there's nothing in that at all but grief and hard work and disappointment4 ,there isn't a story there and if there is1 you can't write it4 ,that isn't your style at all1 so forget it4 ,consciously ,i forget it4 ,but the next day as ,i am walking to the office--most ideas come while ,i am hiking1--the first half of my mind says apologetically3 ,of course we know that was a fool idea we had yesterday and there's nothing to it and we can't do anything with it1 and we don't intend to1 but--,if it was any good and we expected to use it and if we had enough talent to make a readable story out of it1 here is a little incident which would tag along with it4 ,then the germ and the incident are rudely thrust back into limbo4 ,this sort of thing happens for about three or four days1 the story taking form until ,i know the story and the finish and most of the incidents before ,i consciously accept it and start to polish it off in my mind4 ,the story is complete1 or practically so1 before ,i set it down on paper4 ,the only story which didn't come to me that way hit me all of a heap and convinced both sides of my mind at once1 taking the citadel by storm4 ,it was the real1 authoritative goods1 and ,i knew it1 and glowed over it4 ,i have rewritten it twice1 and it's still unsold4 ,while others1 which were dragged on to my door-step by my unwilling brain working under compulsion1 but which ,i wrote more or less easily1 with my tongue in my cheek1 have been pronounced good by hard-headed gents who pay money for fiction4 ,walter ,b4 ,pitkin3 ,a story may grow from anything with me4 ,most commonly1 though1 from a big critical situation1 then from a setting 7atmosphere72 less often from a character trait2 and still less from a complete character in real life4 ,the four best stories ,i have written1 judging quality exclusively by the approval of editors and readers1 grew out of a combination of an idea and an odd situation4 ,a story idea sometimes starts with a title2 but ,i find that the title never carries me very far1 though it may start something going4 ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell3 ,i can not answer4 ,sometimes it just grows out of random thoughts4 ,again1 it comes from stories ,i have heard1 or personal experiences4 ,an idea for a story grows out of a setting1 a character and a climax4 ,the three combined make the finished job4 ,lucia ,mead ,priest3 ,i should say that the genesis of what stories ,i have written have never been twice alike4 ,a situation1 a phase of character1 a setting1 some other fellow's adventure or one of my own1 have furnished the kernel around which the matter has concreted4 ,now and then it has meant immediate germination but more often the corm has been tucked away on a mental shelf to ripen or desiccate4 ,i do not know whether that is the usual process of a mentality or the working of an irregular one4 ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes3 ,how would a given character react to a given situation8 ,answer is a story4 ,character1 situation4 ,frank ,c4 ,robertson3 ,the world is full of interesting situations and unusual characters4 ,i think ,i always carry around some of these somewhere in the back of my head4 ,every once in a while one of the unusual characters will accidentally get into one of these interesting situations and the story begins to crawl4 ,these two1 character and situation1 always seem to come simultaneously and demand to be written about4 ,ruth ,sawyer3 ,generally from an incident or character4 ,primarily it is the human appeal which decides4 ,chester ,l4 ,saxby3 ,a story with me grows out of any kind of seed1 but most frequently from an incident or a situation4 ,the character is essentially a part of that incident4 ,the character is the shaper of the idea in my mind2 without him and apart from him it does not exist4 ,but the dramatic possibility of the idea is the thing4 ,barry ,scobee3 ,it may be any one of these1 or from an idea that pops into my mind as ,i read or watch a movie1 but mostly the genesis starts with a situation or a condition4 ,by situation ,i mean1 of course1 the position a character is in4 ,by condition ,i mean a dramatic1 novel1 puzzling or pathetic theme or phase of life1 somebody or group of somebodies4 ,to illustrate1 the remote1 isolated big-ranch people of southwest ,texas4 ,they are in a condition from which rises the dramatic or novel4 ,after all is said1 an idea for a story1 with me1 is a situation--even if it be the mental situation brought about by a man's own state of mind4 ,it is that more than character or the other things4 ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott3 ,to some extent the genesis of a story comes to me from all the things which you mention4 ,more particularly it comes to me from a character or a title4 ,all my ,smith stories are from character with the exception of the first of the series4 ,one came from the title out of the nowhere4 ,there is one source1 however1 which you have not mentioned and which has had significant results for me4 ,i refer to dreams4 ,if ,i can get to my typewriter before the atmosphere of a dream has vanished the story is sold4 ,a case of this kind occurred with ,such ,bluff as ,dreams ,are ,made ,of1 the first of the ,smith series4 ,i crawled out of bed to my typewriter and wrote the thing straightaway without an alteration4 ,it sold at once and1 as soon as it appeared in print1 ,cassel's ,magazine of ,london wanted it and ,i was asked to cable my reply4 ,i dreamed both of the dreams described in this story4 ,selling dreams is clear profit4 ,robert ,simpson3 ,the idea for a story has1 with me1 no specific method of birth4 ,it may be derived from any of the sources you refer to1 or it may1 as sometimes happens1 spring out of nowhere1 practically complete from introduction to climax4 ,most frequently1 however1 and particularly with short stories1 ,i merely sit down and write4 ,a sentence of some sort finds its way on to the paper1 then another and another1 and ultimately a story begins to take shape4 ,a number of these germ sentences may have to be removed from the finished product1 but most of them remain4 ,when ,i have evolved a story idea by this method1 ,i go just so far and no farther until ,i have decided on a climax4 ,if ,i can't create a climax that satisfies me1 ,i allow the idea to rest for a while1 and usually1 when ,i am not consciously thinking about it at all1 a fitting climax comes along and the story is written4 ,with book-length stuff1 however1 ,i generally begin with four things--a character who sounds a decided key-note1 the setting1 and1 however vaguely1 a conception of the beginning and the end4 ,until ,i have these ingredients fairly well fixed in my mind1 ,i don't attempt to write them into existence4 ,generally speaking1 the principal character is suggested to me first by name4 ,i can't write about anybody whose name doesn't fit4 ,arthur ,d4 ,howden ,smith3 ,sometimes a situation2 sometimes a character or group of characters4 ,theodore ,seixas ,solomons3 ,story germ1 though a trite expression1 hits it with me as to what a yarn grows from4 ,but it may be a situation or a very odd trait of character in what would otherwise be a not uncommon situation4 ,sometimes an incident1 if it seems a germinal one2 rarely or never a setting or title4 ,raymond ,s4 ,spears3 ,generally speaking1 ,i have a personal interest in some subject or other4 ,i begin to collect information about it1 as pearls1 trapping1 ,mississippi ,river1 shanty-boaters1 etc4 ,perhaps a news clipping starts me off1 or a book1 or a fiction story4 ,after a while1 perhaps ,i have a hundred1 a thousand clippings1 books1 etc4 ,then ,i go to the scene2 thus ,i went to ,muscatine1 ,iowa1 on a motorcycle to spend half a day in a button factory1 and a few days around that button-making town1 buttons and pearls going together6 ,then ,i went on into the ,bad ,lands of western ,south ,dakota1 and spent a month on the prairies in homestead country4 ,later ,i rolled thousands of miles in homestead countries1 to get the big viewpoint4 ,sometimes the story comes ready made in the material4 ,sometimes it comes divested of environment--atmosphere--and ,i have to dress it up in a desert1 then a river1 then a green timber environment1 or facts1 to find which fits4 ,often a story idea appears as a character of certain tendencies1 and this character ,i bring up by hand1 sometimes for years4 ,i gather my material of all kinds1 and each group of material has characters1 plots1 ideas1 themes1 etc41 wandering and wallowing around in the wilderness1 and gradually a group of all sorts of things that go to make up a story is precipitated by conditions1 and if ,i'm in too much of a hurry1 ,i write too soon2 the way through is invisible1 and ,i run into a blind caon4 ,norman ,springer3 ,in all of these ways1 incident1 title1 etc41 but most often 7say four times out of five7 ,i visualize a character1 and the story grows about him4 7,this character1 by the way1 is never dragged out of real life1 and ,i don't try to make him a type4 ,he is--at least while the yarn is in the making--a distinct individual1 with individual characteristics4 ,though ,i do find that1 as the story progresses1 he acquires little habits of mind and manner of people ,i know or have known4 ,if ,i don't guard against it1 the character in the last story is likely to carry over and intrude his personality into the next story1 where he isn't wanted47 ,the genesis of the story is something like this3 ,i think of the character4 ,i try him in this situation and that4 ,perhaps he fits1 and the plot grows naturally to its completion4 ,perhaps he doesn't fit1 or the material is only half a story--then ,i shove the whole matter into the back of my mind4 ,weeks or months later additional situations1 or maybe new incidents1 occur to mind4 ,out trots the character from his seclusion1 bringing his story with him4 ,stories that come via the title route are nearly always of the fate variety4 ,if the plot is imagined first1 and then the characters1 ,i find that the latter are likely to be wooden and lifeless1 and the story very hard to write4 ,julian ,street3 ,sometimes a situation4 ,practically always1 however1 the situation grows out of character4 ,never a title4 ,that's always cheap1 ,i think4 ,the more ,i work and 7,i hope7 ripen1 the more ,i believe that the basis of most good stories is character4 ,character makes plot4 ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling3 ,i have derived stories from incidents1 characters1 tales told me by traveling companions1 but my longer and more serious stories are nearly always something rather larger than a setting2 ,i would say a social condition4 ,i like to select a people whose form of life has the possibility of great drama4 ,then ,i enjoy studying that people1 seeing how they live1 get as nearly at their psychology as ,i can--customs1 habits4 ,then ,i take their country and pick out spots where ,i will have a scenic background that best suits the mood of the story ,i propose to write4 ,for example just at this moment ,i am interested in ,venezuela4 ,i lived down there a year1 ,i learned enough ,spanish to talk and read intelligibly1 and ,i expect to read ,venezuelan books1 histories1 etc41 for about three years more before ,i do a novel ,i have in mind on the country4 ,naturally1 this sort of work must be planned for years in advance1 and usually while ,i am working up a big story1 ,i can get a bunch of smaller ones on the same theme4 ,otherwise ,i would starve between drinks4 ,booth ,tarkington3 ,i shall have to leave this pretty indefinite4 ,the answer differs with every story4 ,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle3 ,usually the title is the last thing to be printed on my manuscript1 and ,i pride myself on the fact that ,i have only had one title changed in seven or eight years of writing4 ,it may sound queer to you1 but it is a fact that a certain character bothers me until ,i write a story around that character4 ,crazy1 eh8 ,still it is a fact4 ,somehow ,i can see and feel that personality and a strong urge comes to me to put him in print4 ,the strange part of it is that ,i worry about that mythical character until ,i put him on paper4 ,lucille ,van ,slyke3 ,story genesis with me is usually some very insignificant object that ,i see in a half-light--or blurred--or far off when ,i am not thinking about writing at all4 ,example3 ,listening to a second-rate opera company give ,lohengrin my eyes note very idly that one fat chorus lady has very shabby black street shoes4 ,my eyes travel--her face is deadly serious4 ,somewhere the back of my brain clicks off a story somebody told me about ,henrietta ,crossman's early struggles--how she nursed her infant son between acts while she played ,rosalind--on the way out of the theater ,i hear a laughing feminine voice say ,chiffon is warmer and stronger than you think-- ,these things ,i scribbled in my plot-book when ,i reached home4 ,but it was at least two years before ,i wrote the story these things suggested--but the impetus was undoubtedly a pair of shabby shoes--and the story was about a fragile1 gay little chorus lady1 the very antithesis of the fat lady with the shoes4 7,nor were shoes ever mentioned in that story67 ,example3 ,i pass a brownstone house1 very swanky one4 ,on the basement window-sill is a battered tin luncheon-tray with a soiled napkin1 a wilted salad and some scraggly bits of lamb4 ,i am on my way for a holiday1 in an ,i-shall-never-write-again mood4 ,but the little old nervous ganglia that serve as brains begin ,what a rotten lunch--must have been for the dressmaker--and maybe the dressmaker was a dear--a princess in disguise effect--and ,i find myself humming an old hymn1 ,oh1 happy day--,felicia ,day would be a good name1 saith my tune4 ,so ,i jot it down in the back of my commutation-book and forget it4 ,it's three years later that ,i write a book around that luncheon tray4 ,the funny part of all this is that ,i didn't know until your letter arrived that in almost every instance of either short story1 serial or book ,i saw a definite object in the beginning4 ,i tried to bunk myself into believing that ,i didn't1 that a person or a character did it or a plot1 but it's a thing--usually in half-light--so ,i see it rather blurry4 ,why8 ,atreus von ,schrader3 ,a story may grow from anything2 an incident1 a character or trait1 a setting1 a title1 a situation4 ,it is my own experience that more stories develop from situations than any other course4 ,i wonder if this would be true of a writer of character stories8 ,by situation ,i mean a preconceived inter-relation of the dramatis person4 ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch3 ,genesis of a story4--,i have little idea where the ideas for stories come from4 ,they merely seem to be dreams in which the characters become clearer and clearer until ,i live through the incident with them in an existence that is very real4 ,i always have regrets when a story is finished2 then the characters seem to fade out like old friends1 gradually becoming hazier until they are lost4 ,in my animal stories ,i believe incidents that ,i have seen and animals that ,i have studied form the stem about which ,i build the branchings4 ,perhaps the same thing occurs with the human characters4 ,henry ,kitchell ,webster3 ,my theory of the genesis of a story is a dynamic one4 ,the motive power behind any story is furnished by the setting up in some life1 or group of lives1 of a condition of strain or disequilibrium1 and the story itself is the sequence of events by which equilibrium is sought to be established4 ,i never started a story from a title1 but ,i fancy ,i have started at least once from each of the other items of your list4 ,g4 ,a4 ,wells3 ,story ideas occur to me in flashes4 ,as a rule it is no more than an idea1 very brief and not1 in most cases1 sharply drawn4 ,most ideas come to me while reading the work of others1 whether of fiction or fact1 and it may be peculiar that the idea as it occurs is never similar to the story or article as a whole or any part of it that ,i chance to be reading at the time4 ,to name a case in point1 ,i distinctly remember that the idea for one story came to me while reading the third book of ,dryden's translation of ,virgil's neid4 ,the idea hit me so hard that ,i dropped everything else and began the story at once4 ,i don't attempt to explain it4 ,i have never deliberately set about to invent a story idea4 ,that is beyond my mental capacity4 ,ideas occur to me unwilled or not at all4 ,but1 given the idea1 ,i will with confidence contract to work it out in any manner suggested4 ,william ,wells3 ,anything gives me the idea for a story2 my head is full of them all the time4 ,ben ,ames ,williams3 ,it is quite impossible to answer generally any such question as this4 ,some of my stories grow out of incidents observed or imagined2 some are transcribed almost literally from experiences related to me2 some grow up around a character1 or an apt title1 or a trait of character2 some are built up as a play is built up1 to put forward a definite dramatic situation2 some put in the form of fiction a philosophic or religious idea which has appealed to me2 some are merely whimsical studies in contrast4 ,the only general statement ,i can make is that ,george ,polti's book on dramatic situations has been of great help to me1 not so much in suggesting stories as in assisting me to see more clearly what effect ,i want to produce4 ,honore ,willsie3 ,i always start with some bit of human philosophy that ,i want to get over4 ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer3 ,i'm afraid ,i must answer this one rather generally4 ,that is1 ,i mean the genesis of a story with me grows from not one1 but all the elements you mention1 viz41 character1 situation1 setting1 title4 ,sometimes ,i hit upon a good title and write around that2 sometimes ,i spend days on the proper title after the yarn is finished4 ,a chance remark of an individual1 quaint1 funny1 philosophic1 etc41 may furnish a story and so with the other ingredients above4 ,i would say1 though1 that the majority of times the first thing ,i get to work on is a situation4 ,next title4 ,after that1 ,i go to it6 ,william ,almon ,wolff3 ,if ,i go back ,i can find that stories have grown out of all the things you mention4 ,but the actual making of the story never begins until one or more persons are in my mind4 ,i have to deal with people1 and the real planning and building of the story nearly always begins with speculation as to what this person or that would do in a certain situation4 ,here is a concrete example3 ,my friend1 ,robert ,rudd ,whiting1 gave me1 years ago1 this1 as an idea for a story4 ,repairs to a post road in ,connecticut made him1 for several days1 take a detour2 a little1 lonely sort of road4 ,and he used to pass an old house1 where two old ladies sat1 looking out eagerly at all the bustling life that had so suddenly come along their road4 ,bob had tried to write the story1 and failed4 ,the idea fascinated me1 too4 ,my notion was to try to work something out and do it with ,bob--,i know1 of course1 that1 if only he kept on1 he could do the story1 and do it better than ,i could ever hope to do it4 ,but the war came along1 and it took ,bob4 ,he was killed in action as truly as any man who died in ,france1 although the records don't show that4 ,so ,i felt that ,i was doubly obliged to write that story4 ,but it eluded me until1 at last1 ,i saw in my mind exactly the right man1 troubled1 oppressed1 sick of heart and mind and body1 lured from the great road1 with its rushing motors1 by the peace of the little road4 ,from that moment ,i was on the way to doing the story4 ,what ailed that man8 ,what had gone wrong8 ,what would he find when he came to the house and the two old ladies8 ,and wouldn't the little road1 in the end1 if he followed it so far as it went1 take him back1 refreshed and strengthened1 to the road and the life he had abandoned8 ,edgar ,young3 ,a story usually starts1 in my case1 with an idea--some truth that ,i wish to prove1 some fact that ,i wish to demonstrate1 or some effect ,i wish to show4 ,this1 to my estimation1 is what a story writer means when he speaks of an idea for a story4 ,,summary ,answering1 #aac4 ,by a rough system of tabulating1 allowing two points for a subject when it is usually or always the genesis of a story1 and one point when it is sometimes or rarely the genesis1 we get the following general view3 ,character1 #gc2 character and action1 #d2 character and situation1 #aj2 situation1 #gc2 incident1 #fi2 titles1 #ai2 setting1 #ai2 purpose1 #ad2 phrase1 #aa2 just born1 #e2 emotion1 #d2 miscellaneous1 #bf2 varying as to genesis1 #eg2 don't know1 #d4 ,the miscellaneous include such as3 contrast1 condition of mind1 problem1 motive1 period1 tales1 a name1 a view of life1 news1 period4 ,these statistics from the data given can serve merely to give a general survey and to indicate1 at least approximately1 the relative frequency of use4 ,that character1 situation and incident should head the list was rather to be expected1 though hardly in that order4 ,that titles should rank next seems surprising4 ,the interest in these data is chiefly for the beginner4 ,probably the best place to get an idea for a story is wherever you can get it and be satisfied with it1 but this data may show the beginner sources not previously considered4 ,perhaps the best service to him is the demonstration that creative minds do not all work alike and that general rules are to be regarded with suspicion until found really applicable to the particular case4 ,aside from service1 these data may be of some passing interest to writers1 critics and editors in general4 ,,question ,,ii ,do you map it out in advance1 or do you start with1 say1 a character or situation1 and let the story tell itself as you write8 ,do you write it in pieces to be joined together1 or straightaway as a whole8 ,is the ending clearly in mind when you begin8 ,to what extent do you revise8 ,,answers ,bill ,adams3 ,it writes itself--nothing to do with me4 ,i never read stories--or very1 very1 very rarely4 ,most stories1 though not quite so poisonous as my own1 are indigestible4 ,never have the slightest idea what the end1 and rarely what the next paragraph will be4 ,revise a great deal afterward1 in small ways4 ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams3 ,as a rule the story is pretty well worked out in advance2 always in the case of a novel4 ,it does happen1 however1 that a character upon which a story is built will take the bit in his or her teeth and run away with the whole show--even to the extent of ditching it6 ,i have had a short story turn out disconcertingly different from my original intention because one of the characters got out of control4 ,after ,i write passages1 particularly bits of dialogue before going at the story as a whole1 ,i always revise and rewrite2 sometimes ,i wholly recast a story4 ,paul ,l4 ,anderson3 ,a story is mapped out in advance1 often to the very language1 the actual words to be put down on paper4 ,revision is chiefly a matter of improving the wording1 though it sometimes takes the form of shifting the action around2 sometimes even of rebuilding the whole yarn1 from start to finish4 ,william ,ashley ,anderson3 ,no1 ,i don't deliberately map out a story2 though1 generally1 the theme of the story is in mind when ,i start1 and the chief problem is to hit on the best point of departure4 ,the ending is not clearly in mind when ,i start1 though ,i am inclined to think that1 as a rule1 this is a distinct defect1 because without an ending clearly in mind a story must start off without limits and the author can have no measure by which to judge the value of his characters4 ,this applies particularly to the short story4 ,in longer stories the characters must develop logically2 and there should be no limits whatever for a novel4 ,my usual method is to write a story as the ideas present themselves or the characters move in their relation to the general theme4 ,then ,i rewrite1 pruning freely4 ,after that ,i often rewrite again4 ,on the other hand ,i have written very clear1 sharp stories at one writing2 and very vague stories after several rewritings4 ,but ,i firmly believe that no story is so good that it won't be improved by a second writing2 and there are innumerable evidences in literature to sustain this4 ,often a story changes while ,i am writing it4 ,starting with a vague idea1 a strong idea may suddenly obtrude itself4 ,many times the kick in a story has come into mind when the story was already half done4 ,thackeray noted the fact that when a man starts to set his ideas on paper he is surprised at how much more he knows than he thought he knew4 ,this1 ,i think1 is characteristic of an experienced writer1 while the opposite holds true of a novice4 ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey3 ,i always plan the whole thing before ,i begin to write1 in considerable detail2 every chapter of a book1 every phase of a short story and often the key phrases of dialogue and narrative are in my private synopsis4 ,but ,i hardly ever find that it all goes according to plan4 ,characters won't do as they are told4 ,they turn out to be different from what ,i had imagined4 ,minor people become important4 ,and so the characters work out their plots sometimes in ways of their own4 ,i always work straight on from beginning to end4 ,once the manuscript is finished ,i only revise details1 but the writing itself is a process of revision and rewriting page by page and line by line4 ,edwin ,balmer3 ,sometimes ,i map out the whole story in advance and ,i usually try to1 but ,i think the best stories are those where ,i have merely started with a general idea and with a fairly definite conception of the outcome and then have followed the hunches which seemed of themselves to work through the story4 ,i usually write straightaway as a whole until about two-thirds through a short story1 when ,i fully revise at least once and then write to the end4 ,ralph ,henry ,barbour3 ,i do not map out a story in advance4 ,i might fare better if ,i did so4 ,i don't know1 and ,i probably never shall know since it is something ,i am apparently incapable of doing4 ,my start is made with a situation or with certain characters4 ,sometimes with even less4 ,whatever the start is1 the characters at once take matters into their own hands1 and while ,i may sometimes use a feebly restraining rein they generally end by taking the bits into their teeth4 ,the end is clearly in my mind when ,i begin4 ,that is1 to return to metaphor1 the goal is known to me4 ,what isn't known is the road that is to lead to the goal1 nor what is to happen on the way4 ,infrequently ,i find that ,i have arrived at a destination other than the one toward which ,i started4 ,but that occurs only infrequently for the reason that1 given my characters1 ,i can usually tell how they are going to behave2 or1 rather1 where1 having behaved--or misbehaved--they are going to fetch up4 ,from this it may be gathered that ,i let the story tell itself to a great extent4 ,i do not write a story in pieces1 but take it as it comes4 ,i revise very little4 ,almost not at all4 ,perhaps my stuff would be better if ,i revised more4 ,but ,i don't like revising4 ,something is going to be lost when that is begun4 ,it is better1 ,i think1 to revise before you write4 ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett3 ,i never map out anything4 ,for me nothing is more dangerous4 ,my story as a whole is clearly in mind1 but the details work themselves out as ,i write4 ,that is true of my ending2 ,i must know1 of course1 in a general way where ,i am going or ,i have no story1 but that is as far as ,i commit myself except very rarely when the last sentence bobs into my head all made4 ,even then ,i may not know the preceding sentence or paragraph4 ,nalbro ,bartley3 ,i write a story straightaway as a whole--the ending clearly in mind when ,i start4 ,i always have it mapped in advance--and then1 having started1 ,i let the characters take the action in their own hands while ,i keep the characters in mine4 ,it is like building a house with a plan--so many rooms1 porches1 etc41--and letting the people who are to live in it furnish it as they please and live their own life as a family unit4 ,ferdinand ,berthoud3 ,i map the story out wholly in my mind--practically see it finished as an artist sees a picture--before ,i begin to write4 ,however1 one or other of my characters is often likely to say some fool thing ,i hadn't previously thought of and slightly to change the trend of the yarn4 ,in writing ,i do the first two or three thousand words1 then go for a long walk next morning and think up the exact wording of the next slab of misery4 ,all ,i have to do then is practically to copy the stuff down4 ,yes1 ,i have the ending and the exact last words before ,i do a thing4 ,am ashamed to say ,i revise very little4 ,always keep my finished typed copy just two or three pages behind the original draft4 ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr43 ,story is loosely mapped out in advance and written straight through--frequently at a single sitting4 ,i do very little revision--little compared to what ,i understand some authors do4 ,at times ,i will type a copy1 single-space and carelessly1 from my original pen and ink draft1 do some revision as ,i proceed1 and then prepare my final1 double-spaced copy from this4 ,farnham ,bishop3 ,many of my stories start with things1 rather than human beings3 out-of-the-way ships1 guns1 primitive locomotives1 what not4 ,but as ,kipling points out3 ,things never yet created things1 ,once1 on a time1 there was a man4 ,therefore ,i must create the man who creates or uses the thing4 ,also his opponent or opponents1 and the other people who more or less go with the situation4 ,try to humanize every one of them1 even if he only walks on to speak a line or carry a spear4 ,my usual written outline is a neatly typed list of all names of people1 ships and places4 ,make this before ,i begin writing the story1 to avoid being held up later4 ,spend a great deal of time trying to pick effective names4 ,finding the right one helps me visualize the character4 ,pick them out of the phone book1 old histories1 etc4 ,almost invariably have the ending in mind before ,i begin4 ,in fact1 often begin by setting aside a strong ending and then work up to it4 ,brodeur and ,i wrote our first story about the fall of ,knossos4 ,all we did was to fake up a plausible explanation of why the durned place fell4 ,as for revision1 ,i write the whole yarn1 read it1 pencil it full of corrections1 and then type a fair copy with carbon1 revising it again in the process4 ,algernon ,blackwood3 ,an emotion produces its own setting1 usually bringing with it a character who shall interpret it4 ,the emotion dramatizes itself4 ,the end alone is clearly in my mind4 ,i never begin to write until this is so4 ,then ,i write fragments1 scenes1 fragments of the psychology1 fitting them in later4 ,occasionally1 however1 when the emotion is strong1 the story writes itself straightaway4 ,revision is endless4 ,often the story1 when finished1 is put aside and forgotten4 ,the revision that comes weeks later1 on reading over the tale as though it had been written by some one else1 is the most helpful of all4 ,max ,bonter3 ,formerly ,i used to sit down and begin writing at random1 letting the story tell itself as ,i wrote4 ,i have at last decided that it is a most pernicious practise4 ,if1 when ,i begin writing1 ,i haven't a fairly clear idea of what ,i am going to write1 how can ,i bestow on each phase or angle of my subject an appropriate measure of importance8 ,how can ,i obey the law of proportion8 ,the result of such procedure was nearly always a lopsided story4 ,as a theme gradually developed under my hand and neared its objective1 ,i discovered that the text was full of clots and excrescences that had no part in the climax and had to be cut out4 ,my straightaway rush therefore availed me little1 because it was succeeded by hash1 slash and revision4 ,it was too much like stumbling into a story4 ,mathematics being the foundation of everything1 including chemistry1 which is ,life1 and correspondingly of creativeness1 which is a phase of life1 should1 it seems to me1 enter directly into the building of a story4 ,it is a vast field for an untechnical brain like mine to browse in1 but ,i hope to get something out of it before ,i quit4 ,in the meantime ,i am striving to organize a simple but effective scheme of work1 somewhat as follows3 #a4 ,be sure an idea is worth developing1 from a human interest standpoint4 #b4 ,develop the climax first4 #c4 ,start off the characters like a bunch of obstacle racers and bring them to the climax as quickly1 but as logically1 as possible4 #d4 ,write tersely at first1 expanding where advisable--rather than write voluminously and chop out4 #e4 ,write nothing that won't put at least a grain of weight into the final wallop4 ,katharine ,holland ,brown3 ,the story tells itself as it is being written3 or rather1 it is fairly visible as a whole before ,i begin to write at all4 ,the climax and ending are usually written first4 ,the rest is written down in very concise fragments1 just as these fragments present themselves4 ,the story isn't written consecutively the first time4 ,only the high lights4 ,then1 of course1 it has to be rewritten1 sometimes three or four times2 sometimes only once4 ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley3 ,i combine mapping ahead and letting a character move the story4 ,method depends on mode of conception 7see above74 ,roughly speaking1 the average story is planned thus--,i conceive either the beginning1 the middle1 or the end1 to start with4 ,if the end1 then ,i work backward and decide what shall be the high spot of the middle3 and1 from that1 backward and figure out just where and with what attention-gripping incident ,i can start the story4 ,these three high points established1 ,i take the main character and start him from the beginning toward the middle4 ,he decides very largely how he gets there--his character does1 ,i mean4 ,and when he's reached the middle1 ,i start him off again in the general direction of the end4 ,i always have these three high points established before ,i begin4 ,i write straightforward2 revise little1 except for redundancies and literals1 except in the case of long stories and complicated shorts4 ,then ,i go very carefully over the thing for errors of fact or probability3 e4 g41 ,i examine each situation to see whether it could have been resolved in any simpler way than ,i have resolved it2 whether ,i have made my characters make a wide detour when they could1 and would1 have cut across lots1 as it were4 ,since1 however1 the character of the hero or principal character dictates the minuti of action1 ,i rarely 7have never done so yet7 find a mistake of this kind4 ,this is the great advantage of having a strong character to dictate action1 of course4 ,prosper ,buranelli3 ,i have everything but small details in my mind when ,i begin writing4 ,thompson ,burtis3 ,my stories are all mapped out in advance--the exact ending is in sight4 ,even some of the dialogue is in mind when ,i start4 ,i write straightaway as a whole4 ,i revise very little4 ,most rewritten pages are the result of my believing that the original page1 after the inked-in corrections1 was too messy4 ,due to the completeness with which ,i have blocked out the story in advance1 there is no necessity for me to do any important revision4 ,i may occasionally overlook some important point in the story and have to put it in1 but in no case have ,i ever made a radical change in a character or description after the first draft4 ,what you get from me is the story as ,i originally wrote it1 with perhaps one or two pages rewritten to make them neater4 ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain3 ,advance mapping with me is of the vaguest character4 ,everything shapes itself toward or from the situation originally conceived4 ,i write straightaway1 but very rarely without a clear notion of a possible ending1 having found that to do otherwise is to introduce useless or troublesome incidents and make heavy revisions necessary4 ,my greatest difficulty is in getting a story started to suit me4 ,here is done almost all my revising1 and ,i frequently write a dozen beginnings before suiting myself4 ,once started1 ,i write straight on1 unless ,i find1 in the development of my hitherto vague ideas of the plot1 that ,i can get my results better by change4 ,in that case1 ,i simply chuck out whatever ,i wish to replace1 or insert the needed new incident4 ,i have rarely found that ,i improved a story by revising it as a whole4 ,unless ,i am trying to please a new editor by nice copy1 ,i usually submit the first and only complete draught of the story1 with an occasional alteration of a word in pencil4 ,typing is the bane of my existence4 ,robert ,v4 ,carr3 ,blind groper4 ,feeling my way through a strange country4 ,george ,l4 ,catton3 ,it all depends on the length whether ,i map it out first or not4 ,if it is one of those little fellows1 the ones that ,i am best at1 the story is all there waiting to be written down1 start--finish4 ,if it is a long one ,i let it write itself4 ,that is1 ,i get the best start ,i can think of and go ahead4 ,then when ,i reach the right starting-place ,i begin all over again4 ,occasionally1 in a long story1 the ending1 in a general and vague way1 may be in sight1 but it very seldom ends as ,i planned at the start--something better turns up before ,i get to the end4 ,i write it straightaway as a whole1 go back often and make revisions1 and often rewrite the whole thing after it is all finished4 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers3 ,map it out in advance4 ,write it straightaway as a whole4 ,ending clearly in mind from the start4 ,revise murderously4 ,roy ,p4 ,churchill3 ,i have a working plan to begin with1 end in view1 characters named1 setting selected2 then write straight along as a whole4 ,often the working plan is radically changed1 but never abandoned completely4 ,the plan is not detailed painstakingly1 but left open on purpose to change as the feel of the story develops4 ,revision with me is a second writing of the story1 nothing less4 ,this is where ,i proportion the coloring of the story and get the tones blended4 ,carl ,clausen3 ,i always have the ending in mind4 ,i write slowly1 revise very little4 ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper3 ,my story is as clear as a bell before ,i ever start to write1 characters outlined1 action ready1 ending clear and often ,i write the finish of my story first4 ,i revise very little--when ,i have to revise ,i am worried to death about the yarn as ,i feel there is something fundamentally wrong about it that ,i can't put my finger on4 ,my story is usually written in my head before ,i ever touch a finger to the typewriter4 ,i often will spend six months framing a story4 ,the actual writing of it is the smallest part of the job4 ,arthur ,crabb3 ,i certainly do map out in advance4 ,no hard and fast rules can be laid down4 ,it is undoubtedly true that every writer may do one thing with one story and one with another4 ,i think that most of mine are thought out completely before ,i start2 any changes after the first draft are minor4 ,mary ,stewart ,cutting3 ,i do map it out in advance but not in detail4 ,i write it straightaway as a whole4 ,the middle part of a story is the least definite and has to be worked out4 ,the ending is so clearly in mind when ,i begin that ,i have to write the last sentence of the story4 ,a story1 to me1 is like a musical theme4 ,it has to end on the same keynote on which it was begun4 ,but if my mind vividly depicts some part of the story not in the proper sequence1 ,i write it out in full as ,i see it and interpolate it where it belongs4 ,i revise after the first writing1 ,i revise before the final typewriting--mostly as regards minor sentences4 ,but sometimes after it has gone to typewriter my mind will see where sentences should be inserted1 usually to make the action clearer4 ,elmer ,davis3 ,if ,i mapped it out in advance1 ,i would sell more4 ,starting 7usually7 with a character in a situation1 ,i map out six or eight chapters4 ,by that time old ,native ,indolence is getting in its heavy work2 the ideas are coming hard1 bright thoughts and lines for the early chapters slip away while ,i am trying to think out and diagram the catastrophe2 so ,i fall to writing1 always easier than thinking4 ,write till ,i get stuck2 then sit down and think some more2 which of course usually entails considerable revision of the earlier chapters4 ,not much of the latter part4 ,william ,harper ,dean3 ,most frequently ,i have the ending in mind and work definitely to develop plot sequence which will enable me logically and directly to reach that end4 ,i do not map out--such a practise would throw too many restrictions about the sweep of my imagination2 ,i want full elasticity to that4 ,revise8 ,ah1 there's the whole story6 ,i revise and rebuild1 strengthening here1 eliminating there4 ,recently ,i started out with an idea for a short story and when ,i finished revising and rebuilding ,i had written a serial which sold at once for a most satisfactory price4 ,harris ,dickson3 ,after ,i get some crude idea of a story ,i put down on a big sheet everything ,i can think of1 generally without logical arrangement4 ,this may be developed in a sort of scenario form4 ,from this ,no4 #b sheet ,i begin to write1 in longhand1 in shorthand or a combination4 ,you will note that sheets #a1 #b and #c show progressive stages of the same material4 ,the value of the big sheet1 to me1 lies in the fact that ,i can visualize an entire story at one glance1 without having to search through a mass of tiny scraps4 ,and it is so easy to rewrite in one column while looking at the other4 ,when ,i get my material pretty well in hand it is dictated to a dictaphone1 from which the typist gives it back1 with lines far apart and a wide margin4 ,this is then scratched up1 rearranged1 and redictated4 ,frequently a story pretty well tells itself1 and sometimes the ending is clearly in mind4 ,sometimes not4 ,sometimes one kind makes the better yarn1 sometimes the other4 ,i've done a good story in three days1 and struggled for three months over a bad one4 ,captain ,dingle3 ,the story is pictured as a whole1 with one ending clearly in view before a word is written4 ,i do not--can not--plan a story or map it out2 it has to write itself or it fails2 and sometimes the ending ,i saw first has to give place to one more fitting to the developed story4 ,i do not revise1 except to correct noted errors of spelling and grammar 7which are apt to slip anyhow1 since ,i know damn little about 'em74 ,whenever ,i have revised a story it has proved a failure4 ,the stuff1 such as it is1 must come spontaneously4 ,louis ,dodge3 ,in the main ,i see my story to the end before ,i write it--or at least ,i try to do this4 ,but largely ,i let the development--the secondary episodes--suggest themselves1 or grow1 as they will4 ,i go straight through with a manuscript1 and then ,i revise and revise and revise4 ,i mean ,i write it entirely two or three or more times4 ,this1 perhaps1 shows a lack of clear-mindedness1 or of definite theories2 but it is the best ,i can do4 ,phyllis ,duganne3 ,i used to let stories tell themselves as ,i wrote them1 but ,i've come to the conclusion that it saves more time to sit down with a pencil and paper and make a row of nice neat ,roman numerals and letters and letters in parentheses1 and make a diagram of the plot4 ,that's mainly because1 once ,i start writing1 ,i can write on and on without getting anywhere in my story1 and wasting loads of time and good paper4 ,i write it as a whole with the general idea of the ending clearly in mind2 ,i never know precisely where or how the tale will end4 ,sometimes ,i think ,i do1 but the characters are likely to be ornery and not do at all what ,i wanted them to do4 ,and if ,i make them follow a rigid plan1 the story doesn't sound true4 ,revising depends4 ,sometimes hardly at all2 sometimes ,i find that ,i have gone off on a tangent and have to cut out pages4 ,most frequently ,i find that ,i have to go through a story1 individualizing and characterizing my people more4 ,i know what they are like1 but frequently ,i find on reading the story that ,i have kept most of my knowledge to myself4 ,j4 ,allan ,dunn3 ,here is a hard question1 how does the story grow8 ,when it comes into your mind it has various stages of completion4 ,preferably ,i would let my story tell itself4 ,no matter how carefully ,i may have outlined1 gone over and over each next chapter1 the thing amplifies when one sits down at the typewriter4 ,the characters change1 the situations demand things not thought of1 you see a better way1 the yeast ferments and rises unevenly4 ,seldom is my ending clearly in mind4 ,an editor desiring certain breaks for serial publication will cause me to plan more carefully4 ,sometimes certain parts of a story obtrude themselves but not to such an extent with me as to make me break the straightaway development of the tale in due order4 ,i may reach them with delight1 look forward to them1 find them in the forefront of my mind whenever ,i think of the yarn outside of working hours4 ,and what are working hours8 ,you carry your story as a cow packs its cud4 ,at least1 ,i do4 ,and ,i go over and over and over it1 consciously and subconsciously4 ,i take my next chapter to bed with me and automatically employ every spare minute1 on the street even1 to revolving the next phase of the plot4 ,sometimes details will blur1 but the main plot extends itself far ahead4 ,i like to try to plan a story with a purpose1 but ,i decidedly prefer to try so to create my characters that they are alive and have certain wills of their own4 ,as a rule ,i revise once--direct on the typed copy4 ,and most of the errors are in typing4 ,if ,i polish too much ,i am apt to overdo it1 ,i find4 ,walter ,a4 ,dyer3 ,partly answered above4 ,i find it necessary to have some fairly clear conception of the destination of my story movement1 or ,i find ,i have gone off at half-cock and the result is disappointing4 ,the details1 as a rule1 come as ,i write4 ,i try to have a telling ending in mind4 ,then ,i write the thing straight through and try to brace up the weak spots in revision4 ,i sometimes have to change important portions of the story to get it right1 but usually it is a matter of polishing4 ,each story seems to present its own particular problem as to the matter of revision4 ,i have no rule4 ,walter ,prichard ,eaton3 ,i always like to know1 before ,i write1 around just where ,i am going and coming out4 ,it is almost essential to me4 ,otherwise ,i would write far too much4 ,often the story in detail1 sometimes in actual plot1 etc41 changes itself as ,i go along4 ,then ,i have to stop and look ahead and see a new finish4 ,e4 ,o4 ,foster3 ,owing to newspaper training1 ,i mull over a story in my mind until ,i have it fairly complete before ,i begin to write4 ,then ,i write the story with the beginning of the plot and ending clearly in my mind1 after which by means of inserts and adds ,i enlarge it4 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel3 ,i let the story tell itself4 ,straightaway as a whole4 ,ending not clearly in mind4 ,revise comparatively little4 ,sometimes ,i rewrite a section1 but usually not4 ,my main revision is with the idea of compression and compactness4 ,in writing1 ,i don't lay out my story and get it all nicely framed up before starting to write4 ,i start with a general idea which comes to me from ,god-knows-where1 and soon ,i'm marching along with my characters without any very clear idea of where we're all going to wind up4 ,we get into swamps and cut our way through the bush and clamber up on to a hill and maybe find something on the other side2 one thing leads to another1 and eventually we make a good finish4 ,then we review our course1 see where we went up a box-canyon which got us nowhere1 and delete that place from the record of our trip2 that's our revision4 ,this1 of course1 is all wrong from the view-point of folks who love to systematize everything2 but it's my way of traveling through a story1 and ,i get there just the same4 ,i have tried1 on a number of occasions in the past1 to make my characters and events fit a more-or-less definite idea of mine as to what they were to do1 but it didn't work2 they just took matters into their own hands and did all kinds of things ,i never meant them to1 and all ,i could do was to trail along2 and1 darn 'em1 they made a far better yarn of it than ,i'd ever have made if ,i'd clubbed them into submission4 ,so now ,i've learned to let them do as they will1 after ,i've brought them together in a certain place and started them on their way4 ,j4 ,u4 ,giesy3 ,taking the germ1 the seed of mental possibilities1 ,i1 as it were1 plant it and proceed to cultivate it many times for months1 letting it grow subconsciously1 save for intervals when ,i water it by objective examination and conscious reviewing4 ,in this way ,i rough it in--gain a general outline of the plot and action from first to last1 with the ending always indicated at least4 ,i then write it1 filling in details on the main framework as ,i go along4 ,george ,gilbert3 ,never map out1 unless a little on novelettes and serials4 ,ending always in view4 ,never revise plot2 sometimes revise diction materially1 always some4 ,kenneth ,gilbert3 ,all the mapping in advance is done in my mind1 and ,i write the story straightaway4 ,of course1 the tale develops and fills out as ,i write4 ,i write carefully1 and ,i find that ,i have but little revising to do2 usually none at all4 ,newspaper training1 whereby the first draft must be the last1 may account for this care in preparing the manuscript4 ,i always have a good general idea of the ending in my mind before ,i begin1 and ,i have never been able to understand how others can go along without knowing what the next paragraph will be1 unless they are willing to rewrite the story several times4 ,i have always proceeded on the assumption that a good short story is a dramatic tale objectively told4 ,how may it be objectively told without the object in mind8 ,holworthy ,hall3 ,i plan a story in advance only in so far as the development of the main situation is concerned4 ,the ending1 however1 must be clearly in mind4 ,i usually take as much time to write the first two paragraphs as to write all the rest of the first draft4 ,ordinarily ,i complete a first draft in a day or two--and a revision in ten days2 but the time taken in revision is generally for style1 and not for treatment4 ,that is because1 in the first draft1 the sequence must be right1 or ,i make it right before going ahead4 ,i ought to say here that by a day ,i mean a working day of ten to sixteen hours4 ,richard ,matthews ,hallet3 ,i have to have a pretty definite scheme1 a sequence of events with a denouement very clearly in mind1 before doing much writing4 ,this probably comes from being a cripple in the art4 ,scott certainly didn't4 ,he wrote ,the ,bride of ,lammermoor when he was so nearly out of his head with pain that when the proofs came in he read them1 he asserts1 as if they were the work of another hand altogether4 ,william de ,morgan1 to give a late instance1 said he let the story drip off his pen-point4 ,if ,i did this1 it would drool1 not drip4 ,i revise a great deal1 three or four times1 often1 of next door to complete rewriting4 ,too much probably4 ,take a warning from ,balzac's ,unknown ,masterpiece4 ,william ,h4 ,hamby3 ,if the story is based on character1 ,i let it work itself out4 ,if it is to be a plot story made up largely of action1 ,i outline it ahead4 ,joseph ,mills ,hanson3 ,i usually map a story in advance and write it straightaway as a whole1 but revise it a great deal after finishing and on reading it over1 chiefly to improve the style and polish it up4 ,i have the ending pretty well in mind at the start1 though it often changes considerably in detail by the time ,i reach it4 ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman3 ,i start my central character out and make him live the story4 ,follow him all the way through and get so darned anxious about him that ,i can hardly knock off work to eat4 ,the end is oftenest clearly defined before ,i begin1 but at times turns out differently1 as the gaul-darned central figure takes the story out of my hands and does as he pleases4 ,i revise from one to four times4 ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw3 ,i generally have the story pretty well in mind before ,i start it1 and write it straight through to the preconceived climax4 ,details1 of course1 shift about throughout1 often changing the story materially1 but usually the ending is clearly in my mind4 ,i make one draft in ink very slowly and carefully1 correcting as ,i go1 and then do the final revising when typing on a visible machine4 ,i always cut1 but seldom if ever add4 ,joseph ,hergesheimer3 ,it is planned wholly emotionally and partly in detail1 and written straightaway4 ,i revise interminably4 ,robert ,hichens3 ,i do not map a book out in advance1 except to some extent in my head4 ,i have the end in my mind when ,i begin4 ,this1 ,i consider1 is essential4 ,i write straight on from the beginning to the end4 ,naturally ,i have to revise some passages4 ,i usually write slowly and carefully and try to set down my exact meaning as ,i write1 therefore ,i do not have to revise very much4 ,r4 de ,s4 ,horn3 ,i invariably map my story out in advance1 although ,i don't always go to the trouble of writing out the plot diagramatically4 ,generally ,i have had the story in the back of my head for weeks or months4 ,it starts with the story germ1 and at odd times ,i find myself thinking about it unconsciously4 ,ideas1 incidents and complications begin to collect around it and before ,i know it almost ,i feel that ,i have got a complete story4 ,then ,i sit down and write it at a single sitting if possible1 without trying to exercise any great amount of word selection or any other consideration of technique4 ,what ,i'm after in this first script is to get my story or rather expanded plot down on paper where ,i can look it over4 ,i write in longhand and don't worry about fine considerations of sentence or paragraph structure4 ,the ending is always in my mind before ,i begin1 though ,i frequently change it before ,i am through with the final draft4 ,but at any rate ,i have an ending which at that time seems to me to be the desirable ending4 ,i find that in this first draft ,i usually write about three thousand or four thousand words4 ,then ,i revise--and revise--and revise4 ,i study my characters1 dialogues1 incidents1 everything1 with a view toward the demands of unity and consistency and1 most of all1 dramatic effect4 ,i type my second draft because ,i find it necessary to be able to read exactly at the same rate as the reader if ,i am going to get my reader's impressions and reactions4 ,i finish one revision1 type it and start another one4 ,my story mounts up to six1 seven1 nine thousand words4 ,i sail into it1 looking for non-essentials4 ,i cut it down to five thousand or so4 ,then in my final drafts ,i bring it to the proper length2 it is always easier to write in than to cut out4 ,my revisions number as high as a dozen sometimes4 ,in fact the enthusiasm with which ,i started the first draft has greatly abated before ,i finish and ,i grow very tired of the thing2 so much so that ,i sometimes set the thing away to cool before making my final draft4 ,but ,i believe that it is this cold critical attitude toward the end that really does more for the story than anything else4 ,in other words ,i believe that the story-writing ability is mainly the ability to recognize some germ as having the story possibility1 then the imagination to expand it1 and lastly the will to work at it until it is improved to the readable state4 ,germ recognition ten per cent41 imagination ten per cent4 and hard work eighty per cent4 ,clyde ,b4 ,hough3 ,i do map out my stories ahead4 ,one of the first things that ,i must have after the plot germ has reached maturity is the climax4 ,after that1 and of second importance only1 is the title4 ,all that ,i need to know then is the high lights1 the points along the way on which the story makes its various turns4 ,then ,i sit down and write the beginning1 say the first typewritten page1 three or four times4 ,next ,i dictate straightaway from the title to the climax1 creating the minor situations and the action as ,i go4 ,thus you see the ending is clearly in mind when ,i begin4 ,to what extent do ,i revise8 ,always twice4 ,mostly three times and often four4 ,the first revision is devoted strictly to cutting1 compressing4 ,emerson ,hough3 ,i see it clear in advance and revise but little4 ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson3 ,i start with the character1 and he or she1 and the friends they assemble1 do the rest4 ,straightaway from the first word to the last4 ,what ,i would call the ultimate goal is1 when ,i start1 at the end of a long passage4 ,it is the characters' business 7they having suggested it7 somehow to get there4 ,my second novel ,i rewrote almost entirely4 ,normally1 ,i revise scarcely at all4 ,inez ,haynes ,irwin3 ,i map out a story as carefully as possible in advance4 ,the beginning and ending and the thread of the psychological development are ordinarily perfectly clear when ,i start4 ,it is the middle or developing portion which is most difficult for me to write4 ,it is difficult because it is always vague in my mind4 ,i work my stories out on paper and make several versions4 ,i write my first ten pages three or four times and the whole story at least twice before it goes to the stenographer4 ,will ,irwin3 ,i can not begin writing on a story until ,i see its framework pretty clearly in mind4 ,getting that framework ready involves several days of beating my brains in agony4 ,recently ,i have found it helpful to try to write out from time to time a synopsis4 ,especially must ,i see the end--know toward what ,i am working4 ,the incidents which develop the situation1 ,i invent as ,i write4 ,usually1 ,i begin at the beginning and write straight through4 ,however1 ,i sometimes find after a few days that ,i have begun in the wrong place4 ,that happened to my latest story4 ,having finished a scene with which ,i intended originally to lead off1 ,i realized that ,i had begun too far along in the action4 ,getting in the background of previous events made the writing awkward1 clogged the action4 ,i went back therefore and began with a previous event4 ,then ,i patched these two fragments together1 and proceeded to the next scene4 ,as concerns the main structure and method of a story1 usually ,i revise very little4 ,when the first draft is finished1 ,i spend two or three days in tightening up the ,english and enriching the conversations and descriptions4 ,i am impatient of rewriting--probably a lingering trace of old newspaper habits4 ,however1 ,i am married to a fiction writer1 who reads my first drafts4 ,quoting ,merton of the ,movies1 she is more than a wife1 she is a pal and1 ,i may add1 my severest critic4 ,once or twice1 when ,i have told my story awkwardly1 she has sent me back to my desk to write it all over again from another angle of approach4 ,charles ,tenney ,jackson3 ,as for mapping out a story in advance1 that is done as far as may be4 ,a very good thing1 indeed1 but not indispensable4 ,very often the ending is not in sight4 ,and ,i revise but little4 ,i start a story with a lead pencil1 write a few hundred words1 and invariably turn to the typewriter to go on with it4 ,that first hurried dig may be ignored entirely thereafter1 but the thread of this beginning is in my mind all through4 ,very often ,i set down the incidents1 numbering them in order as they seem to fit in1 and this stamps the scheme in mind for work1 although ,i rarely turn to it4 ,in fact1 the yarn goes on to succeeding impressions1 keeping always the first idea that was its genesis4 ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson3 ,do ,i map it out in advance8 ,often4 ,just as often ,i don't4 ,if ,i map out a story in advance1 have a regular skeleton laid out1 the story is apt to be stilted4 ,i'd rather have just a hazy idea of what ,i'm leading up to1 or1 better still1 a definite climax1 nothing more4 ,when ,i can just ramble on and write snappy stuff that interests myself it will be a good yarn4 ,if it interests me1 it will interest the editor4 ,i'm rather cold-blooded about my own stuff4 ,i have a jaundiced eye when ,i look at it4 ,i like a story about a character like ,mr4 ,conway4 ,i never write a story in pieces to be joined together4 ,always straightaway4 ,make one continuous first draft--slow work at times--and then copy it over4 ,typing over my original draft is about the total extent of my revision1 except for a word here and there4 ,about the ending clearly in mind4 ,i wrote about a dozen stories--most of them had the same plot--the old perfect crime that proves decidedly imperfect--and in every one of these ,i always had the ending clearly in mind4 ,that's all ,i had to work on4 ,i'd build up a story to fit the climax4 ,a different method here from that which ,i usually employ4 ,mary ,johnston3 ,i usually see it in advance1 see the whole more or less completely4 ,i do not mean1 of course1 in full detail4 ,usually it is written straight through from beginning to end4 ,the type of ending is in mind from the first4 ,not necessarily the detail4 ,in revision ,i excise a good deal4 ,john ,joseph3 ,the story begins always with a character2 then a plot is conceived to fit that character4 ,after the main plot is outlined 7always mentally7 situations or episodes1 and dialogue to fit1 are studied out in the rough4 ,the typewriter now comes into play and the story is written straightaway1 with the ending always in sight4 ,it runs to five thousand words perhaps4 ,frequently ,i roll the paper back and write between the lines4 ,i pay some attention to phraseology1 but am not particular4 ,at page ten1 perhaps1 an idea comes which belongs on page five1 so ,i turn back and jot it down between the lines with a pencil4 ,when the first draft is finished there are always several pages that are a perfect mess of scribbling between the lines1 so ,i rewrite these pages and renumber on through to the end4 ,i have then perhaps a six-thousand-word story4 ,i begin then at page one and rewrite the entire story1 paying pretty careful attention to the phrasing4 ,this copy will be nearly as badly scribbled and double-lined as the first1 so it has all to be written again4 ,this time very careful attention is paid to phrasing4 ,certain episodes may be rewritten many times1 independently4 7,a recent page was written fifteen times--and then it didn't suit me47 ,with the third draft the story is complete except for a more careful typing and an occasional minor change4 ,lloyd ,kohler3 ,until recently ,i always mapped a piece1 as a carpenter puts up a house4 ,then1 when ,i was sure that ,i had the whole story well in mind1 the actual writing was begun4 ,this1 in my mind1 is the only reasonable way for the beginner to proceed1 who has his hands full without worrying along as to how it will all end4 ,it should be understood that ,i only plan the main trend of the story--the situations--in advance2 the smaller details1 most of the conversation1 etc41 must be left for the actual writing of the story4 ,the reason for this is easily seen3 ,if everything1 even the smaller details1 were figured out in advance the result would likely be a fearfully dull story--,heaven knows it's hard enough to keep a breath of real life in them1 anyway4 ,but although ,i'm strong for mapping a story out in advance1 ,i'll confess that there are even drawbacks to this method4 ,the writer who said that he wrote the first word of a story and trusted to the ,lord for the next withheld1 consciously or not1 the real reason for his use of this method4 ,the reason1 or at least one of the reasons1 was that the fellow who writes half or two-thirds of a story without knowing what the end will be has at least the big advantage that he can be assured his interest in his story is not going to flag before it is finished4 ,and as long as the writer's first enthusiasm in a story can be kept fresh and vigorous1 the story will not likely be dull4 ,i want to admit1 right here1 that regardless of the good points1 the author who is bold enough to follow this method is flirting with danger4 ,i always start at the beginning of a story and plug away until the last word is written4 ,may the ,lord help me if ,i ever attempt to write a story in pieces to be finally joined together--it's hard enough to keep something akin to artistic proportion without doing the thing up in bits and then splicing the pieces4 ,now the ending of the story is different4 ,although ,i know1 generally speaking1 how the story is going to end before it is ever begun1 ,i rarely know just exactly what the ending is going to be until it is reached4 ,that sounds like a paradox1 but it isn't1 and ,i know you'll understand what ,i'm getting at4 ,i don't do a great deal of revising--even though ,i am well aware that ,i am far from being a master hand at fiction writing4 ,i believe that there is a danger of revising being carried so far as to take the life out of a story4 ,personally1 ,i'd much rather see a few grammatical mistakes than a dreadfully dull story4 ,harold ,lamb3 ,usually the story is thought out fully in advance 7and as often changed from beginning to end in the telling74 ,the telling of it is straightaway1 with an ending tucked away somewhere in the back of the brain4 ,as to revision1 very1 very little1 except of wording and often an accident altered after story is finished4 ,sinclair ,lewis3 ,map it out in advance4 ,straightaway as a whole4 ,i revise enormously--five or six times with great care4 ,hapsburg ,liebe3 ,i try to map it out in advance1 but ,i never write it as it has been mapped out1 unless ,i'm working to one of those darned mechanical things called a surprise climax--and even then ,i often have to change everything but the climax4 ,usually ,i begin to write when ,i have my situation4 ,when ,i've finished this1 the rest is apt to come naturally4 ,a lot of my stories have fallen flat at the end1 however1 with this method4 ,but if ,i mull the story over in my head too long before ,i begin to write it1 it dies4 ,how much do ,i revise8 ,in the case of any of my best stories1 ,i know the thing by memory when it is finished4 ,i revise that much--over and over and over4 ,i've wondered if ,i wasn't in too big a hurry in the first writing2 it sets1 perhaps1 like cement4 ,romaine ,h4 ,lowdermilk3 ,i map out in advance4 ,the ending is in sight4 ,but4446 ,the map constantly changes as ,i go along4 ,the ending advances or retreats or dissolves and changes completely as new angles creep in4 ,but ,i must have the map and the definite goal before ,i start4 ,i can1 and sometimes do1 let the story tell itself as ,i write1 but the result is appalling4 ,i must set a goal and make each paragraph and each incident carry the action along toward that definite end4 ,i do1 sometimes1 write the last two pages1 and a few pages here and there in the body1 or work out a choice incident1 or one that presents the most difficulties in the way of brief expression1 before beginning4 ,it is like collecting material4 ,i get it together and fit it in where it seems best suited4 ,anyway1 when ,i get the whole thing down on paper1 all jumbled as it may be1 ,i rewrite--on the typewriter--trying to use my brain as ,i go along1 and then view the result4 ,usually ,i mark1 cut and interline every page1 using a system of proof-reading all my own1 then--rewrite4 ,i do this three or four times4 ,then comes the final draft4 ,how careful ,i am to get this exactly right6 ,no erasures1 no vague sentences1 no misspelling1 no wrong words4 ,then1 when it is done ,i read it over4 ,alas6 ,there is a mistake on every page and gross writing everywhere4 ,i check1 mark and interline that lovely last copy until it looks like all the rest4 ,then ,i flop the carbon copy over and make a new draft using the backs of the second sheets for the carbon so as to preserve both versions in case an editor suggests changes4 ,and ,i usually find the first version the better6 ,upon reading this final and hard-boiled edition ,i am no better satisfied with it than with any of the others and could go on cutting and revising forever1 but ,i call it quits and lay it in the laps of the gods of the editorial offices4 ,most of my stories so far have been sent back for some change before final acceptance4 ,i certainly do appreciate that and ,i take great pleasure in the revising4 ,for then1 and then only1 do ,i know how the story is striking the editors and1 when ,i know that1 ,i can revise like a bear-cat4 ,at last ,i am on solid ground1 whereas before ,i have been groping on quicksand4 ,i like to revise and when ,i know exactly what an editor wants ,i have always been able to deliver the goods4 ,it is not only inspirational1 but ,i work with a surety ,i do not feel when fighting along with the preliminaries4 ,eugene ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr43 ,lord1 yes--,i have to map it out in advance4 ,then there's a rough draft4 ,this may be pretty fully written out in parts1 and other parts be sketchy1 which have to be filled out later4 ,there may be pieces--merely notes--which are later joined into the whole4 ,the ending is nearly always in my mind when ,i begin--at least some ending1 though this may be later changed as the actual writing develops the story4 ,i revise and revise and revise4 ,rose ,macaulay3 ,i map it roughly out in advance1 altering as ,i go along4 ,crittenden ,marriot3 ,i revise as ,i write2 that is1 ,i go back from any place and rework till ,i catch up again4 ,finally1 ,i go over the whole thing once1 have it typed and go over it again4 ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney3 ,i map out my story before ,i actually begin writing--doping out a skeleton1 complete1 and with the conclusion determined4 ,then when ,i write1 ,i write it as a whole4 ,my revision is of diction and mechanical make-up1 not plot4 ,ray ,mc,gillivray3 ,with slight modifications--usually the requirements of taste or demand of the market ,i wish to please--,i have the struggle1 main developing incidents1 plan for character portrayal1 and the climax in mind--or in a note-book--before ,i begin4 ,a few times ,i have started with a situation and handful of characters1 giving both factors free rein in naming their own destiny4 ,invariably such a story shoots off at a tangent--and is laid to rest1 after much travel1 in an old steamer trunk1 my potter's field for rejects4 ,helen ,topping ,miller3 ,my stories work themselves out4 ,sometimes ,i know what the denouement is to be1 oftener it works itself out very differently from what ,i had intended4 ,i write the story as a whole1 and very seldom revise my original version very much4 ,anne ,shannon ,monroe3 ,the story is pretty well in my mind from beginning to end before ,i begin to write it1 but it always follows out little by-paths in coming to its end1 of which ,i had no knowledge3 ,i am as interested as any reader could be to see how it is going to work its way through4 ,i follow the story1 try to keep up with it1 but never dictate to it1 never interfere4 ,after it's well started my hands are off4 ,i revise four and five times1--sometimes more3 the longer ,i write1 the more ,i revise4 ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery3 ,i map everything out in advance4 ,when ,i have developed plot1 characters and incidents in my mind ,i write out a skeleton of the story or book4 ,in the case of a book1 ,i divide it into so many sections--usually eight or nine--representing the outstanding periods in the story4 ,in each section ,i write down what characters are necessary1 what they do1 what their setting is1 and quite a bit of what they say4 ,when the skeleton is complete ,i begin the actual writing1 and so thoroughly have ,i become saturated with the story during the making of the skeleton that ,i feel as if ,i were merely describing and setting down something that ,i have actually seen happening1 and the clothing of the dry bones with flesh goes on rapidly and easily4 ,this does not1 however1 prevent changes taking place as ,i write4 ,sometimes an incident ,i had thought was going to be very minor assumes major proportions or vice versa4 ,sometimes1 too1 characters grow or dwindle contrary to my first intentions4 ,but on the whole ,i follow my plan pretty closely and the ending is very often written out quite fully in the last section before a single word of the first chapter is written4 ,i revise very extensively and the notes with which my completed manuscript is peppered are surely and swiftly bringing down my typist's gray hairs with sorrow to the grave4 ,but these revisions deal only with descriptions and conversation4 ,characters1 plot and incidents are never changed4 ,frederick ,moore3 ,i map it out in advance1 but ,i rarely follow the first planning4 ,however1 the ending is most vital--and it is only now and then that ,i use the end ,i started with2 for instance1 ,i once plotted a short story which ,i expected would not run more than three thousand words--and wound up with a novel a year later which totaled one hundred thousand words4 ,i revise to the extent that ,i feel a story is never done4 ,i had eight drafts of the novel referred to above by the time ,i thought it fit to submit to an editor4 ,six drafts on a short story gets the job into workmanlike condition--but the editor sees only the few pages of complete story4 ,talbot ,mundy3 ,i hardly ever map out in advance4 ,my right hand hardly ever knows what the left is doing4 ,but ,i'm not convinced that this is good4 ,just as an artist usually maps out his canvas in advance1 without actually seeing the finished picture1 so ,i believe that it will usually pay the writer to fix at least certain definite landmarks for his guidance4 ,order is heaven's first law4 ,i write the story straightaway as a whole4 ,the end is never in view 7or almost never7 when ,i first begin4 ,but ,i am beginning to believe that 7for me at any rate7 that is an important formula--,visualize the end of the story first4 ,it is certainly a prime essential of drama to provide a clear view of the main character just at the close2 and ,i think that principle underlies story-writing4 ,the writer should have in mind throughout a clear view of his main character as he will be at the story's end4 ,the point had not occurred to me until ,i commenced this answer2 but the more ,i study it the more strongly it convinces4 ,that1 and be concrete all through the piece4 ,kathleen ,norris3 ,i map it out completely in advance1 even to the words1 and write it almost as rapidly as ,i could read it4 ,my hard work is done while walking alone1 or while playing patience1 over which game the whole story unrolls in orderly sequence1 as a rule4 ,but frequently after beginning a story ,i find a better way to do it1 and ,i have destroyed as much as sixty thousand words and then gone back to my solitaire and planned it afresh4 ,anne ,o',hagan3 ,i map it out more or less before ,i begin to write4 ,not on paper1 but in my mind4 ,that is1 ,i have a pretty clearly defined notion of what ,i believe the outcome of the experiences they will undergo will have upon my chief characters4 ,i never write a story in pieces to be joined together1 although once or twice1 when ,i have laid aside a story because it wouldn't live at all1 ,i have found after a time that ,i needed either an introductory chapter or an interjected one to make my characters real4 ,i do a good deal of revision1 more in verbal detail than in arrangement4 ,grant ,overton3 ,i do not map the story out in advance4 ,i let it tell itself as ,i write it4 ,i write it1 beginning at the beginning and work it out to the end4 ,the end may not be at all in mind when ,i begin4 ,i do all my work1 practically1 on the first draft and revise only once and then very lightly4 ,i aim to get it right the first time1 even if that means going slowly4 ,sir ,gilbert ,parker3 ,character1 then plot1 then as a whole1 and the end is always in my mind from the first4 ,constant revision4 ,hugh ,pendexter3 ,often2 but never follow the outlined plot1 as it is impossible for me to vision what will emanate from the result of the first dialogue or incident4 ,in book-lengths ,i have my background thoroughly in mind1 decide on the time of the story and have for stimulus of the action something pivotal in the history of our country4 ,i write1 say1 fifty thousand words1 then rewrite to eliminate and interpolate according to the need of late developments2 then finish in one or two installments1 and rewrite4 ,the ending usually is the moment when the accumulation of conditional causes causes the hinge to turn1 in other words1 the big climax4 ,revise very little4 ,the story unfolds in clear-cut pictures that are as real to me as if ,i were seeing the incidents take place4 ,therefore1 aside from correcting mechanical errors1 it has to go as written4 ,clay ,perry3 ,in general ,i make an effort to map out the story so that it has at least one big incident1 one big character1 and usually begin to write to see what will happen to them4 ,i write it straightaway4 ,sometimes the ending is clearly in mind1 sometimes not2 if the characters develop strongly1 often they furnish the ending1 even when ,i have one in mind1 and often different from the one ,i had in mind4 ,i revise always1 once1 sometimes twice1 and have revised four and five times4 ,michael ,j4 ,phillips3 ,i find ,i have answered most of this in the above4 ,i can't start with a character or a situation and wander4 ,i have to see it through1 except that perhaps in a long story the characters rather take the bits in their teeth and give me a ride4 ,new incidents are interjected that way in a long story2 in a short one1 almost never4 ,i revise like this4 ,i write the story without searching too closely for the right word or phrase1 preferring to go over it afterward and correct and fit and cut4 ,i read the whole thing in the rough draft1 then revise carefully4 ,then write for the editor1 and revise that somewhat1 occasionally to the extent of rewriting a page or two4 ,usually1 rewriting is cold potatoes to me--that is1 after the story is finished and ready and has been turned down1 and some one1 an editor or other1 suggests ,i do something to it4 ,i haven't any luck with rewriting4 ,i want to go on with something else4 ,that is a closed incident1 more or less1 like a yesterday's newspaper story4 ,i note that a good many unsuccessful writers carefully write one thing1 and then agonize over it1 polishing and shining it and changing it and anxiously trying to reach and satisfy all objections1 possible and impossible4 ,thus they waste a lot of time1 use up a lot of creative faculty on a dead horse1 and get nowhere in the end4 ,i feel that there was a good idea in the story1 but ,i can evolve as good a one or better to-morrow2 and if ,i can't1 ,i have no place in the writing game4 ,ideas are the bricks with which we build4 ,if you have but one idea1 or one idea a year1 we won't get many houses constructed4 ,i don't write in pieces to be joined together4 ,i start and go right through to the finish4 ,i know the opening sentence1 perhaps the whole opening paragraph almost word for word1 and the closing paragraph before ,i touch the typewriter4 ,walter ,b4 ,pitkin3 ,i have to map a story well in advance--though some of the minor details shape themselves as ,i sketch in the first draft4 ,i have never written in pieces and joined these together4 ,and ,i simply can not imagine how anybody can pick up a pen and start writing without knowing where he is headed4 7,i know a few authors who do this though47 ,i revise every story at least twice1 clean through4 ,and ,i deliberately avoid trying to make my first draft a piece of good writing4 ,i treat a first draft precisely as a painter treats his canvas and his subject-matter at the first blocking in2 it is nothing but a rough shaping-up of the major features4 ,all the minor details are ignored for the sake of the deeper structure4 ,i see the main ending pretty clearly when ,i start4 ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell3 ,always mapped out in advance4 ,mentally1 not on paper4 ,sometimes ,i drive for a hundred miles1 thinking as the motor purrs4 ,i write a story on the accordeon system--write everything in sequence and then condense4 ,the ending must be clearly in mind4 ,this is my one rule4 ,if ,i know where ,i am going1 it makes little difference what road ,i take4 ,lucia ,mead ,priest3 ,there is no hard and fast method of working for me4 ,i should judge by this last winter's action that my mind does a vast amount of milling before my thoughts are concrete enough for a writing-pad4 ,usually ,i draft1 sketchily4 ,i have a skeleton plan of what ,i hope to do4 ,i live much in what ,i am trying to create4 ,a thought--an action1 a phrase or a word will pop out at me and ,i write it down4 ,but as a rule ,i write the story straightaway as a whole even though ,i make patchwork of it later4 ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes3 ,map it out in advance4 ,either in pieces or straightaway4 ,ending clearly in mind from the start4 ,revise endlessly4 ,frank ,c4 ,robertson3 ,having the genesis of the story as above1 ,i usually map out the rest of it in my mind in a general way1 leading characters1 an inciting motive1 a crisis and a climax4 ,i may do this in ten minutes or ,i may stew over it for that many days2 then ,i begin to write it out as completely as ,i can4 ,i never attempt to block out a story in outline on paper4 ,this1 ,i read1 is all wrong2 but if ,i make a skeleton draft of a story1 a skeleton it remains until the end4 ,it seems to tie me down1 and the story lacks the buoyancy that comes from spontaneous thinking as ,i go along1 with the characters living their own lives1 so to speak4 ,i know my characters and my setting1 so ,i have no fear of the story becoming inconsistent4 ,however1 the ending is usually in my mind when ,i start and the characters go logically to it4 ,when the first draft is finished ,i let it cool off while ,i write something else1 and then ,i go over it again1 pruning and padding as the case demands and changing the structure when needed4 ,the more ,i write the more ,i find that it pays to revise1 and now a story usually gets three or four rewritings4 ,before ,i began to sell any it only got one4 ,ruth ,sawyer3 ,my stories are pretty well mapped out before ,i start writing4 ,but there is always a time in the process of writing when the character or plot1 whichever dominates1 gets a firmer control of the story than ,i do2 and for this reason the story is quite likely to end differently than ,i originally intended4 ,chester ,l4 ,saxby3 ,i used to write on little definite plot and seek the development as ,i went4 ,that1 ,i have come to find1 is a poor way to get results and usually makes for wandering and uncertainty in the writing4 ,one does not hold a reader's mind by maundering4 ,the blind can't lead the blind4 ,one does not even tell a story that way1 but rather potters4 ,i get the plot idea strongly in mind and lay in the detail that will give the most vivid feeling of the point that otherwise will be merely seen1 not felt at all4 ,that's character stuff4 ,i do not outline2 ,i can not hold myself down to that4 ,often the story takes a turn of its own1 but ,i believe that changed plot development is in my mind1 too1 or it would not come out4 ,i revise very little4 ,it is hard for me to revise on my own criticism4 ,an editor is indispensable for that purpose4 ,he can actually jerk you out of a warped perspective into which you've hypnotised yourself past comprehending4 ,barry ,scobee3 ,really1 no4 ,i must have the ending1 the climax1 the conclusion--usually one and the same thing1 with me--clearly in mind before ,i start to write4 ,once or twice ,i have written the last page of my story before any other part4 ,i get an idea1 a situation or condition and look it over or let it browse in my mind a month or a year1 or three years1 and when ,i wish to use it ,i figure out what the logical1 or illogical1 ending would naturally be1 and that is my situation4 ,i must have it before ,i begin to write4 ,i must know what my destination is before ,i start on the journey1 but ,i do not need to know what all ,i shall see on the trip4 ,that develops as ,i write4 ,having the conclusion in mind1 ,i write the title--and seldom change it afterward--then begin on my story4 ,i have written the first three or four hundred words of stories as many as fifteen times1 and usually three or four times4 ,by then ,i am launched and ,i go ahead rapidly--one thousand eight hundred words in four hours or so4 ,sometimes ,i get checked up4 ,it is because interest is lagging1 due to my getting in stuff that doesn't properly support that conclusion ,i have in mind1 or something of that sort4 ,then ,i go back to the point where it seems to have got started wrong and write1 and write1 perhaps1 until ,i get on the right track again4 ,it may be that the mistake is because ,i am getting out of character1 or dwelling too long on an insignificant phase4 ,anyhow1 ,i am developing a hunch as to when the story interest is beginning to lag4 ,then when ,i have written through--the copy pencilled and scribbled until ,i can scarcely read it myself--,i clean copy4 ,there ,i exercise great care1 then send it to the editors4 ,the revising and plot arrangement and the like are all accomplished in that first slow-going piece of work4 ,in clean copying ,i do just what is signified--clean up the manuscript4 ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott3 ,i usually let the story tell itself4 ,sometimes ,i map it out in advance but1 if ,i follow the map1 ,i have a devil of a time to sell the story4 ,i write the story straightaway4 ,the quicker ,i write the quicker it sells4 ,when ,i begin ,i seldom have the slightest idea of the ending4 ,i have almost come to the conclusion that it is better to write a new story than to revise--except when ,i receive an editorial request for certain changes4 ,robert ,simpson3 ,nowadays1 when ,i am reasonably satisfied that ,i have a story to write1 ,i try to map it out roughly before going ahead4 ,as a rule1 however1 ,i have more trouble with the first paragraph than any other part of the story or book4 ,for the greater part the story proper writes itself1 and ,i write straight through from beginning to end1 revising1 chapter by chapter1 as ,i go along4 ,in some instances ,i have to go back and revise bits of the earlier chapters1 nearly always with a view to boiling them down4 ,only the roughest conception of the ending is in mind when ,i begin1 but ,i always have an eye on the possible climax at almost every paragraph4 ,revision is at once the curse and the blessing of my writing life4 ,i don't like it1 yet ,i get more satisfaction out of it than from any other angle of writing4 ,in a recent story of mine a certain dramatic moment occupied nearly three pages4 ,when ,i finished revising the moment--and it cost me a day and a half to do it--it looked more like a moment and consisted of just three lines4 ,i can still exult over that little bit of revision2 but ,i always begin the job by threatening to use an ax on the typewriter or murdering my family or something4 ,arthur ,d4 ,howden ,smith3 ,always map it out in advance1 but sometimes alter plot as ,i go along4 ,always revise and finish a chapter definitely before ,i go to the next4 ,theodore ,seixas ,solomons3 ,i map it out in advance1 mentally only2 later recording the mentally conceived synopsis of plot and action development1 or only recording a part4 ,in respect to this main development--the general architecture of the fictional structure--this is prearranged1 cold-bloodedly1 though ,i am hot-blooded and interested enough and enjoy enough the coming to me of the lines of plot4 ,but ,i record them mentally or on paper and thenceforward follow them cold-bloodedly4 ,but the detail1 the filling in1 and sometimes much of the general action1 especially in longer stories and novels1 is a matter of creation and determination as ,i proceed with the writing4 ,sometimes ,i change considerably1 but never radically1 the structure lines at certain critical junctures in a long story4 ,i write it straightaway1 as a whole1 unless ,i happen 7rarely7 to find my mind going ahead and interesting itself creatively in some important future part of the story1 possibly my main1 or a minor1 crisis4 ,then ,i do not hesitate to skip ahead and write it while it's hot4 ,the end is not clearly in mind in these mental and written synopses 7the latter1 by the way1 are usually brief2 even for a novel1 referring to plot and story movement alone1 rarely exceed a thousand words74 ,but the theme end always is4 ,i know in the larger1 better sense how my story is to end simply because it has formed itself to me from nearly the beginning of the plotting as a single entity-- la text work insistences4 ,it can't change at the end organically without making of the whole a monstrosity4 ,ordinarily ,i have a rotten memory1 even for my own cogitations4 ,but fictionally ,i possess a jewel4 ,it works this way4 ,i have ,mr4 ,plot-germ--the odd character confronting some appropriate situation1 or the situation or incidents without any special character1 and ,i say to myself1 now how shall ,i get the story out of this embryo that ,i know is in it8 ,then plot material is drawn into my mind from somewhere in the fancy and squared and fitted into and around my foundation and ascertained by my critical faculties to be appropriate or inappropriate1 more or less4 ,an idea comes and goes--useless4 ,another comes and looks propitious1 but not unless something else1 provisionally retained1 can be modified to suit it4 ,a lot of material comes on to the lot1 one way1 one time or another1 and some is hustled off1 some immediately purchased and marked1 and some left to one side1 or1 tentatively permitted to stay where it may finally lodge1 if other things fit into it1 later4 ,now all this would be rather cumbersome1 complicated1 and altogether impossible to such a poor memory as mine if it were not for what seems to be my peculiar faculty for retaining a grasp of what ,i have conceived directly in proportion to its degree of promise of utility4 ,my memory doesn't let go of any plot or incident--nor of any detail matter1 either--that is cognized as utilizable1 in other words1 that is either outright purchased and designed surely for use1 or that has been tentatively held1 in the thought that before ,i get my problem worked out these1 or some of them1 may be the very things needed in the structure4 ,though ,i make notes1 more or less1 as ,i say1 ,i find ,i seldom have to refer to them4 ,i always do as a precaution1 but it almost invariably transpires that ,i have forgotten nothing4 ,in this preconstruction of a model for the story that is to be written ,i concern myself1 however1 only with essentials4 ,i do not inhibit the flow into my mind of little bits of almost-text--detail1 expressions1 description and the like4 ,i receive these as a listener might1 approvingly or disapprovingly1 and ,i usually retain them 7but not so surely as true plot material74 ,but my main creative business1 which is the only thing ,i attempt to spur1 is in finding1 out of the trial suggestions of my fancy1 the right main timbers for the structure that satisfies the possibilities of the foundation plot-germ1 grown now into something like a theme or fiction thesis4 ,thus the ghost of the story is born1 the better part of it1 the complete theme and spirit of it4 ,then ,i'm ready to write it--when ,i feel like it1 which is usually soon after the conception1 though ,i can go weeks or months without losing anything of what ,i have prefigured4 ,the discarded material has mostly vanished1 to be recalled with difficulty or not at all4 ,the material that had been more promising1 and yet discarded1 remains1 in proportion to the degree of suitability it had shown4 ,the really suitable--and adopted--remains forever clear in my mind4 ,seemingly1 with the recognition by my critical or creative judgment of that suitability1 ,i have1 as it were1 nailed them into the structure1 and thenceforward they remain1 visually almost6 ,therefore ,i can not forget them1 for ,i can almost see them4 ,as to revision1 it is a process that takes usually twice the time that the original consumed1 and1 in the case of a short story1 probably three times4 ,raymond ,s4 ,spears3 ,i have written half a million words to get eighty thousand words completed4 ,revision is generally according to my wife's ideas1 or1 if ,i don't agree at first1 we work over till both are satisfied4 ,i have written a seventy-thousand-word serial without knowing what the next paragraph would contain till more than half-way through4 ,this1 ,i know1 is wretched and time-wasting practise--but once in a dozen times this method brings my best stories4 ,norman ,springer3 ,i always map the story out in advance and write straightaway from beginning to a definite ending4 ,sometimes1 though1 when half-way through the yarn1 a new complication1 or a better ending is thought of and the whole story is changed4 ,but there is always a definite end in view4 ,revision4 ,i hate it1 and do it--sometimes4 ,not nearly to the extent that ,i should4 ,i write very slowly and previse4 ,that is1 ,i carefully think over each situation and think out each paragraph before ,i write it down4 ,julian ,street3 ,i map it out4 ,talk it out1 and make notes on outline4 ,the more sharply ,i have it outlined in my mind1 the less trouble ,i am likely to have in execution4 ,revision1 with me1 consists chiefly in polishing1 eliminating awkwardness of phrase1 undesirable repetitions of the same word1 and cutting4 ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling3 ,no1 ,i don't exactly map it out1 ,i don't seem to have much to do with it4 ,i simply sit around and presently an incident will bob up1 or a character or a scene or a bit of scenery and1 if the thing strikes me as funny or pathetic or containing human interest1 ,i sort of accept it mentally4 ,if ,i am afraid of losing it ,i make a note of it--and ,i usually do lose the note1 but not the incident4 ,then ,i stick about and wait for more characters1 more incidents1 more of everything4 ,all this time ,i have a theme ,i want all these incidents and characters to illustrate1 and naturally ,i want all my bits arranged in a climax4 ,and the things apparently arrange themselves4 ,i am sure none of my readers can ever be so surprised at what turns up in my stories as ,i myself4 ,it is so much more exciting than reading a novel that ,i almost never read one4 ,no1 the ending is not clearly in mind4 ,i have a vague notion of what ,i want--,i know the mood ,i want to leave my reader in and usually when ,i get him in that mood ,i just quit writing4 ,i write every story three times1 once with a pencil1 twice with a typewriter4 ,my pencil draft doesn't make any sense at all1 my first typed copy is the story roughly told with endless unnecessary ramifications1 my third copy ,i send to the editors4 ,booth ,tarkington3 ,the answer differs with every story4 ,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle3 ,i have never mapped out a story in my life4 ,i do not bother about plots nor situations4 ,a typewriter and some paper seem to be all ,i require1 and ,i let the story tell itself4 ,when my lead character gets bothersome enough to worry me ,i know he is ready to tell me the story4 ,lucille ,van ,slyke3 ,i start with character every time on a story1 but ,i never let the story tell itself4 ,nor do ,i ever write in pieces1 as you call it1 on a short story4 ,in working in book-length or serial-length things ,i work in chapter lengths at a time4 ,ending is so clearly in mind when ,i begin to write that it sometimes very much hampers me2 ,i have a petulant feeling that ,i wish ,i didn't know so positively how it ends4 ,i mean that ,i resent having to build up a plausible reason for an ending that is so clear for me that it's inevitable whether logical or not6 ,i revise much too much--short stories ,i write not less than four and sometimes as many as twenty times4 ,and every time ,i am less satisfied4 ,always find myself wishing ,i could give my situation or plot to somebody who knew how to write--the idealized story of my beginning seems so many miles ahead of what ,i can get on paper4 ,atreus von ,schrader3 ,i have found by cruel experience that unless ,i have my entire story clearly in mind ,i am apt to make a mess of it2 chiefly because some character in the yarn picks it up and runs away with it4 ,i write what amounts to a very rough copy of the whole piece1 from which ,i rewrite the finished copy4 ,i have heard of many writers who never revise1 their tales springing full-fledged and polished from their minds4 ,can this1 if true1 be explained as resulting from an unusually clear connection between their conscious and subconscious mentalities8 ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch3 ,i simply can not map out a story in advance4 ,the whole thing seems to start in a haze and work nearer until it bursts out full and ready4 ,i can not write them fast enough1 it is always so clear4 ,in four or five hours a five-thousand-word story is written4 ,only once has it been necessary to revise anything other than the punctuation1 and that story was a failure4 ,henry ,kitchell ,webster3 ,i must see my objective1 in general terms1 before ,i can begin a story1 but ,i am careful not to commit myself to any predetermined mechanical devices4 ,these must spring1 seriatim1 out of the situations which the characters themselves create4 ,i am obliged1 sometimes1 to do a great deal of revising with an ax1 but ,i don't do much of it with the smaller implements4 ,g4 ,a4 ,wells3 ,my chief pleasure is walking4 ,i find greater satisfaction in taking the roads and paths as ,i come to them than in having previously fixed upon a route and destination4 ,the same way with a story4 ,i let it choose its own route1 though ,i do dictate the general direction4 ,i think most stories tell themselves anyhow4 ,if the characters and situations do not occur logically1 automatically1 the writer should not force them4 ,at least not too much4 ,it is one of the rules of mechanics never to try to force a nut on a bolt4 ,it strips the threads4 ,forcing characters and events in a story strips it of spontaneity4 ,when ,i read a good story ,i am satisfied that the writer merely recorded what happened instead of making things happen himself4 ,unless one has a good memory1 however1 it is a good rule in the longer stretches to have some plan of work4 ,at least the principal characters and the events should be set down on paper4 ,new ideas are occurring and being incorporated all the time during building4 ,while writing a long story--fifty thousand words or more1 say--if new characters and incidents don't pop up it is a sure sign that the story is not moving properly4 ,at present ,i have on hand six stories that ,i have been writing over a period of about three years4 ,they run from fifty to eighty thousand words4 ,they are all complete in the first draft1 though none of them has ever been submitted for the reason that ,i am not satisfied with them yet4 ,one of these stories in particular was planned carefully from start to finish and a detailed synopsis made4 ,when ,i had written about thirty thousand words of it an eccentric old gentleman popped in and demanded a part4 ,and the funny part of it is that he belongs4 ,i don't understand how ,i planned the story without him in the beginning4 ,therefore ,i would say that it is essential that a plot be kept elastic4 ,it should be like a pot of vegetable soup simmering on the back of the stove--one never knows when one may find an extra potato or a lump of meat to add4 ,generally ,i write straightaway from start to finish1 though there are exceptions4 ,more often than not the end of a story is vague when ,i begin4 ,i would rather have it so and let the story work itself out to arrive in a neighborhood near that which was vaguely conceived4 ,i began a story only last night and have no idea what it's to be4 ,my imagination pictured a cowboy riding into a small town1 whistling4 ,he came to that town for a purpose1 but he hasn't told me yet what it is4 ,i am letting him go his own gait and he is4 ,revision never hurt a story4 ,revise1 revise1 revise is one of the best rules ever offered writers4 ,i don't follow it as ,i should because ,i haven't the patience for it4 ,i nearly always revise twice from the first draft1 however1 and at times as much as eight revisions follow the first draft4 ,i have a story in my desk that must have been revised at least fifty times4 ,the first draft ran about ten thousand words4 ,it now stands at about thirty-five hundred words4 ,this story is not intended for sale1 though ,i may eventually sell it if ,i can4 ,i am writing it simply for my own pleasure and practise in revision4 ,i hope to bring it down to two thousand words4 ,the work ,i have put in on it has done me good4 ,i once tried an experiment4 ,i took my time and wrote the first draft of a story in manuscript4 ,it sold the first time out4 ,i have tried to duplicate that performance several times since and failed each time4 ,william ,wells3 ,i have a very good idea of what the outline and main incidents of the story are to be before ,i set down a word and write the climax first1 then build up to it4 ,i sketch out scenes and incidents in skeleton form1 but in no regular order1 then arrange them to make a connected whole1 start at the beginning and write the story1 filling in and rounding out as ,i go along4 ,most of the story comes to me as ,i write4 ,that is1 when ,i sit down ,i haven't the slightest idea of just what words ,i shall use or of many of the scenes or incidents2 they just appear4 ,and ,i revise to beat the band1 two or three times4 ,ben ,ames ,williams3 ,save in one or two rare cases1 ,i have always outlined my stories in advance4 ,the exceptions were novelettes in which ,i knew in a general way what ,i wanted to do--a trend of character--and let this trend develop as ,i went along4 ,i write from the beginning to the end4 ,the end is usually as clearly in mind as though it were already written1 before ,i begin to write4 ,i revise until ,i can no longer discover ways to improve the story4 ,honore ,willsie3 ,i block the whole story out to the end before ,i begin the actual writing4 ,then ,i write it straight through1 long hand1 let it rest for a while1 write it through long hand again and turn it over to a stenographer4 ,i do very little revising4 ,the story is too clearly planned before ,i begin to need much of that4 ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer3 ,i always map a story out very carefully in advance1 having all my ingredients well in hand4 ,i never let the story write itself4 ,i write it straightaway1 as a whole1 with the climax always in mind when ,i start4 ,revise once4 ,revising being cutting anywhere from two thousand to five thousand words out of what must be a short story1 i4 e41 five to six thousand words4 ,that's my greatest trouble1 cutting 'em4 ,when ,i first began to write fiction in #aiae ,i had a great deal of difficulty stretching a story out to four thousand words4 ,now my first draft will run anywhere from ten thousand to twelve thousand words6 ,william ,almon ,wolff3 ,to some extent ,i map out a story--sometimes4 ,i can't follow a rigidly prepared scenario1 though2 all sorts of things happen1 in the writing1 to upset such plans as ,i do have4 ,i write a story whole1 always4 ,as to revision my method is1 ,i suppose1 wasteful and inefficient1 but ,i have no choice4 ,i really can't separate first writing and revision1 because they go on together4 ,i begin by writing as if there were to be no revision--good paper1 carbon1 everything4 ,understand--,i know ,i'm going to revise1 but if ,i admit that1 if ,i try to economize by using cheap paper1 or to save the trouble of making a carbon1 ,i can't write a line4 ,well1 ,i go on until ,i say to myself--,this won't do6 ,then ,i start over--usually from the beginning4 ,i may have done two or six or a dozen pages2 it doesn't matter4 ,and ,i may do that twenty times4 ,as a result what is1 technically1 my first draft1 is a pretty thoroughly revised story4 ,as a rule all except the last page or two will have been written from three to six or seven times4 ,and then1 very often1 ,i rewrite the whole story1 from the start1 although some pages won't be changed at all and on some there will be only a few trivial changes4 ,edgar ,young3 ,map it out ahead1 seeing the climax very clearly1 although many details that come up now and then make changes necessary and often help and sometimes cause a man to quit a story4 ,,summary ,of #aaj answering there are #ea who map out a story in advance--#b of these very carefully1 #e somewhat1 #a generally1 #a a little1 the remainder habitually4 ,those mapping out only in general number #cb1 while #df let the story tell itself1 a few of the latter being included also among the #cb4 ,who is sufficiently rash to venture a general rule on the subject8 ,each mind must find its own best method and only experience can be the teacher4 ,there are #aj who write a story a piece here and a piece there1 one of them writing two-thirds and then revising2 #ea write straightaway1 #c of these qualifying with usually and #b with sometimes4 ,having the end clearly in mind when they begin1 #fj1 #c qualifying with usually1 #c with in general1 #e with sometimes1 #a with fairly definitely4 ,as to extent of revision #hd answer4 ,omitting those mentioning the number of revisions1 the remainder may be classed3 much revision1 #ba2 some1 #aj2 little1 #i2 very little1 #ai2 none1 #a4 ,the record where number of revisions is specifically given runs somewhat as follows3 #j to #b times 7#a72 #a time 7#c72 #a to #b 7#a72 #a to #d 7#b72 #a to #e 7#a72 #b times 7#a72 #b or more 7#b72 #b to #c 7#a72 #b to #d 7#a72 #b to #h 7#aa72 #c times 7#a72 #c to #d 7#b72 #c to #ae 7#a72 #d to #e 7#a72 #d to #bj 7#a72 #e to #f 7#a72 #f to #h 7#a72 up to #ab times 7#a74 ,all the way from none to much1 from #j to #bj or possibly more4 ,there can be no rule4 ,there are some who ruin their work if they give it more than a revision for details2 some whose first draft is too crude to serve as more than foundation for the completed structure4 ,there is only one sound teacher in each case--experience4 ,,question ,,iii #a4 ,when you read a story to what extent does your imagination reproduce the story-world of the author--do you actually see in your imagination all the characters1 action and setting just as if you were looking at an actual scene8 ,do you actually hear all sounds described1 mentioned and inferred1 just as if they were real sounds8 ,do you taste the flavors in a story1 so really that your mouth literally waters to a pleasant one8 ,how real does your imagination make the smells in a story you read8 ,does your imagination reproduce the sense of touch--of rough or smooth contact1 hard or gentle impact or pressure1 etc48 ,does your imagination make you feel actual physical pain corresponding1 though in a slighter degree1 to pain presented in a story8 ,of course you get an intelligent idea from any such mention1 but in which of the above cases does your imagination produce the same results on your senses as do the actual stimuli themselves8 #b4 ,if you can really see things with your eyes shut1 what limitations8 ,are the pictures you see colored or more in black and white8 ,are details distinct or blurred8 #c4 ,if you studied solid geometry1 did it give you more trouble than other mathematics8 #d4 ,is your response limited to the exact degree to which the author describes and makes vivid1 or will the mere concept set you to reproducing just as vividly8 #e4 ,do you have stock pictures for1 say1 a village church or a cowboy1 or does each case produce its individual vision8 #f4 ,is there any difference in behavior of your imagination when you are reading stories and when writing them8 #g4 ,have you ever considered these matters as tools of your trade8 ,if so1 to what extent and how do you use them8 ,this question received in the questionnaire as much space as all the other questions combined because it was designed to open up a field that is practically new ground4 ,when a student under ,professor ,j4 ,v4 ,denney at ,ohio ,state ,university twenty-five years ago1 our class was much surprised to learn that people vary tremendously in their ability to respond to the descriptions or imagery of an author4 ,i1 as an example1 had taken it for granted that everybody saw1 in his imagination1 everything mentioned in a story1 was much surprised to learn that some saw little or nothing and still more surprised to learn that some people had a similar ability1 almost entirely lacking in myself1 to hear1 taste and smell as vividly as ,i saw4 ,in the years that followed ,i questioned a great many writers and found that practically none of them was aware of this difference and that none at all had considered it a matter that might have decided bearing upon their own writing--their effort to convey to the reader what was present in their own consciousness4 ,until the subject was brought up in a book of my own a year ago ,i had chanced never to see it mentioned in print or hear it referred to again by an author1 editor or anybody else1 yet during twenty years as an editor case after case has arisen in which ignorance of this simple phenomenon has proved a serious stumbling-block to a writer's progress4 ,an author1 for example1 with vivid powers of imaginative visualization deems it a waste of words to describe what he believes every one will1 on the mere mention1 see as vividly and fully as he himself does1 and as a result his stories when they reach his readers are not at all what he thought they were4 ,to many his story-world is a mere land of ghosts moving in fog1 without detail1 color1 individuality or reality4 ,another writer1 himself lacking visual imagination1 in the effort to put on paper a story-world capable of giving him a sense of reality uses so many brush-strokes that a large part of his readers1 needing only a suggestion1 are bored and read no more4 ,a third writer1 his own imagination insensitive to appeals to the senses of hearing1 taste and smell1 makes no such appeals in his writing and thereby fails to approximate full response from many readers4 ,another1 with an imagination particularly sensitive to sound stimuli1 gives to a story the appeal strongest to himself1 neglects visual and other appeals and bores part of his audience with appeals that can not reach them while he gives to others not enough stimuli to keep them interested4 ,what1 then1 should be the general rule of procedure8 ,there can't be any1 but since readers vary so radically and fundamentally in ability to respond to sense appeals1 any author1 new or established1 who in ignorance of this fact attempts to reach them on the theory that the responses of all of them are identical with his own is going to fall far short of his potential success as a writer4 ,the following answers from more than a hundred writers will show that most of them are working without knowledge of this basic variation in imagination response of readers4 ,the part of the questionnaire bearing on imagination was designed to bring out 7#a7 the differences of readers in natural ability to respond1 7#b7 the resultant differences in effect upon readers of the presence1 degree or absence of certain sets of stimuli in a story--in other words1 the extent to which a story is dependent for success upon the use of such stimuli1 7#c7 a general idea of the relative importance of stimuli to the various senses1 7#d7 the extent to which the imagination differences were recognized by writers and allowed for in their work1 and 7#e7 since there seemed no available data on any part of the subject1 the securing of any chance information that might shed new light4 ,as elsewhere in the questionnaire the desire to make the questions entirely unprejudiced in form1 so that they would in no way tend to shape answers toward what ,i wished to see established1 made them less definite and direct than they could have been made at the time--and very much less than they could be made now that the answers have shown the infinity of variations in imagination responses1 the many interesting points not systematically brought out or previously considered1 and the great difficulty1 for any one analyzing his reactions for the first time1 in giving clear-cut answers4 ,the answerers1 remember1 received only the bare questions without even a hint of the explanation and purpose as fully stated here4 ,with such explanation the questions probably seem sufficiently definite4 ,they did to the several authors and editors to whom ,i turned for aid in compiling them4 ,but the answers will show how much more definiteness would be needed for absolutely definite results4 ,more definite results should be secured from a questionnaire framed for that purpose4 ,but the following answers1 partly because of the very fact of comparative indefiniteness in the questions1 are so richly suggestive1 so stimulating and illuminating in a hundred ways1 that their value transcends any mere tabulation of specific results4 ,also1 for all practical purposes1 they give sufficiently definite data for satisfactory conclusions on the points aimed at4 ,it is to be noted that in all but the last two questions on imagination the authors were being asked as to their reactions1 not as writers1 but as readers only1 though in some cases this distinction has not been maintained4 ,the first two questions may be considered as one4 ,the third1 as to solid geometry1 was partly to ascertain whether those lacking visual imagination encountered unusual difficulty in a study demanding ability to imagine a third dimension in a figure drawn in only two dimensions2 partly1 ,i confess1 as a check on some who might1 in all good faith1 analyze their abilities incorrectly2 partly to show the importance of securing proper imagination stimuli in order to get complete understanding4 ,indeed1 the answers to these questions on visual imagination1 no matter who gives them1 are bound to be incorrect in a very appreciable number of cases4 ,surely of all subjects the imagination is one of those that least lend themselves to hard and fast analysis and iron-clad definition4 ,also there can be no fixed standard or basis of comparison4 ,add to these difficulties the similar ones connected with the various sense impressions4 ,no group of answers1 however truthful in intent1 could be expected to provide absolutely reliable data1 yet very practical results can be obtained and writers1 as a class dealing particularly with the imagination1 are unusually equipped to furnish valuable analyses4 ,if some of those who answer have failed entirely to grasp some of the essential distinctions1 others have been unfailingly clear-sighted and have given all that could be asked in the way of nicety of analysis4 ,for example1 some of them1 like ,theodore ,s4 ,solomons1 draw the most important distinction much more satisfactorily than ,i was able to do in my questionnaire even after years of considering the general subject1 and the reader is referred to them if my statement of this distinction is not sufficiently clear4 ,the chief stumbling-block to any one attempting to answer the first two questions is the demand to draw a definite line between an actual sense impression through the imagination and a mere intellectual concept of that sense impression4 ,it is not so easy and simple as it may seem4 ,for example1 if ,i may illustrate from my own case1 ,i find that my imagination gives me very good visual impressions but none at all from the other senses4 ,i can1 with eyes shut or open1 look at any thing1 person or place ,i have seen and again see in my imagination any part or detail that ,i am capable of remembering intellectually in any way--can even see what ,i have never seen with my eyes1 though of course no one can imagine anything that is not built of parts familiar to him through some kind of actual experience4 ,but do ,i see things as clearly as if they were before my physical eye8 ,it is easy to answer either yes or no1 with long arguments to support either side4 ,if imagination gives me blurred pictures1 ,i can focus on any part of them and make it so clear it almost hurts1 yet the fact remains that most of the picture is blurred4 ,on the other hand1 that is exactly the case with the physical eye4 ,but isn't the field of exact vision smaller in one case than in the other8 ,and so on endlessly4 ,but to bring out the main distinction1 consider my case as to the other senses4 ,at the mention of the luscious taste of a pear ,i at once get a highly individualized memory of the pear taste with no possible chance of confusing it with the taste of anything else4 ,it may make me long for a pear4 ,i can see a pear1 the teeth biting into it1 the juice gushing from the broken1 tooth-marked flesh1 and ,i think of the pleasure that taste brings4 ,but ,i can not taste the pear4 ,not to even the faintest degree4 ,i can almost feel its contact to my fingers1 teeth1 tongue1 mouth1 even the contact of the extracted juice--so much so that ,i'm tempted to say ,i have a little touch-imagination4 ,but ,i can not taste that pear4 ,i am equally negative as to smells4 ,i am so sensitive to contact that ,i almost shrink from the imagined grating of a rough surface over my clothes4 ,but ,i can not really feel that grating4 ,for touch1 smell and taste ,i have only intellectual concepts4 7,yet with me these actual senses themselves are all rather more than normally acute47 ,but ,i can undoubtedly see things through the eyes of my imagination4 ,as to hearing1 frankly ,i am unable to answer4 ,i can not persuade myself ,i really hear sounds with my imagination1 yet ,i can imagine to myself any tune ,i know1 note for note4 ,probably ,i have an abortive sound-imagination that could be developed to an easily recognizable degree by practise and concentration4 ,you will get from the above at least a general idea of the necessary distinction--a far better idea than my bare questions could give to those who answered them4 ,you will get1 also1 an idea of the difficulty in giving definite answers4 ,analyze your own imagination responses1 refusing to be satisfied with snap judgments4 ,try out some of your friends4 ,and bear this distinction in mind when reading and weighing the answers that follow4 ,incidentally1 please extend to me a little sympathy over my task of trying to classify and tabulate the data from these answers and remember that any such tabulation must be more or less arbitrary4 ,if you doubt it1 try to tabulate them6 ,another distinction that some answerers failed to make 7and thereby added to the scope and value of our data7 is that between sense impressions and emotions4 ,just as one can hear a real sound without emotion1 so can one hear an imaginary sound without emotion1 or feel emotion in either case4 ,nor1 of course1 is emotion dependent upon any sense impression1 since a thought1 idea or bare concept can bring it into being4 ,the data on emotion is of decided interest1 but is to be considered quite apart from sense impressions through the imagination1 though an investigation as to the effect of one upon the other might prove worth while4 ,the fourth question concerns the actual effect on the reader of the kind of sense stimuli the author puts into his writing1 or of the absence of stimuli4 ,here a distinction must be very carefully drawn in considering the answers4 ,the real point is not whether an author in general or a story as a whole interests or fails to interest1 but whether1 all other factors aside1 the descriptions 7of places1 things1 people1 etc417--the stimuli to sensory imagination--interest and why4 ,the fifth question on the imagination 7as to stock pictures instead of individualized ones7 is of comparatively little importance1 except as it shows that some readers will resort to stock pictures if the author fails to paint individualized pictures that interest them4 ,the sixth question proves of minor importance and the seventh will be taken up after the answers4 ,as many of the answers would lose in value if their continuity were broken1 there has been no attempt to separate them into the seven divisions4 ,each of the seven1 however1 has been separately tabulated1 though any tabulation of them must to some degree be arbitrary4 ,,answers ,bill ,adams3 ,yes--imagination's the whole thing4 ,i hear the sounds1 feel the roughness 7ice on the ropes74 ,i shudder when it's cold and sweat when it's hot2 if the story runs as it should4 ,the pictures are colored in my mind as the actual coloring would be4 ,gray in the sky--dull waters2 red in the west--crimson on the wave-tops--the sails reflecting the lights of each4 ,don't talk to me about geometry or math--damnable things1 all4 ,haven't any stock pictures--the world too big and numerous4 ,everything keeps hopping right along4 ,my trade is not writing stories as yet4 ,therefore ,i've no tools for that trade 7stories74 ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams3 ,the people1 if they are well presented1 ,i see definitely2 they move and breathe and change expression4 ,upon considering your question1 ,i find that ,i do not hear them as plainly and definitely as ,i see them4 ,although ,i have an unusually acute sense of smell--perhaps because ,i am not a smoker--,i do not react particularly to odor-motifs in fiction2 nor to taste4 ,i certainly do not feel physical pain reactions1 nor am ,i specially sensitive to imaginary contacts4 ,as for setting ,i occasionally find myself helping out my author by imparting into his story some actual scene1 more or less vividly recalled4 ,if ,i do undertake to create a mise en scne out of his material1 ,i am likely to find upon examination that it is a memory-picture of some half forgotten place4 ,such pictures as ,i see are of full form and hue2 people more vividly featured than places4 ,solid geometry was not worse than other forms of mathematical martyrdom4 ,if ,i understood this question1 the mere concept will often give me enough to go on2 but ,i might work out a picture totally different from the author's intent4 ,the risk is his1 if he will supply only frame-work6 ,no stock pictures4 ,my gallery is more productive than that4 ,no6 let 'em go as far as they like4 ,of course4 ,there is also a difference between being favored and perspiring6 ,here you have rung in a change of venue4 ,you have been asking about reactions to other people's writings2 abruptly you demand details as to one's own artisanship4 ,anything is a tool of my trade which ,i find suitable to my purposes1 and ,i will use it fully or in outline as fits the special situation4 ,paul ,l4 ,anderson3 ,it depends on how well the author has done his work4 ,if he has done it well1 ,i live the story ,i'm reading2 if not1 ,i don't finish the story4 ,i do not see details clearly2 the vision is broad1 and ,i do not feel physical pain--the pain ,i feel is sympathetic4 ,the pictures ,i see are in black and white1 this fact1 together with the breadth of vision1 being traceable to the fact that for many years ,i worked at pictorial photography1 where the effort was to see things broadly1 without niggling detail1 and to see them without color4 ,trigonometry1 analytic geometry1 and solid geometry were my favorite forms of mathematics2 probably because more concrete than algebra1 calculus1 and analytic mechanics4 ,i have a stock picture for a barroom and gambling hall1 and curiously enough it doesn't in the least resemble any barroom ,i ever was in1 though ,i have a secondary stock picture of one which does4 ,no other stock pictures4 ,the imagination is more vivid in writing than in reading2 ,i live the story with more force4 ,sure they're tools of the trade4 ,how can you make another man see a thing if you don't see it yourself8 ,william ,ashley ,anderson3 ,this depends entirely upon the power of the author to make vivid the scenes and actions he describes4 ,in direct proportion to the genius of the author do ,i feel the force of his impressions4 ,the aim of writing--as of all art--is to reproduce and idealize nature4 ,its aim1 therefore1 is to make everything seem real4 ,it approaches reality1 but it can never attain reality1 because it is all illusion4 ,it stirs the senses1 therefore1 as illusion stirs the senses1 and has the power to make things as clear and vivid as in dreams--but never as sharp and poignant as in reality4 ,the impress of nature is direct4 ,the impress of literature is by means of metaphor4 ,for its effect1 metaphor must depend upon awakening the memory4 ,for this reason1 a sensitive1 imaginative1 experienced person appreciates best the works of higher genius which employ a greater variety of metaphor than mediocre works4 ,it is beyond the power of art to describe a new color--though it might not be beyond the power of the optic nerve to receive the impression of a new color if it actually appeared before the eye4 ,it is beyond the power of an author to describe a flavor which no one has ever tasted1 and which has no resemblance whatever to any known flavor--though such a flavor is possible1 and the tongue would recognize it as new4 ,this is evident by the fact that from childhood on many foods come to us as distinctly new and strange in flavor4 ,it is beyond the power of the written word in itself to satisfy lust2 but the desire for lust is so easily aroused that the poorest kind of writer can easily excite the dullest imagination4 ,it is beyond the power of print to start a vibration that will beat against the ear-drum--and it is hopeless for a writer to attempt to describe a sound which has no effect upon the human ear2 but a great composer can create harmonies in his head without even humming1 and can record them accurately upon paper with a pencil without a sound being heard4 ,so can an author1 by the use of words1 arouse memory4 ,it is equally beyond the power of words to describe a wholly unfamiliar odor2 though smell is probably the strongest of all senses1 and has probably the greatest power to awaken memory4 ,memory1 however1 is so important an element in an understanding of literature that by exciting a recollection of things 7through the employment of familiar metaphor7 a fine author can make me feel a reaction in all the senses4 ,i can hear1 taste1 feel1 see1 smell the things he describes to such an extent that ,i can close my eyes and imagine music or the sounds of wild beasts2 my appetite is stimulated 7though never appeased6 for here the actual craving of the body is stronger than any illusion--though description may inspire a disgust for food72 ,i mentally recoil from an unpleasant sensation2 ,i can visualize scenes--though not1 ,i am sure1 exactly as the author intends them to be described2 and ,i can imagine odors1 if the metaphors are clear4 ,it is as difficult to describe the exact limitations of visualization as it is to find a standard by which to measure all painting4 ,some stories bring out a single striking point which is very vivid1 with a background obscure and dim2 others have an equally strong central idea1 with every detail worked out in exquisite particular2 others are a confused hodge-podge1 vague1 unreal1 unsatisfactory4 ,both plane and solid geometry were the clearest branches of mathematics to me4 ,the others were disproportionately difficult4 ,reading stories written by others often suggests stories or reminiscences of my own2 but in these cases ,i think the authorship is defective1 because with a really great writer ,i get lost in the book4 ,i have no stock pictures4 ,there is a distinct difference between reading and writing4 ,the difference is comparable with attending a well-acted drama and playing in a keenly contested ballgame4 ,in the case of the former you know perfectly well the events will sweep along to a logical or at least ordained conclusion without arousing any very violent feelings in your own heart2 but in the latter case you are taking part in and helping to shape a drama whose limitations are only roughly cast1 and whose events are actually unknown up to the very moment they happen4 ,i have never given these things much thought in connection with my own writing4 ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey3 ,i should say that while the vividness with which my mind realizes a story ,i read varies very greatly1 the purely physical sensations are limited4 ,horror1 for instance1 the blood runs cold feeling1 ,i get4 ,i see many scenes clearly and hear some sounds1 like the rattle of the arrows in the ,odyssey4 ,but ,i don't remember my mouth watering over any feast in fiction1 though ,i enjoy them1 or actually smelling physical scents4 ,a general feeling of physical pleasure1 excitement or disgust ,i know4 ,my imagination is more interested in the physical facts of the stories ,i write than of those ,i read4 ,i have often found myself cutting out stuff about the sensations of my characters because it seemed too intimate or too trivial for outsiders4 ,i certainly see things which are not actual both when consciously working at them and when ,i am not4 ,in color and in action--salient features if ,i look for them4 ,this applies to both reading and writing4 ,if ,i see an imaginary thing at all it is individual4 ,i have always tried to give a story a sensuous appeal--,i mean to make the story suggest to the reader what it is suggesting to the physical senses of the characters4 ,solid geometry and all mathematics are a mystery to me4 ,the artistic quality of an author's work is not always the cause of a vivid reproduction of his scenes in my mind1 though of course it is potent4 ,i would rather not be told too much4 ,edwin ,balmer3 ,i certainly follow with senses acute the sensations in any story ,i read where ,i can feel that the author himself felt his story4 ,the mental type of story makes no such impression on me1 nor does the machine-made rot which is altogether too common4 ,i believe that a writer can not make others really feel unless he himself actually feels when writing4 ,i can see colors as well as black and white1 and details when ,i am thinking about them4 ,i studied solid geometry and liked it and therefore had no trouble at all with it4 ,i have no stock pictures4 ,i like to have a writer suggest graphically as ,kipling always did1 but ,god spare me from the tiresome minuti of the ultra realists4 ,yes4 ,yes4 ,ralph ,henry ,barbour3 ,whether ,i visualize a story while reading it depends entirely on the skill of the author4 ,generally1 ,i do4 ,if ,i don't1 ,i am likely not to like the story1 and to stop reading it4 ,probably there are exceptions to this4 ,i am trying to say that whether ,i react to a writer's description of scenes1 sounds1 flavors1 odors and so on depends on how skilfully the writer presents them to me4 ,perhaps that is begging the question1 but what else can ,i say8 ,certainly ,i have read stories in which ,i have been constantly at the elbow of the character1 have heard what he heard1 saw what he saw1 smelled what he smelled1 felt joy or pain with him4 ,equally certainly ,i have utterly missed doing any of these things in reading other stories4 ,i can not make any distinction between the effect on my imagination of action1 scene1 sound1 flavor1 odor1 touch4 ,there may exist a distinction1 but if so ,i am not aware of it4 ,i am very susceptible to color1 yet ,i think that the pictures ,i get from reading are black and white2 certainly in very low tones4 ,i would say ,i see details distinctly4 ,i can not recall having more trouble with solid geometry than with other mathematics4 ,i believe ,i found more appeal there4 ,my response is limited to the degree in which an author describes1 yes2 or1 rather1 to the degree to which he succeeds in describing4 ,a mere concept will1 of course1 set me to reproducing1 but ,i won't get as far4 ,if the author tells me it's a rainy day1 ,i can picture a rainy day4 ,but ,i'm not going to bother to see the reflected light in the pools or the glints on varnished surfaces or the gray mists in the woods4 ,if he's satisfied1 ,i am1 and ,i go ahead4 ,i had rather1 though1 have him make it a rainy day to remember instead of just one of a thousand4 ,of course a writer can overdo description1 but just as certainly he can underdo it4 ,something should be left to the reader's imagination1 but not everything4 ,one writer tells us ,it was raining4 ,another tells us ,it was raining softly1 insistently4 ,in the ,park the naked trees were clothed in a pearl-gray mist4 ,a hurrying cab gave back the white light from its dripping varnished roof as from burnished silver4 ,and so on4 ,from the first description ,i get the picture of a rainy day2 from the last1 a description of that particular rainy day4 ,the first makes no appeal to my powers of imagination4 ,the second does4 ,from the second ,i can go ahead and see a hundred other details that the author doesn't mention4 ,not only can1 but do4 ,he's given me the stimulus4 ,this seems to contradict my opening statement in this paragraph1 and ,i'll change it4 ,thus3 ,my response is limited to the degree to which an author provides stimuli4 ,as a reader ,i do not use stock pictures4 ,i do not resent having many images formed for me4 ,i can not possibly know so well as the author what he wishes me to see4 ,yes1 there is a difference in the behavior of my imagination when writing and when reading4 ,in reading my imagination sort of loafs on the job4 ,it sits back and says1 ,let the other fellow do it4 ,i'll help1 of course1 but this isn't my job4 ,in writing it gets infernally busy and digs into details in a way that's positively annoying and wearying4 ,i don't think ,i have ever considered these matters as 'tools of my trade4' ,of course they must be4 ,i mean by that that no writer can write fiction without making an appeal to one or more of the five senses4 ,being conscious of it is different4 ,i am not4 7,the query presents an idea4 ,why not go in for olfactory fiction8 ,specialize on stories concerned almost entirely with smells8 ,i have made a note of that47 ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett3 ,when ,i read a good story by some one else1 ,i do not read it--,i live it4 ,when ,i see things with my eyes shut ,i see them as distinctly as when my eyes are open4 ,in both cases they are sometimes distinct and sometimes blurred1 depending a good deal upon my interest4 ,a feature of my own particular way of thinking which has always interested me is my ability in a story to recall vividly a great many details of scenes ,i thought ,i had forgotten4 ,in other words my subjective memory is more reliable and of better capacity than my objective memory4 ,i don't remember anything at all about my troubles with solid geometry4 ,i have a notion they were just average4 ,i respond to an author with all he gives me and all ,i have myself4 ,i recognize considerable variation in the architecture of my village churches but my cowboys are a good deal alike4 ,i resent nothing an author may do except to be dull4 ,when ,i write ,i leave out a great deal more than ,i do when ,i read4 ,i do not consciously use any tools when ,i write4 ,i depend upon a sense of form partly instinctive and partly cultivated--that and the emotions4 ,nalbro ,bartley3 ,i seldom read fiction because ,i always see the machinery of it 7or think ,i do74 ,but when ,i read history1 ,i let my imagination vividly picture every incident and struggle4 ,i often feel the actual pain or mental suffering described4 ,i see mental pictures in their actual colors--with very clear-cut details4 ,solid geometry and trigonometry both helped me as a fiction writer--,i was hopeless with algebra or arithmetic4 ,i can't explain the former unless it was a sort of mathematical phantasy--anyway1 it taught me to construct4 ,i never have stock pictures for scenes--each one has some minute difference as the case may warrant4 ,yes1 ,i think every reader likes to have tribute paid to his imagination--he likes to have the author paint a vivid outline but not crowd it with unnecessary detail4 ,when ,i read a story1 which is seldom1 it is usually a classic or a well-established piece of fiction and ,i think ,i am reading it because of its excellent technique and very little because of imaginative pleasure4 ,when ,i write stories ,i have the unbounded egotism of the creative mind--my people and their troubles and triumphs are so real and so very acute that ,i am on mental tiptoes until they are out of the depths and on to the heights6 ,no4 ,konrad ,bercovici3 ,i am hard put to answer4 ,the more ,i write the less ,i read4 ,i find it interferes with my work4 ,reading a story carefully takes out of me quite as much as if ,i were to write a story4 ,and except in rare cases ,i have not found any story worth while enough to allow it to do that to me4 ,it is all a question of intensity1 ,i suppose1 but my ears actually do ache after a concert4 ,not because my ears are too weak1 but because ,i listen with such intensity4 ,i read in the same way as ,i listen to music4 ,i never studied solid geometry or other mathematics4 ,i have no stock pictures for anything4 ,i would become crazy if ,i did because ,i hate to see the same thing twice4 ,my imagination never behaves properly either when reading or writing a story4 ,i suppose if the imagination were an independent individual and it actually acted instead of imagined1 it would be kept in prison for the rest of its natural life6 ,tools of trade8 ,my ,god1 ,i have never considered them such4 ,i consider myself as belonging to the minstrel class1 born about five hundred to six hundred years too late4 ,otherwise ,i should enjoy nothing better than traveling from market-place to market-place and telling stories to the assembled peasantry or at some inn4 ,all story-tellers1--as a matter of fact1 all artists1 are modern minstrels4 ,just born to amuse the people who toil and work4 ,ferdinand ,berthoud3 ,i read so little of other men's work that it is hard to say4 ,i suppose ,i do see the actual happenings and actors1 and not the printed words as printed words4 ,of course in my own writing ,i live the story and am actually a part of it4 ,live in another world as ,i write it4 ,in each of my small few stories so far ,i am in either a large or small part one of the actors4 ,i see myself and see and hear the other men--always personal friends or men ,i have lived with and quarreled with4 ,i see the grass waving1 can hear the horses' footfalls and smell the sweet clear air4 ,the peculiar scentless smell of the open ,african veldt is always there4 ,i feel so much a part of the thing that when ,i finish my stint and come back to myself and look at the walls of the room where ,i write ,i am in a state of semi-collapse4 ,no1 ,i don't feel the actual pain in other men's stories or my own1 but more than once in describing scenes of torture the impressions have been so vivid that they've turned my stomach and ,i've had to lie down for half an hour or so to get right again4 ,i've seen the remains after torture1 so perhaps that accounts for it4 ,the pictures ,i see are in their natural colors4 ,details distinct and solid--not flat as in a moving picture4 ,what ,i mean to say is that they are firm and rounded1 like a picture by ,millet4 ,no1 ,i have no stock pictures of cowboys and such things1 particularly village churches4 ,in the course of years of wandering ,i've seen so many places that no one is ever uppermost in my mind4 ,no1 there is no difference in behavior of my imagination when reading and writing stories1 because ,i don't read them4 ,don't read a story a month1 and never read a novel4 ,only read trade1 finance1 astronomy1 travel1 research and such stuff4 ,incidentally ,i am continually having a very curious experience4 ,time and again ,i read books in my sleep--books ,i have never before seen4 ,they are always old books1 printed a hundred years or more ago1 ,i should say4 ,i go through page after page of them and they're wonderful stuff--stuff that ,i'd almost give my very soul to be able to write--but try as ,i will when ,i wake ,i can't remember a single word of them4 ,yet the dream comes again and again1 and always a different book4 ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr43 ,i have read so much and so omnivorously all my life that ,i can not say ,i lose myself in any work of fiction to the extent that a description of the agonies of a man dying of thirst would send me hunting for a pitcher of ice-water4 ,i am much more likely to be emotionally stirred in reading an account that ,i know is true than by some work of fiction4 ,for instance1 ,i feel no shame in admitting that ,i broke down and cried like a baby in reading the account of ,scott's tragical expedition to the ,antarctic--their final defeat by the cold when only eleven miles from a cache of food1 and the heroic self-sacrifice of the doctor4 ,in reading fiction ,i am constantly making comparisons4 ,should ,i read of thirst ,i compare the written sensations with my recollection of my own when ,i went fifty-two hours without water in northern ,arizona4 ,does ,friel write of the ,amazon jungle ,i make mental comparisons between his account and ,algot ,lange's or others ,i have read4 ,am constantly seeking for conviction that the author knows what he's talking about4 ,that's why ,i await so eagerly a yarn by ,thompson ,burtis or ,talbot ,mundy4 ,they know6 ,react to a greater extent to descriptions of scenery--desert1 mountain or river--than to descriptions which cater to the senses1 taste1 smell1 etc4 ,have smelt some ungodly stinks and eaten most unholy messes in my time--the kind that can't be written about6 ,find a keener emotional reaction in sorrow or pathos than in love scenes4 ,have been in love myself and never missed a meal1 but--,i stuck to the end with my best friend when he went over the ,pass with meningitis1 and then had to tell his folks about it when they got there an hour too late4 ,solid gave me more trouble than plane geometry1 but ,i always was a dumbbell at all mathematics4 ,can understand your question1 however4 ,intelligent reading1 or writing1 is in many ways a third- if not a fourth-dimensional business4 ,no4 ,i strive to make each case a distinct1 separate1 individual entity4 ,i have known mighty few types of particular occupations or pursuits4 ,i read largely for recreation and1 lately1 to get ideas as to style4 ,main factor of my imagination when writing is impatience4 ,do not write with particular swiftness and usually know just what ,i want to say long before my pen gets there4 ,once ,i start ,i want to get it over with4 ,creation is to me a task1 not a joy4 ,i take my pleasure in the finished product4 ,as tools8 ,not as much as ,i should1 but ,i'm getting to use them more and more4 ,remember1 ,i am one of the youngest of the entered apprentices4 ,farnham ,bishop3 ,depends entirely on how well the author makes his mind meet mine4 ,most of 'em never make me see anything but the printed page4 ,too much description blinds my mental eyes every time4 ,suggested or connoted scenes and actors1 sketched in with a line or two1 are much more plain4 ,see better than ,i hear--taste too darned well if ,i'm hungry and broke when somebody describes a good camp dinner1 for instance4 ,smells8 ,most odors are nothing but empty names to me1 for in real life it takes a healthy onion or a whole garden of roses to rouse my olfactory nerves4 7,probably that's why ,i've never felt any desire to smoke74 ,feel what ,i've felt in reality1 when a happy bit of description brings it back2 too vivid descriptions of suffering make me wince4 ,mostly black and white1 sometimes crudely colored4 ,vary from mere suggestive blobs to--say1 once when ,i was a kid1 ,i saw an extra illustration for a story in ,st4 ,nicholas1 that ,reginald ,birch might have drawn1 and it puzzled me no end when ,i failed to find that one among the others that he did draw1 when ,i reread the yarn4 ,but ,i've never reached that particular height since then4 ,plane geometry was as far as ,i ever traveled along that trail4 ,a good concept or connotation starts my imagination hitting on all eight4 ,usually1 the stock picture1 formed in early life1 pops up and has to be modified4 ,when somebody says soldier1 ,i see a clean-shaven young man in ,civil ,war blue1 with the little forage-cap that our army wore until #ahih4 ,then ,i have to shift his costume and make-up to suit the story1 but ,i can't get away from the impression made on my infant mind back in the eighteen-nineties4 ,the difference between work and play4 ,have to force the darned thing when ,i'm writing1 but she rambles gay and care-free when ,i'm reading4 ,consider these things tools of my trade8 ,i do and ,i've tried herein to explain how ,i try to use them4 ,algernon ,blackwood3 ,the visualization of a story ,i read depends entirely on its degree of actuality according to the evocative power of the writer4 ,i prefer a suggestion that enables me to form my own pictures of scenes and characters described1 rather than to have these formed for me in detail by the author4 ,a description of house or room or garden ,i invariably skip4 ,with his first vital adjective the scene flashes into my mind4 ,his subsequent detail bores me4 ,max ,bonter3 ,an author can make me see his story-world with a vividness strictly in proportion to the degree of his skill4 ,my senses register sound1 smell1 flavor1 touch1 etc41--although less acutely than in the world of actuality4 ,as an example of vividness1 let me cite ,henry ,leverage's ,the ,shell-back4 ,i could almost swear that ,i got a whiff of ,old ,marlin's unwashed hide2 ,i saw the slime in his eyes and the kinks in his matted old beard4 ,i would not consider these allusions disgusting4 ,the author dispassionately sketches a piece of humanity--that's all4 ,it's truth--and my heart rather warms to ,old ,marlin on account of it4 ,i can see plenty of color with my eyes shut1 although the details of the pictures are not perfectly distinct4 ,when ,i studied mathematics my brain was not sufficiently mature or systematic to grasp all the fundamentals of any branch4 ,i had not much success with geometry4 ,my response to an author's description is usually limited to his degree of vividness2 although it often happens that a theme or a situation1 per se1 so interests me that ,i leave the author's world and reproduce one of my own4 ,shame on the pen-prostituting varlet who uses stock pictures for his scenes and characters6 ,i would almost as lief see an author plagiarize4 ,what imagination1 what regard for the ethics of his craft must a man have who sells his wares over and over again8 ,can art be as lazy1 as unscrupulous as that8 ,to my mind1 if a writer be not indefatigable in his distinctions1 discriminations and demarcations1 he is not sincere--if he be not sincere1 he is not an artist4 ,he reminds me of the barroom cripple who fares forth to his station on the street corner with half a dozen lead pencils to sell2 who returns to the saloon with his pocket full of pennies1 but his stock of pencils still intact4 ,these may be harsh words1 but--must the dollar taint everything in this world8 ,writing and reading affect my imagination in two distinct ways4 ,when ,i begin reading1 my faculties are relaxed and receptive2 my muscular system is in repose4 ,my eyes flash the printed symbols to my brain2 my brain translates them and projects them kaleidoscopically upon the screen of my imagination4 ,the pictures immediately generate enthusiasm or otherwise4 ,if they generate enthusiasm my faculties prime themselves and become more acute2 my muscular system acquires a certain tension4 ,my brain is receiving food1 stimulant--in other words ,i'm being entertained4 ,if the pictures generate no enthusiasm1 however--if they evoke only a yawn--my faculties remain torpid4 ,my brain is neither being fed nor entertained nor stimulated4 ,in other words1 ,i'm being bored4 ,thus the function1 or behavior1 of my reading imagination would seem to be largely passive--merely displaying the author's pictures and leaving their value to be passed upon by my reason4 ,the function1 or behavior1 of my writing imagination1 is vastly different4 ,before ,i can start1 it must initiate a fund of enthusiasm of its own4 ,this enthusiasm must be sufficiently keen to tune up my faculties and make them aggressive and openly demonstrative4 ,this enthusiasm must stiffen my backbone and give tension to my muscles4 ,i must be thoroughly alert to capture and express every passing thought and idea4 ,in other words1 ,i must feel in the humor to write4 ,my imagination must still take the initiative4 ,it must proceed to throw picture after picture upon its screen--not merely drawing them according to well-defined descriptions as in the case of my reading self--but initiating them for my creative self1 being guided in the task only by a hint1 a haunting fancy1 a lurking impression of the long ago4 ,reason--the critic--stands constantly beside imagination and ruthlessly picks flaws in its pictures1 rejecting many as unnatural1 uninteresting1 overdrawn1 etc4 ,such pictures as are passed by the critic are then translated by brain into words that rush out of my finger tips to the keyboard of the typewriter4 ,that is about as near as ,i can get to it4 ,at any rate my writing imagination must be enthusiastic1 stubborn1 tireless1 inventive and wholly active in its function4 ,i am just beginning to consider these matters as tools of my trade2 hope to be able to use them more skilfully by and by4 ,katharine ,holland ,brown3 ,the keenest impressions1 from reading stories1 are gained from sight and touch and sense of smell4 ,sense of touch1 perhaps strongest4 ,no appeal to the senses in my case is as strong as that declared to exist by many people4 ,can not really see with my eyes shut with the vividness that many writers describe4 ,instead1 ,i get a mass-impression instead of one in detail4 ,undoubtedly the requirement of solid geometry1 by universities1 was sponsored by ,torquemada4 ,detailed description is not essential4 ,if the story is vivid1 the locale shapes itself without effort4 ,no stock pictures4 ,each new story has its own images4 ,one of the great charms of certain authors lies in their lapidary-accuracy of detail4 ,so1 in case of the real artist1 there is no question of too many images4 ,i can not answer the next inquiry--have never analyzed so far4 ,nor have ,i considered any of these matters as tools of the trade4 ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley3 ,this is a very big question3 ,i can't answer it more exactly than by saying that when ,i read or write ,i have a subliminal self which feels1 tastes and smells1 so that ,i get the effect of stimuli quite vividly without any semblance of reaction on the actual physical senses4 ,this is extremely difficult to explain4 ,i might say that when there is a smell or a sight or a sound before me1 either in my writing or some one else's1 ,i rather know it1 than feel it4 ,it is rather as though 7,i am now thinking of a revolver-shot in a small room7 the essence of the roar1 denatured of the qualities which appeal to the physical ear1 had been poured into my consciousness by some other channel4 ,until ,i started to answer this questionnaire ,i should have said ,i heard the crash2 of course1 ,i don't2 ,i don't even--,i think--imagine it4 ,yet the effect of it certainly impinges on me2 an exciting passage of action will even speed up my heart1 and fast action will make me work the keys of the typewriter faster4 ,normally one doesn't keep tab of reactions1 but it seems to me ,i've caught myself grinning with pain when somebody was getting hurt4 ,but the speeding-up and the grin are not1 ,i think1 direct action--such as ,i should experience from actually going through the action or watching it with my eyes4 ,i think they are the manifestations of the imagined action's impact on the subconscious1 duplicate me1 whose sole business it is to receive them4 ,and this duplicate self's control of my own person is only partial2 which is why my mouth doesn't actually water when my hero eats lemons4 ,i can see pictures with my eyes shut2 in full color but they are still pictures--not movies4 ,i can't shut my eyes and see action2 but before describing it ,i can close them and see the picture of its effect2 see the man who's just been shot and how he lies and how his garments hang and where his hands are and how his feet look4 ,i have actually seen a good many men after violent deaths4 ,this may help4 ,and ,i can see every detail of the man who fired the shot--his attitude1 what he's doing with the revolver now he's fired2 also1 ,i can see the room and feel it4 ,you know that there is a distinct feel about a room when something abnormal's happening4 ,a pretty gilt clock you've always liked will look entirely different--tawdry1 pitiful1 cold-hearted1 if a dead man's lying in front of the fireplace4 ,i get all this1 and ,i couldn't write if ,i didn't4 ,as for solid geometry1 ,,all mathematics were abomination and to pick on solid geometry would be invidious4 ,i haven't any stock pictures at all4 ,in reading1 if the author doesn't give me a picture1 ,i use ,shakespearean scenery--blank space with ,this is a ,church written on it4 ,writing1 ,i invent quite definite and different sets and so on1 for each story4 ,big difference between imagination reading and writing4 ,very1 very rarely does reading speed heart-beat and so on2 writing1 comparatively frequently4 ,prosper ,buranelli3 ,the chief pleasure ,i get from a story is an intellectual gratification1 the perception of some irony1 the astonishment which comes from some development1 unusual with respect to current ideas1 but reasonable when submitted to clear thinking4 ,a good story to my mind is a piece of thinking1 of rational building up4 ,i see in ,anatole ,france's ,procurator of ,judea a rigorous deduction of what could have happened under the circumstances4 ,the seeming truth of the colors and sounds of the setting has for its purpose the heightening of the plausibility with which the close is reasoned out4 ,it is much like the paleontologist who builds the idea of an animal by reasoning on a couple of bones and a set of tracks in prehistoric mud4 ,i am never absorbed1 save by the author's ideation4 ,i can see things with my eyes shut1 but don't1 often4 ,i have an ear mind4 ,i hear things4 ,my imaginings take place in words or in music4 ,in adolescence ,i saw things1 but not now4 ,solid geometry and spherical trigonometry trouble me4 ,i have enough trouble constructing1 in phantasy1 in two dimensions4 ,if the concepts are disposed in provocative arrangement1 ,i can supply the vestments1 at least such as ,i need4 ,but the fuller and more persuasive the coloring1 the more powerful the logic of the concepts4 ,if an author places a civilized man among cannibals and carries him through well analyzed mental processes to cannibalism1 it will be all the more plausible if he complete his reasoning with fully colored and convincing pictures4 ,any story which either gives or suggests stock pictures1 such as cowboys or village churches1 save in most acrid mockery1 is to my mind immeasurably rotten4 ,in the best stories1 ,i think1 reading one and writing one would be much alike4 ,reading a beautifully reasoned story would be much like writing a beautifully reasoned story4 ,if you watch a very well played game of chess1 it is like playing along with the player4 ,it is something like playing the game yourself4 ,you know what is in the player's head1 why he makes a move4 ,with bad players playing1 it is merely a spectacle4 ,you can't tell what they are about most of the time and1 when you can1 you are entirely out of sympathy with the rational processes1 which1 you understand1 are contemptible4 ,tools of trade1 presumably text-books and other forms of instruction1 ,i have found1 are useful1 but only if they give you bases upon which to erect further meditations of your own4 ,thompson ,burtis3 ,my imagination causes me to react to all the stimuli you mention if the writer has any vividness at all about his writing4 ,i taste the flavors1 sniff the odors1 feel pain1 etc4 ,i will except none of the cases mentioned4 ,perhaps my reaction to the description of good or bad food is the strongest4 ,i can get hungry at the mention of a delightful meal1 and mentally nauseated1 so to speak1 at a description of bad food on shipboard or something like that4 ,in the pictures ,i see with my eyes shut most details are blurred4 ,most often the pictures are black and white1 but in especially vivid cases1 such as a tropic night or something of that sort1 my mental pictures are in color4 ,the limitations are usually in the case of scenes with which ,i am totally unfamiliar1 and because of the number of unfamiliar details mentioned ,i am often totally at sea in an attempt to visualize a scene or a happening4 ,yes1 solid geometry did4 ,my response is not limited to the exact degree of the author's vividness1 but it is affected by his descriptive power4 ,a mere concept will make me see something1 but not as much as a good description would4 ,each case produces its own picture4 ,no difference4 ,yes4 ,i have made an effort--am making1 ,i hope1 a constantly more persistent effort--to use them in this way3 by striving through proper word selection1 even if it be only one adjective1 to make every noun1 so to speak1 in my stories1 mean something4 ,i am trying to make the most minor of my characters have a scraggly moustache1 a hump on his back1 or some tiny detail which will set him apart in the reader's mind and make him distinctive4 ,in the same manner1 food1 a room1 a scene1 a tool--,i am trying to incorporate some brief1 flash-like description which will make that thing vivid and give it individuality4 ,the more ,i write the more ,i am growing able to look at my writing as a trade or craft and comprehend the mechanics of it1 and that attitude1 ,i believe1 will constantly tend to make a writer consider the tiny details and put them in with deliberation rather than inspiration as the stimulus4 ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain3 ,in reading a story1 ,i think my imagination aims to reproduce the picture naturally attaching to it4 ,to what degree this is clear in detail or color depends entirely on the interest evoked by the story4 ,often the images are so real as to produce physical reactions4 ,i have grown actually ill over a description of some repulsive disease4 ,but ,i can not say that any mere suggestion of pain in any form has induced an actual like pain in1 e4 g41 some given part of my body4 ,the distress of imagining pain with me is entirely mental1 capable of reacting in physical lassitude1 inducing nausea only as it becomes repulsive in its manifestations to other senses than feeling4 ,suppurations are really the only things which ,i can not imagine without the physical reactions becoming local in my stomach4 ,as for tastes and smells1 these have few keenly attractive reactions with me in actual life1 and ,i am affected by imaginations of them only adversely4 ,i can read the ,cardinal's ,snuff-box without sneezing4 ,but ,i am pretty apt to reach for my pipe1 if ,i read much about smoking4 ,solid and plane geometry were the only mathematics ,i ever found so absolutely easy that a glance was sufficient for almost any proposition4 ,i think response is more or less determined by the degree to which the author dwells on description4 ,as a matter of fact1 in answering this and the following question1 ,i would say that it is my opinion that we all form our pictures from things we have actually seen4 ,stage settings1 drawings1 faces--,i believe we conjure entirely from memory4 ,if the author goes into details1 we correct our memory pictures to make them correspond with his stage directions4 ,this ,i have sometimes found capable of actual interference with really writing4 ,in one or two instances ,i have had so vivid a picture in my mind of the relative positions of certain actors or furnishings1 when1 say1 a character had to use his right hand in the action1 and could not have done so in the picture--that ,i have had to stop and draw diagrams to straighten things out and be sure of avoiding what some reader might instantly see as impossible4 ,i rather think the images ,i create in my own writing are clearer to my mind4 ,i have to stay with them longer4 ,some months ago my wife asked me in startled tones what was the matter with my face4 ,i had to admit that ,i was just up from writing of the appearance of an insane man in a cabin door and was unconsciously trying to look like him in my efforts to chalk off his most noticeable features for the readers' benefit4 ,i have considered these things as trade tools only to the extent of being careful to have very clear images before me in writing4 ,sometimes ,i have found them almost a disadvantage4 ,my own picture was so clear1 ,i took for granted the reader's seeing what ,i saw1 without my telling him what he could not guess4 ,robert ,v4 ,carr3 ,paragraph ,,iii is another set of questions involving1 to my limited comprehension1 heredity1 environment1 physical condition1 psychological wounds1 racial memories and the power of intelligence far beyond that possessed by my little finite mind4 ,who can tell where matter merges into spirit8 ,who can tell where the imagination of the writer leaves off and the imagination of the reader begins8 ,when ,i think of the ,infinite1 ,i think only of a word4 ,wise cuckoos1 ready to be interned in some asylum1 assert that they can imagine the ,infinite4 ,what man can imagine a million objects8 ,it is an unusual man who can imagine ten thousand4 ,it makes me hunt for comparisons to imagine a thousand4 ,i have to remember how my regiment looked in line1 or its length in a column of fours4 ,what man1 then1 can imagine thought8 ,he can babble words1 he can mumble words1 but1 after all1 he can not imagine thought4 ,he can shovel a lecture on ,divine ,intelligence into a set of open-billed morons1 but1 when he is through and has drained the pitcher of water1 hasn't he merely put in an evening shoveling words8 ,stock pictures8 ,how do ,i know that my ideas are not all stock ideas8 ,how does any writer know but what his dearest thoughts--thoughts he fondly fancied were his own little1 bright-eyed children--may have been fathered by some tribal psychological wound8 ,his most cherished idea may be the offspring of some hereditary weakness4 ,he may write sex poetry because his grandfather was a rou4 ,his little ideas he considers so wonderfully original1 may be little stock ideas born of racial stock ideas1 family stock ideas1 environment stock ideas4 ,the heavy-domed scientists claim the ,anglo-,saxon habit of meat-eating has produced a certain set of stock ideas4 ,i consider myself merely a human animal who1 when he bumps into something he can not comprehend1 gives it an impressive name and lets a gaudy word stand for the gap in his intelligence4 ,there are men who have a ready answer for every question2 ,congress and the asylums are full of them4 ,difference in imagination when reading and when writing8 ,involving1 so far as ,i can see1 heredity1 racial memories1 acquired physical weaknesses1 mental quirks1 tricks of egotism1 and a multitude of mysteries ,i have never been able to solve4 ,i give this up with scarcely a struggle4 ,george ,l4 ,catton3 ,yes2 if the characters are distinctly drawn and the setting correctly planned and the action natural under the circumstances1 ,i can see it as fast as ,i can read it4 ,if it is not1 ,i skip over what ,i can't see immediately as not worth wasting time over4 ,and ,i might just mention1 by the way1 to a student of such things as characters1 action and setting1 some of the characters and setting and action in fiction are so impossible as to be ludicrous4 ,no1 ,i can't say that ,i can become so immersed in the atmosphere of a story that ,i can hear and smell and feel and taste with the characters in the story2 that is1 the characters in a story that ,i am reading4 ,but with the characters in a story that ,i am writing--well1 that is something else again4 ,if ,i want to ,i can weep with my characters and laugh with them and run the whole gamut of the human emotions with them1 but that is something ,i seldom allow myself4 ,i go too far then1 with the emotions of my characters4 ,yes1 ,i can really see things with my eyes shut1 or open1 in the dark or in the daylight4 ,and there are no limitations whatever4 ,green grass is green1 a pine tree is a darker green1 and a forest lake is yet a darker shade4 ,colors1 and black and white1 reproduce themselves in their natural shade when ,i am picturing in my mind's eye a scene to be put down in words on paper4 ,also the characteristics of a character4 ,i can see a broken nose just as plainly as a straight one1 and a hare-lip as plainly as a cupid's bow4 ,details stand out as distinctly1 or even more so1 than the whole4 ,continuity writing for the movies is1 to me1 one of the easiest and most fascinating tasks ,i ever tackled4 ,never had an opportunity to study any other geometry or mathematics4 ,if the author of a story ,i am reading fails to picture a scene or character or bit of action so that it can be understood and seen as fast as ,i can read his picture1 ,i supply what is lacking myself to make it up and save time4 ,in fact1 in lots of cases ,i find that the pictures the author drew were never needed at all1 as far as ,i was concerned2 certain things will happen under certain circumstances1 inevitably1 and the ground under a knot of pine trees will be bare of grass without any one telling me that4 ,never have stock pictures4 ,each setting is built up to conform to the necessities of the action and the characters and the theme4 ,stock pictures and characters1 etc41 savor too much of a manufactured article and kill the personality of a story4 ,only in one thing is there any difference in the behavior of my imagination when reading or writing a story4 ,if ,i am reading a story by another author my imagination pictures for me only what is absolutely necessary to make the story interesting4 ,if ,i am writing a story my imagination brings me a thousand pictures1 incidents1 etc41 to choose from4 ,or1 to put it another way1 in reading a story my imagination is localized to the restrictions of the story2 while if ,i am writing my imagination knows no boundaries4 ,yes1 ,i have long considered these matters as tools of my trade2 so long in fact that a consideration of them now is unnecessary4 ,in fact1 to think of them now when working on a story is to restrict their working4 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers3 ,it depends on the story4 ,no limitations to seeing4 ,colors4 ,distinct4 ,all mathematics annoy me4 ,response depends upon the author4 ,no stock pictures4 ,do not resent many images if they are well done4 ,difference when reading and writing8 ,of course4 ,as tools8 ,have given it no thought4 ,roy ,p4 ,churchill3 ,i have never thought of this before1 but believe that in my own case my responses through the senses are governed by what ,i have actually done myself4 ,for instance1 ,i know how a six-inch gun sounds1 the noise of the shell1 the impact of the explosion4 ,i can see the splash at the target1 follow the birdlike flight of the shell1 smell the powder1 taste the smoke4 ,for ,i have done these things1 experienced them1 and when they are in a story my senses respond4 ,yet ,i have not been a jockey in a horse race4 ,i can't get near as vividly the feel of the saddle1 the smell of sweating horses1 hear the shouts of the crowd1 the taste of churned dust on the track4 ,so in a story the writer's experiences must be real1 it seems to me1 to give anything like a second-hand impression on the senses of the reader4 ,yet ,i do enjoy prize-fight stories1 and never did them1 love horse-race stories and never rode in a race4 ,it must be that the authors of such stories had a very1 very clear picture to give it to me at all4 ,in stories of places ,i have not seen1 telling of experiences ,i have not gone through1 imagination fits in somewhat blurred details1 but often more enjoyably than stories of things ,i already knew4 ,for instance1 ,i have confused ideas of just what passes are made in a duel in ,the ,three ,musketeers1 but it does not detract from the charm of the story4 ,i have no stock pictures of scenes1 rather try to make them fit what the characters need4 ,my imagination works more freely in reading stories than in writing them4 ,carl ,clausen3 ,i feel all of these things if the story is done well enough4 ,actual colors1 ,i think4 ,always distinct4 ,did not study geometry to any extent4 ,limited to the author's description4 ,no stock pictures so far as ,i am conscious4 ,difference when reading and writing8 ,can't answer this4 ,don't know for sure4 ,i write by ear4 ,if these are tools1 ,i don't know it4 ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper3 ,unless ,i can see the story clearly and know the characters1 the thing falls short with me4 ,i feel that there is something either wrong with the author or myself4 ,black and white4 ,never got as far as solid geometry4 ,arithmetic was bad enough6 ,i reproduce myself and often help the author4 ,if ,i don't like his setting1 ,i make one of my own and go merrily on4 ,individual4 ,i don't like description that is too minute4 ,i feel like a kindergarten pupil4 ,a great deal4 ,in writing1 ,i am so terribly concentrated that ,i actually see nothing4 ,everything seems to be working out from my subconscious brain1 whatever that is4 ,no4 ,arthur ,crabb3 ,this is a bit too highbrow for me4 ,it seems to me that a great many writers try to make an undue appeal to the senses and too little to the common sense of the reader4 ,for instance1 if a tale is laid at the seashore ,i am not particularly interested in having the writer explain to me that the air is salt and the sea is green and the sand is white1 and so on4 ,what ,i am interested in is knowing what the character thinks of it1 that is1 if the heroine has lived all her life at the seashore1 the salt air and the green sea and the white sand probably do not interest her any more than the back of the brick building ,i see out of my office window interests me4 ,if the heroine comes from an inland farm then the effect of the sea on her is decidedly different4 ,the same thing in general applies to all the rest of human emotions4 ,the idea of making a little shop girl1 of no antecedents1 go through the range of emotions that would put a prima donna to shame1 is1 it seems to me1 unnecessary and undesirable4 ,i recently started a story in which the author plastered on so many colors my only impression was a kaleidoscopic paint shop4 ,the characters in the story never saw any of the colors at all4 ,i1 like every other human being1 can see things with my eyes shut1 if ,i get what you mean4 ,i can make imaginary characters act and picture imaginary scenes in complete detail4 ,that1 it seems to me1 is absolutely necessary if one is to write at all4 ,i studied mathematics two or three years beyond calculus4 ,naturally solid geometry gave me more trouble than plane geometry or trigonometry4 ,it is a far more complex proposition4 ,i think the two are comparable to learning to ride a bicycle and learning to walk on a slack wire4 ,incidentally ,i think there is a catch in this question1 but ,i am dodging it4 ,it depends on the author4 ,without checking myself up by compiling statistics ,i think the really great authors cut out what you call vivid description4 ,do you realize that the probability is that nothing in this world exists at all except in an individual's inner consciousness8 ,the reader can not be1 certainly ought not to be1 particularly interested in some writer's own picture of something or other except as his characters are affected4 ,i certainly do not have stock pictures of anything4 ,i do resent4 ,my answer as to difference when reading and writing is of course4 ,my idea of a story is people2 the description1 plot1 etc41 are the frame of the picture4 ,i am for instance not so much interested in who committed a murder as why the murderer did it4 ,my general answer is1 no4 ,mary ,stewart ,cutting3 ,it entirely depends on the power with which the story is written4 ,as a rule1 my imagination does not produce the same results on my senses as do the actual stimuli themselves4 ,but1 on the other hand1 if ,i may give an instance from ,booth ,tarkington's ,alice ,adams1 the dinner party given by ,alice to her apparent suitors is so vivid to me in every detail that ,i can never get over the feeling of being actually there in the heat and the murkiness and the smell of the brussels-sprouts4 ,there are no limitations to the pictures seen with your eyes shut4 ,i think we have stock pictures in our minds1 unless they are described4 ,there is a great difference in the behavior of my imagination when reading them and when writing them4 ,one has to use continued effort to keep the proper proportions in one's imagination4 ,when you are reading stories it is simply a relaxation4 ,everything is a tool of one's trade4 ,elmer ,davis3 ,depends on how good an author he is4 ,as a matter of fact1 my senses respond in detail much less than ,i had imagined till ,i tried it with your questions in mind4 ,usually ,i have a mere intellectual response to sensory images in a story1 though on occasions1 with especially good writers or in stories of unusual interest1 ,i feel them4 ,e4 g4 ,i get no feeling of smooth contact or gentle pressure from ,cytherea or ,the ,sheik1 though those stories are full of this item4 ,but ,i do from certain poets--,catullus1 ,donne1 author of the ,song of ,songs which is ,solomon's4 ,a4 ,dumas and your ,mr4 ,gordon ,young can generally give me an impression of rough contact or hard impact4 ,i taste food described in a story when ,i am hungry4 ,but in the main my senses don't respond--sight and hearing come across more often than the others4 ,i assimilate the scene described to the nearest like it that ,i have known--very generally1 of course1 and following the author's descriptions in principal details4 ,i believe ,i incline to see them in black and white except when other colors are mentioned4 ,details blurry unless set down4 7,note for argument4 ,yet ,i much prefer stories which leave details to my own imagination in the main4 ,the curse of ,hergesheimer is his overloading with minuti of interior decorating4 ,the great value of most ,oriental stuff1 notably the ,arabian ,nights and ,herodotus1 is their use of stock phrases fair as a moon on the fourteenth night1 etc41 which let you make your own picture47 ,no more trouble4 ,largely answered above4 ,the creation of atmosphere and suggestion is of course a delicate business1 as you know4 ,when it is done right ,i much prefer the suggestive concept4 ,stock pictures drawn from recollections of childhood 7mainly7 for most things4 ,country church1 barnyard1 ,i have from the age of three4 ,with variations1 of course1 to fit the particular case4 ,most images fall into certain types based roughly on things ,i have seen4 ,yes1 ,i do resent1 as said above4 ,works better and more freely when ,i am writing them4 ,no1 haven't used them as tools1 but1 believe me1 ,i will hereafter4 ,my wife1 just reading ,mc,teague1 calls my attention to ,frank ,norris's overdeveloped tendency to use the olfactory image4 ,for example1 he pictures the beginning of marital disillusionment by ,mc,teague's consciousness of the smell of his wife's hair-brush4 ,maybe ,i have the details wrong1 but anyway ,mc,t4 on entering the bedroom is conscious of the smell of the hair-brush where one of our modern heroes would smell the fragrant powder on her palpitant flesh1 etc4 ,also in a mob scene in ,the ,octopus1 where some thousands of the ,californian peasantry get together to hunt jackrabbits on a hot summer day1 ,norris speaks of the strong ammoniacal odor4 ,now ,i think the average reader doesn't feel with his nose unless the author1 as in these cases1 deliberately calls his attention4 ,that is1 if you write a sweating crowd most of us would think of the glistening brow rather than the animal odor4 ,probably that was in the ordinary practise1 the naturalist school1 but there seems to be evidence that ,norris ran more naturally to the smell-image than most of them4 ,william ,harper ,dean3 ,when ,i read a story ,i must live through it with the characters4 ,if this is impossible ,i will not stay with it4 ,if ,i can not suffer and rejoice with the characters1 laugh with them1 hate with them1 the story lacks the power to produce that reaction in me which my own stories must produce in me4 ,if the style grates or lumbers along ,i become disgusted--the fine charm is lacking4 ,yes1 ,i see things with my eyes shut--place my characters in a situation1 then stand off1 as it were1 and watch them react1 then record what they do and say4 ,i can't ram words down their throats1 neither can ,i drag them about like dummies and think they are acting4 ,solid geometry to me was always more immediately assimilated in its logic than analytical geometry or calculus4 ,the former made pictures1 the latter nebulous nothings4 ,an author who can1 like ,knut ,hamsun1 write one line describing a situation1 then pass on to the next stage of plot development1 gives me that delightful privilege of placing my own interpretation to the line and1 in my mind1 reading several chapters while ,i let my eyes follow into his next paragraph4 ,and that's writing4 ,not everybody can do it1 for not every author is a writer4 ,the reader deserves latitude for exercising his interpretative powers--if an author sets about to argue out every situation down to the orthodox ,quod erat demonstrandum1 he not only clutters up the story with words but he cheats the reader and the reader resents it4 ,i might go a step beyond and say he is casting reflections upon the reader's intelligence4 ,i have no stock pictures for any setting or any character4 ,i construct them as ,i need them from life4 ,i always can produce a prototype for anything ,i use1 for ,i don't attempt to write about any setting or any character with which ,i have never made contact4 ,it's no trouble to scent out inventions in a story2 they grate and make the story squeak and clank4 ,i am running a series of stories in ,the ,ladies' ,home ,journal built around a boy character of the twelve-year age4 ,he is my own son4 ,where he plays1 ,i know every nook and cranny of that great woodland park1 ,i know the code of ethics held by his clan1 ,i know how his mind reacts under certain stimuli4 ,when ,i need a character like the ogre which every boy his age has1 ,i find him in the neighborhood1 or1 failing1 go back and resurrect one which ,i knew in my boyhood4 ,no1 when ,i read a story1 my imagination works in the same channels followed as when ,i write one4 ,i do not consider these things tools of the trade2 subconsciously ,i use them as such1 but ,i try to divorce from creative writing any and all rules1 tools and formula4 ,good writing is nothing more than good thinking--if we thought by rule and formula1 what a world this would be6 ,harris ,dickson3 ,these things depend1 ,i believe1 upon the skill of the writer and perhaps as much upon the reader's present mood4 ,sometimes and in some stories1 all the incidents1 settings1 characters1 smells1 sounds and sights are just as clear as if ,i were actually present4 ,sometimes ,i do not get them at all4 ,for instance1 many years after ,i still feel the gruesome atmosphere that ,conan ,doyle created in his ,hound of the ,baskervilles1 remember passages from ,the ,lord of the ,isles1 and smell the deep dark medieval woods in ,the ,forest ,lovers4 ,books with me are like people--some ,i see once and remember always2 some ,i see every day and fail to register them at all4 ,i shouldn't know solid geometry if ,i saw it coming down the big road with a bell on it4 ,i am not conscious of having stock pictures in mind2 the end of ,loch ,katrine 7,lady of the ,lake7 is very different from ,lake ,geneva 7,prisoner of ,chillon74 ,and the battle of ,waterloo 7,vanity ,fair7 does not resemble the battle of ,omdurman 7,with ,kitchener to ,khartoum74 ,i don't know whether too many pictures should be given a reader4 ,the writer should1 in this day and time1 remember that ,the tale's the thing4 ,and pictures of setting1 etc41 perform precisely the same function as sets in a drama4 ,sometimes a too-elaborate setting detracts from and holds up a story--as in a very gorgeous recent film of ,nazimova1 called ,the ,red ,lantern1 the perfection of the actress herself was largely obscured by distracting scenery4 ,to my mind the art is just as bad if you have too much of this--perhaps worse--as it is if you have too little4 ,to me there is much difference between reading and writing2 in reading ,i must follow what is told me2 in writing1 what imagination ,i have roams on a loose halter4 ,sure1 some of these matters are tools of the trade1 a trade that in many respects is just as mechanical as carpentering--secure foundations1 body of edifice1 and climax roof4 ,captain ,dingle3 ,depends of course on the artistry of the author in that particular story4 ,some stories read to me like the monotonous dirge of a praying revivalist's convert4 ,but when the story is well written and is a story after mine own heart1 ,i can generally see1 taste1 smell1 feel with the author1 though ,i never recall feeling physical pain4 ,of the senses1 ,i think sense of smell gets to me most vividly4 7,no1 that isn't any wallop at anybody's stuff4 ,my own stinks sometimes47 ,i have to see my own work1 though not necessarily with eyes shut4 ,when ,i visualize a story it is like seeing a fleet of ships coming out of a fog4 ,when the fog clears1 the bell rings for ,full ,ahead4 ,i never had a chance to study anything deeply4 ,to pass any of my nautical exams ,i was simply crammed with rules and never learned the roots4 ,so far as ,i remember1 of any studies ,i suffered at school1 what we called plain ordinary sums gave me as hard a hammering as anything4 ,i never could learn to do more than add and subtract and blunder through division4 ,salt hoss and hardtack and rope-ends constituted my curriculum after the age of fourteen and a half4 ,sometimes an author's mere phrase will give me a clear picture1 but not often4 ,i can't recall a writer of recent date who can do that for me4 ,i have a fresh vision1 usually1 for each picture ,i form myself1 except where ,i am using a character or a scene over and over again1 as in a series4 ,i mean1 ,i don't see any building as a mere pattern1 nor any man as a type altogether4 ,oh1 yes6 ,my own imagination works like a pre-war non-union artisan when ,i am writing3 smoothly1 without strikes1 and never kicking at a bit of overtime4 ,when reading1 unless the stuff grips extra hard1 the imagination is like one of the post-war scum who never work except to fight up to the pay window1 then strike till next pay-day4 ,no1 ,i don't think so4 ,perhaps ,i ought4 ,louis ,dodge3 ,when ,i read a story ,i consider it an excellent or a poor story just in proportion as ,i see it and realize it--and all the characters--clearly1 as if ,i were participating in it4 ,i like swift strokes which make things vivid and real4 ,for example1 in ,the ,master of ,ballantrae1 ,stevenson1 wishing to indicate the deterioration of a man's character1 pictures him as he walks with his little son4 ,mackellar is speaking3 ,it was pretty to see the pair returning1 full of briers1 and the father as flushed and sometimes as bemuddied as the child2 for they were equal sharers in all sorts of boyish entertainment1 digging in the beach1 damming of streams1 and what not2 and ,i have seen them gaze through a fence at cattle with the same childish contemplation4 ,that last phrase 7the italics are mine7--does it leave anything invisible8 ,the real masters do make me see colors and smell odors and feel beaten down by forces4 ,when ,i was a boy ,i took the writer's word for it2 but now he has to show me4 ,that1 perhaps1 is the test of a rattling story--that it shows us instead of telling us4 ,i can see things clearly with my eyes shut1 but only the major colors appear2 the blue of the sea and sky1 the red and black of fire and smoke1 the green of grass4 ,when ,i see human faces ,i see only expressions4 ,i can now see the face of ,barnaby ,rudge's mother1 with the expression of mysterious and hidden terror in it4 ,solid geometry was easier to me than plane geometry--perhaps because it came afterward1 perhaps because the additional dimension made the thing more tangible4 ,i don't like stock figures2 yet ,i confess that when ,i think of school-masters ,i think of dear old ,professor ,lane of ,quitman ,college1 a bent old man with calm dark eyes and a meek manner and an iron-gray mustache2 and when ,i think of western sheriffs ,i always think of ,bob ,dowe of ,maverick ,county1 ,texas1 who spoke softly and went and got 'em4 ,i try not to use stock figures4 ,i would rather write stories than read them4 ,making a story is my own adventure2 reading one is following another man4 ,i don't like to think of the tools of my trade4 ,i think ,dickens' best book is ,the ,pickwick ,papers--a book in which the author plainly didn't know where he was going or what he was going to do4 ,the greatest books are formless3 ,les ,miserables1 ,jean ,christophe4 ,perhaps little folk ought to have tools and think about them4 ,the result may be a good job1 but never1 ,i think1 a great story3 and ,i like to hitch my poor wagon to a star4 ,phyllis ,duganne3 ,depends on the author whether ,i visualize his story-world or not4 ,some writers can make me see and believe people and places and action that ,i'd be inclined not to believe--and some writers can make a perfectly ordinary living-room scene look more like a cardboard set than a house4 ,same with sounds and tastes and smells and touches and feelings4 ,i think that in the average short story ,i find the people more real than the settings and action4 ,and it depends a great deal1 too1 on my mood4 ,if ,i'm interested in the story as a piece of work--the sort of job ,i'm doing myself--it's more an interesting laying of words end-to-end to make a piece of fiction that's convincing and readable than anything else4 ,but if ,i'm not thinking of the story as work--but just as a tale--,i can be righteously indignant with the villain and thrilled with the hero4 ,there aren't any limitations to seeing things with my eyes shut--if the writer can make me see them4 ,a writer ,i like and enjoy--and ,i like a good many--can make me see things and people and places quite as though ,i were there2 every detail and color and sound and smell and noise as distinct as though it were before me4 ,i didn't study solid geometry1 but ,i'm sure it wouldn't have given me as much trouble as plain every-day arithmetic4 ,nothing could have4 ,again it depends on the author4 ,i think that usually my response is more than the exact description of the author4 ,i think ,i haven't any stock pictures2 perhaps ,i have for a cowboy4 ,if images really are formed1 ,i don't resent it4 ,but when a writer tries so hard that he merely spoils the image ,i've already formed without giving me anything else1 ,i do4 ,stories that ,i write are more vivid to me than the average story ,i read4 ,but ,i think that must always be true2 it's the thing that makes me feel my limitations most3 that people and places can be so vivid and real to me and that ,i can't make them so vivid and real to other people4 ,edna ,ferber in her ,old ,man ,minick made the old man as real as any one ,i've ever seen or imagined or written about--but ,i suppose he is much more real to her--and probably different--than he is to me4 ,yes1 ,i've considered these things as tools of my trade4 ,a story isn't much good unless it's real to the reader1 and reality comes through making a person forget it's a story and actually see and hear and feel4 ,j4 ,allan ,dunn3 ,all emotions come to us through the senses4 ,and the sense of sight is the key to memory4 ,as smell is akin to taste1 so that one may barely distinguish1 ,i think it is hard to say how the memory of what one sees may stimulate the other senses4 ,i can see plainly many of the characters of other authors1 they are as distinct as if ,i had met them4 ,i recognize them partly by the masonry of our craft4 ,so too ,i can see the setting if ,i stop to connect up4 ,but ,i think it is largely the difference between being able to think in a foreign language when we read it1 or to pause--however connectedly--and translate4 ,i can force my reading mind to translate more vividly for me if ,i want it to4 ,color ,i can see best4 ,vaguely ,i can taste4 ,sense of rough or smooth contact1 no4 ,nor of pain4 ,but ,i can get exhilarated by the pleasure of the characters1 depressed by their sorrow1 react to bravery1 patriotism1 sacrifice1 sorrow4 ,my lachrymal glands will work1 my emotions are on the qui vive1 but the sense impressions are in the main hazy4 ,i can see things with my eyes shut without a question4 ,i can conjure up places ,i have seen or that are well described4 ,i can see color1 ,i can see details1 if ,i stop to think4 ,don't believe ,i can read and do it nearly as vividly1 unless experience of my own is coincident4 ,i had no trouble with solid geometry4 ,i got my mathematical degree at ,oxford4 ,an author will stimulate me far beyond the exact degree of description4 ,i try to avoid all stock pictures as ,i would the plague4 ,i conjure up an individual vision4 ,i endeavor to see plainly every character and every bit of scenery ,i use4 ,often the characters and scenes are taken entire from life4 ,it is my general plan to write of no phases of life1 no places1 that ,i have not known at first hand4 ,my imagination is highly stimulated when writing stories that ,i start upon with special enthusiasm1 but the work of a fine craftsman urges me to better effort for myself and gives me enormous satisfaction4 ,i don't know how far ,i use such matters as tools of my trade4 ,certainly the ability to conjure up my scenes and characters is most essential4 ,i am afraid of plagiarism4 ,i acknowledge the reaction to write something in the style or upon the lines of an author ,i admire and ,i have to fight it4 ,walter ,a4 ,dyer3 ,in reading ,i visualize1 particularly the setting4 ,atmosphere in a story always appeals to me4 ,thus ,i see the town of ,middlemarch as a real place1 and ,egdon ,heath in ,the ,return of the ,native is very vivid to me1 while the salient points of the characters have faded4 ,i react to sound1 taste and smell less readily4 ,tenseness of dramatic passages ,i feel physically1 but not pain very acutely4 ,stories by ,conrad have left me physically weary as though ,i had taken part in the action1 but not every author affects me in this way4 ,i believe ,i visualize color as well as outline1 and motion is included1 even the passing of wind1 in the picture4 ,i always found solid geometry easy4 ,i do not have stock pictures4 ,probably ,i am a bit sophisticated and react to the suggestiveness of so-called literary description more than the average4 ,my mind works much the same way when ,i am writing4 ,i believe ,i succeed in getting atmosphere into my stories1 but ,i do not find it has the most telling element in making them salable4 ,i might add that in reading ,i am not so much carried away by pure action as by vividness of detail and the dramatic element that is psychological4 ,beyond that1 humor in presentation and color in description appeal to me4 ,stevenson1 for example1 and to a large extent ,kipling and ,hardy1 combine these to my liking4 ,walter ,prichard ,eaton3 ,i certainly see in imagination1 as clearly as in reality1 when my mind is concentrated4 ,i couldn't write anything if ,i didn't see as ,i wrote4 ,a person without strong visual imagination may be a great philosopher1 but he can never enter fiction4 ,i never studied solid geometry4 ,plane was the only mathematics ,i ever could do1 though6 ,i have1 as a reader1 stock pictures only for stock stories4 ,if a writer can not compel an individual image in me1 ,i throw away his manuscript4 ,i resent description that is a mass of detail1 when my picture is formed at a sentence4 ,most ,american magazine writers sin this way4 ,i skip the second half of nearly all their description4 ,the ,french never sin this way4 ,they select few1 but the salient details4 ,of course one's imagination differs in the acts of reading and creating--i4 e4 the process of employment differs4 ,in reading it is passive and follows a lead1 in creating1 it is active4 ,that is why it is more fun to create--and why it tires you quicker4 ,the imagination itself is the same in the two processes1 but in the second it has a sense of freedom4 ,artists have initiative of imagination4 ,i don't know what you mean by considering these matters as tools of your trade4 ,i have had always an interest in psychology1 especially the psychology of esthetics4 ,but it never occurred to me that anybody could possibly write creative literature without the ability to reassemble sensory impressions and hold them steadily by the power of the imagination4 ,if ,i hadn't possessed to some extent this power1 ,i should never have tried to write4 ,the stronger one has it1 the more inevitably he becomes an artist4 ,e4 ,o4 ,foster3 ,having been a copy reader ,i am afraid that when ,i read a story ,i do not allow my imagination the play it should have and ,i fear that this probably reacts in my own composition4 ,for me to get the full benefit of a story it must be off the ordinary track1 for instance--,f4 ,st4 ,mars' stories of animal life appeal to me4 ,i could see and sense the different animals in their habitat4 ,talbot ,mundy's stuff appeals to me but in a different way4 ,i think it is by association1 for ,i have lived a great deal of my life in foreign countries4 ,i can not see things with my eyes shut1 but if ,i concentrate my memory will bring back details ,i can write down4 ,for instance in one of my stories ,i spoke about an obscene lizard4 ,this particular lizard1 a ,gecko1 was perched on top of a broken bamboo a short distance in front of one of our trenches in ,manila4 ,he was making the night hideous4 ,i threw a club at him just as he started his yammer4 ,the club hit the bamboo and he went sailing into the air to land ultimately on the ground4 ,i can feel as plainly to-day as ,i could then my astonishment when1 with the sound of his impact1 came the you-you-y-o-u1 with which he always ended his call4 ,you could not page him4 ,scenery to me comes back in its color1 as do paintings1 but a house--even the house in which ,i was born and reared--does not seem to me to have color4 ,i have not studied solid geometry1 therefore ,i can not answer this question4 ,my response is not limited to the exact degree to which the author's description makes vivid1 for ,i frequently find myself trying to add to an author's conception4 ,i think possibly that when ,i visualize a church it is possibly the little one in which ,i first attended divine service1 but ,i have seen so many cowboys and so many soldiers that ,i imagine each case produces individual vision4 ,i have not been inside many churches lately4 ,there is a decided difference in the behavior of my imagination when ,i am reading a story and when ,i am writing one4 ,nor have ,i considered these methods as tools of my trade4 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel3 ,my imagination does not reproduce any of these sense impressions1 or pain4 ,if the writer has made these things vivid they register strongly1 but ,i do not actually see1 hear and smell them as in real life4 ,didn't study geometry4 ,am limited virtually1 though not actually1 to the writer's portrayal4 ,no stock pictures4 ,reading vs4 writing8 ,yes4 ,when writing a story ,i live it4 ,have not considered these as tools of my trade4 ,j4 ,u4 ,giesy3 ,personally in reading a story my imagination reproduces the scene of the author only as tinctured by my own characteristic bent1 ,i suspect4 ,i actually see the characters and settings--,i mentally appreciate the sounds1 flavors1 tastes1 smells and tactile impressions described1 but wholly in a comparative rather than any other sense4 ,the pain sense in a physical way1 ,i can not say ,i have ever felt--on a mental plane1 as applying to pathos1 grief1 etc41 ,i have always been keenly responsive4 ,in writing ,i have at times laughed heartily at some humorous situation or wept at the emotion ,i sought to convey by the situation and cause for grief expressed4 ,in seeing things with my eyes shut ,i believe that the pictures take on the mentally pre-recorded tints resulting from past experiences of life4 ,details with me are exceedingly distinct--a setting or locale is as clearly apprehended as though it for the moment was actually existent in a physical state4 ,geometry never troubled me4 ,it probably would now as ,i haven't tried to demonstrate a theorem for years4 ,i am very apt to carry on the author's concept along my own lines--or to diverge from it at times to an entirely different result4 ,i have no stock pictures in the sense you mean4 ,each setting grows as applying to the story in hand4 ,at the same time there is no doubt that each is in a sense the result of past knowledge of such settings1 many of them having come down from childhood1 and each being modified for the case in hand to suit4 ,i read in a more or less passive state1 trying to get the meat of the author's thought4 ,i write in a state of tense concentration trying to force my thought on the reader4 ,the processes are very different ,i think4 ,i fear ,i have never thought of this as fully as ,i have since the question was asked by you4 ,as you know1 my writing is an avocation and pleasure--a relaxation from a professional life4 ,george ,gilbert3 ,if the story is good1 ,i live it as ,i read2 if it is without appeal to me enough to compel me to live it1 ,i throw it aside4 ,in regard to seeing things with your eyes shut1 this question evades a square answer1 for who can analyze the limitations of his own imagination1 when he must use it for the analysis8 ,who else can do it for him8 ,the imagination1 in its workings1 is the one power that is inalienable1 non-delegateable4 ,do ,i have stock pictures for church1 cowboy1 etc48 ,i hope not4 ,reading vs4 writing8 ,no one can tell2 certainly ,i can't4 ,tools8 ,no2 not2 none4 ,if an author kept all that in mind1 he'd write1 not stories1 but a text-book on them4 ,kenneth ,gilbert3 ,to a great degree ,i have spoiled myself as a reader2 in other words1 ,i have for years taught myself to be always looking for the mechanics of a story4 ,i ask myself3 ,why did the author do this8 ,and ,i am not satisfied until the question is answered4 ,occasionally1 however1 ,i read a story that by its smoothness and charm stirs my admiration and imagination1 and ,i find myself being carried along1 reacting the same as the average reader1 in just the way the author wished4 ,then indeed do ,i hear the sounds described and taste the flavors of the story4 ,imagination does not reproduce smells very markedly1 but the sense of touch is very real4 ,physical pain is felt2 more keenly when sympathies are deeply stirred4 ,a poignant sense of sympathy is the keenest emotion ,i feel1 it seems to me4 ,in addition ,i would say that clever dialogue in dialect1 such as a negro--if he is funny--is most realistic4 ,i can hear the words spoken4 ,i see things with my eyes shut1 but sketchily1 only the high lights being visible1 therefore the details1 unless ,i focus my attention on them1 are blurred4 ,in colors4 ,solid geometry proved far more interesting than arithmetic1 which was very distasteful to me4 ,i have stock pictures1 unless the author has troubled to depict objects otherwise4 ,i prefer to see them through his eyes rather than resort to my familiar scenes4 ,decidedly there is a difference in the behavior of my imagination when ,i am writing1 as compared to reading1 stories4 ,reading a story never keys me up until ,i am oblivious to all but my immediate surroundings1 while ,i fairly live a dramatic scene in my own story4 ,i consider these matters tools of the trade4 ,for example1 ,i try to test impartially my own description1 to see if ,i have gone far enough1 or too far4 ,if ,i feel that it is graphic enough for the reader to get its highlights1 his own imagination will supply the rest4 7,i'm taking ,kipling's word for that1 and ,i think it is correct1 as ,i have proved it to my own satisfaction by questioning discerning friends who read my stories47 ,a sentence which carries imaginative stimuli1 and therefore a flavor1 is one of my constant aims4 ,louise ,closser ,hale3 ,i know that good reading makes good writing1 develops style1 polishes our sentences and gives us an unconscious measure for us to go by4 ,i know that ,i have often written down a word and1 after writing it1 realize that ,i had no clear idea what that word meant1 but upon digging at my dictionary ,i have found it to be absolutely the word for the definition of my thought4 ,that comes from good reading4 ,how beautiful it is that1 like acting1 we can learn and enjoy at the same time6 ,is there any difference in the workings of my imagination when ,i am reading and when ,i am writing8 ,well1 ,i generally read authors who write better than ,i do and my imagination makes pictures of every situation of their story4 ,but ,i resent any great description of the characters4 ,i can make my own pictures2 and ,i am impatient when ,i myself am writing if there seems any compelling necessity for going into the delineation of features and coloring and what they wear4 ,the reader can make my people look just the way he wants to4 ,i don't care--it's enough to be read4 ,i might say more than that4 ,as ,kate ,douglas ,wiggin said once to me1 teasingly3 ,i've bought your last book4 ,i don't suppose you care whether ,i have read it or not4 ,perhaps it is just enough to be bought4 ,holworthy ,hall3 ,unfortunately1 when ,i read a contemporary story ,i am always seeing the machinery1 especially if ,i know the author personally4 ,if1 however1 ,i read the work of an author unknown to me personally or an author no longer living or a so-called classic1 ,i am much more subject to my own imagination4 ,it is only once in a hundred instances that any writer can make me forget the methods by which he has attempted to produce his effect4 ,when this happens1 ,i know that ,i have read something genuine4 ,nevertheless1 even if a story is bad and even if the wheels creak1 ,i am very receptive of any appeal to any specific sense1 primarily the visual sense4 ,with my eyes shut ,i have no limitations in color or in detail4 ,i took honors in solid geometry4 ,generally ,i am offended by a wealth of description and detail which prevents me from independent thinking2 ,i much prefer to receive a vivid suggestion and to be allowed to ferment it myself4 ,as a reader ,i have no stock pictures4 ,i put it up to the author to show me what he has2 if he fails to convince me1 ,i walk out4 ,i decline to substitute my own conceptions for those which he impliedly guaranteed to provide me4 ,next question answered already--above4 ,obviously1 after what ,i have already said1 there is all the difference in the world between the state of my imagination when ,i read and when ,i write4 ,never4 ,if ,i had1 ,i should be too self-conscious to write4 ,richard ,matthews ,hallet3 ,the trend of the questions on imagination seems to be to discover what type of imagination mine is1 auditory1 visual or motor4 ,these ,i believe are the psychological divisions4 ,i think mine is auditory4 ,i get things ,i hear better than things ,i see4 ,a word or two may mean more to me than a whole landscape4 ,words collect values round themselves in some queer way and they provide you with an imaginary world not so sharp as the real one--that is my case at least--but to which my emotional reaction is vastly keener4 ,i wonder if the imaginations of most writing men are not chiefly auditory1 with a good infusion of the motor type where there is a knack of swift flowing narrative4 ,certainly the chief preoccupation of the writer is with words and not things4 ,does he have the same grasp of detail as the practical-minded man8 ,i doubt it1 even where his writing is all made up of detail4 ,he husbands the details he does grasp1 that is all4 ,they are precious and astonishing to him for the very reason that he is weak on that side4 ,lafcadio ,hearn's writing is a gorgeous mass of color and of sensuous appreciation2 yet the man was half blind1 ,i believe4 ,his sight was certainly defective4 ,this may have helped him4 ,beethoven's symphonies were none the worse for their composer being deaf4 ,obstacles may be the very things that compel genius to extend itself4 ,mathematics hits me on my blind side entirely4 ,i do not resent having images formed for me1 ,i demand it4 ,i dislike sketchy writing4 ,i'm not speaking of the enormous suggestiveness which words of course have in themselves1 but of a habit of leaving the reader to fill in the picture4 ,if most stories were of the ,lady or the ,tiger type1 they would fall flat1 in my opinion4 ,a story1 to ring the bull's eye1 should be self-contained4 ,as to behavior of my imagination when reading and when writing1 it differs as the behavior of a man loafing differs from that of a man slaving under the lash4 ,this is a large difference4 ,i don't write easily2 not apparently because ,i like it4 ,and yet any other job would certainly suit me less4 ,so where are we8 ,william ,h4 ,hamby3 ,it all depends on the writer4 ,if he has seen what he is describing and does it interestingly and convincingly ,i see it too4 ,if he doesn't--,i skip to the next story4 ,i do not bring up in my mind sounds described in a story nearly so vividly as ,i do tastes or smell4 ,the description of an odor comes very vividly to me4 ,i do not feel physical pain as ,i read of it--with the exception of cold or fatigue4 ,i have a very vivid sense of touch and any mention of coldness1 smoothness or the like is felt as ,i read4 ,i see things with my eyes shut and ,i often see them in colors4 ,at times they are misty and again ,i see the picture in very vivid details4 ,solid geometry was very easy for me4 ,i started in solid geometry before ,i had studied plane geometry and demonstrated every proposition in the text4 ,i usually see most vividly that which is merely suggested or very briefly described4 ,a detailed description kills the picture with me4 ,i have no stock pictures4 ,if a picture comes at all1 it is a new one4 ,naturally one's imagination works more definitely when he is writing than when reading4 ,in order to write at all one must bring his mind into a state of intense activity4 ,but he can read almost passively--often passing over long stretches merely to get to what he hopes is coming4 ,no1 ,i never have4 ,joseph ,mills ,hanson3 ,when ,i read a story ,i see everything vividly1 provided it interests me2 characters1 action and setting4 ,i do not hear sounds2 merely realize them4 ,yes1 ,i believe ,i do taste flavors4 ,not much doing on smells4 ,sense of touch also rather somnolent 7hope ,i'm not getting atrophied674 ,but ,i do feel actual1 physical pain1 if it is feelingly depicted4 ,often see things with my eyes shut2 it comes naturally4 ,things seem in natural colors and distinct4 ,thank goodness1 ,i never studied solid geometry4 ,algebra was bad enough4 ,however1 ,i liked plane geometry better than other mathematics--which isn't saying much4 ,if ,i become absorbed in a story1 my imagination runs away ahead of the author2 though not always1 of course1 nor often1 to his conclusions4 ,i usually get different pictures for every church or cowboy1 or dog or barnyard1 or anything else4 ,there is1 ,i believe1 a difference in the conduct of my imagination when reading or writing a story4 ,it acts more slowly1 perhaps less logically1 when writing2 ,i have to ponder situations a good deal before deciding and going ahead4 ,yes1 ,i have thought of them as tools of my trade4 ,the sub-divisions have not occurred to me in that light4 ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman3 ,in reading a story ,i see every1 smallest detail and if the author is chary of descriptions ,i fill in unconsciously4 ,one reason why ,i am at times short on descriptions--,i see it so plainly myself that ,i am liable to forget that others can not4 ,my imagination carries me into a field of action so completely that ,i am often under a strain that tires me out4 ,i have1 in writing a gunfight scene1 jumped nearly out of my chair when a neighbor slammed a board down on another one4 ,i am often so affected by pathos of my own composition that ,i have to pause and assure myself that it is fiction1 before ,i can finish4 ,in reading ,payson ,terhune's dog story in the last ,ladies' ,home ,journal last night ,i got so worked up that ,i wanted to hammer hell out of that speed maniac who killed the dog4 ,i feel1 see1 hear1 smell1 anything vividly represented by a good writer4 ,seeing in the dark--the colorings are there1 to the last gradation4 ,every detail is clear cut and distinct4 ,i can see things ,i saw fifty years ago1 in just that way4 ,as ,i think of my dog that died forty-two years ago1 ,i can see the shadings that ran down from his reddish back to his light yellow belly4 ,i can see the color and expression of his eyes and the way he would cock his head on one side when listening to me4 ,never studied solid geometry1 though ,i made the drawings in the ,university of ,minnesota4 ,enjoyed them immensely and took a high mark4 ,if a writer hints at anything1 my mind pictures it instantly4 ,if his description is stopped shy of completion1 ,i finish it4 ,i have no stock pictures1 though my memory is full of scenes4 ,any style or kind is built up instantly by a phrase or sentence4 ,i think that there is a marked difference in imaginative vision when writing or reading4 ,in reading ,i feel that ,i am looking at a photograph or watching action by others4 ,in writing ,i feel that ,i am in the scene--a part of it--helping in the action4 ,i use these tools of my trade daily4 ,often ,i start with a man or boy as my central character4 ,before long he gets into a scrape4 ,at once ,i become that character and have to live the situation in order to learn what he would or could do to get out of a fix4 ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw3 ,this is rather hard to answer1 but in reading a book or story that ,i'm genuinely interested in ,i react far beyond the written page in all the senses you enumerate4 ,i imagine ,i feel most the emotions of the characters1 fear1 hate1 desire1 pain1 etc4 ,also taste hits me hard4 ,smell not so much4 ,sound still less4 ,touch last of all4 ,a scene well done ,i see perfectly and ,i delight in the little touches that make real and set off the whole1 trifles like a puddle in a road1 a rock on a hillside1 an odd piece of furniture or ornament in a room4 ,in writing unless ,i can see what ,i'm writing about ,i can't get it on paper4 ,the picture is perfectly clear to the last detail no matter how fanciful4 ,this applies to any picture ,i try to conjure up4 ,i see the colors also4 ,being a dub at all mathematics1 ,i never studied geometry4 ,if an author gives me a good hint ,i can generally go beyond it4 ,i've no stock pictures1 especially in my own work4 ,a place will give me an idea even quicker than a person4 ,but then ,i've always thought that there was a great deal in that ancient expression ,ain't nature grand4 ,there is1 of course1 a big difference though it's hard to explain4 ,perhaps ,i can get at it best by saying that writing is work1 reading play4 ,these matters are most certainly tools of the trade1 and ,i use them all ,i can4 ,joseph ,hergesheimer3 ,my reaction to a story is partly to the fineness of its writing and partly to the depth of its humanity--its pity and understanding4 ,i see no mental pictures--again all this is simply the emotion of recognition4 ,solid geometry8 ,i have never studied anything4 ,stock pictures or individual vision8 ,if it isn't the latter it's nothing6 ,resent too many images8 ,this is not clear4 ,behavior of the imagination escapes me4 ,tools of trade8 ,this1 too1 is complicated4 ,i think ,i am centered on the main thing1 and the rest follow subconsciously4 ,robert ,hichens3 ,i can not answer this4 ,r4 de ,s4 ,horn3 ,i certainly consider these matters as tools of the trade4 ,perhaps this comes from the peculiar situation ,i find myself in2 viz41 having to write or do nothing4 ,i had always liked to write2 did a lot of it at the ,naval ,academy and afterward as a side line mostly for the pure fun of it4 ,but when ,i was smashed up and rendered unfit for most occupations ,i took to writing with deliberate intent to make it my one profession4 ,writing is in mind at all times1 whatever ,i do1 wherever ,i go4 ,and with such in view ,i try to make everything useful and subservient to the end in view4 ,i find that my imagination is quite vivid1 and it immediately interests itself in every story ,i read4 ,i smell smells1 see sights1 hear sounds1 taste tastes and feel emotions provided the author himself has done so and thus has handed them on to me4 ,in other words ,i quite enter into the atmosphere of the stories ,i read4 ,more than this1 ,i sometimes find myself seized with a new solution to the story and thinking it out to see if possibly the story wouldn't have been better that way4 ,generally the pictures ,i see in my imagination are black and white2 silhouettes1 you might say1 though ,i still see the colors4 ,the idea is that it is the outlines that strike me most forcibly1 sort of like cardboard outlines of mountains1 for instance1 that show the bold characteristics rather than the tiny details4 ,by focussing ,i am able to bring out the details better1 however1 after a bit4 ,but the first impression is usually silhouette-like4 ,solid geometry and spherical trigonometry did give me considerably more trouble than the plane branches of mathematics4 ,however by the time ,i had finished calculus and a few more like that ,i seemed to have acquired the knack of it4 ,the author's words frequently set my imagination off in its own and sometimes quite different channels4 ,i don't believe ,i have stock pictures4 ,it seems to me that every story should have its own distinctive characters and settings4 ,however ,i have not written sufficiently to say for certain that ,i don't use them unconsciously4 ,i think my imagination works differently when writing than when reading4 ,in the first case ,i direct it myself and deliberately put it to work in most cases after the story actually begins to take form4 ,but when reading it works purely subconsciously4 ,clyde ,b4 ,hough3 ,the mere printed word does not and never can present the picture in the fulness of its maturity4 ,the best that the printed word can hope to do is to suggest graphically1 so graphically that the imagination of the dullest reader will experience no difficulty in rounding out the picture1 in clothing it with all the splendor1 emotion1 etc41 that the author has suggested4 ,it is my belief that any author's success will be measured according to the extent that he succeeds in achieving this goal4 ,when ,i read other men's stories1 or to be accurate ,i should say when ,i study other men's stories1 ,i see their characters4 ,i am enthralled by their action which expresses their sensations4 ,my subconscious mind is aware of the tastes1 the flavors and the smells or anything else that goes to round out a given setting1 but ,i do not physically experience these things4 ,my imagination does not reproduce the sense of touch1 nor does it cause me to feel pain4 ,i account for this by the fact that all the rounding out of the story1 as a reader supplying what the author suggests1 is left to my subconscious mind1 because my conscious mind is solely occupied with studying the story from the craftsman's standpoint4 ,to put the whole matter in a nut shell1 ,i do not read for entertainment1 but solely to study the other fellow's craftsmanship in order that ,i myself may acquire more craft4 ,yes1 ,i can see things with my eyes shut and the limitations are1 allowing for the ratio of imagination1 in proportion to the number and variety1 or the sum total of all the actual concrete things ,i have ever seen4 ,these pictures and objects in my mind automatically take on the color that is appropriate to themselves4 ,the details are not distinct unless ,i make a special effort in concentration4 ,but by an effort of the will ,i can generally straighten out the kinks4 ,i have not studied any form of higher mathematics4 ,i do not think that ,i elaborate on other men's work in a creative sense1 although many stories have started me thinking on certain lines which ultimately rewarded me with a plot germ4 ,but in all such cases ,i have been extremely alert to avoid allowing any similarity between such a story and the other author's story which fathered the embryo thought4 ,i do not believe that ,i have stock pictures for either pirates1 preachers or church steeples4 ,i make this statement because ,i am never surprised at meeting people differently garbed or at seeing things differently shaped from what ,i have been accustomed to see them4 ,when ,i am reading1 my imagination works1 ,i believe1 just about as much as the suspense1 thrill1 emotion1 etc41 recorded in what ,i'm reading requires--no more than that4 ,but when ,i'm writing my imagination is brought under the pressure of my will and driven to its uttermost capacity--with the guiding hand of judgment at the reins always of course4 ,some of the phases of the writing craft thus far touched upon ,i have considered and used consciously4 ,some ,i have missed automatically4 ,this laboratory test will be of inestimable worth to any author4 ,emerson ,hough3 ,i have no mental contortions4 ,my mouth never waters4 ,just see the pictures clear1 as nearly as ,i can tell4 ,geometry8 ,you are getting too deep4 ,all mathematics troubled me plenty4 ,as to response1 ,i don't savvy this4 ,no1 ,i don't think any writer has stock pictures who has resources of his own4 ,i don't resent2 sometimes ,i don't read4 ,reading vs4 writing8 ,i'll say there is6 ,tools8 ,i never throw fits4 ,i am a very plain1 ordinary person4 ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson3 ,when reading a story my imagination is entirely and most vividly with the persons of the story4 ,when one of them is about to become the victim of a misunderstanding ,i find myself simply longing that he will somehow escape it1 and this never mind whether the story is good1 bad or indifferent4 ,limitations depend entirely on the extent to which my interest is aroused4 ,no1 far less trouble from solid geometry4 ,response depends entirely on how much the thing described1 well or ill1 interests me4 ,each its own picture4 ,not a bit1 unless ,i resent them as images4 ,but suggestion1 leaving me to do the rest1 is what ,i most enjoy4 ,i do not know4 ,as tools8 ,no4 ,inez ,haynes ,irwin3 ,i would say yes to all these questions4 ,i enjoy fiction intensely4 ,all my life ,i have been the easy prey of fiction writers4 ,allowing that sometimes the mind gets fatigued and ceases to register impressions 7although ,i do not remember ever to have had this experience7 ,i would say that ,i saw1 heard1 tasted1 smelled and felt all the things the author wanted me to see1 hear1 taste1 smell and feel4 ,i do seem in imagination actually to feel physical pain when the author wishes me to do so4 ,recently while suffering from an attack of grippe ,i had to stop reading a novel1 ,dorothy ,speare's ,dancers in the ,dark1 because the opening chapters described the fatigue of a group of girls who had danced all night4 ,their fatigue added so much to my weakness that ,i could not go on with the story4 ,i remember once reading an essay by ,john ,burroughs on ,the ,apple4 ,when ,i had finished it1 ,i had to go out and buy an apple to eat1 although ordinarily ,i don't care for apples4 ,i am particularly susceptible to color in writing2 and ,i find that ,i enjoy particularly the work of those writers who have studied art or have been artists4 ,du ,maurier's books were a great joy to me and if ,hergesheimer had nothing else to interest me1 ,i think ,i should read him for the wonderful color arrangements in his descriptions4 ,java ,head is remarkable in this respect4 ,robert ,chambers has some of this color quality too2 so1 of course1 to an extraordinary degree1 has ,conrad4 ,the pictures ,i see in my imagination are always colored as the author directs me to color them4 ,i do not think details are blurred in my imagined version of the author's picture--except when ,i have read too hurriedly or skipped4 ,i have studied arithmetic1 algebra1 plane geometry and solid geometry4 ,the higher the mathematics the better ,i liked it4 ,i was exceptionally stupid in arithmetic but ,i enjoyed plane and solid geometry enormously4 ,it appealed to my imagination4 ,i am not quite sure that ,i understand what this question means4 ,of course highly imaginative writers--especially if they have the great technical gift of connotative writing--can start your imagination with a broken phrase1 can keep it working long after their words have stopped4 ,it is as though they left echoes in one's mind4 ,i think ,h4 ,g4 ,wells makes this magic in my mind more often than any other writer that ,i know4 ,although ,i am half inclined to say that ,henry ,james--who can also involve me in a maze of obscurity--is his equal if not his superior in this respect4 ,i am sure that each case produces its individual vision4 ,i don't remember ever formulating this while reading2 but of course ,i realize that an author may have a too explicit style4 ,as to reading vs4 writing4 ,i think not1 because it has never occurred to me that there could be any such difference4 ,in writing description1 ,i always do try to appeal to the five senses of my reader4 ,perhaps this is so because in the writing courses which ,i took at ,radcliffe ,college the instructors impressed it on us to do that4 ,will ,irwin3 ,answering generally the complex questions under the head3 ,in reading writers who are my men1 as ,stevenson1 ,wells1 ,anatole ,france1 ,i find myself seeing the scenes in my imagination4 ,the fight in ,david ,balfour1 the meeting of ,pontius ,pilate and ,laelius ,lamia in ,le ,procurateur de ,jude1 are to me as though ,i had witnessed them4 ,i hear the sounds1 but ,i can not say with truth that ,i taste the flavors or experience the smells4 ,that doubtless is a matter of individual peculiarity4 ,i have almost no sense of smell4 ,on the other hand1 ,i often see the colors most vividly4 ,that again comes from individual peculiarity--,i take the greatest delight in color4 ,in a treatise on dreams which ,i have read recently the author says that dreams are like photographs2 that they have no color1 only one low tone and white4 ,if that is so1 ,i must be a freak4 ,i am always dreaming in colors--as a few nights ago of seeing a procession in russet brown carrying rose-colored banners4 ,sometimes my imagination1 in reading1 reproduces the sense of touch1 and occasionally the sense of pain4 ,when ,i see things with my eyes shut1 ,i think the image is usually blurred and lacking in detail except for one central figure4 ,but ,i do usually see such pictures in colors4 ,i perceive what you are driving at in your question about solid geometry4 ,i run true to form4 ,other mathematics did not interest me4 ,i loathed arithmetic and algebra and ,i quit trigonometry from absolute boredom4 ,but ,i was a sharp at geometry1 both plane and solid4 ,i think that the mere concept of an author whom ,i recognize as one of my men will often set me to imagining things beyond those which he has described4 ,by the same token ,i am sometimes bored by over-detailed description4 ,i can not say1 however1 that ,i have stock pictures for persons and things which come within the limits of my experience4 ,i do1 however1 for categories of persons and things which ,i have not seen--as a cavalier1 a ,zulu chief or a king on his throne4 ,the visual faculty of my mind works in the same manner when ,i am reading a story as when ,i am writing one4 ,in both cases ,i have a succession of color-pictures4 ,certainly ,i use these things as tools of my trade--especially the picture faculty4 ,one analytical passage in ,barrett ,wendell's treatise on ,shakespeare has been very useful to me4 ,he shows that ,shakespeare's magic consists largely in creating a succession of haunting pictures in the mind4 ,since ,i absorbed that principle ,i have analyzed other magic styles and found this their secret4 ,i have tried to follow in my poor way4 ,i also try to use the tactile style4 ,as it is a thing generally beyond me1 ,i avoid dragging in the sense of smell4 ,i do use sounds a great deal1 however4 ,charles ,tenney ,jackson3 ,as to reading a story my imagination goes more to an author's pictures than his plot4 ,i am rather coldly critical about plots and most of them show their ragged spots to me1 lapses1 improbabilities and negligences4 ,but ,i like to have the chap show me a setting that seems real4 ,if it's the sea islands1 ,i want their colorful warmth2 the ,yukon1 ,i want its snows and grim menace to the human actors4 ,people are so much alike that a story does not move me because a writer attempts to show me their differences in different settings4 ,my idea is that human nature reacts exactly the same everywhere4 ,in other words1 answering query ,,iii if an author gives me a hurricane ,i want that vivid1 smashing1 either by description or suggestion1 and ,i don't give a durn who lives through it to rescue the girl4 ,i know to start with that she'll be pulled out4 ,there are certain banal things in either reading or writing fiction that you can't get away from2 so ,i slide past 'em to see how the minor keys can be played4 ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson3 ,when ,i read a story ,i live it1 that is1 if the author has a sureness of touch with his characters and action that is convincing to me4 ,some authors ,i can not read at all4 ,i won't read them4 ,it's a waste of time4 ,they don't get over with me4 ,what ,i consider a perfect story is one in which the author can make me suffer with his characters1 laugh with them1 play with them1 make my eye look through the sights of an aimed rifle1 let my finger be on the trigger4 ,to the things ,i see with my eyes shut there are few limitations1 the pictures are colored1 real1 the details are distinct4 ,my response is not limited to the degree with which the author describes and makes vivid4 ,a mere hint suffices to draw a really definite picture in my mind4 ,if the author doesn't spoil my own picture with too damned many cloying details ,i'm better satisfied4 ,i dislike wading through paragraph after paragraph of detailed description1 unless an accurate picture is necessary in order to give a complete understanding of certain action or certain moves made by a character4 ,i carry that dislike for detailed description into my own work4 ,if ,i use more than one sentence of description ,i wince4 ,i like to convey a picture1 a real picture in as few words as possible4 ,i like to put action into my description1 into my picture of a setting4 ,i never have stock pictures4 ,a village church8 ,immediately before my mind passes a parade of all the village churches ,i have ever seen1 in villages or movie lots4 ,my dislike for description applies to characters as well as scenery4 ,a hint here and there1 characterization--things that will make each reader furnish the details he likes best4 ,i might have described them in detail--mere words to tell how they appear in my picture4 ,really now1 when you read about characters1 doesn't your mind supply a picture of the physical man8 ,a man to your liking1 unhampered by clogging1 useless words8 ,didn't characterization do that8 ,if you have a leaning toward dark heroes1 you conceive him to be dark4 ,if to your mind a guy with red hair is the real ,peruvian gooseberry as the main character1 red headed he'll be in your mental picture4 ,etc41 etc4 ,is there any difference in behavior of your imagination when you are reading stories and when writing them8 ,i live with my characters both in reading and writing1 but oh6 what a difference4 ,in writing1 ,i have to work out the problems2 in reading1 the problems have been worked out by the author4 ,it's traveling with a sled1 but one is going up-hill and the other down-grade4 ,mary ,johnston3 ,impossible to answer this fully4 ,sometimes there is a high degree of reality1 at other times less4 ,depends upon the amount of energy that is functioning1 energy and attention4 ,yes1 it is possible to see things with your eyes shut4 ,i see them colored1 in the round1 and at times in motion4 ,not always in minute detail4 ,often only a general impression4 ,no more trouble from solid geometry4 ,as to response1 if you have the concept1 you can produce the appropriate phenomena4 ,individual pictures usually4 ,sometimes a composite or an idealization4 ,prefer things to be suggested rather than minutely described4 ,probably a difference as to reading and writing4 ,they are tools of life--therefore of one's work also4 ,john ,joseph3 ,if it is a really good story my imagination reacts to all the emotions and sensations mentioned except physical pain4 ,very few stories belong to this class1 however4 ,the author's pictures 7in good stories7 are reproduced in every detail1 and distinctly4 ,my mental pictures often go far beyond anything the author has actually described4 ,i have no stock pictures2 every cowboy and village church differs from all the others4 ,there is little difference in behavior of imagination whether reading or writing4 ,i think that all these points are valuable to the writer4 ,lloyd ,kohler3 ,in reading a story ,i am very apt to puzzle out in my own mind the outcome of the story long before the end is reached4 ,often the author's ending of the story1 however1 is radically different from what my own imagination had planned4 ,sometimes ,i can't overcome the idea that my own solution would have bettered the story2 at other times ,i can easily see that the author's solution was vastly superior to my own4 ,in writing a story1 or planning a story to write1 my imagination generally runs--well1 we'll say wild4 ,for instance3 ,i may carefully plan a certain climax--and then find when the story is finally written that the first climax has been substituted for a more fitting one which flew into my mind during the last stages of the writing4 ,i don't want to commit myself on this question--,i can't even agree with myself regarding the different angles of it4 ,but ,i will say that when reading a story generally ,i do see in my imagination the characters1 action and setting1 though perhaps not so clearly as if looking at the actual scene4 ,the vividness of the picture1 of course1 depends upon the clearness and vividness of the author4 ,it depends also on just how familiar ,i am with the picture presented by the author4 ,the pictures described by an author which ,i see with my eyes shut are more in black and white4 ,the details are very apt to be indistinct4 ,plane geometry was exceedingly easy for me1 but with another restless spirit ,i put to sea1 consequently ,i can't say how ,i would have fared with the solid variety4 ,my response is not necessarily limited to the exact degree to which the author describes4 ,it depends on how familiar ,i am with that which the author attempts to make vivid4 ,the very thought of some things would set me to producing as vividly1 perhaps1 even more vividly1 than the author himself4 ,on the other hand1 if the description were unfamiliar the response would likely be limited4 ,i don't believe that ,i have stock pictures for anything4 ,if ,i have1 some bit of description is bound to stick to me that will allow the thing to be individualized4 ,two cowboys are no more apt to be alike than two business men4 ,harold ,lamb3 ,yes1 the imagination reproduces the story-world completely4 ,although not so fully with sounds as with sight1 touch1 smell4 ,perhaps the fact that ,i am nearly half deaf may have something to do with this4 ,about sensations it is hard to find the right word4 ,of course reading of a slashed finger does not give a resultant pain in any finger4 ,it may give1 however1 a vivid mental image of pain in some finger4 ,this is apt to be more annoying and enduring than a thumb actually cut by a knife4 ,the strength of the imagery is1 logically1 in proportion to the skill of the writer in creating his story-world4 ,reading ,knut ,hamsun's ,hunger caused a more active mind distress than ,les ,miserables4 ,les ,miserables was worse 7that is1 stronger7 than ,quo ,vadis4 ,by this last ,i do not mean to raise the standard of ,scandinavia over ,poland4 ,knut ,hamsun's tale was fashioned to reproduce the imagery of hunger completely1 and it was marvelously done4 ,as compared with the actual sensation it was more painful4 ,i mean retrospectfully painful4 ,at certain times ,i have been rather hungry4 ,but a full meal always banished the distress4 ,no after-impress of pain remained4 ,but1 walking the streets of ,copenhagen in the person of ,knut ,hamsun's young man1 ,i never had any satisfaction from gorging after starving4 ,he--,i--always threw up4 ,so with other sensations4 ,but the most vivid sensations received from the printed word are those that have been experienced in life4 ,such as pain from frostbite1 suffocation under water1 drowsiness4 ,as to limitations of imagination1 ,i do not know of any4 ,images are distinct4 ,colored as in the story4 ,when color is lacking1 ,i seem to supply it4 ,brown1 green1 gray are always present4 7,an artist explains that these are the neutral tints47 ,white1 blue and red come into place as described1 but less often volunteer4 ,black1 yellow and purple almost never volunteer and when the printed word summons are sketched hastily4 ,poor in all mathematics1 least deficient in plane and solid geometry4 ,seem to reproduce more in imagination than the author sets forth and have always thought that most readers did likewise4 ,i find that continually ,i am snubbed back by a fresh word as to setting in the course of a story4 ,no stock pictures4 ,as to reading vs4 writing1 the cart before the horse1 and behind4 ,tools of trade8 ,i have not puzzled about the psychology of a reader4 ,sinclair ,lewis3 ,my imagination reproduces thus occasionally4 ,in colors1 details distinct4 ,less trouble with solid geometry4 ,a mere concept will set me to reproducing just as vividly4 ,no stock pictures4 ,do not resent abundant images4 ,imagination is more active in writing than in reading4 ,hapsburg ,liebe3 ,if a story really interests me1 ,i feel everything1 see everything1 clearly4 ,reading of a man on a desert makes me thirsty4 ,writing of the same thing makes me thirsty4 ,i cuss1 cry and fight with the hero4 ,i did not study geometry4 ,never could study anything much4 ,if ,i read ,he found himself in a dense woodland1 my imagination makes the rest2 ,i see pines1 oaks1 etc41 as well as the woods4 ,i think most other readers are like this2 that's why they don't like detail4 ,unless ,i'm careful1 ,i have stock pictures for such things as logging-camps1 etc4 ,often ,i catch myself and make myself see it differently1 make the creek run the other way1 and so on--and it's harder than you'd think4 ,the last camp ,i worked in 7there was a sawmill in connection7 is always coming back to me1 and ,i've had a devil of a time putting a thicket of laurel where the mill stood4 ,this sounds crazy1 but ,i'm trying to answer your questions4 ,there is little1 if any1 difference in my behavior when reading stories and writing them4 ,i get all het up in either case1 if there's any reason for it4 ,tools of the trade8 ,i forget everything like that when at work1 ,i regret to say1 though sometimes ,i take pains to see how some real author has got his effects4 ,romaine ,h4 ,lowdermilk3 ,i actually imagine--envisage--everything that goes on4 ,if the writer has told it at all clearly ,i see and hear everything4 ,i smell or taste nothing--my imagination does not go so far4 ,i feel no pain nor sense of touch except in very familiar things like bitter cold1 tropical heat1 ropes1 gun-shot in the leg and the like4 ,the scenes ,i see are all in black and white much like the illustrations in magazines1 or rather more like a memory of an actual happening4 ,i see bright sunlights and deep shades1 but seldom see colors even though the heroine wears a yellow waist4 ,the main details are distinct1 the rest merely passing impressions4 ,sometimes an especially vivid story brings out a lasting remembrance and ,i have it as almost an actual happening4 ,solid geometry gave me no more trouble than any of my mathematics1 but1 at that1 it is a terrible arraignment to numbers4 ,my response is generally limited to just about what the author describes4 ,naturally ,i do not know what is coming and so do not give much room to imaginings4 ,the only thing that peeves me is to go through a lot of fine description only to find that it had nothing whatever to do with the progress of the story2 was just slung there by the author for the sake of more words1 words1 words6 ,but description in line with the action1 or used to bring out the story more clearly1 is a delight4 ,i have stock pictures only for that with which ,i am not familiar1 like the interior of a submarine4 ,all sub-sea stories to me might well be written around the same old boat1 as that is the boat ,i see4 ,but cowboys1 cattle1 people1 village churches or vaudeville theaters all are individual4 ,sometimes even ,i find a writer who seems to know his subject well enough to give me a description exactly fitting some place ,i know4 ,then ,i read him with great interest4 ,in my own writing ,i have an individual in mind whether ,i write a description or not4 ,i never write of things ,i must needs use a stock illustration for--only of course as for brief mention4 ,if my hero had once been caught undersea in a submarine ,i might mention that incident1 but to write a story about it--never4 ,which brings me to my own imagination when writing4 ,indeed there is a great difference6 ,when ,i write ,i see everything4 ,i see all my characters in their widely separated haunts1 and right in the center so to speak is a bright spot like a spot-light and seemingly my characters come out of the semi-darkness and enter that light for the moment of their action4 ,it is somewhat like rehearsing a play1 only far more vivid to me1 for the scene is constantly changing2 instead of the scene changing under the spotlight1 the light moves over the story-stage and spots first one location and then another4 ,i have difficulty sometimes deciding which characters to put on or to deal with next and sometimes withdraw one who has done much and fire him completely4 ,then1 too1 when ,i hit certain scenes ,i have so many thoughts and things crowd so swiftly ,i whack away1 hitting any old letter and spacing weirdly for the sake of speed4 ,in some scenes ,i weep4 ,if ,i try to stifle my emotion my thoughts falter4 ,often in the reading ,i wonder what there was to sniffle over when ,i wrote1 but sometimes the best part of the story is right there4 ,often ,i soberly type off something that makes me laugh1 real sudden humor1 when ,i come to read it4 ,often it is something ,i didn't realize was funny when ,i put it down4 ,usually1 like the sob-stuff1 it requires considerable revision to make it presentable4 ,i am glad ,i can feel the emotions so strongly and hope it will stay with me4 ,i consider it a valuable tool and try not to abuse it4 ,eugene ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr43 ,writing stories keeps my imagination alert4 ,reading stories1 the keeping of my imagination alert depends on the stimuli--the art of the author4 ,in one case the imagination is in harness2 in the other it is loose in a pasture1 and may be asleep4 ,a story has to be pretty vivid to react on my physical senses4 ,zola's novels1 for example4 ,i rarely visualize1 see with my eyes shut1 except by conscious effort or intention4 ,then ,i can1 easily4 ,solid and spherical geometry gave me less trouble than algebra4 ,i had to think hard to work out some of the original problems1 though1 but it was a satisfying experience4 ,the mere concept is sufficient for a vivid impression1 but provided it impinges on something in my emotional make-up that is already susceptible or sensitive4 ,for instance1 the thought of a keen knife drawn across the palm of the hand--you don't have to go any farther2 you don't have to describe it4 ,but something else you might1 and even then it might leave me cold4 ,i think the personal equation figures in here tremendously4 ,no1 ,i don't think ,i have stock pictures1 not as a rule1 unless some particular thing in my experience has made a deep impression4 ,if you say cathedral1 ,i'm likely to see the one at ,cologne1 while ,i wouldn't think of ,notre ,dame at all4 ,the latter is sui generis--not a cathedral4 ,it's ,notre ,dame4 ,say ,notre ,dame and ,i get it4 ,rose ,macaulay3 ,depends entirely on how well and forcibly the story is written4 ,most stories convey no impression of any kind to me4 ,my imagination pictures are just like what ,i see with my eyes open1 ,i think4 ,no solid geometry4 ,my response limited by the author4 ,having stock pictures depends on the description4 ,resentment as to images depends on whether described well or tediously4 ,a great deal of difference when reading and writing4 ,as to tools1 don't quite follow this question4 ,crittenden ,marriott3 ,i taste through imagination to some extent4 ,as to pain presented in fiction1 ,i choke up on some stories--,mrs4 ,abbott's for instance4 ,can see images with eyes either open or shut4 ,details blurred4 ,solid geometry easier4 ,response limited by the author4 ,i don't describe much1 except when ,i am trying to please the women with meteorologic disquisitions2 then ,i sling words4 ,as to tools1 no4 ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney3 ,it depends more or less upon the ability of the author1 ,i should say4 ,i have a pretty fair imagination and if the writer gives me half a chance1 ,i believe that ,i see just about what he saw--or sets down in print4 ,that1 ,i think1 applies quite as truly to taste1 sound and smell1 as to sight4 ,i've read yarns that gave me an odd tightening through the chest and which1 if they didn't actually raise my hair on end1 did produce a fine stand of goose flesh at the back of my neck4 ,i've caught myself with the palms of my hands moist and cold4 ,if these are sound indications of inner turmoil1 then ,i'm getting all the kick there is in a yarn--with no transformer reducing the voltage4 ,nope1 solid geometry didn't give me any more trouble than other mathematics--and a damned sight less than a five-hour course in algebra that ,i just plugged through with a weak-kneed ,d6 ,i don't believe in stock pictures4 ,i haven't them1 and hope ,i'm never turning out stuff at such a rate that ,i actually have to employ them4 ,i get a lot of fun out of my characters and scenes4 ,to me they have individuality4 ,i have never tried it1 but ,i suspect that my use of a stock picture or character would result in a lightly veneered but wooden yarn4 ,i believe that for the most part ,i really get into the stories ,i write rather more deeply than into those ,i read1--with some exceptions1 perhaps4 ,ray ,mc,gillivray3 ,to some degree imagination supplies an adumbrance of all the sensations you mention4 ,with me auditory imagery is strongest4 ,anything appealing through any sense to my notion of the dramatic1 curious or interesting ,i remember in fairly accurate 7often exaggerated1 ,i'll admit7 detail4 ,solid geometry was my shark subject in mathematics4 ,calculus was where ,i resigned4 ,my greatest handicap to pleasure in reading fiction lies in the fact that unless characters are 7#a7 left automatons1 or 7#b7 portrayed vividly like ,hamsun's ,isak1 ,hardy's ,tess1 or ,stribling's ,birdsong1--my concepts and the author's get to quarreling from the drop of the hat4 ,stating it briefly1 my favorite authors are ,hamsun1 ,turgenieff1 ,dickens and ,nick ,carter4 ,in dime novels ,i write my own story as ,i read4 ,stock types of characters hang on a writer only when he is trying to vivify a setting or situation with which he is not thoroughly familiar--or when he never has taken the pains to look closely at people in the endeavor to form constructive estimates of them4 ,of course weariness of body and mind1 too--but then the chap behind the pencil or ,chatterbox ,no4 #e is not a writer but merely a dumb ,will-,to-,work4 ,the only difference in the way imagination works when reading and writing--so far as ,i know--lies in the fact that in reading every ascending step in the flight of story development opens a whole new gamut of conjecture1 questioning and hope2 in writing the imagination has to cross and recross1 mount and descend the same space too often for any such tremendous scope4 ,i verily believe a wide-awake writer of adventure fiction actually reads three novels every time he completes the perusal of seventy thousand words of an interesting story written by some one else4 ,vice versa1 he crosses his own steps three times or more--three hundred might be a better figure--on his own pice de resistance4 ,helen ,topping ,miller3 ,reading is to me a sort of orgy of the imagination4 ,i see1 feel1 hear1 smell and experience every sensation written into the story--more keenly1 ,i think sometimes1 than the author who writes it4 ,naturally1 ,i supply my own pictures for the setting--if a writer describes a country road ,i see--not his road1 but the roads ,i knew as a child back in rural ,michigan4 ,i do not know whether ,i see things with my eyes shut or not4 ,i know that when any idea is presented my imagination gives one leap and is gone4 ,i live1 walk1 see1 feel and hear the scene1 experience the emotions of the characters1 sense everything distinctly4 ,there is no blurring1 rather the impression is painfully keen4 ,mathematics were an abomination to me4 ,i scrambled through them as easily as possible and forgot them with cheerful alacrity4 ,i certainly consider my ability to experience every sensation imaginatively as my most important tool4 ,it seems to me the most valuable and essential factor in trying to write fiction--the thing the canny ,irishman called the ability to get inside other people's skins4 ,thomas ,samson ,miller3 ,imagination and visualization3 ,i feel location--the very hue of the sky1 feel of the air1 the scents and sounds of nature4 ,i am less vivid on human actions and sayings4 ,i am not so closely in sympathy with human beings as with nature4 ,it is my greatest drawback in fiction writing4 ,i do not carry mental stock pictures2 that would be reducing novelizing to bookkeeping4 ,certain authors do it1 just as the same keep to one successful form of story and repeat1 even in time-worn phraseology1 so that one finds ,of a sudden five to ten times in a single short story4 ,behavior of imagination in reading and writing stories3 ,the stories ,i read are so utterly beyond my art that there is no comparison4 ,in writing the imagination is intense2 one lives in the story1 which one can not do in another story1 any more than a violinist can reach the depths and heights of feeling of the composers whose composition he plays4 ,no reader gets out of a story a tenth part of the feeling and visualization the author puts into it1 or1 perhaps1 thought he put into it4 ,anne ,shannon ,monroe3 ,if the story ,i am reading gets me at all1 ,i swing full into it1 become absorbed and follow breathlessly through2 if it doesn't get me1 ,i don't go on4444 ,i see the characters1 the place--it is all as if it had been an actual experience4 ,sounds1 tastes1 odors1--it's all real in my mind1 if the writer has made it real on paper4444 ,i think the atmosphere of the story gets into my sense more keenly than anything else1--the feeling of it--beauty of scene if beauty is created on the page--as in ,hudson's writing4 ,pictures ,i see in imagination are as they are pictured by the creator of them3 the intense glare of a desert under sun--it's blinding just to think about3 the deep rich purple-green of heavy old forests--it's almost suffocating3 some writers make me feel these things just as if ,i had seen them4 ,all mathematics were impossible to me1 solid geometry no more so than that whole idiocy1 from the multiplication table up4 ,if the presentation is true1 the mere concept starts my mind off on jaunts of its own4 ,i do not have stock pictures2 each character1 scene1 place is new1 fresh--a creation4 ,i do resent too many images4 ,i could not wade through all of ,main ,street3 while ,lulu ,bett was a delight4 ,difference in behavior of imagination when reading or writing stories8 ,well1 in one way1 no3 if my imagination is not fired1 ,i do not read and neither do ,i write4 ,often when ,i start to read a story it suggests one of my own1 and ,i am off on my own adventure1 instead of following the one the author has put before me4 ,but if he has put it so as to catch my interest1 ,i follow him with the same enthusiasm with which ,i write4 ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery3 ,yes1 when ,i read a story ,i see everything1 exactly as if ,i were looking at an actual scene4 ,i hear the sounds and smell the odors4 ,when ,i read ,pickwick ,papers ,i have to make many an extra sneak to the pantry1 so hungry do ,i become through reading of the bacon and eggs and milk punch in which the characters so frequently revel4 ,i never feel physical pain when ,i read a story1 no matter how intense the suffering described may be4 ,but ,i feel mental pain so keenly that sometimes ,i can hardly bear to continue reading4 ,yet ,i do not dislike this sensation4 ,on the contrary ,i like it4 ,if ,i can have a jolly good howl several times in a book ,i am its friend for life4 ,yet1 in every-day existence1 ,i am the reverse of a tearful or sentimental person4 ,no book do ,i love as ,i love ,david ,copperfield4 ,yet during my many re-readings ,i must have wept literal quarts over ,david's boyish tribulations4 ,and ghost stories that make me grow actually cold with fear are such as my soul loveth4 ,i can see things1 with eyes shut or open1 colors and all4 ,sometimes ,i see them mentally--that is1 ,i realize that they are produced subjectively and are under the control of my will4 ,but very often1 when imagination has been specially stimulated1 ,i seem really to see them objectively4 ,in this case1 however1 ,i never see landscapes or anything but faces--and generally grotesque or comical faces4 ,i never see a beautiful face4 ,they crowd on my sight in a mob1 flashing up for a second1 then instantly filled by others4 ,i always enjoy this seeing things immensely1 but ,i can not do it at will4 ,the very name of geometry was a nightmare to me4 ,i decline to discuss the horrible subject at all4 ,yet ,i loved algebra and had a mild affection for arithmetic4 ,these things are predestinated4 ,i have no stock pictures as a reader4 ,i generally see things pretty much as the writer describes them--though certainly not as the movie people seem to see them6 ,this is especially true of places and things4 ,but very few writers have the power to make me visualize their characters1 even where they describe them minutely4 ,illustrations generally make matters worse4 ,i detest illustrations in a story4 ,it is only when there is some peculiarly striking and restrained bit of description attached to a character that ,i can see it4 ,for example3 when ,r4 ,l4 ,stevenson in ,dr4 ,jekyll says that there was something incredibly evil about ,hyde--,i am not quoting his exact words--,i can see ,hyde as clearly as ,i ever saw anything in my life4 ,as a rule1 ,i think the ability to describe characters so that readers may see them as clearly as they see their settings is a very rare gift among writers4 ,yes1 as a reader ,i do resent having too many images formed for me4 ,i don't want too much description of anything or too many details in any description4 ,when ,i read a story1 ,i see people doing things in a certain setting2 when ,i write a story ,i am the people myself and live their experiences4 ,frederick ,moore3 ,my imagination reproduces the story-world of the author to the extent that the author has given me pictures or has suggested them to me4 ,i actually--mentally--see and hear all given to me in the story4 ,i can not say ,i smell or taste1 except the reference is to something already in my memory4 ,for instance1 if an author refers to the smell of a whaling-ship1 or a bilge-water forecastle1 ,i smell it in memory--that is1 ,i know it4 ,but ,i doubt if ,i could create the smell that might be referred to in filling a helium-gas balloon1 because that is beyond my ken4 ,if it should smell like1 say1 rotten oranges1 ,i might get a reaction that would be fairly accurate4 ,i can not say that ,i feel pain presented in a story in any degree4 ,the strength of the suggestion on my imagination depends largely on the skill of the writer in transmitting his idea to me4 ,of course1 ,i suffer more mental pain in seeing a cat injured than ,i do in reading of how several men were killed4 ,in the latter case shock is missing1 yet ,i have seen more men killed than ,i have cats hurt4 ,there is a difference in the behavior of imagination when reading and when writing--while reading1 my imagination is being spoon-fed2 in writing1 it is on high1 climbing a hill and watching the road carefully4 ,and there is a difference in concentration1 for in writing ,i am emptying my subconscious reservoir1 while in reading ,i am refilling it4 ,after finishing a story1 ,i find that a lapse of time is necessary to allow the subconscious 7or what ,i presume to be the subconscious7 to refill4 ,i couldn't write stories on an eight-hour basis--if ,i wanted to4 ,i really see things with my eyes shut1 in the colors which ,i may desire to give them4 ,details are distinct if ,i care to turn the spot-light on them1 so to speak--in other words1 to the point on which ,i want to concentrate for description4 ,the detail ,i am working on is distinct1 but if ,i want to hold the image long enough for extended use ,i do not attempt to hold it steadily4 ,i find that impossible4 ,but ,i can make the image repeat itself without limit4 ,i doubt if anybody can hold an image1 even of something that has just been looked at1 longer than a very small fraction of a second4 ,and by this ,i don't mean a succession of flashes but a fixed image4 ,solid geometry gave me less trouble than other mathematics1 because ,i could visualize it better4 ,however1 ,i have been able to copy from mental images of a problem ,i have seen written out1 or printed on a page1 a problem required in an examination4 ,that is1 ,i have found it easier to recall that problem as ,i saw it in figures1 and copy it1 than ,i have to attack the problem and work it to the required answer4 ,i presume everybody else can do the same4 ,in examinations in artillery ,i have been able to recall images of cross-sections so readily as to be able to reproduce them in rough sketches or to give the required description4 ,but if the question related to something that ,i had heard in a lecture1 ,i might well miss the question entirely4 ,i show very poor results in written examinations relating to book matter--unless the questions relate to pages with such type arrangement or sub-heads that ,i can recall the entire page mentally and pick out of the image what ,i want4 ,i may know a thing very well practically1 and not be able to pass as high in it1 as something ,i have acquired wholly from a book4 ,i believe text-books on all subjects should be more visual4 ,the response of my imagination in some cases is dependent on the skill at description of the writer1 especially in things or scenes with which ,i am not familiar4 ,but a mere concept will set me reproducing if the matter deals with something with which ,i am familiar4 ,by this ,i do not mean to say that my imagination will not work except with things with which ,i am familiar--,i am referring to degree of response4 ,no1 ,i do not have stock pictures for anything4 ,i may think first of some picture in memory1 and from that basis create the character1 the place and the events4 ,however1 imagination probably requires something in the nature of a feeder4 ,what the imagination of a person blind from birth does would be most interesting4 ,if a person had been blind up to1 say1 twenty and then recovered sight1 it should be interesting to know what kind of mental picture he had had of1 for instance1 a full-rigged ship4 ,i have considered all these matters as tools of my trade4 ,without them1 ,i doubt if it is possible to have the trade4 ,talbot ,mundy3 ,if ,i pick up a book1 say1 on ,india1 and provided the book is sufficiently well written not to get my goat1 ,i am in ,india instantly4 ,i see1 smell1 hear and taste ,india4 ,sometimes ,i almost touch it4 ,the same with any other country or place4 ,india merely serves as an illustration4 ,i have to be brought back to my surroundings with a wrench4 ,sound is perhaps the least real of the sensations4 ,i get the effect of the sound without the sound itself4 ,the louder the sound1 the less real1 ,i rather think4 ,for instance1 if a gun goes off ,i don't jump out of my skin1 and ,i don't think ,i hear the report--or1 if so1 ,i rather see than hear it4 ,colors are absolutely real1 although rather more beautiful than in actual experience4 ,this is a very difficult question to answer1 however4 ,the world of imagination and ideas seems to me to be a separate world in which we experience all the sensations above referred to1 but experience them differently4 ,the sting--the element of personal suffering--to use the ,christian formula1 the cross--seems to be missing in this world of imagination2 so that1 although the cross and its consequences--a strong smell and its discomfort1 pain and its distress--may all be present in the story1 they are seen objectively and have practically no physical reaction except that of conscious pleasure4 ,on the other hand1 ideas1 emotions1 contrasts between right and wrong do have a pronounced physical effect4 ,i frequently sweat or grow angry or get prodigiously excited while reading--but always because of an idea that is concretely presented4 ,perhaps ,i can put it best this way3 ,suppose that we torture the heroine4 ,the most blood-curdling description of her agonies would probably excite my curiosity and might perhaps tickle a sadistic vein1 but would certainly not cause me physical distress nor even mental disturbance4 ,but the question whether she shall be tortured or not--the right and the wrong of it--the low-down arguments used on the one side1 the high standards raised on the other1 would arouse me almost to frenzy1 and the blood would go coursing through my veins twice as fast as usual4 ,i don't have to shut my eyes to see things4 ,i see them more easily with eyes wide open4 ,possibly because ,i am short-sighted1 the imaginary things that ,i see in that way are often more real than the real world4 ,the pictures are invariably colored4 ,never black and white4 ,my response is not limited by any means to the degree in which the author describes and makes vivid4 ,as often as not1 too much description has the reverse effect4 ,i never studied solid geometry4 ,i think that in most instances vision is individual and new2 but ,i rather suspect that things ,i have seen at different times and in different places form the store from which ,i draw apparently fresh illustrations as required4 ,this1 however1 is another very hard question to answer correctly and really could not be answered without keeping tabs on one's self for a month or two4 ,reading is better fun than writing4 ,therefore1 when reading1 the imagination is less rebellious and does its work more swiftly and easily4 ,otherwise ,i think there is little if any difference4 ,kathleen ,norris3 ,i can't say that ,i ever get an actual sense emotion from what ,i write1 that is1 in taste or smell1 but ,i have felt my mood very definitely affected by the experiences my characters are experiencing1 and ,i frequently confuse them with real persons for an hour or two1 and will find myself saying at lunch1 7say7 ,oh1 a woman told me this morning 444 forgetting that the woman is of my own creating4 ,one would see things in this way pretty much as one would remember a meeting with somebody close and vital1 or anticipating such a meeting4 ,it would be natural to imagine the room1 the sunshine1 the gowns1 etc41 etc4 ,i never even finished grammar school4 ,no1 it seems to me the only books worth while 7that is1 in the sense of popular fiction1 etc417 are the books that stimulate fresh imaginings of one's own4 ,i hate to read a book that does not produce an individual vision and so add to one's stock1 as it were4 ,the chief delight of reading seems to me exploratory4 ,on the contrary1 a writer who can form images is a great writer4 ,but having images distorted or ill-formed is merely tiresome1 and annoys one with a sense of wasting time4 ,yes1 all the difference between eating a meal and cooking it4 7,incidentally ,i would always prefer the cooking47 ,my brother-in-law1 ,frank ,norris1 once said that when he really wished carefully to depict a scene1 he appealed to each of the five senses in turn2 and to a greater or lesser degree ,i don't think any picture can be painted without one or more of these tools4 ,anne ,o',hagan3 ,it seems to me that the only possible answer to this question is3 ,it depends upon the genius of the author4 ,there are villages in ,england ,i could find my way about in1 there are drawing-rooms in which ,i perfectly see the furnishings1 because of ,jane ,austen and ,thackeray4 ,i have grown hungry reading ,dickens' meals4 ,i suffered utter fatigue1 misery and coldness crawling back to the farm with ,hetty in ,adam ,bede2 and ,i think ,i had something the same actual feeling of physical exhaustion in reading the ,italian home scenes in ,the ,lost ,girl4 ,but for the most part the impressions are impressions only1 not experiences4 ,pictures are colored when ,i actually have them1 and details distinct4 ,all mathematics gave me trouble1 but ,i think that the climax of despair was reached in calculus instead of solid geometry4 ,response follows vivid suggestion as well as detailed description--when there is response4 ,i suppose that if the author of the village church or the cowboy did not cause me to see a definite creation1 ,i have a property-room church or cowboy which my imagination would fit into the story4 ,but ,i think with a little help ,i am able to construct a new one for the story in question4 ,probably yes4 ,that is1 ,i should be bored by not being allowed to use my own imagination a little4 ,yes4 ,only the masters of literature can absorb my mind with their characters1 create a world which takes the place of the actual one for the time being2 but when ,i am writing 7with most pleasure and most of the feeling of creation1 ,i mean--most successfully7 ,i can be absorbed in my characters and can live in their world without for a moment believing that ,i am a master of literature4 ,i mean by this that ,i know from my own experience how much real creation is involved in the production of that which is not great or fiction4 ,no4 ,grant ,overton3 ,i often see the people1 the action and above all the setting4 ,i do not know that ,i hear the sounds or taste the flavors or smell the smells or feel any impacts4 ,i do feel what the people of the story feel1 at least in the more emotional moments4 ,i have suffered exquisite pangs along with my characters1 have been thrilled with them1 have despaired with them4 ,to me fiction is merely a form of communicating feeling4 ,i do not see things with my eyes shut but with them open4 ,i seldom notice details4 ,what ,i see ,i can not describe1 except as an effect4 ,that is why ,i can not write descriptions full of physical detail4 ,plane geometry is the only mathematical subject that gave me trouble4 ,i don't think ,i ever studied solid geometry1 but ,i undoubtedly passed an examination in it4 ,my response is wholly determined by the emotional content of the narrative and the emotional activity of the characters though conditioned by the skill of the author in verbal presentation4 ,i should probably image the village church from one ,i had seen4 ,i should have no picture of the cowboy unless emotionally ,i found myself akin to him4 ,i do not mind how many images are formed for me but ,i resent nothing but images4 ,i want1 above all1 to feel something4 ,yes1 my imagination when writing and when reading is totally different1 but ,i do not know whether ,i can say how4 ,in writing my imagination labors often painfully4 ,in reading--but ,i suppose it is the difference between listening to music and playing some instrument yourself4 ,i can not answer as to tools4 ,the five senses mean little to me when it comes to writing or reading4 ,i should say that the appeal was to my intellectual senses if there is such a thing4 ,sir ,gilbert ,parker3 ,everything is seen clearly4 ,better at geometry than anything else4 ,each case has its own vision4 ,do not resent multiplicity of images4 ,it is the duty of the author to command my vision4 ,hugh ,pendexter3 ,i get all the drama very clearly or else ,i quit4 ,i must have the geography of the story in mind and often post myself on the locale with use of a map4 ,i respond thoroughly to the comedy or tragedy of a story and read myself into it4 ,i react more quickly to pathos than to the infliction of physical pain4 ,torture of a victim does not torture me4 ,a child saving pennies to buy a garish1 impossible tie for his old grandfather probably would bring tears4 ,if a road or river is pictured1 ,i must see it as though walking over or along it4 ,i do not believe my imagination goes much beyond what the writer supplies1 as then it becomes my story and not his and ,i can finish it without bothering to finish the book4 ,i really see things with my eyes open4 ,the details are as distinct as any my physical vision can reveal4 ,they are not outlines1 nor black and white studies1 but as they actually would exist as to form and color4 ,i see most clearly those scenes ,i write about4 ,mathematics never intrigued me4 ,my recollection of solid geometry is that it was to me the delirium tremens of plane geometry4 ,my two sons find mathematics absorbing4 ,i abhor mathematics4 ,as to degree of my response1 that is explained above4 ,much difference4 ,when writing a story my imagination supplies a wealth of detail that does not appear in the yarn4 ,if ,i have to supply overmuch for the other fellow's yarn1 ,i quit1 as noted above4 ,the next query is rather blind to me4 ,my best tool of trade is my immediate vision of what ,i wish to put into type4 ,clay ,perry3 ,i visualize very much2 in reading a story as well as in writing it4 ,a story in which ,i am unable to visualize clearly annoys me4 ,i want to go around the corners and see what the author sees4 ,i suspect that an author who does not furnish the locale1 color and plan which will enable me to see his story is careless4 ,this goes for the characters1 double4 ,they should be seen clearly1 ,i believe4 ,sounds1 ,i hear1 also1 in the inner ear and taste the flavors with the tongue of imagination and sometimes my mouth waters to a pleasant flavor well pictured4 ,to smells1 being supersensitive anyway1 the reaction is strong4 ,to touch the reaction is not so strong1 except in rare instances1 mostly unpleasant suggestions1 pain4 ,i feel the pain if in sympathy with the character who suffers it1 more than otherwise4 ,seeing things with my eyes shut amounts to re-creation1 through the stimuli of description1 of a more or less familiar scene2 or at least with a familiar scene the nucleus of the image built upon the stimuli4 ,details are distinct if description is vivid and1 again1 if the stimuli call up something which ,i have actually seen or experienced in the past that is akin to the scene or incident described4 ,solid geometry gave me less trouble than any other mathematics and ,lord knows the others gave me trouble6 ,i believe the concept stimulates me to imaging what lies over the hill in many cases1 the behind the scenes1 perhaps because of a habit in my own writing of trying to set a stage solid1 not with mere drops4 ,stock pictures for stock sets8 ,for a village church--a composite picture of the several dozen ,i had to attend when a boy1 none of them the same exactly4 ,for a cowboy1 different stock pictures in different context4 ,i think this depends largely on the manner and setting in which the object of character is first introduced4 ,yes1 there is a difference in the behavior of my imagination when ,i am reading stories and when writing them4 ,in reading1 one has only to accept the author's concept2 in writing1 one has to consider and reject several and decide upon one4 7,there is1 however1 in reading1 the tendency to look behind the scenes1 which is perhaps a fainter manifestation of the selective impulse or artistic judgment habitual in the creation of a picture myself47 ,i have thought of my reading constantly in connection with my writing4 ,if a book or story is good1 ,i get a stimulation from it1 perhaps an inspiration1 which1 mingled with the profusion of other impulses and ideas1 emerges1 some time1 as a part1 or a tendency1 in my own work4 ,more often1 however1 ,i am astonished1 when well started on a story of my own or when completing it1 to run across another with a curious similarity of thought or philosophy--or perhaps1 a contradictory philosophy in similar setting4 ,michael ,j4 ,phillips3 ,i try hard to visualize in important scenes4 ,if ,i get stuck in a description ,i stop and visualize--hard4 ,i don't see all the characters1 but only the principal ones4 ,i don't imagine the sounds unless ,i want to conjure up the effect of a sudden1 alarming sound1 like a shot1 on the man or woman who hears it4 ,i do not taste the flavor of a story4 ,i do not get rough or smooth contact nor physical pain4 ,rarely a story moves me to laughing aloud1 and equally rarely1 say twice a year in each case1 does a story bring tears4 ,my response to a good story--and it must be good--is the prickle down your back when he really puts it over4 ,this may be at the finish or when one of the characters does an admirable or a clever thing in a way wholly admirable and noteworthy1 and what is done is described by a master4 ,too much sophistication to get the kick that once ,i did1 ,i suppose4 ,a duel of words between two men in a love story over the girl1 a battle of wits in which breeding and good sportsmanship are displayed1 will produce the prickle down my spinal column quicker than exciting physical action4 ,i can not see the scenes with my eyes shut readily4 ,it is only by effort1 and they are in black and white4 ,i can not visualize the faces of all my friends and relatives4 ,the degree of nearness and dearness does not enter into visualization at all4 ,some strangers impress themselves on my mental retina1 and ,i can not recall by shutting my eyes how some relative1 perhaps in the next room1 looks4 ,i have a lot of fun visualizing a horse race with the jockeys wearing different colored jackets4 ,this ,i use in the rare attempts ,i make to get to sleep when ,i do not fall instantly asleep on going to bed4 ,i can't make it stick much4 ,the colors get all mixed up4 ,i have to keep telling myself which color my favorite wears4 ,i went to high school only a month or two in the second year1 then quit to paint little white coffins in a casket factory1 so you see solid geometry is a sealed book to me4 ,algebra was bone labor to me1 but ,i was quite proud of myself when ,i solved a problem1 and in some degree it was an attraction on that account4 ,i think ,i prefer the author not to clutter the picture with too many words4 ,i don't want too much detail painted in1 but ,i do want him to make his primary and essential characters and objects plain and clear4 ,if it's a man and a horse1 ,i don't want any impressionistic or cubist daubs that leave me in doubt whether it's a monkey and a rhinoceros4 ,if he'll just show me plainly it's a man and a horse1 ,i'll dress them up to suit myself4 ,he makes me tired when he goes meticulously into detail1 unless he's an artist--and they are damn few4 ,each case produces its individual vision1 ,i think4 ,to me1 the reading of stories and the writing of them are not related at all4 ,in reading1 the imagination wanders where it wills2 in writing1 it is an imagination harnessed and doing its work4 ,they are tools of the trade and ,i use them steadily1 though perhaps not so much as ,i should4 ,walter ,b4 ,pitkin3 ,i see colors and details pretty well with my eyes shut4 ,since ,i turned forty this function has noticeably weakened4 ,when in my twenties and early thirties ,i could look at a piece of white paper and see1 in faint1 swimmy colors projected on it1 the things ,i was imagining4 ,my capacity to visualize has been unusually intense1 as psychological tests have repeatedly shown4 ,at the end of a day's work ,i can see the minutest details of the objects ,i have dealt with2 the grain in the wood of my desk1 the shadows on my office floor1 the colors and forms in the street4 ,i can see these at night just before going to sleep2 and ,i used to get myself to sleep by watching the parade of visions6 ,all mathematics was extremely difficult for me in school1 but chiefly because ,i had poor teachers4 ,geometry still is almost a black art to me1 although higher mathematics is fairly easy4 ,my response to what ,i read is uncomfortably excessive4 ,in handling the manuscripts of other writers ,i am constantly seeing more in the scenes than the writers themselves saw2 and they have often told me this4 ,i have no stock visions of types4 ,but ,i do tend to reproduce a series of real persons or objects from my experience1 when ,i read about a similar one4 ,i do not resent the presence of many images and pictures in a story4 ,my imagination behaves very differently when reading from its manner when writing4 ,but ,i confess that ,i can not adequately describe the difference4 ,so much can be said of it4 ,when ,i read ,i follow the leader and do not run off into my own channels2 but when ,i am writing my fancy runs wild and ,i think of the most preposterous and remote things which--as later analysis often shows--have indirect and obscure connections with the idea ,i am working over4 ,when reading ,i am passive1 more or less2 when writing1 ,i am active4 ,there is a curious difference1 over and above this1 in the nature of my emotional responses2 and this rather stumps me to set down on paper4 ,it seems as if ,i give deeper and surer emotional reactions to the content of what ,i read than ,i do to what ,i am fancying when in the midst of writing4 ,i find that calculating and constructing makes me deliberate and a degree cool toward the subject-matter4 ,this is the result of deliberate intellectualizing1 of course4 ,i have always considered the functions of imagination as the basic tools of the trade4 ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell3 ,this question is too broad4 ,it is all according to the author4 ,some can make me see1 feel1 taste1 smell4 ,others merely glue my attention to the action4 ,others bore me4 ,under some authors ,i will say that ,i see the people and action1 subconsciously1 not as in real life4 ,my response is with one kind of author limited to the exact degree that he describes things1 while with others ,i am able to wander all over4 ,a concrete example3 ,kipling in a few lines can intimate things which will make me lay down the book and think4 ,o4 ,henry1 on the other hand1 keeps one so busy keeping up with his sparkling action that there is no time for another thought4 ,kipling's mere concept1 or hint1 can produce unlimited mental pictures2 but ,o4 ,henry has to draw them line for line4 ,i believe that the concept or hint is best4 ,i never studied solid geometry1 being fired from college just in time to avoid it4 ,all mathematics bore me2 and yet ,i can draw a ship or a city in perfect proportion and perspective4 ,i suppose it's instinct or something4 ,have no stock pictures for church or cowboy4 ,each individual case is interesting in itself4 ,imagination to me is clearer when reading than writing4 ,when reading ,i can sit back and let things flow by in easy sequence4 ,when writing ,i must labor1 taking various imaginings as a bricklayer picks up bricks1 and then selecting those which are useful and rejecting those which are not4 ,when ,i get a new idea my imagination is vivid2 but in writing it ,i fade the picture1 for my mind is occupied with means for putting the picture over1 rather than the picture itself4 ,the picture is still there2 but it is subordinated4 ,lucia ,mead ,priest3 ,if a writer is master of his craft he can do what he will with my imagination4 ,my senses are alert1 particularly those of sight1 taste1 smell4 ,oh1 yes1 my mouth waters4 ,dickens used to make me hungry till ,i sampled his edibles4 'am and weal pie is a sordid delusion1 a menu snare4 ,this is guess-work1 but ,i should say ,i do respond to the various stimuli to the senses4 ,not in the same measure to all4 ,when ,i read the death of ,nancy ,sikes ,i see her in the ghastly light of a ,london morning1 see the grimy curtain with ,bill1 and the horror under it1 but ,i feel no quiver of flesh when he beats down the upturned face4 ,i respond to mental hurts not to physical--not as physical4 ,when impressed ,i find ,i carry a mental pain--even for years4 ,it depends entirely on the author's designs on me4 ,if he paints his sunset clearly1 ,i see it in color4 ,i think ,i must see details1 for descriptions1 bits of books1 here and there1 stand out from the main story often4 ,i fancy the color of them is ephemeral4 ,i have no remembrance of any thing in mathematics from the multiplication table to trigonometry that didn't spell ,trouble for me with a monster ,t4 ,my response to an author who interests me is evidently helpful4 ,i have found1 often1 that in rereading something ,i have liked ,i have built on many additions1 colored it with my imagining4 ,sorry1 but ,i'm afraid my stock room is bare4 ,maybe ,i would find ,owen ,wister's or a stage cowboy in it1 never having seen a live one4 ,my pictures come from original locations--geography ,i have covered myself4 ,no great difference in the working of the imagination between writing and reading4 ,if so1 one of degree4 ,by the looks of my hair1 when genius 787 has burned1 ,i should judge ,i may get greater emotional depths when creating4 ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes3 ,visual imagination1 yes4 ,hearing1 no4 ,taste1 smell1 touch1 pain1 thirty to fifty per cent4 ,colors3 distinct4 ,no solid geometry4 ,concept is as good as three volumes--better2 want to roll my own4 ,no stock pictures4 ,reading vs4 writing1 no difference4 ,as to tools1 yes4 ,frank ,c4 ,robertson3 ,my imagination reproduces the story-world of an author1 though with limitations4 ,that is1 ,i see a story-world when reading but ,i frequently realize later that it is not just the same as the author's4 ,this1 of course1 is not the fault of the author1 but comes from my own peculiar reactions4 ,for instance3 the author says the lion roared4 ,i don't hear the roar1 ,i see a lion open his mouth in the motions of roaring4 ,he says3 the gurgling brook4 ,i don't hear it gurgle--,i see it cascading over stones and know that it is gurgling4 ,but if he forces me to it like out in the darkness there sounded a strange1 droning noise1 ,i actually hear a strange1 droning noise4 ,in lesser measure this holds true with all the senses4 ,the author speaks of his starving hero eating luscious fried bananas4 ,i can see those bananas and my mouth waters1 but to save my life ,i can not taste them4 ,my sense of sight predominates4 ,but where acute physical pain or mental agony is described ,i think ,i actually feel4 ,at every blow of the lash my flesh shrinks and my nerves recoil4 ,and ,i am as easily moved to tears as the veriest schoolgirl--which is why ,i write he-man stuff4 ,cold1 callous and indifferent4 ,the mental pictures that ,i see are usually clear-cut and the coloring very much as ,i see the same objects in real life4 ,my response is not limited to the exact degree to which the author describes4 ,i frequently seize upon a mere impression left by the author and from it build up a whole chain of pictures4 ,i find this a decided handicap in my own writing for ,i am prone to leave a mere impression of the setting1 and the scenes which are so clear to me are blurred in the mind of the reader4 ,in rewriting ,i find that ,i always have to make the setting and atmosphere more vivid4 ,in these mental pictures each case1 or object1 has a distinct individuality4 ,my imagination is never so active when reading a story as when writing it4 ,in reading ,i am content to float along with the author1 analyzing what has gone before rather than probing continually into the future as ,i do when writing4 ,to the extent that structure1 appeal and atmosphere are necessary to the story ,i have considered these things as tools of the trade4 ,just recently ,i have begun to realize the value of appealing to all of the reader's senses to get him more fully into the spirit of the story4 ,ruth ,sawyer3 ,if a story is strongly and convincingly written ,i generally see characters and action developing with the same degree of reality that one sees a motion picture4 ,sounds1 flavors1 smells--in fact all sense perceptions become extremely acute4 ,i should say the relationship to the actual stimuli is comparable with a vivid dream4 ,i rarely see color4 ,for the most part things are black and white but with sharp detail4 ,i studied solid geometry and flunked it4 ,the only examination in mathematics ,i ever flunked4 ,a suggestive concept will start me picturing endless detail provided the suggestion is true to type and locality4 ,no1 ,i do not have stock pictures for village churches4 ,i think that depends largely on the condition of mind when one takes up a story4 ,i find if ,i am tired ,i want the work of detail picturing done for me provided it is not overdone to the point of weariness4 ,also ,i think if one is generally familiar with the atmosphere the writer is creating that one enjoys filling in a large part of the picture with one's own imagination4 ,yes4 ,i should say when ,i read stories my imagination was passive and receptive2 that when ,i wrote stories it was active and creative4 ,not consciously4 ,chester ,l4 ,saxby3 ,in reading1 my imagination functions in exactly the same manner as in writing4 ,i write as ,i read1 trying for the story-world1 trying for reality4 ,i think this explains why with me the atmosphere is the biggest thing1 sometimes too big1 bigger than the story4 ,i write as if ,i were reading1 not creating4 ,i have that feeling4 ,barry ,scobee3 ,i believe my imagination reproduces the story in almost minute detail1 if it is interesting4 ,i am a slow reader1 the slowest ,i know1 too unutterably slow ever to sit in on the newspaper copy desk4 ,i've tried it to my sorrow4 ,i will see the scenes minutely--the details of the grove or lot or room or barn--the vast expanse of desert or prairie or sea or mountains4 ,i will see the out-of-doors or the things with which ,i am familiar4 ,i will see all this without effort4 ,but as to hearing1 smelling1 tasting1 feeling1 ,i will not catch them nearly so minutely or accurately1 unless the author is impressing them with emphasis4 ,if they are impressed emphatically1 ,i take them in fairly well4 ,as to whether the story-pictures in my mind are black and white--shadowy--or colored1 well1 it depends on what the author says or whether ,i have seen places similar to what is being described4 ,i prefer to read1 and write1 where there is a splash and promise of color and description so that ,i can form my own pictures or let my reader do it for himself4 ,a big man with uncombed hair and in his sock feet is likely to be better than a detailed description4 ,it lets the imagination of the reader work1 which is one of the technicalities the author should take advantage of4 ,however1 sometimes the dramatic can be enhanced by minute description4 ,if ,i have seen something close to what the author describes or hints at ,i can see it in all its color4 ,solid geometry1 as ,i recollect--,i am nearly thirty-seven--gave me just the same trouble as all other mathematics1 which was trouble indeed1 from addition to trigonometry4 ,it may be clear in the foregoing that a hint from the writer sets me to reproducing1 if the description is anything at all within the compass of my experience or previous reading and comprehension4 ,i do not have a single stock picture in mind1 so far as ,i am aware of now4 ,when ,i write my imagination behaves differently from when ,i read--it goes more slowly1 because ,i must ponder and weigh and try out4 ,but otherwise it brings in the material with clarity1 if ,i have my mind well on what ,i am doing4 ,as tools of your trade8 ,i don't quite savvy4 ,all the thousands of quirks of technique1 all the tricks of the trade1 certainly are tools of the trade4 7,and it's funny ,i can't think of a blooming one right now with which to illustrate47 ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott3 ,when ,i read a story my imagination reproduces the story-world of the author very vividly4 ,if it does not1 the story does not interest me and ,i pass on to the next4 ,i do not hear sounds in connection with a story which ,i am reading except upon rare occasions4 ,taste1 on the other hand1 is very acute4 ,smells1 too1 are acute although not quite so acute as tastes4 ,the sense of touch is not so pronounced1 though ,i feel it to a certain extent4 ,i feel no actual pain corresponding to the physical pain described in the story4 ,in the case of taste my imagination produces the same result upon my sense as does the actual stimulus itself4 7,if the above proves me to be weak-minded or a degenerate please give me a chance to argue the matter with the fellow who says so47 ,limitations with the eyes shut need not exist4 ,pictures may be colored1 in black and white1 blurred or distinct4 ,you are the master or a child wandering in fairy land4 ,it rests with you if you will but practise regularly for short intervals of time4 ,five minutes every day at the same hour will be sufficient for a starter4 ,seat yourself in a chair with your back to the door and with your eyes closed4 ,imagine yourself rising from the chair and walking around behind your back toward the door4 ,see the door and feel the knob so vividly that you have forgotten that you are sitting in the chair4 ,open the door and pass out1 closing it behind you4 ,enter the room again and look at the back of your own head as you sit in the chair4 ,open the door and pass out1 closing it behind you4 ,enter the room again and look at the back of your own head as you sit in the chair4 ,sounds silly1 but try it once a day for six months4 ,if you have made no progress in three weeks1 give it up4 ,if you do make progress1 however1 you will reach marvels at the end of half a year or earlier4 ,there will be no limits and you will be able to visit any place that you ever heard of or never heard of as you please to be the master or the child4 ,london or ,cairo1 the center of the earth or the opposite side of the moon await you while something unconscious sits in your chair with its back to the door4 ,proof8 ,there is no proof for the man of science such as the counting of beans in a closed box4 ,the reason for proof is doubt and1 with doubt1 the trick vanishes4 ,solid geometry gave me more trouble than other mathematics4 ,you can't prove me a maniac on this1 however1 for ,i fooled away my time at the commencement of the study and a weak foundation may have been to blame4 ,i am not quite sure that ,i get your next question4 ,perhaps ,i can not answer definitely4 ,sometimes ,i follow the author pretty closely and sometimes ,i leave the author in my lap while something sits in the chair with its back to the door4 ,i have no stock pictures4 ,each case produces its own vision4 ,in reading stories my imagination usually follows4 ,in writing a story it leads or is led4 ,you will say that1 if it is led1 it follows4 ,yes1 but not in the same way4 ,in reading it follows the plot4 ,in writing it follows something altogether apart from the story and the result of that following is the story4 ,what is this something which the imagination follows--which leads the imagination8 ,it is1 ,i think1 that which makes us think at certain times when our thoughts are not lazily centered upon heat and cold or food and drink--the cravings and sensations of the body4 ,there is something beyond all selfish desires and emotions and that something should be master of our thoughts if we are to function to the best advantage4 ,if there is nothing on the other side of the grave1 then all these ideas are nonsense4 ,if we do continue to live after death1 however1 then that permanent self is not likely to be born at death4 ,it is much more probable that we have it now or even that we may have had it for millions of years--perhaps always4 ,if such should be the case it might well be that thought or imagination is sometimes influenced by the contact of our work-a-day mind with that real self which never dies and which may be a vast store-house of knowledge and high ideals4 ,i have considered these matters as tools of my trade and ,i try1 very falteringly1 to use them4 ,the best theory upon which to work is1 to my mind1 the theory of reincarnation4 ,perhaps1 however1 that must be proved by each man for himself4 ,i have studied it and ,i do believe that it gives results4 ,robert ,simpson3 ,when ,i read a story and can't see the whole business--people1 places1 things--,i don't go on reading4 ,it is at once a lifeless thing--inchoate--a blur4 ,i don't try to see and feel and taste and smell and so forth1 if the story is getting over to me4 ,if ,i don't experience these sensations in a greater or lesser degree1 it is possible1 of course1 that ,i may have dyspepsia1 but it is more likely that the story has a flat tire4 ,the pictures ,i see with my eyes shut are generally only half formed4 ,the people are real and distinct enough--too distinct1 ,i think1 because ,i am tempted1 in writing about them1 to mark every trivial expression4 ,their positions in the pictures are most exact4 ,but the furnishings or surrounding buildings or landscapes are not very clear1 unless a chair or a house or a tree or several or all of these are absolutely necessary to the story4 ,the whole scene1 in other words1 ,i see clearly4 ,the details are blurred until they become specific4 ,then they stick out like a sore finger4 ,the pictures are black and white for the most part4 ,red1 yellow and green ,i can also see with fair distinctness4 ,the finer shades are blurred4 ,they fade in and fade out in an unsettled kind of way1 as if ,i were having a hard time holding them there4 ,i never studied geometry or mathematics and ,i'm not going to4 ,i was supposed to study them1 but all ,i ever got out of them was a headache4 ,when the author of a story has set his stage1 ,i generally see the setting in my own way4 ,most folks1 ,i think1 are guilty of this crime against the author's good intentions2 particularly artists4 ,i have no stock pictures of anything ,i am reading or writing4 ,some scenes and things are more or less built to a pattern1 but ,i like to see them differently whether they are or not4 ,when ,i am reading my imagination is naturally to a large extent subservient to the dictates of the printed page4 ,i can make my own pictures out of the author's words1 but ,i have to keep my imagination within bounds or ,i'd lose track of what came next4 ,when ,i'm writing1 ,i'm the boss4 ,i can go where ,i please and do what ,i please4 ,it's a different thing and a different sensation4 ,the first is a receptive mood that may kind o' tug on the reins1 but always goes docilely or cheerfully on2 the other is a creative one that gropes hopefully through a maze of plot and counterplot1 scenes1 people who are never where they ought to be when one wants them1 and1 finally and tediously and most importantly1 technique4 ,i have always considered vizualization as the most valuable tool of my trade4 ,without it ,i couldn't write a line4 ,this will indicate how much ,i use it4 ,arthur ,d4 ,howden ,smith3 ,when ,i am working at my best ,i live the story literally4 ,color and distinctness depend on my physical condition1 ,i think--mental states of the moment have something to do with it4 ,as to solid geometry1 don't know what you mean--it never meant anything to me4 ,response is up to the author4 ,the question of stock pictures is up to the author4 ,reading vs4 writing--you bet4 ,as to tools1 it would take a book to tell you1 principally because my reactions are different at different times4 ,theodore ,seixas ,solomons3 ,i am a visualizer in writing and reading4 ,psychologically there is little difference with me in the two processes1 except that in reading ,i visualize little besides what the author describes1 while in writing ,i visualize all the attacks ,i make in the creation besides the one that stands--is adopted4 ,that is1 at every point where ,i hesitate between proposed actions1 before ,i adopt one of them1 ,i visualize each as ,i think of it4 ,conceiving it in fancy being itself a visualizing process4 ,i do not hear1 smell or taste anything4 ,i can see their action1 as they talk1 see their lips move1 if there is any point in the manner of enunciation--but no sounds4 ,the bear meat may be frying1 but ,i do not hear it hiss or get mentally the aroma4 ,nor do ,i get the sense of touch4 ,in fine1 beyond visualization of the main picture and its immediate surroundings from point to point in the narrative--my own or that which ,i read--my mental activities are conceptual only and never sensory4 ,but ,i do feel4 ,my mind flames to sympathetic feeling4 ,i have a weak replica of all the emotions appropriate to the course of the story4 ,this is far stronger1 usually1 in writing my own stuff than in reading the fiction of others4 ,i do not attribute this to any superiority of fancy in myself1 but only to the fact that the act of imagination may be so much more complete when exercised in the creation of my own fiction than when stimulated by the fiction of another that it moves me correspondingly more4 ,when my story is down the stimuli are1 of course1 no more numerous for the other person than another writer's have been to me in his story1 but in the process of writing that which forms the text of my story ,i have lived through so very much more concerning the people in it than ,i have selected to be written that ,i am beset emotionally and mentally with many times as many effects--and am affected proportionally4 ,to sum up my answer to this question--when ,i have pictured physically the scene and people1 either in writing or reading1 it is my intellect alone that works as to what takes place in the sense world among them4 ,just as in a cinema we imagine by the action of the mind alone sounds1 touches1 smells1 so my stories 7and those ,i read7 are cinemas in which ,i imagine1 mentally only1 the rest of the action4 ,the mental physical picture--if you get me--is data enough1 stimulation enough to suggest to my mind all other sense perceptions in their effects4 ,that is1 if ,i see the bear-meat frying1 ,i can readily supply smells and touches and sounds without experiencing any imagined sense impressions of smells1 touches or sounds4 ,i see things as well with my eyes open1 if moving objects do not sidetrack my attention1 as with them shut4 ,in fact1 ,i can not plot or write without seeing things1 any more than ,i can describe the route to my place in the mountains without visualizing it as ,i describe4 ,i see things in their natural colors4 ,necessary details are distinct4 ,the picture1 however1 is hazy off the main trail4 ,that is1 my visualizing apparatus is economical--or penurious--enough to refuse to draw and color in areas beyond the main trend of the story ,i'm conceiving or writing4 ,solid geometry was pretty easy to me1 because of my ready concrete visualization4 ,i go beyond the description of the author in some cases4 ,for instance1 in ,mr4 ,dunn's castaway story of the eight or ten men ,i took his description of the island as he gave it from time to time and filled in a lot of details4 ,and ,i imagined quite a little action besides that which he narrated4 ,i never changed his descriptions1 ,i merely filled them out4 ,i have not exactly stock pictures1 but if ,i am called on imaginatively to see a village church or a cowboy ,i am likely to revert visually to some particular church or particular man that has made a great impression on me4 ,but with the stimulus of the slightest description that doesn't fit1 my mind facilely makes the necessary modification4 ,tools8 ,no4 ,i just write as ,i tend to and can4 ,raymond ,s4 ,spears3 ,some of my characters are as real1 and even more real1 than most people ,i know4 ,they are usually distinct personalities that ,i know better than living people4 ,in writing them ,i am often quite unable to give them the bitterness of experiences ,i have in mind because ,i hate to abuse them so6 ,that's a fact1 too1 and has spoiled some of my--to me--most interesting ideas and stories4 ,my feeling toward my characters does not include physical pain1 for ,i can cut or shoot a hero without compunction1 but ,i hate to embarrass a man or woman1 probably because ,i am rather sensitive myself4 ,i hear the music ,i write about better than ,i hear the reality2 thus the lapping of wavelets along the hull of a shanty-boat1 the ringing of a bell or gobble of a turkey in a fog is more audible in my imagination than in fact--for ,i am hard of hearing4 ,but ,i have heard these things at some time or other1 and the memory is direct1 whether hearing1 seeing1 smelling1 etc4 ,what ,i see is environment ,i actually know1 which ,i have seen and studied4 ,i see characters in action4 ,sometimes ,i go myself through a whole story1 as one of the characters2 then go back and put down the imaginary episodes with myself as one or other of the characters1 but usually a minor or spectator character4 ,i read others' fiction nearly as ,i form my own4 ,i never studied solid geometry4 ,poor health kept me out of school1 so ,i had only two years and a half in a grammar school1 after brief period in a country district school4 ,i had1 however1 a great working library for a boy1 in my father's collection1 to which advantage ,i later added a four-years course as ,sun reporter in ,new ,york1 and wide-range reading4 ,but ,i do not recall that ,i ever read anything or studied anything the need of which ,i did not acutely feel4 ,thus in reading fiction it satisfies some longing as for experience1 information1 a view-point1 etc4 ,i can overlook errors of statement obviously outside a writer's own knowledge or experience1 if he puts in good things within the scope of his own data4 ,in writing1 details come into focus if ,i look at them4 ,that is1 if ,i describe a trapper's cabin1 if it is of logs ,i see the moss chinking and the spruce1 balsam or other banking up4 ,i ask the equivalent of this accuracy of knowledge in what ,i read and take delight1 for instance1 in the minute knowledge of equipment displayed by ,pendexter or the desert flora by ,harriman or ,tuttle's fine cowboy exaggeration and faithfulness to a habit or frame of mind4 ,my stock in trade is a vast junk yard1 properties more varied than a motion-picture lot's1 and ,i seldom see the same thing twice4 ,if ,i read1 for example1 a ,western1 ,i may know its exact location 7as ,i do my own story-atmospheres74 ,in that case ,i see as ,i remember1 and if ,i don't remember very well1 ,i get out a map1 note-books1 etc41 and find out what's wrong4 ,i read stories for amusement and information1 and often ,i write stories to give information--hoping to amuse as well4 ,norman ,springer3 ,it depends on the story and the author4 ,in a romantic story ,i'm always chiefly interested in the characters4 ,in a realistic story ,i am often more interested in the setting1 or background1 than in the characters4 ,sounds1 smells1 feels1 pictures--if the tale is artfully written1 these are quite real1 though1 of course1 in a subdued or diluted sense4 ,suggestion makes these things more real than elaborate description4 ,pain1 ,i think1 is usually met by the reader with feelings of anger and pity4 ,suggestions of smells are1 ,i think1 most vivid to me4 ,if ,i visualize a picture1 it is in color4 ,the distinctness of details depends on the intensity of the scene1 or my interest in it4 ,characters are usually distinct2 scenery blurred4 ,no geometry4 ,the response1 ,i think1 is often killed by too much description4 ,suggestion1 particularly sensory suggestion1 does the work best with me--and ,i think with most people4 ,if the author outlines the picture and sets my five senses--or any of them--to work1 ,i get a much more vivid and real impression than if he spent pages in meticulous description4 ,if the characters are alive and the setting interesting1 the mental pictures of a story are individual4 ,otherwise1 ,i suppose they are stock pictures4 ,a great deal of difference4 ,in reading ,i can allow my imagination free play4 ,in writing ,i must discipline it1 keep it within the bounds of the story4 ,i find it hard to do4 ,yes4 ,i think all writers consider them as tools4 ,they have to be considered in every story1 as it is being written4 ,there is the general style of the story to be considered1 and following that1 each situation4 ,i think1 ,now how can ,i get this effect or that2 how can ,i make this fellow behave like a real man8 ,in fact1 my stories so far have been a series of experiments4 ,i nearly always try something new in each story1 something ,i haven't tried before4 ,something that ,i hope will make the story more real and readable4 ,quite often the result is a rotten failure2 but sometimes it isn't4 ,julian ,street3 ,it depends on the author's ability to transmit the pictures he wishes me to see4 ,i am always ready to do my share4 ,my mouth does not literally water1 except possibly over exceptionally fine descriptions of fine food and drink--which are rare4 ,i do not think1 however1 that ,i get physical pain4 ,my reactions are intellectual and emotional4 ,tarkington1 for instance1 can make me happy or unhappy or worried about his characters4 ,he presses the buttons--we do the rest4 ,the work of inferior observers and inferior writers of course reaches me less and less4 ,i am fastidious in these matters4 ,when writing a scene1 ,i see things vividly in color4 ,in reading less so1 though to a considerable extent if the author has the picture-making power4 ,no1 thank ,god1 ,i don't have standard stock pictures of scenes and persons4 ,i depend on the author to give me his pictures1 and if he is any good1 he can do it4 ,if he can't give me pictures1 ,i don't want to read him4 ,i resent not having sufficient images made for me4 ,i also resent images made in a conventional trite way--written out of the author's reading rather than out of his observation4 ,i want my author to be a keen observer and artful interpreter4 ,i want him1 as ,tarkington says1 to flush me with colors4 ,yes1 my imagination is most vivid when ,i am writing stories4 ,the characters ,i read1 however real to me1 are never quite so real as those ,i create4 ,because those ,i read are other people's children1 whereas those ,i create are my own4 ,i love my children more than ,i love those of others1 even though the others may be in every way better products4 ,it amuses me that this should be so and ,i am a little ashamed to confess it4 ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling3 ,as ,i said1 ,i almost never read a story4 ,they bore me to death4 ,it seems to me there are few things in this world as stupid as fiction4 ,when ,i am writing ,i see everything ,i write about4 ,i never try to remember anything2 ,i am simply looking at the thing and it is no more effort to describe it than it would be to describe the typewriter under my fingers now4 ,pictures are always in color1 and the details are blurred except at the point ,i am describing and that is just as clear-cut as if ,i were looking at the real thing1 not at a picture4 ,yes ,i studied solid geometry2 mathematics never gave me any trouble at all4 ,no1 ,i don't have stock pictures for anything or at least ,i am not conscious of it4 ,if ,i say a village church ,i will then have to decide what sort of village church ,i want4 ,however when ,i get clear out of my experience1 say into the ,eskimo1 the word ,eskimo simply calls up a little fur-covered man2 however if ,i should start writing about them1 this generalization would instantly dissolve into scores of individuals4 ,when ,i read stories my imagination sinks into a profound stupor4 ,everything seems too dull and tame2 when ,i write1 everything picks up1 life grows gay again1 and ,i have the deuce of a good time4 ,no1 ,i don't consider them tools of my trade4 ,i don't consider ,i have a trade nor any tools4 ,the first novel ,i ever wrote was because ,i couldn't find a novel that ,i enjoyed reading2 the last one ,i write will be written for the same reason4 ,booth ,tarkington3 ,i shall have to leave these answers pretty indefinite4 ,the answer to each differs with every story4 ,as a reader every one1 ,i imagine1 has1 when a village church is mentioned1 the image of some village church he has seen--or ,i should say1 more probably1 that is1 a thin haze of a fragment of some village church4 ,an author forming too many images of course fatigues the reader4 ,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle3 ,i have always been afraid of paying too much attention to other authors' work1 for fear that ,i might absorb some of their traits4 ,a few years ago ,i was a newspaper cartoonist and ,i have often found myself unconsciously using another artist's technique4 ,it was not because ,i desired to do this1 but because ,i admired his style4 ,perhaps we are all copyists1 as far as that is concerned1 and ,i believe it would be easy to adopt some favorite author's style of writing4 ,there are certain kinds of stories which lure me on to long periods of reading4 ,give me a tale of the days of old1 with plumed knights1 stage-coaches drifting over muddy roads1 tavern brawls1 etc41 and ,i'm useless until the end of the story4 ,i can fairly smell the tap-room1 hear the rattle of dice and the clash of swords4 ,it is more like a moving picture than a tale of fiction4 ,i often envy the writers of these tales4 ,to me this is real fiction4 ,my mind sometimes flashes back to the author and ,i wonder if he enjoyed the writing as ,i did the reading4 ,i think that in many cases ,i improve upon the author's description4 ,if it is a coach team ,i can see in a flash just the size and color of the horses1 the general appearance of the coach1 the contour of the road4 ,it appears like a moving picture1 if you know what ,i mean4 ,such detail as the jolting of the coach1 the creaking of harness2 little details that no author would stop to describe1 ,i see and hear them in my own story1 but would never think to burden the reader with such small detail4 ,yet1 ,i wonder if it isn't the little detail that makes a good story4 ,somehow ,i always draw a mental picture of the author at work on that certain story1 and ,i wonder if he planned it all out before putting it on paper4 ,did he know what the ending would be8 ,where and how did he get the idea in the first place8 ,it appears to me that an author must see things in color1 with detail clear1 in order to convince the reader4 ,a blurred image will not reproduce clear4 ,i have managed to cover a bad piece of drawing with technique1 but ,i have never seen a bad piece of writing that could be concealed in a mass of words4 ,when my mental picture becomes foggy ,i quit writing until it clears4 ,at times ,i have two or more stories under way1 and when one gets blurred ,i take another4 ,i have never found them all out of focus1 and it has saved me hours of waste time4 ,things are pretty much the same when ,i read a story1 and it does not take me long to feel whether the author knew his characters1 locale1 etc4 ,some of them actually live1 while others are merely lay figures1 with labels instead of souls4 ,i can accept bad description1 but when the dialogue is stilted1 unreal1 ,i lose interest4 ,perhaps it is my imagination that hampers me in writing4 ,i can see every detail so clearly that ,i forget that the reader must at least have a diagram of what ,i see in order to understand4 ,and ,i have no stock picture for anything4 ,it is not a case of a rock is a rock and a tree is a tree4 ,i suppose ,i absorb a certain amount from reading1 although ,i would be unable to point out just what benefit it has been to me4 ,the handling of a story has always interested me1 even if the characters were unreal1 and ,i believe that a well-written story is a tool of the trade to any author1 if he will consider it in that light4 ,lucille ,van ,slyke3 ,may ,i add that when ,i read a story by ,laura ,jean ,libbey types of writers that ,i never see anything they write as real--,abject apology3 ,i never saw anything the lady wrote--it is exactly like watching a play that is so poor that the eye registers scenery and grease paint every minute4 ,things ,i see with my eyes shut are never black and white--always sharply colored4 ,some one detail will be distinct--from which ,i edge through blurred ones4 ,example4 ,recently in a story ,i had to strand a boat on a sand-bar at twilight4 ,i sit back1 shut my eyes and try to remember where ,i have got the sand-bar idea4 ,i saw an old coat1 plaid1 wet1 lying on sand1 a basket next to the coat--basket had food in it--tomatoes--red tomatoes4 ,all this can have nothing to do with my story1 you understand1 but ,i'm back five years ago on a real sand-bar with a stranded picnic party waiting for tide to come up4 ,zip1 ,i'm off6 ,don't have to imagine it1 it's there6 ,hate math of all kinds but had less trouble with solid geometry than with any other kind of mathematics4 ,yet ,i had the same teacher that ,i had for algebra and plane--think perhaps ,i was a bit older and could concentrate better4 ,if my concept were limited to the exact degree to which the author makes vivid ,i'd have to quit reading6 ,again1 if he's a real writer man he sets me tingling--if he isn't ,i quit reading6 ,if ,i'm not getting a real kick out of the thing1 ,i stop4 ,nope1 haven't any stock pictures for anything4 ,much resent having every t crossed and every i dotted4 ,think you are using the wrong word when you say imagination1 anyway the question is not clear to me4 ,it's like the difference between watching somebody else work and working myself4 ,if it's going right ,i enjoy watching it--if it isn't ,i want to take off my coat and show the other fellow how ,i think it ought to be done4 ,i consider these matters very much tools of my trade4 ,the most helpful thing any editor ever said to me was this3 ,always pretend to yourself that your reader can not think at all--but always remember that he can feel--and make him feel all that you can4 ,when ,i read a story by a--oh1 say a ,conrad--,i think my imagination is swept along with his to such an extent that ,i see the thing as an actual scene4 ,sounds ,i never hear consciously1 except music4 ,tastes ,i do not get4 ,but smells ,i do get1 distinctly4 ,touch ,i think ,i get because ,i find my fingers often move as ,i read4 ,that pain part of the question so fascinates me that ,i hope every writer you sent it to is equally intrigued by it4 ,i have never been able to feel in any degree any pain that a writer talks about4 ,neither have ,i ever been able1 even a day or two after acute pain1 to make myself remember how it felt4 ,i can remember where ,i felt it and that ,i was acutely miserable1 but ,i can not refeel it4 ,i have repeatedly questioned scores of persons in all walks of life to describe how they felt the day after--,i always get bromidic expressions--,like a toothache--or sharp--or dull--or something that indicates very clearly that the pain itself is obliterated1 gone4 ,i've doped it out this way--that it is nature's kind provision--that we couldn't any of us exist very long actually facing prolonged acute pain--we'd be pretty brave for a while but we'd give up eventually4 ,even doctors and nurses can't feel the pain they are assuaging4 ,but1 this seems to me an extraordinary thing--,i have repeatedly noted many young mothers whose faces unconsciously reflect pain that a very young child is enduring4 ,and ,i can not resist adding this very personal note4 ,i am sometimes subject to that type of headache that is ,i believe called migraine--for which ,i believe physicians have no known reason4 ,it may not occur for years in my case--then ,i may have several blinding attacks of it--strangely enough when ,i am quite well otherwise4 ,and ,i'm a fairly husky animal4 ,and nothing helps it4 ,i literally fight it for days1 finally submerge--the thing works to its two- or three-hour horrible climax--and as ,i begin to feel the pain ooze out--possibly after two or three days or so of illness--,i am suddenly aware that every sense is working clearly--literally with an after-the-thunder-storm clearness4 ,i am still too weakened from pain to have any inclination to do anything--,i begin to grow drowsy after many nights of insomnia--but half-way to the sleep--click1 it goes--possibly a half dozen or more things that have bothered me solve themselves--maybe a story plot that ,i've toiled over years before and abandoned and forgotten--possibly something ,i was working on when the thing hit me4 ,or a perfectly new thing may suggest itself4 ,or ,i will know exactly what was the matter with the unsatisfactory spot in the story ,i had been reading 7by somebody else674 ,find myself wanting to change the endings of plays ,i may have seen years before and been disappointed in4 ,this period lasts sometimes twenty or thirty minutes--sometimes nearly fifty but usually goes in less than ten--when ,i fall asleep4 ,note this--if ,i am too weak or not near a pencil--these curious things are washed out forever--just like dashing a sponge over a slate4 ,for years ,i was too lazy or stupid to understand that ,i must grab at those amazing few moments and grab hard4 ,yet ,i can not anticipate it--nor can ,i say that ,i'm very keen about paying hours of pain in advance for a few ideas6 ,i call it blasting out of solid ivory--eh8 ,but ,i do wonder if it happens to other writer persons and if so1 if they consider it has any significance4 ,atreus von ,schrader3 ,the extent to which my imagination reproduces the story-world of the author depends1 ,i believe1 both on the author's skill and the degree of my interest in what he happens to be writing about1 as well as my familiarity with the same story-world4 ,i hear1 see1 smell and taste ,kipling2 ,poe ,i only hear4 ,i do not feel actual physical pain presented in a story2 my feeling is rather that of a man in a warm room looking through the window at a raging storm2 he gets the effect1 and is glad he's not out in it4 ,the pictures ,i see are colored2 their clearness again depends on the skill of the author and my interest in the tale4 ,i studied solid geometry2 it was the only subject in which ,i failed1 twice1 to pass my college entrance examinations4 ,i do not suffer from stock pictures of physical things or people2 ,i find it necessary to guard against stock characteristics for certain types of people2 the too heroic hero1 the too villainous villain1 etc4 ,this is a common error of certain editors1 who insist upon story-heroes being all white and villains all black4 ,were it not for the libel laws1 ,i should like to cite one or two experiences of my own in this connection4 ,when reading a story the imagination is at liberty to cavort without restriction4 ,when writing1 it is not4 ,but in the latter case ,i see and feel with far greater vividness as long as my story is developing2 if ,i have to stop to feel my way1 the picture fades2 to reappear as soon as the thank-you-marm has been passed4 ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch3 ,if an author has written into his or her story enough of the color of the setting 7for instance1 if it is a desert scene the author has got to picture a desert for me as ,i have seen them1 or the woods as ,i have lived in them7 then my imagination carries me along with the characters4 ,i believe that just enough of the actual local color of the story either makes or breaks it1 and must confess ,i detest these yarns that are merely written around action and incident and plot4 ,they are cheap and fail utterly to have any value4 ,in their wake they leave nothing of pleasant memories4 ,if the author has painted the scene and skilfully laid the settings then ,i can drift contentedly with the tale1 seeing the characters1 the action1 hearing the sounds and smelling pleasant odors in my imagination4 ,unpleasant odors are much more difficult to get over with me4 ,i can not taste1 but my imagination has frequently reproduced the sense of touch4 ,here is a curious thing4 ,i can only feel pains which ,i have experienced4 ,for instance ,i was badly injured breaking a horse once2 ,i have been shot four times4 ,now ,i can feel it when a character is injured by a horse or shot4 ,details of coloring are usually somewhat indistinct unless the author has achieved them with abruptness that is very skilful4 ,do not ask me what ,i think of mathematics--and that includes both plane and solid geometry1 trigonometry1 logs1 algebra and all their brood4 ,i have formed the opinion that every reader inevitably strides beyond the scenes laid in the story to develop broader vistas1 provided the author has painted his scenes skilfully enough4 ,to me there are innumerable little by-paths that the author merely sketches the openings of--and allows the reader to wander down them at will1 formulating his own vague scenes4 ,as an example--a character in a story is following a trail in the forest2 the author draws the picture of the distant mountains as the character sees them and perhaps puts in a little touch more4 ,in reading that story ,i subconsciously explore those mountains1 looking down on the whole scene almost like a resident of ,olympus1 and a deal of the fun and enchantment of the story is in that by-play1 ,i am confident4 ,as to the stock pictures in my mind ,i should say that depends entirely on the author4 ,if he is writing plot and action stories with nothing else1 how could the reader help having anything else but stock pictures mentally--the kind that have been foisted on the public so long8 ,in regard to the difference in behavior of the imagination in reading and writing ,i am not competent to judge4 ,i have read very1 very little modern ,american fiction4 ,my imagination holds me an absolute slave when writing--far more so than when reading4 ,i can honestly say that ,i do not remember ever having given any of these matters a moment's thought4 ,in fact ,i am greatly surprised that ,i am able to tell you as much as ,i am now doing4 ,i have never thought of the tools of my trade4 ,i merely write4 ,henry ,kitchell ,webster3 ,my most vivid sensational reactions are to sound1 touch1 taste and smell4 ,i would hesitate to say that ,i can see things with my eyes shut4 ,i don't remember ever feeling any actual physical pain1 even in the slightest degree1 to correspond with the pain presented in a story4 ,i found solid geometry rather easy1 and analytical geometry1 which for the first time gave a meaning to algebra1 was a revelation and a delight4 ,my response to description and suggestion in what ,i'm reading or seeing on the stage or in the movies is variable4 ,i have phases in which ,i get nothing but the bare fare that is offered me1 and others in which ,i run out and amplify enormously4 ,i haven't1 so far as ,i know1 any stock pictures for village churches or cowboys4 ,i don't resent too many images being formed for me2 if there are too many1 ,i simply ignore them4 ,there's an enormous difference in the behavior of my imagination when ,i am reading stories and when ,i am writing them4 ,i do indeed consider these matters as important tools of my trade4 ,g4 ,a4 ,wells3 ,sad to relate1 very few stories carry me along with them into the very thick of things4 ,that comes of being too darned hypercritical4 ,it is hard for me to get away from the author4 ,i believe ,i am too much interested in the mechanics and not enough in the result1 always admiring or condemning the author for what he does4 ,with the exception of a few cases which ,i will mention the author1 like the poor1 is always with me4 ,james ,connelly's earlier stories--those to be found in the book of the title ,deep ,sea ,toll especially--carry me with them4 ,pendexter and ,mundy have this power over me1 but not in every case4 ,also ,jack ,london's stories1 particularly those of the ,north4 ,tarkington's ,alice ,adams and ,hutchinson's ,if ,winter ,comes brought me out of myself to a certain extent4 ,that story of ,bill ,adams'1 ,the ,bosun of the ,goldenhorn's ,yarn1 was a gem and affected me very much4 ,no play ,i have seen for the past twenty years has made me forget that it was merely a play ,i was seeing4 ,the writer whose work has the greatest power over me is ,lord ,macaulay4 ,i forget ,i am alive when ,i read his essays or history4 ,i can see and hear characters1 scenes and colors1 and taste the flavors of a story1 but they are never genuine4 ,when a character is struck with a club ,i do not feel it2 ,i simply stand back and watch his reaction to the blow4 ,scenery more nearly produces the same results on my senses as do the actual stimuli4 ,the things that originate in my own imagination ,i can see with my eyes shut as plainly as if they were realities1 and things in a story to a lesser degree of vividness4 ,i can imagine an old hag beating a child and actually work up tears4 ,the same thing in a story does not have the same effect by a good deal4 ,the things in stories are to me merely animated word photographs4 ,i am not strongly susceptible to illusion as it appears in a story or a play4 ,but the realities of actual1 living life affect me powerfully4 ,i once saw a man--a beast1 rather--kick a dog4 ,if he had kicked me ,i could not have felt it more4 ,in a story ,i would not have felt the kick the least bit4 ,it would have been a kick on paper4 ,it is my great loss that ,i am unable in most cases to get the desired fictional effect4 ,paintings1 however1 act otherwise on me4 ,in the ,corcoran gallery at ,washington there is a large painting depicting a body washed ashore on a beach1 and nearby stands a policeman taking the names of a man and woman in a note-book4 ,the first time ,i glanced at that picture it gripped me and in my imagination at this moment ,i see it in actual detail and feel the strength of it4 ,i have gone a hundred miles out of my way purposely to look at that picture4 ,one morning ,i sat before it from about nine until noon without scarcely ever taking my eyes from it4 ,the paintings in the ,metropolitan gallery in ,new ,york would never tire me4 ,i am devoted to etchings4 ,the pictures an author presents to me are never blurred4 ,nor are they black and white4 ,they are always without exception distinct and in natural colors4 ,when ,pendexter mentions a ,british soldier ,i see a man with a flaming red coat4 ,when ,dingle or ,dunn shows me a pirate ,i see a man with swarthy face and black eyes4 ,trees and grass are always green unless otherwise stated4 ,solid geometry was he--ll6 ,it gave me more trouble than all other studies combined4 ,my response to the author is nearly always abstract4 ,i have no stock pictures for anything ,i read4 ,i let the author paint his picture by direct description and accept it as he shows it1 or form or paint it for myself from the various hints he scatters through his story4 ,if his story is laid in the ,west all he need say for me is that the incidents occurred on a ranch4 ,i'll paint my own ranch in4 ,if his story is of the mountains he can say so briefly and depend on me to picture the mountains4 ,i have two imaginations--one for reading and the other for writing4 ,the former is better than the latter4 ,imagination is1 in my opinion1 the chief tool of trade of the writer4 ,it counts for about ninety per cent4 ,without that all the other tools in his chest are worthless4 ,william ,wells3 ,the nearest that ,i can come to answering this is to say that both in reading a well-told story and in building one from my imagination the scenes are as real as if ,i were watching them thrown on the screen4 ,i am oblivious to all else1 but detached1 take no part myself4 ,but ,i possess the faculty of making the scenes reproduce themselves as often as ,i wish--in my own stories--or of changing them and making the characters act as ,i want them to4 ,i really see things with my eyes shut--or open1 for that matter--perfect in every detail1 see the flame of fire or the smoke from firearms1 but my only sensation is that of the onlooker1 although ,i get quite excited4 ,never studied geometry4 ,the concept sets me to reproducing4 ,no stock pictures2 all different4 ,only as ,i have noted4 ,i can make my own characters do as ,i wish4 ,just starting to use these tools of my trade4 ,ben ,ames ,williams3 ,reading usually awakens in me only an appreciation of the author's ability--or a criticism of his lack of it4 ,i get more pleasure out of discovering how an author has done this or that than in reading his story as a story4 ,an example within the past fortnight1 in ,tolstoi's ,war and ,peace4 ,he describes a banquet and gives a paragraph to the state of mind of a ,german tutor who had not appeared previously and does not appear thereafter4 ,after you have read the dozen lines you know the tutor4 ,that passage gave me more pleasure than anything in the book4 ,in like fashion1 the bit of paper fluttering to the floor when they opened the long-closed bungalow in ,conrad's ,victory2 the derby hat rolling on its crown after the murder in his ,secret ,agent4 ,these things delight me4 ,rarely any emotional reaction4 ,an exception2 in ,saint ,teresa1 when the lady tried to rip off the gentleman's lip ,i had a moment of actual physical nausea4 ,these statements apply only to my reading to myself2 if ,i read aloud1 ,i laugh1 cry1 tremble1 shudder or adore as the author intended4 ,honore ,willsie3 ,a whole lot depends on who wrote the story4 ,robert ,louis ,stevenson stimulates my imagination to such a degree that as regards one of his tales ,i can answer yes to this group of questions4 ,joseph ,conrad1 ditto4 ,lesser writers in less degree4 ,yes1 ,i see things with my eyes shut in vivid detail and in full color4 ,solid geometry was my favorite form of mathematics and ,i did well in it4 ,all depends on the skill of the author in choice of words4 ,as a reader ,i have no stock pictures4 ,i read ,lorna ,doone and ,if ,winter ,comes with equal pleasure4 ,one paints1 the other suggests1 pictures4 ,but both are presented by masters4 ,much less concentrated effort of imagination in reading than in writing4 ,no4 ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer3 ,in reading a story my imagination does reproduce the story-world of the author1 or else ,i can not finish his yarn4 ,i see his characters1 the action and setting1 as well as if ,i were there4 ,usually when ,i get real interested in a story--and ,i generally do--,i find my mind wandering between the lines and wondering what the author is going to do with his characters4 ,what will his climax be8 ,if he fools me without stretching the long arm of ,mr4 ,coincidence too far1 or without a grotesque improbability1 ,i am that author's greatest fan and will read him assiduously1 thinking1 ,ah1 if ,i could write like that6 ,mere trick endings or endings that ,i have grasped on page two of the story arouse my honest indignation4 ,in a well-written yarn all my senses will react to those described4 ,i have been drenched with spray by ,conrad2 starved1 fought and shed blood with ,couzens1 ,young and1 most of all the latter1 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel4 ,i would offer one of his ,south ,american jungle tales as a typical story to which all my senses reacted4 ,i would say the pictures ,i see with my eyes shut are colored approximately to the scene and rather clear-cut than blurred4 ,i never studied solid geometry--at the time ,i might or should have been1 ,i was studying left hooks and straight rights6 ,on some things my response is limited to the degree in which the author describes them4 ,on others the mere concept will set me to reproduce just as vividly4 ,in this class ,i would put mention of the sea1 jungle1 a prize-fight1 ,indian warfare1 gambling1 ,chinese settings1 and other things that have a strong appeal to my imagination4 ,in the first class ,i would put things that have no appeal to me and with which ,i have had no acquaintance4 ,i'm afraid1 as a reader1 ,i do have stock pictures for village churches1 cowboys and other things with which ,i'm not familiar4 7,no reflection on the village church--or the cowboy either1 for that matter47 ,as a reader ,i do resent too many images1 too much description1 particularly the latter4 ,a paragraph by a good author is more stimulating to the imagination1 more interesting and less of a drag on the action of the story1 than pages by others4 ,i loathe this sort of thing3 ,he sat down at his frugal meal of fried eggs1 hash browned potatoes1 wheat bread1 coffee1 condensed milk1 creamery butter and salt and pepper4 ,the potatoes were a bit crisp4 ,the eggs1 turned over once1 etc4 ,and ,i don't care who writes it4 ,it has always irritated me and always will6 ,there is a great deal of difference in the behavior of my imagination when reading stories and when writing them4 ,when reading1 my imagination is joy-riding1 when writing it has entered an endurance contest4 ,i have never considered these matters as tools of my trade1 but ,i do not doubt that they are4 ,william ,almon ,wolff3 ,i'm afraid ,i don't react that way at all--or to a very limited extent4 ,it seems to be my mind that's active1 when ,i read4 ,i'm much more sensitive to music than to words1 so poetry and such prose as ,conrad's move me4 ,but1 even so1 it's what ,i read1 rather than what moved the writer1 that engages me4 ,in other words1 ,i'm more interested in the writer's emotions and reactions than in what stimulated them4 ,my imagination isn't a visual one4 ,i don't see things with my eyes shut at all1 so far as ,i know4 ,no4 ,i was a frightful dub at mathematics1 but ,i didn't begin to take even the foggiest interest in them until ,i got into trigonometry and solid geometry4 ,decidedly it's the concept that ,i want4 ,individual visions1 every time4 ,i prefer1 on the whole1 to fill out details for myself4 ,that depends4 ,if ,i'm satisfied1 ,i surrender to the author4 ,if ,i'm not1 ,i start writing the story as ,i would have done it myself4 ,the answer to the last paragraph of this question is that ,i really don't know4 ,i think the answer is no1 though4 ,edgar ,young3 ,i am unable to put myself in the mood of a casual reader1 but watch closely how another man works1 although a real artist can make me forget my critical attitude and sway me so that ,i feel the emotions he expresses4 ,when ,i am really interested ,i am unable to say which of the five senses is most affected4 ,a reaction from another writer is not a normal reaction4 ,can easily call up mental pictures of places ,i have seen with most of the main and many of the smaller details distinct4 ,solid geometry never bothered me much4 ,i ate it alive4 ,my responses are mainly governed by verisimilitude4 ,i have been so many places that when a place is out of gear with the real place1 a character not a character of the place he is supposed to be--just a few paragraphs and ,i am in the where in hell do you get that stuff mood and end up by roundly swearing at the poor fellow who wrote the story4 ,imagine a rubber worker in ,brazil using the words of ,handsome ,harry of ,old ,diamond ,dick fame 7actual words71 a ,mexican using ,barcelona ,spanish1 a ,peruvian speaking of things by ,mexican names1 a ,central ,american reckoning in old ,spanish coins1 a ,brazilian speaking ,spanish and local ,rio de ,janeiro all balled up4 ,how would you like to read one about some place you knew intimately and find it all mixed up8 ,,summary ,all or part of the ,,iii questions were answered by #aac writers4 ,question #a4 ,each of the five senses and pain are tabulated separately4 ,questions #b and #c1 dealing with visual imagination1 are included under sight4 #a4 ,sight4 ,of #aaa answering1 #gc can see without using their physical eyes1 #ai have this ability to some degree and #d generally have it--#ie in all4 ,only #f lack this power entirely2 #e generally--#aa in all4 ,two can not tell and #b are not easily tabulated on this point4 ,out of the #if with at least some visual imagination #fh answer specifically as to whether their mental pictures are in colors--#de fully2 #h somewhat2 #d a little2 #aj no2 #a untabulated4 ,as to distinct detail #eg answer--#ch yes2 #aa some2 #e a little2 #c no4 ,analysis of the actual answers on the above will show that yes often means some1 though it is tabulated at its face value4 ,it is to be regretted that specific data were not asked for on visualization of motion and on comparative ability to visualize characters and setting4 ,geometry4 #fa answered as having had solid geometry4 ,found it more difficult than other mathematics1 #ab2 the same1 #af2 easier1 #cb2 one1 who found it more difficult but attributed the fact to a bad start1 is not tabulated4 ,in support of the theory that it would be more difficult for those lacking visual imagination and easier for those possessing this ability1 #cd1 to which should probably be added at least some of the #af who found it the same2 in contradiction of the theory1 #i--b who can not visualize found it easier and #g who could visualize found it more difficult4 ,in all cases other factors must have had bearing2 on the whole1 the theory seems sufficiently established4 ,two people ,i know1 both high-school valedictorians and both unable to visualize at all1 were entirely helpless over solid geometry until they solved the difficulty by cutting up raw potatoes to represent the problem4 ,hearing4 #eg answers4 ,the remaining #ef can probably be counted as lacking auditory imagination4 ,of the #eg there are #ca answering yes2 #ad somewhat or a little2 #aj no2 #b untabulated4 ,we may say that #de out of #aac possess the ability to at least some degree1 while #fh lack it entirely4 ,in two cases the imagination in this sense is more vivid than in any of the others2 in three cases less vivid than in any of the others4 ,curiously enough1 one has the ability for music but for no other sounds--perhaps as a result of systematic training and development in music4 ,taste4 #eg answers4 ,yes1 #bc2 somewhat1 #aj2 no1 #ai2 untabulated1 #e4 ,out of #aac1 #cc claim this ability1 while #hj lack it4 ,with one this imagination sense is more acute than any of the others except sight2 in another case1 very acute4 ,smell4 #eh answers4 ,yes1 #bi2 somewhat1 #aa2 no1 #af2 untabulated1 #b4 ,out of #aab1 #dj possess it to at least some degree1 while #gb are without it4 ,in two cases it is the most vivid of the senses2 in two cases it ranks next to sight and taste4 ,touch4 #dc answers4 ,yes1 #ac2 somewhat1 #ab2 no1 #ad2 untabulated1 #d4 ,out of #aac1 #be possess and #hh lack it4 ,in one case it is the only sense reproducing through the imagination4 ,pain4 #ce answers4 ,yes1 #h2 somewhat1 #f2 no1 #bj2 untabulated1 #a4 ,out of #aac1 #ad claim it and #ii do not4 ,all the ,senses4 ,as to their relative commonness1 the five senses and pain rank as follows3 ,sight--#gc yes2 #bc somewhat2 #if total4 ,hearing--#ca yes2 #ad somewhat2 #de total4 ,smell--#bi yes2 #aa somewhat2 #dj total4 ,taste--#bc yes2 #aj somewhat2 #cc total4 ,touch--#ac yes2 #ab somewhat2 #be total4 ,pain--#h yes2 #f somewhat2 #ad total4 ,i believe that if the answerers were to subject themselves to a more rigid analysis1 the number of those answering yes and some would in each of the six cases be very materially reduced1 but the relative frequency of the six cases as shown above would seem fairly dependable1 except that the temptation to yes or some in the case of sight is probably stronger than in the other cases4 #d4 ,response limited by author4 #ie answers4 ,tabulation is complicated and difficult4 ,of these #ie1 #ha can visualize1 #ad not1 and since the two preceding questions1 and most of the one before that1 centered on visualization1 the sense of sight is probably to be considered the chief criterion in the present test4 ,naturally the possession or lack of visualization determines the real value of an answer here4 ,in the following1 those possessing only slight power of visualization are included under can't visualize4 ,if you attempt tabulation you will find that an answer sometimes has to be recorded under several heads two of which1 when considered in some aspects1 give contradictory evidence1 so that your total of answers does not always divide1 on some points1 into parts whose sum equals the whole4 ,imagination response limited by an author's description1 #bh2 somewhat limited1 #aj2 by certain authors only1 #b4 ,total1 #dj4 ,along with these consider #ae who are limited by the general skill of an author1 description not specified and sometimes indicated as a minor consideration4 ,not limited by author's description1 #db4 ,of these1 #ci can visualize1 #c not4 ,of the #ci1 #cd state their ability to go beyond the author's description1 filling in and coloring for themselves4 ,of the #c who can't visualize1 #b definitely state inability to go beyond the printed description4 ,of the #ha 7out of the total #ie7 who can visualize1 #fa go or can go in their imagination beyond the author's printed words2 #ai can not2 #a doesn't know4 ,these #fa1 roughly speaking1 prefer an approximation of mere suggestion or concept rather than full description4 ,getting at this last point from another angle1 #h who visualize state definite objection to full description2 #ag visualizers and #d non-visualizers resent too much2 #ab visualizers and #c non-visualizers state preference for suggestion only4 ,total against description1 #dd1 #ba of them merely objecting to too much--an amount difficult to define4 ,there are #i visualizers and #a non-visualizer who do not resent description4 ,these1 with #a visualizer and #a non-visualizer satisfied with either method1 make #ab neutrals4 ,on the other hand1 #d visualizers want full description and #b resent mere suggestion4 ,total1 #f4 ,definitely against description1 #bc4 ,against too much1 #ba4 ,neutral1 #ab4 ,for full description1 #f4 ,only a questionnaire carried into minute detail and answered by large numbers could warrant1 in a subject of so many factors1 any nicety of conclusion and1 also1 it is not to be forgotten that the answerers are not mere readers but readers who are also writers4 ,on the other hand1 they are in these matters trained and sensitive observers4 ,in any case we are fairly safe in concluding that there exists in readers a tendency to dislike too full description as found in the fiction of to-day4 ,probably a prime cause of the dislike1 in the case of visualizers1 the majority1 is the violence done to the reader's own instantaneous imagery by the almost necessarily different imagery the author's full description forces upon him1 while to non-visualizers the author's imagery is not a picture at all4 ,this violence to the visualizer is akin to that often furnished by an artist's illustrations of fiction4 ,an extraneous element demands consideration here4 ,fiction1 largely because of its imitative tradition1 does not develop so fast as the world it lives in4 ,there is warrant for holding the classics as models1 but only those elements of them that are universal in their appeal1 that are good for all time4 ,the mistake lies in swallowing them whole1 or in admitting to their ranks fiction keyed too markedly to its own time alone4 ,in particular1 fullness of description is characteristic of certain past times whose fiction is often cited as a model4 ,but meanwhile the world itself has ceased to travel in stage-coaches or on horseback and has taken to railroads and motors4 ,certainly ours is not so leisurely an age4 ,telephone1 telegraph1 steam1 electricity1 gasoline have geared our generation to a far faster speed4 ,we lack our forefathers' happy patience over long descriptions4 ,try your boy on the stories you liked at his age4 ,and do not forget the tremendous influence of the motion pictures for speed of narrative and quick description4 ,but1 whatever the element of time1 human beings remain human beings and when you paint a word-picture satisfying only your own desire of imagery you will not only surely fail to please all1 but your imagery may be such that only a small minority find in it any satisfaction4 ,you can not chart the world of readers as to the exact proportions of its imaginative responses to sense appeals1 but your technique is either shaky or happily haphazard if you have no general idea of relative imagination responses and of your own responses in relation to those of the majority4 #e4 ,stock pictures4 ,none of the #hf answering confess to them as habitual1 though #bc have them to some degree or in certain circumstances4 ,if the author fails to stimulate to special images1 #h resort to them4 #f4 ,imagination when reading vs4 when writing4 ,of #he answering1 #ai note no difference1 #b don't know1 #a is untabulated1 while #fc note a difference4 ,in most cases1 however1 the difference is only that the imagination is more active1 vivid1 concentrated1 etc41 though there are some notable exceptions4 ,from the answers to this experimental question ,i am unable to draw any conclusions that seem worth consideration4 #g4 ,the above as tools of your trade4 ,out of #gc1 #ca answer yes1 #d somewhat1 #cc no1 #b doubtful1 #b find the question too complicated1 #a uses no tools at all4 ,of the #cd answering yes in any degree1 some have stated in answer to another question that they do not consider the reader at all when writing and only a few of these make an exception of the work preliminary to the actual writing or of revision4 ,these must therefore obviously be counted out under one question or the other1 probably here1 leaving a considerably reduced number with a claim to conscious attention in their work to the imagination differences of readers4 ,the questions on imagination were answered in whole or part by #aac1 this particular question by #gc4 ,general knowledge of human nature would seem to give fairly good ground for concluding that most of the #dj not answering as to tools would have answered no if at all4 ,in any case there are only a small number of the #aac whom we are warranted in listing under yes4 ,of these few there were still fewer whose answers on the imagination questions as a whole left me unconvinced that their yes was to the real question at issue1 though in their work they may well consider the necessity of appealing to all five senses4 ,even the remaining few give no single scrap of definitely conclusive proof that their yes means a weighing on their part of imagination differences among readers1 but proof that they do not is equally lacking1 with one probable exception4 ,allowing for failures to tabulate properly in all cases1 it is shown that only a small minority of these writers allow for the varying imagination powers of their readers or for their own imagination equations in relation to those of the majority4 ,is it not mere common sense to say that an understanding of these differences and relations should be assimilated into an author's unconscious technique or1 failing that1 be applied consciously in revision8 ,it is all very well to say an author should just be himself and think not at all of those to whom he expresses himself1 but as an artist it should be part of his art to see to it that his himself is in communication with those to whom he is trying to communicate1 whether through his other self as their representative or directly4 ,it is not art to talk to a deaf man or to persist in showing pictures to a blind man4 ,nor would it seem unassailably intelligent to talk in ,french to people who understand only ,italian4 ,of what good is imagery if it can not be seen8 ,what point in trying to interest picture-lovers or sound-lovers by refusing to give them pictures or sounds8 ,mention may be made of a few of the many stray points of interest made here and there in the answers4 ,heat and cold were not included in the question1 but fortunately crop out in some of the answers4 ,it might be possible to divide authors into two classes--intellectual and sensory4 ,the former1 unless they sacrificed individuality1 would have comparatively little need of sensory appeal1 their natural audience being beyond its reach4 ,the latter class1 however1 would have acute need of every device for developing and furthering sensory appeal4 ,frequently the dependence of imagery upon actual personal experience is emphasized in the answers4 ,since imagination is incapable of constructing anything whatever except from elements familiar through experience1 there is opportunity for a preachment on the value of getting as much personal experience of one's material as possible before attempting to mold it into fiction4 ,i can not resist pointing out that at least one writer who demands much description in what he reads gives almost none in what he writes4 ,one writer gives us a definite method for developing sight imagination4 ,if others can also obtain results from it1 the value of the suggestion is tremendous1 and it opens the way into a comparatively unexplored field of immense possibilities4 ,there is involved a study of the relation between keenness of sensory imagination and keenness of the corresponding senses themselves4 ,also the variation of both actual and imagination senses in correspondence to variation in physical or general nervous condition4 ,also1 note that one answerer has observed a marked weakening of sight imagination after the age of forty1 an age at which eyesight is likely to weaken markedly1 while another says the ability to visualize through the imagination has been almost lost since adolescence4 ,at least two writers1 one of them a friend1 and ,i myself have laid aside glasses after years of use by following the directions of an oculist whose method of cure for most eye troubles is based largely upon direct practise with visual imagination4 ,by developing and strengthening that1 improvement is brought about in physical eyesight4 ,it is the reverse of the method used by ,mr4 ,scott for developing visual imagination and serves to illustrate the intimate connection between the senses and imagination4 ,the connection between visual imagination and actual eyesight is comparatively unexplored territory1 as is the similar connection in the four other senses4 ,to what degree is a writer's power of imagery1 of sense stimulation in general1 dependent on his own powers of imagination8 ,to what extent is his imagination sense-power related to his physical sense-power8 ,can the one be developed through the other8 ,,question ,,iv ,when you write do you center your mind on the story itself or do you constantly have your readers in mind8 ,in revising8 ,thinking of the reader is a phrase subject to many interpretations and there is no doubt that the answers to the question containing it are not based upon a common understanding of its exact meaning4 ,to have given it1 in the questionnaire1 any definite one of its several interpretations would have limited the answers in scope and robbed them of much of the valuable suggestiveness and information they contain4 ,and by this more comprehensive approach we shall come to a clearer understanding of that vague thing called technique4 ,perhaps the interpretation most commonly made was3 ,have you cheapened your work by allowing a consideration of popularity to set aside what you knew your art demanded8 ,if we take the more usual phrase1 ,do you write down to your readers8 or1 ,do you write for money or for art8 the reaction1 in perhaps most cases1 to this interpretation of the question would be1 ,no1 ,i do not consider the reader when writing1 and many of the negative answers given are undoubtedly the expressions of this natural reaction1 given without further analysis4 ,on the other hand some writers do write for money1 primarily for money1 and quite honestly say so4 ,with a discretion born of experience ,i promptly avoid any opinion on the broad subject of whether what they write is therefore a calamity to ,art1 and retire hurriedly on the fact that said writers do do it4 ,as a class1 their reply to ,question ,,iv is more likely to be a ,yes than a ,no4 ,but remember that so far as we are here concerned with them1 both those writers who do and who do not write primarily for money1 all write for publication involving at least the expectation of money4 ,that is no reason for a cry of hypocrisy against those who claim not to write for money2 there is an entirely justifiable line between writing primarily for money and writing one's best and then getting what one can for that best4 ,in the case1 also1 of those who admit writing primarily for money1 a similar distinction can be drawn2 in the long run there is no surer way of making money than by doing one's best and plenty of writers recognize this fact4 ,there are also those1 dependent on their pens for daily living1 who make a deliberate but temporary business of quantity and popularity as the only possible way to reach a position where they can write without regard for these factors4 ,some of our acknowledged best reached their goal by this path and would answer our question ,yes or ,no according to the time of its asking4 ,there are those1 too1 who write primarily for fame1 or for mere popularity1 and to whom money may be an entirely negligible consideration4 ,these1 writing for a consideration other than art itself1 may be1 for all purposes of this book1 classified along with those who write for money4 ,and there are those who write for no consideration except self-expression or the joy of the working1 acknowledging no object except art alone4 ,the fact remains that all of our answerers alike are having their work published1 whatever motives may be involved4 ,before they put a word on paper they know the story is meant for publication4 ,they know it from the first inkling of the idea that is to give it birth4 ,they know that it will fail of publication unless in creating it they make it such that readers 7editors7 will be not only reached by its expression but favorably reached and that publication chances for later stories will be endangered or impaired if in the present one their expression fails to reach favorably the general reading public4 ,some of them are dependent on publication success for their living2 some are not2 some are more interested in the creating than in its results2 some are not4 ,but all of them alike do publish4 ,in saying that they never think of the reader1 then1 some of them must mean only that they do not think of him during the actual process of putting the story together on paper4 ,otherwise they must maintain that when weighing the value of an idea or a bit of material for use in fiction they never consider whether that idea or material would be liked by the reading public or whether it might be of such nature that no magazine would publish it4 ,if they do so maintain1 either they should be able to support their claim1 at least in part1 by having for exhibit a very goodly number of unsalable stories that in their judgment are fully as good as the published ones1 or else they must be recognized as individuals whose points of view1 reactions and methods happen to be so identical with those of the reading public or of part of it that without thought1 guidance or effort their stories invariably find public favor4 ,there are1 beyond doubt1 writers who write equally good but unpublishable stories1 but ,i imagine most of them would tell us that said stories are unpublished solely because editors are lacking in discriminating judgment or have prostituted ,art to ,business1 and that few of these writers would claim1 however rigidly they had held to ,art alone1 that they had not written the great majority of these stories with the intention or hope of publication4 ,there are1 beyond doubt1 also writers who at least approximate in themselves a fortunate reflection of the reading public's likes and dislikes4 ,this identity of point of view and interest is either a happy accident involving no credit to them as craftsmen--it may be even a misfortune from the point of view of art1 or else it has been attained unconsciously yet by a very definite pursuit of technique4 ,this last point1 however1 is best left for discussion until after the answers to ,question ,,iv4 ,but if some of the answers were negative because the answerers were considering only the time of actual drafting1 not the preparatory work or even the revision1 there are still distinctions that must be applied1 still further obstacles to accepting negative answers as final1 and these too must be left until the end of the chapter4 ,if my question had carried with it all these analyses and distinctions there is1 ,i think1 little doubt that many who answered no would have answered yes4 ,as one writer puts it1 ,the distinction between thinking of a story and thinking of a reader is difficult4 ,i suppose my mind is chiefly concerned with making the words express what is real in my imagination--but that implies considering a reader4 ,there is extremely good reason to weigh these various distinctions before reading the answers given and before concluding--or believing these writers conclude--that the reader can or should be excluded from the artist's mind4 ,are the answers1 then1 valueless8 ,so far as the face value of the question is concerned1 partly so4 ,but the insight into various actual working methods is extremely valuable1 and the answers to that undefined query1 not in their mere yes or no but in their fullness and taken as a whole1 open an unequaled path to an understanding of the nature1 purpose and use of technique1 a thing that even the dictionary defines haltingly and that among writers1 editors and critics is only a term as vague as it is much used4 ,before turning to the answers it must be noted that through a clerical error the words ,in revising appeared in only half the copies of the questionnaire that were sent out4 ,,answers ,bill ,adams3 ,i never think of the reader--not even when the story is in print4 ,if ,i do1 ,i think it is a remarkably odd world to contain such queer ducks4 ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams3 ,damn the readers4 ,i'm too busy with the immediate people of my imagination to worry about the dim and distant thousands4 ,paul ,l4 ,anderson3 ,the story only1 when writing2 consideration of the reader comes in the preliminary planning4 ,william ,ashley ,anderson3 ,i think only of the story without regard to readers1 on the assumption that a good story will never fail to find readers4 ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey3 ,a distinction between thinking of the story itself and of the reader is to me difficult4 ,i suppose my mind is chiefly concerned to make the words express what is real in my imagination--but that implies considering a reader4 ,of course it is necessary sometimes in revising to simplify4 ,edwin ,balmer3 ,on the story4 ,when revising1 somewhat on the readers4 ,ralph ,henry ,barbour3 ,in writing1 my mind does its own centering1 and it centers on the story4 ,the reader gets a mighty small look-in4 ,in revising1 the reader is considered4 ,but1 as ,i've already said1 ,i don't revise much4 ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett3 ,i never have my readers in mind either in writing or revising4 ,it is extremely difficult for me to visualize a reader of any sort until the story is actually in print4 ,then ,i feel my audience only as individuals write to me or in some other way respond4 ,nalbro ,bartley3 ,when ,i write1 ,i think of only the story--never whether anybody is going to read it--or pay for it1 for that matter4 ,but when1 after it has been cold-in-a-drawer for about a week1 ,i revise1 ,i try to think of the nature of the story which the editor originally ordered--whether or not it hits any forbidden spots and if the average reader is going to respond or not4 ,i think impersonal revision is the most valuable sort4 ,konrad ,bercovici3 ,i never have the reader in mind when ,i write4 ,i do not want him to have me in his mind either4 ,it is the story4 ,nothing else4 ,ferdinand ,berthoud3 ,i'm afraid that in my amateurish way ,i center my mind wholly on my story--laugh and cry with my characters4 ,however1 now ,i'm learning and getting a little more experienced ,i am trying to be less selfish and to think of the readers4 ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr43 ,on the story4 ,farnham ,bishop3 ,write for the story1 revise for the reader4 ,except that1 whenever explaining anything1 ,i keep trying to be clear enough for the layman1 accurate enough for the expert1 and interesting enough for both4 7,result of ten years lecturing on semi-technical subjects to general audiences47 ,algernon ,blackwood3 ,i never give the reader a single thought4 ,to some imaginary reader1 sitting at a desk inside my own mind1 ,i tell my story4 ,it is written to express--to relieve--an emotion in my own being4 ,it is never written to please other readers or any imaginable public4 ,max ,bonter3 ,as closely as ,i have been able to come to it1 ,i am a dual personality when ,i write4 ,my imagination invents1 but reason checks4 ,reason seems in my case to represent prospective readers4 ,katharine ,holland ,brown3 ,first1 write down all the story before it gets away4 ,with no regard for any reader4 ,second1 revise1 and try to make the story intelligible and to make it march4 ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley3 ,i center my mind on the story4 ,i have thought of the readers beforehand1 that is1 ,i know what will go and what won't3 have generally studied the magazine ,i'm writing for and got general atmosphere of the stuff it uses2 can't get more than that4 ,in this atmosphere ,i have framed the story as previously detailed4 ,that's all ,i have to do with the readers4 ,prosper ,buranelli3 ,i never think of readers--am never too sure ,i shall have any4 ,you don't think of a third party1 whom to convince1 when you are working out a proof in geometry4 ,thompson ,burtis3 ,i center myself on the story4 ,occasionally the readers enter the picture when ,i am using technical stuff which ,i realize ,i must write down to them4 ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain3 ,am not clear about this4 ,i endeavor to tell the reader enough to guide him to so much of my vision as is vital to the story4 ,i think he seldom escapes my consciousness4 ,i think of him as reading what ,i tell4 ,if ,i am writing for public speech1 ,i think of myself as saying the words to an audience imagined before me while ,i write4 ,robert ,v4 ,carr3 ,when ,i want to sell my story1 ,i write with the reader in mind4 ,when ,i want to enjoy writing1 ,i forget the reader4 ,i am not sufficiently egotistical to want to reform the reader1 neither do ,i desire to uplift him or to change his prejudices and superstitions to fit my mold4 ,i believe that intelligence decreases with numbers2 therefore ,i am not a democrat4 ,it has been my observation that nothing arouses the hatred of the average man so much as the power to do him good4 ,if one has the power to hurt him1 to destroy him1 he will erect a statue in honor of the possessor of that power4 ,but if one has the power to do him good1 and he lacks that power1 he will1 sooner or later1 fly at the possessor of the power to do good like a mad dog4 ,pessimistic8 ,it is no more logical to hope for the best than to hope for the worst4 ,why should ,i bounce a stone off the reader's head when all he asks from me is a shot of literary hop to make him forget the next installment on his tin canary1 the ever-increasing double chins of his wife1 his children who no longer make him feel a glow of pride by their resemblance to him1 or his late patriotic debauch from which he is now recovering with a door-mat tongue and a general feeling of seediness8 ,why should ,i attempt to make a reader think1 when ,i know so little myself8 ,i should try to amuse him and let it go at that4 ,george ,l4 ,catton3 ,it all depends4 ,tastes differ4 ,personally ,i don't care a penny for blood and thunder stories1 all action to no end and without a theme or soul4 ,but the vast majority of readers to-day want that kind of story and if an author wants to keep eating he's got to kill his own likes and dislikes for his stomach's sake4 ,i like stories with action of brains1 not brawn1 but money talks4 ,i have to keep my mind on my readers' likes and dislikes when ,i'm writing to keep my bread basket from blowing away4 ,otherwise ,i'd write what ,i liked myself1 never think about my readers1 and do better work--from a literary viewpoint4 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers3 ,the story only4 ,in revising1 the story alone4 ,roy ,p4 ,churchill3 ,my best stories come when ,i center on the story1 but it is very hard when the readers' so-called limitations are so borne in upon you4 ,for instance1 terms and expressions of sailors seem to need some explanation when told to a landsman4 ,yet1 do they8 ,my most enjoyable reading is when the writer fires on regardless and lets you understand or not4 ,makes you work your own mind just a trifle to get what he is driving at4 ,carl ,clausen3 ,always on the story4 ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper3 ,absolutely on the story4 ,in revising1 or rather editing1 ,i watch the things that ,i know a reader will look for4 ,but the story comes first4 ,because if it isn't a story--there won't be any readers6 ,arthur ,crabb3 ,i think that when ,i write ,i have the story in mind and not the reader4 ,the same is true in revising4 ,mary ,stewart ,cutting3 ,i center my mind on the story itself4 ,i have my reader in mind in so far as ,i wish to write it clearly2 in the vernacular to get it over4 ,elmer ,davis3 ,i used to center on the story itself1 but they didn't sell4 ,now ,i center on the editor at whom ,i am aiming it4 ,yes1 ,i know you will say that is all wrong4 ,it is1 for ,tolstoy1 ,balzac1 etc4 ,but not for the sort of writers who make their living out of checks4 ,william ,h4 ,dean3 ,my ,god6 ,never on the reader6 ,that's fatal4 ,if one tries to write to or for an audience1 his work is worse than mediocre4 ,i think of my characters and their destinies1 think only of them--do my best to interpret1 never to invent4 ,if my readers like what ,i write1 they agree with my interpretations4 ,if any beginner should ask me to give him a single rule to observe1 ,i should say1 ,always write to interpret2 you will go down in defeat if you ever deliberately set about to please any reader4 ,harris ,dickson3 ,don't think ,i ever have the reader in mind1 except when in matters of local coloring ,i must consider viewpoints outside of the ,south and remember to make myself clear4 ,frequently ,i do not employ certain forms of colloquialism because the outside reader may not comprehend--and explanations are generally bad4 ,in public speaking1 however1 this is different4 ,there you face your audience and get a response4 ,many times the speaker practically follows his audience1 falling into the same vein of thought and traveling along in harmony4 ,over and over again ,i felt this on the platform during our wartime publicity campaigns4 ,again1 the speaker may feel a hostility or lack of comprehension in his audience1 that he must go further1 explain more clearly1 hammer in a fact4 ,or he may feel that his audience has got his slightest gesture1 that they comprehend fully1 and no more is needed4 ,captain ,dingle3 ,i never think of the reader4 ,i lose myself in the story4 ,i am my characters1 in turn1 within limits4 ,louis ,dodge3 ,i think of my story1 not of my readers1 when ,i write2 however1 ,i try to finish my story--to put on paper what ,i have in mind1 to make things fairly plain4 ,phyllis ,duganne3 ,i don't think of readers when ,i'm writing4 ,at least1 ,i suppose ,i do in a way--,i try to make people and things in a story convincing1 and as ,i'm convinced at the start1 ,i must be considering readers4 ,but ,i don't think of them consciously2 it's just the story ,i'm consciously considering4 ,in revising1 ,i think frequently of editors--after all1 they're rather important4 ,j4 ,allan ,dunn3 ,i do not think ,i have my readers largely in the forefront of my mind1 save as ,i know they are apt to clamor1 through the editor1 for the satisfactory ending4 ,which is one reason why ,i like to write for ----4 ,there ,i am practically untrammeled4 ,i am unconscious of an audience and ,i want to be4 ,walter ,a4 ,dyer3 ,i become preoccupied1 when writing1 with the story rather than with my readers1 and ,i am afraid ,i too often leave the editors entirely out of account4 ,i have1 however1 in the case of stories for boys1 had to keep my audience in mind4 ,walter ,prichard ,eaton3 ,i never have my readers in mind when ,i write4 ,my one job is to get into words the idea in my head4 ,alas6 before ,i begin ,i consider whether it is an idea which will sell4 ,that is because we all feel we have to live4 ,in revising1 ,i try only to make what ,i have written correspond more closely with the idea ,i set out to convey--and also1 ,i try1 often1 to make my sentence rhythms more attractive to the ear4 ,e4 ,o4 ,foster3 ,when ,i write ,i center my mind on the story itself and ,i am ashamed to say that ,i do not have my readers in mind1 except as ,i write ,i know there are over four million ex-service men in the ,united ,states who are probably watching to catch me in an inaccuracy4 ,i also consider that ,i am writing about the time of the ,spanish-,american ,war and that the tactics and military evolution have changed considerably in these years4 ,fortunately ,i was also in the ,world ,war and know what the changes are4 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel3 ,the story excludes everything else4 ,j4 ,u4 ,giesy3 ,mainly on the story1 the scene and action ,i wish to paint4 ,george ,gilbert3 ,i think only of the story4 ,after it is written ,i think of selling it4 ,but although this answer seems to exclude the readers1 it puts them first1 for ,i have confidence enough in what ,i write to make me think that if it is printed readers will like it4 ,if ,i did not1 ,i would not write anything4 ,kenneth ,gilbert3 ,when ,i write1 my mind is centered on the story itself1 but the reader is not forgotten1 merely crowded back a bit4 ,holworthy ,hall3 ,i never think of the reader at all4 ,in the first place1 ,i think of the story itself--and afterward if ,i ever consider any one else1 it is the editor and not the reader4 ,we are all constantly selling stories to editors1 but never to subscribers4 ,it is the editor's job and not mine--to consider what he imagines his subscribers want to read4 ,during the actual writing of a story ,i think of nothing but the urgency of translating into words the ideas which are in my mind4 ,richard ,matthews ,hallet3 ,when writing ,i certainly think first of pleasing myself in the effects ,i fight for2 but a habit of stepping out of your own skin and into the skin of a reader should be a healthy one and indeed is three-parts1 if not the whole of self-criticism1 without a wholesome infusion of which ,i doubt if much real work gets done4 ,but don't start by trying to please other people4 ,please yourself first4 ,as ,walter ,pater says of that principle axiomatic in literature1 that1 to know when one's self is interested1 is the first condition of interesting other people4 ,i have gone astray before now by deluding myself into thinking ,i was interested in a given story simply because ,i had decided to write it4 ,william ,h4 ,hamby3 ,on the story itself4 ,i never think of the reader unless it is some point that it occurs to me might be misunderstood4 ,a4 ,judson ,hanna3 ,i seldom thought of the reader1 merely writing a story as it came to me1 until ,i began receiving the circulars sent to contributors by ----4 ,when writing now ,i try to consider the effect of a story on the reader4 ,i always have the editor in mind as ,i write4 ,joseph ,mills ,hanson3 ,i think of the story2 very seldom of the readers of it4 ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman3 ,i center my mind on the story--try to make it natural--vivid--strong4 ,the reader may go to ,hades for all ,i care then4 ,all ,i am thinking of is the responsibility ,i have to bring this character out unblemished and with the affectionate regard of the public or to save that one alive and in possession of his claim4 ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw3 ,in making the first draft ,i think only of the story4 ,in revising of the reader4 ,joseph ,hergesheimer3 ,never the reader6 ,robert ,hichens3 ,when ,i am writing1 ,i do not think about readers1 only about my subject1 my characters and how ,i am expressing myself4 ,r4 de ,s4 ,horn3 ,when ,i write ,i consider the story alone1 until it is almost finished or rather until the final corrections are ready to be made4 ,then ,i consider my readers only so much as to correct with an eye to avoiding technicalities which they might fail to understand4 ,every story in my opinion has one particular style prescribed by the story itself as visualized by the author4 ,if he allows himself to be swayed by considerations of the people who will read it or the magazines that may buy it1 he is playing himself false and ,i believe the story will show it4 ,the thing to do is to write the story as your consciousness tells you it should be written and then leave it to the literary agent to find the magazine and class of readers that it will best fit4 ,i think the best illustration of this fact is that invariably our best authors' biggest works have come before the magazines have had a chance to subsidize him and buy his output in advance1 thereby purchasing the right to advise what form his work should take4 ,clyde ,b4 ,hough3 ,when ,i write ,i am not aware of the fact that there are to be readers4 ,a standard is hung up somewhere in the back of my mind as a sort of goal to drive it1 but my mind is really concentrated on the characters and their action1 particularly their action4 ,emerson ,hough3 ,i never think of my readers4 ,poor people6 ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson3 ,most emphatically no4 ,i never give a thought to the reader4 ,the idea of doing so is extraordinary to me4 ,it is impossible and ridiculous4 ,how can you tell a story if you are thinking about its effect on the people8 ,inez ,haynes ,irwin3 ,i do not think ,i ever think of my readers at all4 ,in writing ,i am always thinking of my own impressions of my work4 ,i have to bear in mind certain limitations of subject which publication in magazines involves4 ,that of course is another story4 ,revising is a work ,i revel in--and ,i think only of my own pleasure4 ,will ,irwin3 ,in writing the story ,i have only the story in mind4 ,in revising1 ,i think of the reader4 ,for by now ,i have the succession of events and pictures so clearly established in my imagination that ,i am likely to take too many things for granted4 ,charles ,tenney ,jackson3 ,the story alone4 ,i have never given the reader much thought4 ,now and then ,i wonder what the devil's the matter with an editor6 ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson3 ,in writing ,i center my mind on the story itself2 the same fellow who takes the hindmost can take the readers4 ,if my story can interest a critical reader like myself1 it's a cinch it will interest others4 ,i have a large number of partly completed stories4 ,they were never finished because they did not interest me4 ,if they have failed in this initial test they are too dead to have much chance with others4 ,mary ,johnston3 ,the story4 ,in revising1 the same4 ,john ,joseph3 ,i am quite sure that ,i never write a paragraph without pausing to consider the reader's probable reaction to it4 ,lately ,i have been learning to keep one eye on the editor too4 ,lloyd ,kohler3 ,i think that as a rule ,i constantly keep my readers in mind while writing a story4 ,at any rate1 the stories which ,i have really wanted to write ,i have never written--because ,i know it would be dangerous to try to get them over4 ,harold ,lamb3 ,think only of story4 ,sinclair ,lewis3 ,both1 inextricably mixed4 ,hapsburg ,liebe3 ,i don't have anything in mind but the story itself when writing a story4 ,romaine ,h4 ,lowdermilk3 ,i center on the story alone in the first draft4 ,thereafter ,i keep the reader in mind as ,i revise4 ,especially do ,i try to make each sentence and paragraph clear4 ,i try to be merciful as well as lucid and say what ,i have to say as clearly and as entertainingly as ,i can without artificial means of tricking for interest4 ,though ,i do resort to sustained suspense in the body of the tale as well as bring in obstacles and the like much as we encounter them every day in our efforts4 ,eugene ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr43 ,i'm afraid my mind is centered mostly on the story itself and ,i'm not thinking of the reader4 ,get a good story clearly told and you needn't bother about the reader2 he'll do the reading all right4 ,rose ,macaulay3 ,both4 ,crittenden ,marriott3 ,on the story4 ,i write a lot to get it off my chest4 ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney3 ,when ,i write ,i center my mind rather intently on the story itself1 with my reader1 however1 parked on the side-lines4 ,i don't forget that he is there4 ,i believe that ,i am coming to give him a thought more often as ,i write more4 ,undoubtedly ,i take him into greater consideration in my revision of detail1 reference and diction than ,i did at first4 ,ray ,mc,gillivray3 ,i do all my deciding in regard to market1 and all the work of reconciling recalcitrant characters to the dictates of good taste 7as best ,i can guess both7 before a word is written4 ,never was there a fiction horse which ran well with either of these check-reins on his neck4 ,helen ,topping ,miller3 ,when ,i write ,i do not consider my reader at all4 ,i am concerned with my characters2 ,i live1 move1 think and feel with them4 ,even in revising ,i do not think of my reader4 ,i work hard for a true picture1 and usually ,i find the reader gets it1 if ,i have felt it strongly enough4 ,thomas ,samson ,miller3 ,center the mind on the story1 of course2 but never let the reader--and editor--out of sight4 ,keep in mind certain peculiarities of editors1 taboos of magazines1 and1 above all1 take care to avoid offending popular tastes and prejudices1 and keep in mind the average stupidity and that average human beings are non-visual and non-imaginative4 ,at least ,i do so when writing with dollars in view4 ,sometimes--quite often1 in fact--,i indulge in truth and in beauty--in art1 that is to say4 ,anne ,shannon ,monroe3 ,i never think of my readers3 when ,i write ,i am galloping ahead on a lively good time of my own3 and when it is all finished1 ,i hope it will mean a good time to some one else--but ,i am not particular about that4 ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery3 ,in writing a story ,i do not think of all these things--at least consciously4 ,i never think of my readers at all4 ,i think of myself4 ,does this story ,i am writing interest me as ,i write it--does it satisfy me8 ,if so1 there are enough people in the world who like what ,i like to find it interesting and satisfying too4 ,as for the others1 ,i couldn't please them anyhow1 so it is of no use to try4 ,i revise to satisfy myself also--not any imaginary literary critic4 ,frederick ,moore3 ,when ,i write ,i center my mind on the story--,i live it and sleep it until it is done4 ,it exists wholly1 just as much as the ,grand ,central ,station exists4 ,it has to4 ,i do not think of the reader then1 with the exception of what result ,i want to get with every word1 every phrase1 every sentence4 ,but when ,i see it in type1 then ,i think actually of the reader--and shiver4 ,talbot ,mundy3 ,the story4 ,hardly ever conscious of the reader4 ,kathleen ,norris3 ,in both writing and revising ,i never have anything in mind but the story itself1 and the struggle to preserve consistency and verisimilitude4 ,anne ,o',hagan3 ,my mind centers upon the story and ,i forget about the readers until the story begins to come back from the editors4 ,grant ,overton3 ,i do not think ,i ever think of my readers when actually writing4 ,afterward in reading it over ,i may think of them4 ,i do not think of them very much anyway4 ,i think of how ,i like it myself4 ,sir ,gilbert ,parker3 ,on the story itself always1 never on the reader4 ,hugh ,pendexter3 ,i never have the reader in mind while writing a story4 ,the story is as real as any news assignment ,i covered when a newswriter4 ,clay ,perry3 ,i believe the readers are absent when ,i write1 unless a dim nebulous sort of personality in the back of my head which might be called ,one1 and represent my idea of the composite taste and judgment of an average1 well-educated person1 could be called ,mr4 ,average ,reader 7or perhaps a little above the average74 ,if a story is worth writing1 it seems to me1 it must absorb the writer1 he must live in it1 become familiar with his characters4 ,michael ,j4 ,phillips3 ,i think the reader is pretty constantly at the back of my mind4 ,he is always1 though sometimes unconsciously1 being taken into consideration4 ,walter ,b4 ,pitkin3 ,when ,i write my first draft1 ,i think only of the story ,i am telling4 ,when ,i go to the second draft ,i tend to think of both editor and reader4 ,this is only roughly and broadly true4 ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell3 ,my mind is centered on the story itself4 ,if the story is good the reader will read4 ,i wish to cater to the reader's taste only in a general way2 that is1 ,i know that all the mainsprings of human life and drama are the same to reader and writer alike1 and therefore a story which appeals to the humanity of a writer must automatically appeal to the humanity of a reader1 in a general way1 always provided that the other elements of a good story are present1 such as plot1 technique1 etc4 ,lucia ,mead ,priest3 ,i seem to have about all ,i can do to keep my story folk where they belong4 ,it is perhaps unfortunate1 but readers are a negligible quantity--seldom in the count4 ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes3 ,center on the story itself4 ,think of readers when revising4 ,frank ,c4 ,robertson3 ,my mind is always centered upon the story ,i am writing1 except where some question of probability or plausibility arises4 ,right there ,i stop and work it out from an imaginary reader's viewpoint4 ,of course1 in rewriting ,i have the reader constantly in mind4 ,ruth ,sawyer3 ,on the story itself4 ,chester ,l4 ,saxby3 ,i do not have the reader in mind4 ,i write stories that nobody wants because they don't come out pleasantly1 or for some other reason4 ,that's because anything worth writing gets a hold on me as a subject for thought and ,i want to express it for my own satisfaction4 ,barry ,scobee3 ,on the story4 ,never think of the reader1 unless now and then in difficult passages ,i wonder if the reader will grasp the meaning4 ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott3 ,i have my readers always in the back of my mind1 but just sufficiently to keep away from things like the war which editors are fed up on4 7,perhaps the editors and not the readers are in the back of my mind47 ,otherwise ,i forget the world or all of it which lies beyond the story4 ,robert ,simpson3 ,i center my mind on the story only4 ,subconsciously1 ,i suppose1 my future audience is being considered while ,i labor strenuously over revision4 ,arthur ,d4 ,howden ,smith3 ,try to think only of the story4 ,norman ,springer3 ,my tendency is1 of course1 to think only of the story while writing it4 ,this query uncovers a curious thing4 ,now1 when ,i write a story1 ,i have a tendency to ramble4 ,the trouble usually is that ,i am too much interested in my character4 ,i like to investigate his feelings and thoughts at much too great length4 ,well1 ,i have developed a critic in the mind who works while ,i write4 ,it is as though some faculty were standing quite aloof from me and the story1 watching4 ,when ,i wander into by-paths it checks me4 ,sometimes it doesn't1 and ,i get into a mess4 ,it is a faculty that is constantly getting stronger1 and1 like the fond mother1 ,i have great hopes of it4 ,i've talked this thing over with other fiction writers and ,i find it's a rather common experience4 ,several of them told me that throughout their careers as writers they have been conscious of this slowly developing faculty for self-criticism while at work4 ,julian ,street3 ,i don't have my readers in mind at all until after the story is done--save that ,i always try to make things clear to a vague some one to whom ,i am telling my story4 ,but in writing the story--the people in the story--are everything4 ,i don't think of editors1 either4 ,i write to the severest critic ,i have inside me4 ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling3 ,a reader never enters my mind4 ,i never give a hang whether anybody reads it or not1 or what they think about it so long as ,i can get past the editor and get a check4 ,i want the check because ,i can't live in idleness without it4 ,booth ,tarkington3 ,i don't have readers in mind--only myself as a reader4 ,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle3 ,i suppose that a writer should consider the reader1 but ,i have never done so2 it has always been a case of story first2 feeling that1 if the story is good1 the reader gets the real consideration4 ,lucille ,van ,slyke3 ,your question hits upon the greatest snag in my attempt to write4 ,i find it bothers me excessively to have to keep any reader in mind2 it's a mental hazard to me to think of anybody that ,i know personally reading what ,i am writing--a perfectly childish stage fright4 7,i qualify this--,i dearly love writing a story for a child47 ,i am scared to submit a story to an editor after ,i have met him--don't mind at all having it slammed at fifty editors ,i have never met4 ,realize it's foolish and feminine and illogical1 but it's so4 ,but ,i do try to visualize a sort of composite reader when ,i am revising4 ,example--just now ,i am doing a year's ghastly potboiling--a thousand words a day six days a week for a newspaper syndicate4 ,each day is a separate short story1 all hinge together--climax each sixth--larger climax each month with a bang at the end of six months4 ,this is the most disagreeable writing task that ,i have ever tackled4 ,it's plain deadly4 ,but ,i never sit down to it that ,i do not lay aside my usual writing method4 ,remind myself of this3 ,whoever reads what ,i am writing now is a person in a hurry4 ,i will have the attention at the most for not more than two minutes4 ,scattered or tired attention4 ,i must literally jab4 ,short sentences1 short paragraphs4 ,few adjectives and always the same ones when ,i mention a character already mentioned1 so that ,i can save my regular reader's time4 ,and ,i must write very carefully with extra clearness4 ,this rubberstamping must be neatly done4 ,nobody has issued such orders to me but myself and ,i may be wrong1 all wrong6 ,but if ,i could visualize my magazine reader or book reader as clearly1 ,i dare say it would be a very good thing for me as a writer4 ,only1 ,i forget the reader entirely when ,i'm working on the thing that really interests me4 ,atreus von ,schrader3 ,when ,i write ,i do not have my readers in mind4 ,but ,i have considered them carefully beforehand 444 also the editor to whom ,i hope to sell the piece4 ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch3 ,when ,i write the reader is an outsider and never has a chance4 ,it is one of my biggest hopes to bring some fun and joy1 some touches of life1 some deeper thoughts to any who may read my stories2 but ,i certainly never have and probably never shall give these possible readers a thought4 ,i would write if ,i never sold a word of it4 ,i wanted to for years when ,i never had an outside opportunity to get within gunshot of a paper and pencil2 ,i could pour out a lot of those yearnings right here1 but what's the use8 ,now ,i am in a place where ,i can write1 ,i am fairly young and1 believe me1 ,i'm going to it with both spurs working hard4 ,my mind is unequivocally centered on what ,i want to write4 ,i hope to find markets for it and readers who'll like it1 but ,i'd write it just the same if ,i didn't4 ,henry ,kitchell ,webster3 ,this question is answered1 better than ,i can answer it here1 in my contribution to ,the ,new ,republic ,symposium on the ,novel1 entitled1 ,a ,brace of ,definitions and a ,short ,code4 ,g4 ,a4 ,wells3 ,i consider nothing but the story4 ,it is there to be told and ,i try to tell it to the best of my rather poor ability4 ,the reader for me does not exist4 ,it doesn't make any difference whether anybody reads it1 other than a continual complaint of unworthiness of my stories would soon put me persona non grata with publishers4 ,william ,wells3 ,center too much on the story4 ,am breaking myself of that bad habit4 ,ben ,ames ,williams3 ,when ,i write1 my mind is on the job of writing4 ,i never consciously consider either reader or editor4 ,i try to tell the story in an appealing way4 ,but if you ask me who ,i am trying to appeal to1 ,i can't answer you6 ,honore ,willsie3 ,in writing or revising ,i never think of the reader4 ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer3 ,in writing1 ,i have nothing in mind but the story4 ,a wandering mind is fatal to good work4 ,i think of the readers when ,i see my yarn printed and--when ,i get the mail4 ,william ,almon ,wolff3 ,on the story1 emphatically and always4 ,i take the reader into account1 in revision1 to this extent3 ,my final revision follows a reading by a friend4 ,i'm interested in whether he likes the story1 but only academically--,i can't do anything about that4 ,but ,i want to know whether everything is clear4 ,i will take infinite pains in revision if a comment indicates that ,i haven't explained something fully2 if my meaning has eluded this reader4 ,on that point ,i'm always wrong and my reader is always right--the fact that ,i can explain the confusion doesn't count4 ,you can't follow your story1 explaining every point readers don't understand4 ,edgar ,young3 ,i center on the story4 ,,summary ,a general tabulation of the above shows that of #aaa writers 7#aaj of whom are tabulated7 #ea give no thought to readers at any time and that #e do so for selling but not for artistic purposes1 a total of #ef4 ,only #ad state flatly that they bear the reader in mind habitually during the first writing of the story2 #aa do so to some extent1 #e to less degree1 #b for clearness only1 #a for technical material only4 ,a total of #cc4 ,those who do not consider the reader when writing but do so at other times number #bb--af when revising1 #f during preliminary work4 ,those who consider the reader at any time--during writing1 revision or preliminary work--number #ee4 ,during the actual writing those who do not consider the reader at all number #gh against #cc who do to at least some degree4 ,during revision those who do not consider reader number #fb 7#ef #f7 against #di 7#cc #af7 who do4 ,remember that1 through my error1 to only approximately half the answers was revision made a specific part of the question4 ,during preliminary work there were #gb 7#ef #af7 who do not against #ci 7#cc #af7 who do4 7,it is reasonable to believe that if the preliminary work had been specifically mentioned in the question there would have been more replies on this point and1 since all those who do mention it answer affirmatively1 that a fair proportion1 perhaps a majority1 of the replies would have been affirmative47 ,the answers as a whole seem to leave the question largely one of individual taste or method4 ,a more careful consideration1 however1 will discover a common underlying principle for all and1 in doing so1 go far toward clarifying our concept of technique4 ,literature is an expression3 of what you please1 but an expression4 ,to express inevitably implies some one to whom you express4 ,as one answerer puts it1 one must always write to interpret4 ,no interpreting is done unless it is done to some one4 ,to interpret or express with no thought of those to whom you interpret or express1 without knowing whether your message reaches them or considering means of insuring its reaching them1 is a completely idiotic performance4 ,to say that art is self-expression answers the above by making the artist himself the person to whom he expresses or interprets4 ,such a performance1 if established1 seems rather unimportant in itself4 ,literature1 or art1 however you may define these terms1 should be a thing of world importance4 ,the self-expression of a lone individual1 reaching no one but himself1 would seem a mere ephemeral atom by comparison4 ,nor is it credible that most of our writers would continue to write if they knew no one would ever read what they wrote4 ,would any of them8 ,yes4 ,and if what an artist writes solely for self-expression1 being found good in its creator's eyes1 is then passed on to others1 it was none the less written for self-expression alone4 ,if he has written entirely uninfluenced by the thought or expectation of popularity1 fame1 money or any other consideration except the impulse to create artistically1 he has undoubtedly written with no thought of other readers4 ,that is1 with no conscious thought of other readers4 ,but the fact remains that he has expressed himself1 or interpreted1 to some human understanding4 ,by recognized human symbols1 in accordance with commonly accepted human standards4 ,in this case it happened that the human understanding to which he interpreted was his own1 but that does not alter the essentials of the act4 ,he himself is a representative of the human race and he can not interpret or express to himself without interpreting or expressing to their representative4 ,he is1 however little he may think of himself as such1 merely their proxy4 ,you will have noticed in the answers that many of those who do not consider the reader state that they make their own judgment the test1 constitute themselves the sole critics1 develop another self to serve as critic4 ,in other words1 this other self is made the judge of their success in interpreting to human understanding by recognized methods in accordance with commonly accepted standards4 ,it is the writer's very own1 yet it reduces to nothing more than his individual knowledge and application of human understanding in general--and of general human reactions1 standards and valuations4 ,it is altogether individual to himself1 yet1 like himself1 it can be composed of nothing but the elements common to the human race in general1 however they may be transmuted by his individuality4 ,a proxy for the race1 it is1 in fact1 the reader4 ,however strongly individualized1 it is still a representative1 a composite1 a standard4 ,the writer divides into self and other self1 into the writer in his strictly creative capacity and the writer in his critical capacity as adapter of his creations to the demands of the common human standards of expression and understanding4 ,the two1 of course1 are inextricably combined and never twice combined alike4 ,the writer may be conscious of their working hand in hand during creation1 or may be altogether oblivious to his critical self until the creative outpouring is finished4 ,but whether he be conscious or unconscious of the fact1 the two are always present4 ,for the creative self can create out of nothing except human elements and his critical self is his knowledge of human elements2 the creative self can express to human understanding only through the critical self's knowledge of human understanding4 ,and the methods by which the creative self interprets and expresses those elements to that understanding are not known to it from birth but are taught to it gradually by the critical self as the latter absorbs them from life4 ,his self creates1 expresses2 his other self tells him how to express1 is the adapter of his creations to the demands of the common human standards of expression and understanding--is his guide as to technique4 ,his technique is his knowledge1 or applied knowledge1 of all that perfects expression1 and his technique is altogether in charge of his other self1 the proxy for readers in general4 ,technique is wholly based on consideration of readers4 ,the other self1 to serve as critic1 guide and test1 must be master of all principles1 rules1 formulas and methods that facilitate and perfect expression so far as the writer knows them--must be master of all the technique at his command4 ,the other self can function without the creative self's being aware that it is functioning1 but only if technique has been so thoroughly absorbed and assimilated that the other self can apply it automatically1 working in perfect unison with the creative self or1 if you like1 having become identified with the creative self or taught its knowledge thoroughly to the creative self4 ,to just the degree that his technique is not thoroughly assimilated1 to that degree will the creative self be conscious of it--and1 probably1 distracted and slowed up by it4 ,it is impossible that all technique should be thus thoroughly assimilated and unconscious4 ,a writer might as well claim to have assimilated all human knowledge of art1 of human nature and1 for that matter1 of nearly everything else4 ,he can not be entirely unconscious of even all the technique at his command1 unless he has ceased to develop and fallen into using only what technique has become automatic through long usage4 ,if he is really an artist he will know that1 no matter how great his artistry1 there is always more technique for him to learn and there will always be in his store of technique bits newly added and not yet unconscious4 ,and technique is wholly based on consideration of readers4 ,a writer can learn from other writers1 but they in turn must1 however little they may have realized the process1 have built their technique1 through their other selves1 their proxies for readers in general1 from their knowledge of readers and of how to convey their ideas to them4 ,dividing writers roughly into two classes1 one class considers the reader more than he considers his art1 playing for the reader's attention and favor directly1 consciously1 baldly4 ,still roughly speaking1 that class may attain great popularity1 but it is not likely to create literature4 ,its attention is on its tools rather than on its creating4 ,the other class holds first to art4 ,it insists upon making its tools so much a part of the artist that he is not conscious of them4 ,it shuts its eyes to other matters1 concentrates on creating and produces most of what we call literature4 ,but this latter class must1 of course1 have its tools4 ,to have them it must get them from somewhere1 make them of something4 ,the amazing thing is that1 for the most part1 it doesn't really know where it gets them1 doesn't really know from what they are made nor the fundamental principles in accordance with which they are constructed4 ,the proof of this lies in the answers to this question concerning the reader and to the questions concerning the imagination and technique4 ,the genius knows1 whether or not he knows that he knows4 ,but there are few geniuses4 ,the average first-class writer does not know4 ,it is impossible to compute the degree to which their art suffers in consequence4 ,it may be a great deal4 ,it may1 in some cases1 be very little1 for after all1 being human beings1 they must have some kind of subconscious understanding of the general fundamental nature and purpose of their tools4 ,but certainly their art does suffer1 in degree varying with the individual1 as a result of their lack of definite1 clear-cut1 conscious understanding of both their tools and their process4 ,for they are working blindly to this extent4 ,if a writer adopts a piece of another man's technique or finds one for himself and if it proves to suit his case1 there may be no loss in that transaction itself1 but he has added nothing to his ability to select a next piece of technique with understanding discrimination4 ,whatever the degree of damage to the experienced writer1 the harm is tremendous in the case of the beginner or comparative beginner4 ,he looks at the work of others and finds many tools2 he turns to books1 teachers and courses for specific instructions and has tools handed to him1 generally by the clothes-basketful4 ,each is for a specific purpose and neither the tools nor the purposes are correlated in accordance with any fundamental principle4 ,no one can tell the specific purpose of any tool of technique with sufficient fullness and discrimination to cover its use in all cases1 and the poor beginner is given no fundamental understanding whereby he can make intelligent application as the varying cases arise in his work4 ,the results1 registered in the unceasing flow of manuscripts across the editorial desks of magazines and book houses1 are pathetic4 ,what would be the results in law or medicine or teaching if they were practised without conscious and very definite knowledge of the fundamental principles upon which their rules are based8 ,the present chief obstacle to successful teaching of the art of writing is lack of correlation of the rules of technique to fundamental basic principles4 ,the rules of technique have no other purpose than to facilitate and perfect expression4 ,there can be no test of the success of expression except the person to whom one expresses--the reader4 ,technique will remain a rather vague and chaotic matter1 with a corresponding difficulty in learning it1 until the reader-test is applied to its rules to prove their soundness and to refer them back to the fundamental principles which alone can give the writer an understanding that will enable him really to assimilate his technique and to apply and modify a rule to fit each one of the myriad cases that will arise4 ,the answers to the next question and to some later questions of the questionnaire will give further insight into the nature and practical use of technique4 ,,question ,v ,have you had a classroom or correspondence course on writing fiction8 ,books on it8 ,to what extent did this help in the elementary stages8 ,beyond the elementary stages8 ,,answers ,bill ,adams3 ,no course of any sort4 ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams3 ,no technical course of any kind4 ,such books as ,i have looked into only served to befog my mind4 ,paul ,l4 ,anderson3 ,no course in fiction writing2 stringent course in the handling of words1 in prep4 school1 college and since4 ,william ,ashley ,anderson3 ,i have never studied short story or fiction writing in any popular form4 ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey3 ,i know nothing of any course of instruction4 ,edwin ,balmer3 ,i was in short story writing classes both at ,northwestern ,university and at ,harvard1 and ,i do not think they did me any good2 in fact1 in neither university was my writing approved4 ,the teachers encouraged models of the past2 ,i was writing after present-day models and therefore was criticized4 ,it did not worry me because ,i used to sell to newspapers my classroom themes1 and ,i thought the newspaper editors knew more about writing than the professors4 ,ralph ,henry ,barbour3 ,i have had no classroom or correspondence course in writing fiction4 ,i was born too early for either4 ,i have not read--through--any books on the subject4 ,i am not1 therefore1 able to judge any of these4 ,i have my own ideas1 though1 on the subject of being taught to write fiction4 ,being of little value1 ,i'll keep them to myself4 ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett3 ,i never1 thank ,god1 took any course in writing fiction4 ,it might help some but ,i am sure from my experience with college ,english that it would have only made me self-conscious4 ,nalbro ,bartley3 ,no4 ,i'm very much against courses in writing1 schools for authorship1 journalism1 etc41--even if people do live them down4 ,from what ,i have seen1 it produces a sort of professional-amateur and we have so many of them just now and so few people doing the things which would1 if they were inclined that way1 make them ultimately write4 ,i mean--you can't write unless you know what you are writing about and technique is a thing belonging to a desk job1 something which can be acquired after you have either vicariously or otherwise been in the arena4 ,personally1 ,i found being a cub reporter on a paper for two years1 a special writer for two years and then--just going to it with rejection-slips as my own teacher and life my classroom the most satisfactory route4 ,konrad ,bercovici3 ,no1 no1 no1 no4 ,ferdinand ,berthoud3 ,,no6 ,i don't think even ,god himself could write a decent story from any classroom or correspondence-school course if ,he hadn't the background4 ,i know a man who is a critic for the ---- ,correspondence ,school1 and1 from what ,i can see of it1 the sole end and aim of his organization is to string the poor1 deluded aspiring writer along and soak him for all he is worth4 ,he tells me that out of over a thousand stories he went over during last year not one was good enough to hit a magazine4 ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr43 ,no course of any kind in writing4 ,am considering one4 ,farnham ,bishop3 ,wrote my first school composition at the age of ten1 my last one at eighteen1 all in the same school1 under the same teachers1 who encouraged creative work1 criticized sanely1 and banged ,english grammar into me in the good old-fashioned way4 ,wrote for and later edited the school paper4 ,also turned out a lot of wild kid stuff in collaboration with another chap1 and illustrated by ,dwight ,franklin1 for private circulation only4 ,my pal died just as we were about to enter ,harvard together4 ,his death1 and a douse of purely negative and rather supercilious criticism from an overworked instructor in ,freshman ,english took all the fun out of writing4 ,by the time ,i began to find myself at ,harvard1 ,i was in the ,law ,school4 ,failed there1 swung over into the ,graduate ,school1 took ,english #e under ,dean ,briggs1 ,english #b 7,shakespeare7 under ,professor ,kittredge1 and a course on ,milton under ,professor ,nielson--all three the livest of live wires4 ,worked my way through an extra year just to take ,professor ,baker's ,english #dg--the course on playwriting4 ,the school and graduate school courses helped me much more than the undergraduate work in college1 mainly1 ,i think1 because of the difference in the personality of the teachers4 ,i learned much more from the men--the pick of the men--who taught me than ,i did from the textbooks4 ,algernon ,blackwood3 ,no4 ,i began writing at the age of thirty-six because ,i could not keep it back4 ,i preferred an evening thus engaged to any pleasure1 social1 theatre1 music or anything else4 ,after a day of hard1 uncongenial business1 the imaginative release on paper was my real recreation4 ,max ,bonter3 ,i have never read any literature on fiction writing4 ,katharine ,holland ,brown3 ,some classroom work1 which was very valuable in elementary work4 ,and1 too1 the classroom insistence on system and unity and all the virtues has always been valuable--when it has been heeded4 ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley3 ,i once took half a course 7at the age of eighteen7--in short story writing 7at a university74 ,i had already written and sold several yarns4 ,that half-course killed me dead for five years4 ,i was self-conscious1 and instead of telling a story ,i was inclined to wonder whether the climacteric was all right1 or if the anti-climax had been put out-of-doors for the night4 ,i now avoid anybody who wants to talk nomenclature as being much more harmful than the devil1 and inexpressibly worse company4 ,prosper ,buranelli3 ,i read two books on short story writing4 ,got a couple of very elementary ideas4 ,got practical training writing ,sunday stories under a discerning editor4 ,that counted4 ,if a plumber serves an apprenticeship to learn his trade--is a writer's craft any less exacting in the matter of skill8 ,thompson ,burtis3 ,i have never had a course on writing fiction4 ,i have read one book on it4 ,all the help ,i ever got from it1 as far as ,i can remember1 is to have it impressed on my mind that a story must build up to a climax1 which ,i believe ,i knew before4 ,i had sold stories before ,i ever read the book4 ,however1 ,i believed it helped me a little at the start4 ,beyond the elementary stages1 ,i can not see how it has helped me at all4 ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain3 ,never took any such courses4 ,never learned anything from a book on the subject4 ,i am strong for the idea of a correspondence school of writing1 financed by publishers1 free to pupils1 handled by a man or men of real editorial experience or wide variety in authorship1 ready and willing to be brutally frank with the hopeless1 and capable of pointing out certain technical facts to those who can submit something of promise4 ,such a fact ,i am going to mention under ,,xi4 ,i do not see how any outside help can carry beyond the most elementary stages of actual writing for publication1 unless it might be in the trade journal line of market information4 ,robert ,v4 ,carr3 ,little schooling1 no course of any kind on writing4 ,george ,l4 ,catton3 ,have had two correspondence courses in writing fiction1 but they did me little good4 ,to tell the truth1 ,i have never read either of them through1 and yet ,i have the diplomas that were given for the final lesson answers4 ,my own private opinion is that a man may be taught to write1 but if he hasn't a talent for telling a story he might better never tackle it4 ,too much rules and you-must and you-mustn't are plain murder to talent4 ,the only training a man needs is training in what he doesn't know2 all other is waste of time and sand on his fire4 ,the only sane course of training for a writer is to find out first what he doesn't know and then give him just that and not another damn thing6 ,it's a lot harder to forget than to learn1 and the rules of yesteryear are the mistakes of to-day4 ,the world do move6 ,have read several books on authorship and found that there was little in them that ,i didn't already know4 ,sounds egotistical1 but it's a fact nevertheless4 ,no1 ,i can't say that courses or books ever helped me4 ,corrections made on a manuscript or two and a bit of advice slammed at me with a curse behind it was all ,i needed4 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers3 ,rot6 ,roy ,p4 ,churchill3 ,part of a correspondence course4 ,a number of books4 ,these were a great help in elementary stages4 ,some help later on4 ,carl ,clausen3 ,never had any4 ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper3 ,i have had very little education of any kind1 except a varied experience and a lot of adventures and a long apprenticeship on a newspaper which prided itself on its literary excellence4 ,arthur ,crabb3 ,i never had any education in fiction writing except from literary agents and editors4 ,mary ,stewart ,cutting3 ,i have never had any tuition at all on story writing4 ,elmer ,davis3 ,no4 ,probably need it4 ,william ,harper ,dean3 ,no courses in writing4 ,i have some books purchased years ago--,i'll swear ,i never got a thing from them4 ,i am hopelessly confused when ,i try to follow such things4 ,of course that's because of my own type of mind--others1 ,i know1 get a great deal from books on technique and the like4 ,harris ,dickson3 ,as a very young boy ,i started to write poetry4 ,and did you ever think how much this may help8 ,how it leads one to cast about for the exact word1 for a word that balances with the sentence both in thought and rhythm8 ,well1 it does4 ,after that ,i wrote a few rotten short stories1 one of which brought me five dollars4 ,then several historical novels1 because ,i had read so much of our southwestern colonial history until ,i came to know the people4 ,and ,i also knew the country4 ,out of this grew several pioneering sword and cloak novels of ,louisiana and ,mississippi4 ,my first magazine work was a special article which dealt with my criminal experiences in the city court4 ,then ,i began to write short stories of southern life1 largely of negro life4 ,captain ,dingle3 ,neither course nor books4 ,lacking the educational furniture of a writer1 it has always seemed to me that the sort of stuff ,i turn out must come bluntly from me1 and that no amount of study will help1 except the study of ,,men4 ,louis ,dodge3 ,alas1 ,i have had no classroom or correspondence aids4 ,there's a knot to unravel4 ,things can be taught1 certainly2 but shall we learn to do a thing as others would do it8 ,did ,columbus8 ,gallileo8 ,buddha8 ,shakespeare8 ,lincoln8 ,marconi8 ,i suspect rules are like clothes3 you ought to get good ones and then forget all about them4 ,phyllis ,duganne3 ,no courses or books in writing4 ,but ,i've had advice from older authors1 which is immensely valuable4 ,if teachers of writing fiction were authors themselves1 ,i think they would be very helpful4 ,j4 ,allan ,dunn3 ,i have had no classroom or correspondence course nor have ,i read entirely any book on writing fiction4 ,i have received considerable help in the beginning from advice given by an editor4 ,certain of his suggestions are strong with me to-day1 such as his simile for making a true rope of the story and tucking in all the ends4 ,i was greatly indebted also in the beginning to an agent of mine--since retired--,helen ,gardenhire1 who taught me to keep my characters moving when they were on the stage1 to take them off when they were not needed and not to let my hero stray up back-stage too often4 ,in other words1 continued and precise action4 ,for myself ,i conceive my story as a play4 ,i try not to destroy the illusion or halt the action1 not to take my audience round back of the scenes and never to let down the curtain and come out in front to make talk4 ,i don't say ,i live up to this4 ,i try to4 ,but my first two yarns were accepted1 ,i am sure1 with all their faults of technique because they had been done over and over and over--because ,i had no real technique those days4 ,it is hard to apply1 to set down1 this psychology of the art of writing4 ,jack ,london used to say you've got to learn the tricks1 old man1 then it will go easily4 ,i try to regard a rejected story as ,i would any article of merchandize refused by customers--and find out what is the matter with it4 ,i do not believe in correspondence schools for writers4 ,the greatest advance lies in keeping at it and trying to find out what's wrong4 ,walter ,a4 ,dyer3 ,i never had any sort of instruction in fiction writing4 ,walter ,prichard ,eaton3 ,no1 to this4 ,e4 ,o4 ,foster3 ,i have had no classroom or correspondence course in writing fiction4 ,i have read one or two books on it and have not found they helped me to any great extent in short story writing4 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel3 ,studied rhetoric1 composition1 etc41 in school and college1 but made no particular study of fiction work and such4 ,highly important as fundamentals4 ,j4 ,u4 ,giesy3 ,no4 ,george ,gilbert3 ,took no course4 ,kenneth ,gilbert3 ,i've read books on short story writing and found that they helped somewhat in the elementary stages1 but ,i have yet to find one that is other than elementary4 ,recently1 a set of volumes was sent to me on approval1 after ,i had been assured that they were just what ,i had been looking for4 ,i returned them when it dawned on me that ,i knew more about technique than the man who wrote them4 ,holworthy ,hall3 ,no classroom or correspondence course4 ,i buy every book on fiction writing ,i can find4 ,the majority of them are classed in my library as humor4 ,that is why ,i buy them4 ,in the last ten years1 only six books of this sort have emerged from that class2 generally1 they are funny without being short enough4 ,richard ,matthews ,hallet3 ,i did not fall to writing fiction until ,i had left the classroom2 and ,i never took a correspondence course in same4 ,i think there is a big field for a book on certain practical features1 such as you hint at4 ,i have a shelf full of books on rhetoric and etymology1 but nothing on how to write fiction4 ,after all1 it's a process4 ,if it goes on in you at all1 you can chip and file at it2 if it doesn't go on1 you have to seek other trades4 ,i'm a border-line case4 ,william ,h4 ,hamby3 ,in the beginning ,i took a three months' correspondence course and had real benefit from it4 ,a4 ,judson ,hanna3 ,no1 all around4 ,joseph ,mills ,hanson3 ,never have had any course on fiction writing other than in ,english courses at school4 ,i have1 however1 taken magazines for writers and read books on the subject1 and do still4 ,i believe both to have been helpful in the early stages of writing for publication1 and that they are still helpful4 ,it is stimulating to read of the experience of others in one's own craft and to digest their suggestions and the suggestions of those who endeavor to be instructors in the art of narration1 whether or not one attempts to follow their pronouncements4 ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman3 ,never had a correspondence course or classroom training in writing4 ,read a book and spent two hours over one by ----4 ,these helped me some in the elementary stages4 ,got most help in plot writing or making from a little sheet published by ,willard ,hawkins1 ,denver1 in one page written by him4 ,he concentrated the whole thing and made it as plain as a pikestaff4 ,epitomized it4 ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw3 ,i've never taken any kind of course in writing1 although at first ,i read a book or two on the subject4 ,they helped in telling me what not to do4 ,but1 if ,i've learned anything at all1 it is due almost entirely to the criticism and counsel of kindly editors4 ,joseph ,hergesheimer3 ,nothing--none6 ,robert ,hichens3 ,i spent a year in a school of journalism in ,london4 ,i haven't specially studied many books on writing1 but ,i have studied many of the best prose writers4 ,roy de ,s4 ,horn3 ,i had a correspondence course in writing1 but ,i never finished it4 ,i finished twenty-eight of the forty lessons and then went at the game directly4 ,but ,i still buy and study books on it whenever ,i can find a new one4 ,and ,i frequently sit down and study a current story just as ,i was taught to do in the old course4 ,i believe that both the course and the books were and are of incalculable assistance4 ,the great thing to the beginner of a course is that they are short cuts4 ,they give him other authors' experiences and deductions in concentrated form4 ,they make him get a clear idea of what he is about4 ,and most of all they tell him what not to write1 thus saving him the trouble and delay of finding out by personal experiment4 ,clyde ,b4 ,hough3 ,i have had no course of any sort on writing fiction4 ,have read a few text-books and the greatest impression they made on me was that ,i must work hard1 must expect many disappointments1 but that ,i must never holler 'nough4 ,they1 the text-books1 are agreed1 and they're right1 that the time to holler 'nough is before you start at the game4 ,emerson ,hough3 ,thank ,god1 no1 ,i never did4 ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson3 7,first and second questions7 ,no4 ,inez ,haynes ,irwin3 ,i took writing courses in my early twenties for two years at ,radcliffe ,college4 ,i think these courses were an enormous help then1 because it was so stimulating to be writing in a group4 ,also it developed my taste and strengthened my ambition4 ,it helped me to acquire the habit of writing4 ,beyond these elementary stages1 ,i think it was of no special assistance4 ,and in the case of a girl like my niece1 ,phyllis ,duganne1 it would be1 ,i am sure1 utterly unnecessary4 ,she grew up in a household in which there were always three writers and1 when visitors came1 sometimes six4 ,she acquired her technique painlessly as artists' children learn to paint4 ,she can not remember when she began to write and ,i am sure she has no memories of difficulties in learning to write4 ,her first short story was accepted when she was sixteen and her first novel was published before she was twenty-one4 ,no course in writing could have helped her much4 ,will ,irwin3 ,i never had any formal instruction in story writing except the expert coaching of ,gellett ,burgess in collaboration with whom ,i wrote my first two books of fiction1 and later the criticisms of my wife who is a better technician than ,i4 ,charles ,tenney ,jackson3 ,as to classroom1 correspondence1 text-books on writing1 ,i am innocent of all of 'em4 ,never had any1 read any4 ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson3 ,no classroom course on writing fiction4 ,no books4 ,correspondence course1 yes4 ,in #aiac a complete course from an editor4 ,i sent him thirty or forty stories4 ,he returned them all and had so little to do in those days that he sent a letter criticizing or commenting upon each story4 ,he made a bull's eye with each shot of criticism4 ,i made a hell of a lot of mistakes1 but never made the same one twice4 ,the letters of this bird kept me interested in writing1 made me keep on1 thereby ruining the makings of a live-wire press agent or advertising man4 ,i sold a lot of the stories he returned1 mostly due to the hints he dropped4 ,did this help beyond the elementary stages8 ,it did4 ,it made me determine to learn the writing game so that some day ,i could make the above-mentioned editor apologize when returning a story4 ,something over one hundred and sixty magazine and picture stories sold is his pupil's record so far4 ,the said pupil considers that he is still serving an apprenticeship in the writing game4 ,if he works hard enough he may be able to graduate by the time he's thirty-five4 ,mary ,johnston3 ,no4 ,john ,joseph3 ,have had no classroom or other instruction1 except such as ,i have received from kindly disposed editors4 ,and these little notes are highly prized1 believe me4 ,lloyd ,kohler3 ,about four or five years ago ,i subscribed to the ---- course of the ---- ,correspondence ,school4 ,however1 ,i don't believe that ,i sent in over two or three of the lessons4 ,i was in the ,navy at the time1 and whoever has been in the outfit knows that the average sailorman is lucky if he can write a letter home occasionally4 ,however1 ,i think that ,i digested pretty thoroughly ----'s book on the short story4 ,since that time ,i have read a great number of books on fiction writing4 ,there is no doubt but what they serve a very great purpose1 but there must be a natural talent for the work first--of that ,i am satisfied4 ,a word as to genius and talent4 ,one chap has said that genius is hard work1 or words to that effect4 ,i don't agree4 ,for instance3 ,i might study music for fifty years and at the end of that period ,i'm well satisfied that ,i wouldn't even be able to extract a harmonious note from a jew's-harp4 ,on the other hand1 ,i believe that if there is such a thing as genius1 it is merely a combination1 or the result of a combination1 of talent 7every-day natural talent7 and a capacity for hard work4 ,if a fellow has a natural talent1 plus a capacity for darned hard work1 he's got the makin's for genius4 ,harold ,lamb3 ,one classroom course in short story-writing1 after ,i had had a good deal published--and filled space for the newspapers1 bless 'em1 and been part editor of a trade journal4 ,i could not hear anything the professor said1 but at the time his book was good reading4 ,beyond the elementary stages it helped a good deal4 ,in clearing up ideas before beginning work1 and following the thread when a story was begun4 7,i think ,i missed a lot by not studying it more closely1 being certain at the time that ,i knew more than editors or professors47 ,sinclair ,lewis3 ,yes1 classroom in ,yale--that only 7no books1 etc474 ,classroom of ,,no value at all4 ,hapsburg ,liebe3 ,i dickered a little 7dabbled1 rather7 with some so-called story doctors along at the beginning4 ,i don't believe it helped much4 ,i've always had to do things my own way 7very likely it's usually the wrong way74 ,romaine ,h4 ,lowdermilk3 ,i don't know whether to be sorry or glad to admit ,i have had no special training4 ,i suppose ,i am still in the elementary stage to a certain extent4 ,i have purchased some books on story writing and the like and have long taken the ---- magazine but can sum the results as more inspirational than anything else4 ,i have learned more about the actual wants of editors from chance notes they have sent with rejected or semi-accepted manuscripts4 ,the actual building of the story is more common sense than anything else and ,i have done what ,i have done by plain bare-handed writing4 ,still1 there is something wrong with this system1 ,i know1 for my best stories--those that appeal most to me and the ones ,i put the most into--have been rejected everywhere4 ,why is that8 ,to me they are far better than many ,i have sold1 still they don't suit any editor4 ,the story is surely there and possibly if the editors knew how ,i love to revise they would mention what seemed the matter4 ,still1 they haven't the time and don't care that much1 ,i suppose4 ,possibly a professional critic could spot the trouble1 but ,i doubt it4 ,i haven't tried it4 ,but ,i suppose each writer has the same trouble4 ,eugene ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr43 ,outside of college rhetoric1 ,i've had no instruction in fiction writing beyond the helpful letters of editors4 ,nor books1 until after ,i had been writing for years4 ,i can see that the books would have been a great help1 possibly1 had ,i had them in the elementary stages4 ,but ,i was abroad and didn't happen to know about them4 ,rose ,macaulay3 ,never had them4 ,crittenden ,marriott3 ,no to everything4 ,twelve years' newspaper work all over the world before ,i tried fiction4 ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney3 ,i have had a couple of courses in the short story1 under a mighty fine scout--,doc ,weirick1 one of the best in the ,english department here at ,illinois--a good-natured1 long suffering1 able critic1 and a fertile source of interesting information4 ,i've got a lot out of the past year of hobnobbing with him4 ,the course helped considerably1 first1 because it made us get down with nose to the key-board and knock out words1 great stacks of them2 and second1 because there was a good man in charge1 with ready and worth-while criticism of yarns submitted1 and a real knowledge of what to read in the course4 ,we learned the way to promotion and pay1 as ,kipling has it1 not fundamentally from the pages of a book1 but from writing4 ,ray ,mc,gillivray3 ,i took aboard huge hunks of literary fodder in college1 going the pace that killed--originality--through every course1 from ,old ,english to a postgrad with ,barrett ,wendell4 ,then1 after applying this undigested knowledge to such pursuits as manual labor at ,sears1 ,roebuck's1 mixing ruby champagne cocktails at ,mouquin's1 and cutting up a cadaver at ,medical ,school 7ugh671 ,i reached1 by devious byways of labor and loafing1 a post as sub-sub-editor on one of the most unconventional national-circulation magazines in the world4 ,i had contributed a few personal narrative articles1 and needed a job4444 ,the editor1 a spunky ,irishman 7gosh1 come to think of it1 ,i believe he claimed to be ,english67 jumped all over my lit'ry allusions4 ,he appeared abruptly before me one day1 thrust two photos under my nose1 and bade me assimilate an eyeful4 ,i obeyed4 ,one picture showed a ,japanese trench outside ,port ,arthur4 ,headless bodies1 detached limbs and blobs of entrails were festooned about the broken entanglements4 ,it was brutal1 terrible1 but it depicted war and death4 ,the second photo also dealt with death1 but differently4 ,six men were carrying a draped coffin1 in which rested a man who in his lifetime had won a way into the heart of a nation4 ,there was nothing in the picture save the varied expressions of restrained1 sincere sorrow on the faces of the dead man's six friends4 ,this trench picture1 quoth my boss1 is ,journalism4 ,this other is ,art4 ,now1 to hell with ,art6 ,by that he meant that henceforth ,i was to tie a jingling can to my ,aristophanes1 my ,tacitus--yea1 even my ,bullfinch and my finchless ,bull4 ,and ,i did4 ,you never would have suspected how many miles of galley-proof a ,socrates-,six could cover with five cylinders stripped out of the chassis6 ,helen ,topping ,miller3 ,i had been selling short stories for about twelve years before ,i read any books on the subject4 ,i have never found a book from which ,i felt that ,i received any material benefit4 ,many books have inspired me--but none of them ever helped me in the actual work of writing4 ,thomas ,samson ,miller3 ,never had a lesson of any kind from any one in story writing4 ,don't believe in them4 ,one's got to learn how to write by writing2 to learn what not to do and what to do by experience4 ,my only study was to take a short story that appealed to me in a magazine and live with it2 cut out all other reading4 ,analyzed its plot1 its characterization4 ,wrote out every word written in it about a certain character to see just how the author got the character across4 ,wrote the story from memory4 ,read it so far1 put it down1 then tried to write the rest out of my head4 ,anne ,shannon ,monroe3 ,i have had neither classroom nor correspondence work in writing fiction4 ,have read no books on the subject that ,i can remember1 save a few stray passages from ,flaubert--seems to me he knew how4 ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery3 ,i never took any kind of a course in writing fiction4 ,such things may be helpful if the real root of the matter is in you1 but ,i had to get along without them4 ,i was born and brought up in a remote country settlement1 twenty-four miles from a town and ten from a railway4 ,there ,i wrote my first stories and my first four books4 ,so no beginner need feel discouraged because of remote location or lack of literary atmosphere4 ,frederick ,moore3 ,no4 ,there may be people who can teach story writing--that is1 stimulate to endeavor4 ,the old hand can give tips to the beginner that keep him from getting off the track1 but the writer must actually do his own creating4 ,the creative impulse must exist to create1 though technique is another thing4 ,i believe everybody has the creative impulse in some degree4 ,if it is weak1 technique will avail nothing4 ,the experts on technique are generally deficient in creative ability4 ,if they had both1 their expertness in technique would be smothered--that is1 not apparent--while their creative ability would make them rich and famous4 ,to put it another way1 the mass of readers are not conscious of technique and simply say1 ,that writer writes fine stories4 ,but the expert1 or the novelist1 says3 ,he is a wizard at creation1 and good at technique4 ,of course1 technique may come as naturally to a writer as his creative ability--he or she may know how to handle the story so as to get the strongest effect1 and we get1 say1 another ,robinson ,crusoe4 ,but it is very apparent1 in reading the complete story by ,de,foe that he did not know where he was going when he set out4 ,he flopped all over the shop until he got to his island1 and ,i am convinced that at that point he struck his gait and knew what he was about4 ,every story presents its own problem in technique--that is1 merely the best way to tell that kind of a story4 ,and there is a best way for every story--a way that fits the environment1 the characters1 and the happenings in that particular combination4 ,once in a dog's age it is done1 like ,ethan ,frome1 or ,the ,red ,badge of ,courage1 or ,the ,call of the ,wild4 ,i regard every story as an experiment in chemistry4 ,it is possible to blow yourself up1 so to speak1 or discover an elixir of life4 ,most writers are known for one piece of work1 though they have done many others4 ,de,foe wrote volumes and is known for ,robinson ,crusoe1 while ,lorna ,doone was the work of a novelist who wrote other volumes2 also1 consider ,uncle ,tom's ,cabin4 ,and ,i believe that each of these three books was written at just the right moment to insure success3 ,crusoe1 when the ,english were fired with foreign exploration1 ,lorna ,doone when a peaceful life in the ,english countryside had become the ideal1 and ,uncle ,tom when the nation needed its arguments on slavery focussed into a tract which could be handed out with a kind of ,here6 ,read this1 and see what you think of slavery then6 ,also1 ,empey's ,over the ,top came when the men getting ready for war needed something in the way of a text-book on war--,this is the sort of thing we can expect to get into4 ,to me1 one of the most discouraging things 7but not personally7 is that the higher the art in fiction1 the less the number of appreciative readers4 ,of course1 ,i mean by that the kind of novels in which little actually happens outside the minds of the characters4 ,i do not say such novels are best1 but most critics do4 ,and why do critics always criticize from a trade standpoint1 that is1 as if novels were written for other novelists8 ,the story that is most violently attacked by critics generally sells best4 ,i am not saying that stories are written to sell1 but that they are written to entertain1 to arouse emotions1 to give an experience in life that is likely to be missing in the life of the reader4 ,the reader likes to see himself in the condition described and to wonder how he would react4 ,and most great books have had difficulty in reaching print4 ,so many editors are shouting for original stories1 but they are actually afraid of stories that are too original--until that type of story has proved successful4 ,then they all want something like it1 and we develop another school of fiction4 ,but don't blame the editor for that--the public must be trained to that type1 and an editor has to be a practical man if he wants to continue to edit4 ,merely because a story is bizarre does not make it necessarily original1 and if original1 not necessarily desirable4 ,what editors mean when they say originality is a new angle on an old idea or an old plot--but the age not apparent4 ,i believe that the best fiction written in this country today is being published in the so-called cheap magazines4 ,that is1 magazines devoted to fiction alone4 ,they actually cost more than many of the better magazines1 and they are free of jazz1 degeneracy and sex4 ,coated paper and good illustrations do not give quality to fiction4 ,the ,bible printed on news stock would still be the ,bible1 and the same is true of all other fiction1 from ,shakespeare to date4 ,there can be just as much art used in telling an adventure story as in any other kind--and as a matter of fact1 more is needed in that kind of story than in the story which depends on sex for its interest4 ,the fiction magazines have to deliver the goods1 and many of them have a higher manuscript-account for their material than the fancier looking products4 ,the so-called cheap fiction magazines have really developed our best ,american writers1 generally speaking4 ,these magazines have provided a market for the beginners and have encouraged them during their apprenticeship4 ,if the same writers had to wait until they were able to sell to the highbrows1 many writers famous to-day would never have struggled on4 ,many a person who has paid two dollars for a book held up as a fine piece of work is unaware that the chauffeur read the same story as a serial in a cheap magazine4 ,and ,treasure ,island was sold as a serial to a boy's shocker and published under the name of ,captain ,john ,north4 ,most people know ,robinson ,crusoe as a classic1 in spite of the fact that it has shipwreck1 cannibalism1 and killings galore4 ,so blood and thunder comes nearer to representing life than many a devious study of some maniac's brain written in ,russia1 for all the loud cries of the critics and others4 ,for several years past the world has been all blood and thunder and many woke up to the fact that the human animal is given to violence and murder4 ,this must all be considered by the person who sets out to write--and that person must remember that art is not always done with deliberation4 ,sometimes it just happens4 ,talbot ,mundy3 ,no4 ,kathleen ,norris3 ,i had some college work in daily themes1 a sort of primary fiction work1 for some six months1 and ,i think it did me incalculable good4 7,this was before ,i ever wrote a line47 ,anne ,o',hagan3 ,no4 ,grant ,overton3 ,i have never had any training in writing except what ,i have learned or sensed myself4 ,i have read books about it but none of them amounts to a great deal4 ,sir ,gilbert ,parker3 ,never4 ,fiction can't be taught6 ,hugh ,pendexter3 ,no4 ,clay ,perry3 ,at the age of fifteen years ,i subscribed to a combination course in journalism and short-story writing4 ,it was absurd4 ,in college ,i took a course in ,the ,study of the ,novel which helped steer my course toward a liking for good fiction 444 perhaps4 ,i have never read anything on fiction writing which helped me1 that ,i know of1 either in the elementary stages or beyond them4 ,one friend who writes helped me more by a few suggestions and criticisms than anything ,i have ever read on the subject of writing4 ,michael ,j4 ,phillips3 ,no4 ,walter ,b4 ,pitkin3 ,i never studied writing under any teacher4 ,i dodged all writing courses in college because they bored me to death and seemed to be engaged in unutterable piffle4 ,i never read any text-books on rhetoric or style or story writing until ,i had been a professional journalist and writer for nearly ten years6 ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell3 ,i have never studied anything in books or classrooms about fiction4 ,i have glanced over one or two books on writing1 but have not found them simplified enough4 ,they start off with their arguments and then ramble away into the realms of theories1 technique and other things which tend to becloud the mind away from the few broad general rules4 ,lucia ,mead ,priest3 ,i have had a not very thorough classroom training1 with whatever books were prescribed--,hill1 ,wendell1 etc41 etc4 ,i found them necessary1 mildly stimulating4 ,they brought me to the realization that literature was work of a profound character4 ,everything has helped4 ,i have not gone beyond the elementary stage4 ,it is a big1 big craft1 a long1 long trail4 ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes3 ,none4 ,frank ,c4 ,robertson3 ,i have had no classroom nor correspondence course and have read not to exceed a half dozen text-books on the subject1 though ,i have long been a subscriber to the ,editor magazine and more recently to the ,writer's ,monthly4 ,such reading as ,i have done has helped1 yet ,i am rather glad that ,i did not read enough at the start to become rule-bound4 ,now ,i think ,i have literary poise enough that ,i can discard what is inapplicable to my own needs1 and so ,i am constantly adding to my collection of books on the art of writing4 ,also1 within the last two months1 ,i have formed the habit of sending my stories to a capable critic before offering them to magazines4 ,i wish now that ,i had adopted this method long ago4 ,the resulting self-analysis of my own work has been of more value to me than any other one factor4 ,ruth ,sawyer3 ,neither4 ,chester ,l4 ,saxby3 ,i have read books on writing1 but ,i found all of them vague and general or else too elementary4 ,i have had a fair education in ,english1 and ,i have the rudiments of an imagination for the ,english to work upon4 ,the link between is for the most part a judgment of values 7such as it is7 gleaned in the college of hard knocks and nine danged slaving years of schooling in that institution1 slaving and heart-rupture4 ,but in beginning1 books on writing and even courses certainly have their value4 ,i've had the correspondence drill--with editors who've stood me up and knocked me down4 ,but that's rough on the editors1 if everybody does it4 ,barry ,scobee3 ,before ,i was twenty1 or about that time1 ,i took a course in short-story writing and newspaper also4 ,don't remember what school of correspondence4 ,i may have acquired a few basic principles2 it probably did me some good4 ,i never had classroom instruction in writing4 ,i have studied a dozen books on the subject of fiction writing4 ,at first1 for a year or two1 ,i struggled along without even knowing there was such a thing as books on the subject1 or without ever talking to a single person in the world who knew the first thing about writing4 ,then ,the ,editor began to help me1 and various books1 especially on plot and1 ,i think1 ,price on the ,drama4 ,these were a tremendous help to me in the preliminary stages4 ,a fuller answer will be found under ,,vii4 ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott3 ,i have never taken a course of any kind in fiction writing4 ,i have breezed through a few books on short stories but ,i have never studied them4 ,most of the stories which ,i have sold have violated the rules laid down in these books4 ,i am still in the elementary stage1 however1 and perhaps1 some day1 ,i shall be able to stick to the rules and still sell the stories4 ,robert ,simpson3 ,i have had no classroom or correspondence course4 ,neither1 as it happens1 have ,i ever read any books on writing fiction4 ,this was more a matter of chance than anything else4 ,i've learned most of what ,i know of the technique of story writing from writing bad ones and finding out why they were bad2 from the good advice of an editor or two1 and from simple1 cold-blooded analysis of my own and other men's work4 ,this is a long and tedious process1 but it has the advantage of being thorough if one is built for it4 ,if ,i may say so1 the method of study is largely up to the make-up of the individual1 but1 in agreement with a certain advertisement1 there are no short-cuts to quality4 ,arthur ,d4 ,howden ,smith3 ,no4 ,theodore ,seixas ,solomons3 ,i never had a course4 ,i have studied1 or rather carefully read1 one or two books on writing1 and numerous articles4 ,i think that the idea of unity has been the main derivative to me4 ,the rest ,i usually saw to be true enough1 almost axiomatically1 from general considerations of art1 but ,i do not think they helped--probably more because ,i did not actually study such writings than because they are incapable of lending real help4 ,i do not see how a proper study of them in connection with exercise in writing can fail to be beneficial4 ,yet such works1 for the most part1 are analyses of the reasons for things which must be understood instinctively and by experience1 and then acquired1 before the reasons make such appeal4 ,raymond ,s4 ,spears3 ,no literary course except reading1 deliberately undertaken for certain purpose1 as reading ,ruskin to learn how to describe4 ,i've read and tried to profit by practical books1 handbooks1 books on authorship1 writers' biographies1 etc4 ,but ,i find my own view-point and methods are nowhere described or much helped by experience of others4 ,norman ,springer3 ,no4 ,i once tried a university extension course in play writing4 ,it was silly4 ,of course1 ,i read all the books ,i could find on the subject of story writing4 ,they didn't help much4 ,they told me something about the mechanics of a story 7though even this information was usually buried beneath mountains of pompous academic phraseology71 but they never gave me a clue to the solution of the more important question that worries the beginner--,how can ,i infuse spirit into the story2 how can ,i make it live8 ,this questionnaire is really the first attempt ,i have encountered to get behind the mechanics4 ,being of the self-raised variety of writer1 ,i've had some experience with the ,how ,to ,write a ,story books1 and ,i confess they harmed rather than helped me4 ,all those ,i opened merely told me in technical1 often almost unintelligible language just what my story sense was telling me in simple language4 ,i didn't find a single book that took me behind the mechanics of the story4 ,that is where the beginner is always trying to get to4 ,about the hardest thing he has to learn is how to weigh1 select and subdue thoughts4 ,memorizing all the rules and learning all of ,o4 ,henry's tricks by heart won't help him4 ,but access to information such as your third query will bring out will help him4 ,so will the news that he must discipline his imagination and make it obedient4 ,think how we run wild and waste ourselves in the beginning4 ,julian ,street3 ,no courses4 ,i've read1 written and in my early stages been criticized by abler men--men like ,tarkington and ,harry ,leon ,wilson4 ,i think it well for the absolute greenhorn to read and learn everything he can about the art1 but he must have the power to discriminate between good and bad advice2 and he must know whether he himself wishes to aim high or aim low--whether he wishes to run the risk of trying to produce something that may possibly live1 always facing the great danger of failing in that aim1 or whether he wishes to write popular truck4 ,that will be determined ultimately1 ,i think1 by the character and tastes of the aspirant1 but the sooner he acquires a definite aim1 the better for him4 ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling3 ,have never had classroom or correspondence course in fiction4 ,i did pay a dollar once to have a story criticized4 ,afterward ,i wrote to the man and offered him his criticism back if he would return my dollar1 but he wouldn't do it4 ,booth ,tarkington3 ,no course or books on writing fiction1 ever4 ,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle3 ,i have never had any instructions on story writing1 beyond the kindly help of a certain editor4 ,once upon a time ,i bought some books on short-story writing4 ,after reading them ,i ached from the reaction4 ,i understood that ,i was all wrong4 ,but there seemed to be no help for it2 so ,i hid the books and went back to work4 ,lucille ,van ,slyke3 ,very superficial daily theme course in college my freshman year4 ,very bad for me1 ,i think1 because ,i did it easily1 got good marks and took no pains whatever4 ,took me years to live that down6 ,i have read and continue to read every book on fiction writing that ,i can find4 ,in the elementary stages they helped a very little--oh1 very little4 ,not their fault1 but mine1 because ,i did not see how to apply them to my case4 ,beyond the elementary stage ,i found that ,polti's ,thirty ,six ,dramatic ,situations helped me to straighten out the plot difficulty ,i already mentioned4 ----'s ,short ,story ,writing did me good this way--,i disagreed with it so violently that it cleared my ideas on many points--but ,i found myself singing1 ,now mother has a sausage machine and to-day she said to me1 ,tom1 ,tom1 hurry back home1 there'll be sausages for your tea-- ,atreus von ,schrader3 ,i put in the winter of #aiac working with ,walter ,b4 ,pitkin at ,columbia2 ,i had written1 without success1 for some time4 ,his genius1 for that is what it amounts to1 gave me a foundation and understanding that have been invaluable4 ,general formulas and methods can be used to great advantage2 to the greatest advantage when practise has made their use instinctive4 ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch3 ,never had anything in that line4 ,was introduced to a teacher of how to write fiction once and he bored me4 ,henry ,kitchell ,webster3 ,i've never had a classroom course or a correspondence course on writing fiction4 ,i have read books on it1 some of which interested me because ,i agreed with the writers and some of which interested me because ,i disagreed with them altogether4 ,i am not conscious that the first sort ever caused me to cry out1 ,eureka6 though ,i may have decided1 over an item in the second1 ,this is what ,i never do4 ,g4 ,a4 ,wells3 ,i have had no classroom course in story writing and deplore that fact a great deal4 ,correspondence courses are valuable to this extent--they urge one to work and study by the reflection that he will have thrown away his money if he doesn't4 ,the same results may be obtained by investing in a few good books on the subject of writing4 ,i would strongly advise the beginner to let the correspondence schools alone4 ,i have had much experience with them4 ,none of them can possibly do what they so boldly assert in their literature4 ,not so long ago ,i paid ninety dollars cash for a course in picture play writing4 ,for that sum ,i received two thin books of instruction1 three detailed synopses of plays produced 7all of them rotten67 and twelve pamphlets of lectures4 ,i learned nothing that ,i had not previously learned from text-books got from the public library4 ,never again3 7,right hand up and left on heart47 ,it is of interest that most of these correspondence schools can't cite students who have been successful4 ,one school cited me ---- ----4 ,her stories appear in the ---- but nowhere else that ,i have ever noticed4 ,i do not call that success4 ,that is the only school of correspondence of about a dozen ,i have investigated that can cite a student who has had anything published in a reliable magazine1 and ,i think that unless such a school can show such graduates it is scarcely worth bothering about4 ,i attach great importance to books on the art of fiction writing4 ,they have been of great value to me4 ,the chief fault ,i find with these books is that they refer the student for examples to stories that are not easily available to a great many people4 ,too1 they incline too much toward citation of the classics1 such as ,poe1 ,dickens1 ,thackeray and others4 ,the student should have for his examples ,kipling1 ,o4 ,henry1 ,london1 ,melville ,post and the modern writers4 ,current magazine fiction is as a rule out of the question4 ,but after all the only way to learn to write fiction is to write fiction4 ,i am of that number who contend that fiction writing can't be taught4 ,it must be learned4 ,but first of all one must have talent for it4 ,that talent can't be acquired1 though1 given that1 it can be cultivated4 ,if one hasn't a talent for writing fiction all the teaching of all the teachers won't make one a writer of fiction4 ,education alone will not suffice1 though ,i have had people say to me1 ,he should be able to write stories1 he is so highly educated4 ,it is to laugh4 ,i say that the man with the gift or knack for writing fiction will turn out a writer in the end if he applies himself1 regardless of schools and books teaching the method and art4 ,in this town is a woman1 very highly educated1 who studied two years in the classes of ,dr4 ---- at ,columbia4 ,she has tried time and again to sell stories she has written1 but up to date without success4 ,from time to time ,i have had people come to me for information on the business of writing4 ,the first thing ,i ask for is some of their stuff4 ,not an editor in the country would print such truck4 ,this is rather unseemly in one who himself turns out a great deal of worthless truck1 but ,i can see the faults of others better than my own4 ,i can't see my own at all4 ,the best text books on the subject are to be found on the news-stands--,adventure1 ,american1 ,saturday ,evening ,post1 ,harper's1 etc4 ,these should come first because they show the finished product of people who are actually succeeding at what the student aspires to do4 ,it is the whole machine that can be taken down to learn how it was assembled in the first place4 ,text-books1 ,i think1 are valuable to the student in proportion to their relationship to him4 ,are they really prepared for the student1 or written because the author had certain views he wished to publish about a certain subject8 ,i think they should suggest rather than dictate4 ,the author should say1 ,let's try this and see what happens1 and not ,do this or you are damned4 ,in short1 ,i have found most text-books far too dictatorial4 ,detailed laws and rules should be avoided4 ,the student should get the general impression1 but be left free to modify his performances to suit existing needs or to satisfy his individual point of view4 ,of course there are certain laws of story writing that preclude dispute by their very obviousness4 ,i don't pay any more attention to the rules of story writing than ,i do to a fly on a ,chinaman's nose in ,canton4 ,it therefore galls me to have a text-book author tell me that ,i must do thus and so4 ,all ,i want him to do is to give me the platform to stand on4 ,i'll make and speak my own piece in my own way4 ,if he is going to write and make my speech ,i'll step down4 ,william ,wells3 ,no4 ,ben ,ames ,williams3 ,i've never taken any course in story writing4 ,i once read a book on it4 ,it helped me not at all4 ,the books that have helped me most in the technical work of writing are books of criticism4 ,any of the standard works4 ,honore ,willsie3 ,neither4 ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer3 ,i have never had any course of any kind in short story writing1 or1 ,i should say1 in writing4 ,nor have ,i read or studied books on the art1 gift1 trade1 profession1 crime1 or whatever it may be4 ,i have about me at all times as working tools1 a dictionary1 ,roget's ,thesaurus1 ,shakespeare1 ,encylopedia ,brittanica1 ,bartlett's ,familiar ,quotations4 ,find all invaluable4 ,william ,almon ,wolff3 ,no courses at all4 ,the best book ,i know is not about narrative fiction at all--it's ,william ,archer's ,play ,making4 ,that has been and remains1 invaluable to me4 ,i think1 incidentally1 that it's helpful to think of a story in scenes4 ,edgar ,young3 ,no classroom course4 ,wrote several stories before ,i ever knew there was such a thing as a book on the subject4 ,must have learned something by reading current magazines but was where ,i couldn't get them for years when in ,south ,america4 ,since being here in ,new ,york have read many of the books concerning writing4 ,,summary ,of #aac answering1 #ee have used neither class1 course or book1 #ef have tried one or more of these1 and #b1 saying only that they took no course1 are probably to be included with those having tried none of the three4 ,of the #ef who have tried one or more of the three1 #dj give definite reply as to whether1 in the elementary stages1 they derived benefit1 as follows3 much benefit1 #f2 benefit1 #d2 some benefit1 #e2 total #ae4 ,no benefit1 #aa2 some harm1 #a2 harm1 #b2 much harm1 #a2 total1 #ae4 ,there are #aj who state they derived little benefit and this presumably is to be taken as a negative answer4 ,in any case1 out of #dj there are #be who derived little or no benefit in the elementary stages of learning their art1 and #d of the #be state that they derived actual harm instead of benefit4 ,add the fact that if the remaining #af of the #ef who have used one or more of the three derived any benefit they did not take the trouble to say so1 which would indicate that1 if there were any benefit at all1 it was not a considerable one4 ,add the additional damning fact that of the #aac answering the general question #ee 7probably #eg7 have not found it necessary to success to use any of the three4 ,out of #aac writers only #ae claim any benefit1 in even the elementary stages1 from classes1 courses or books purporting to teach the writing of fiction6 ,ninety-eight against fifteen6 ,that testimony fills me with joy4 ,yes1 ,i've written a book myself on fiction writing1 but it had not been published when this questionnaire was answered1 it was written largely as an earnest protest against present methods of teaching fiction and a chief purpose of this questionnaire and of this present book giving its results was to get proof in facts from a final source that present teaching methods1 as practised in all but a tiny handful of cases1 are badly in need of revolutionary revision4 ,my feeling in the matter was not due to theorizing4 ,for twenty years my life-business has been the handling of the results of those methods as they pour in in the form of submitted manuscripts across the editorial desk4 ,for twenty years it has been my business to deal with the authors and would-be authors who write those manuscripts1 to try to find their strong points and their weak points and to ferret out the causes and the remedies4 ,they have worked with me to this end and have talked frankly4 ,even if there had been only the manuscripts themselves to look at1 it would have been evident enough that there was some general cause1 other than the writers' inabilities1 for the wide-spread and persistent weaknesses that were making most of those manuscripts unavailable or at least far below the standards possible to their authors4 ,if only half of our #aac successful writers have been touched by these methods1 remember that the successful writers are only some ten per cent4 of those who write and that the remaining ninety per cent4 are more prone to turn to formal books and teaching4 ,the man or woman with pronounced native ability is more likely to hew his own way or go to first courses1 particularly after examining the outside helps available4 ,do not forget1 too1 that these prevalent weaknesses in manuscripts are due not only to positive faults in teaching methods1 but to the lack of really helpful1 constructive advice and guiding4 ,a chief bad result of these teaching methods will be taken up in our consideration of the question on the value of technique4 ,to take up all the bad results in detail would fill more space than the nature of this volume warrants its devoting to the subject4 ,while only #ae derived benefit from these methods in the elementary stages1 still fewer--#aj--;found benefit in the more advanced stages4 ,one might expect the falling off to be still more pronounced until one remembers that these books and courses1 whatever their general faults1 do cover a vast number of specific points and that in the discussion of these points a writer who has already built his own foundations can often find suggestion and information of decided value to him without suffering from the general faults4 ,none of our answerers reports harm1 in advanced stages1 from these methods and none reports failure to get benefit in the advanced stages specifically1 though many simply give a no to the general question of benefit4 ,considering class1 course and book separately1 of #ac reporting definitely on class experience #g state benefit of varying degree in elementary stages1 though one of these expresses doubt2 #a1 little2 #d1 none1 #a of these reporting harm4 ,only one reports on advanced stages--no benefit4 ,on correspondence courses1 #h state experience2 #c1 benefit2 #a1 probably some2 #a1 little2 #c1 none4 ,this as to elementary stages4 ,on advanced stages only #a reports--some benefit4 ,on books #dj report4 ,on elementary stages1 #ce2 benefit1 #ad2 possibly1 #a2 little1 #aj2 no benefit1 #g2 harm1 #c4 ,on advanced stages1 #aj1 including some of the #ce reporting also on elementary stages2 benefit1 #c2 little1 #c2 no benefit1 #d4 ,tabulating negatively1 #gh of the #aac specifically report no class experience2 #gc no correspondence course2 #dg no book4 ,as already stated1 #ee--or #eg--make a blanket report of using none of the three4 ,unfortunately the questionnaire did not include a specific question on benefit derived from magazines devoted to writers and their art4 ,in spite of this omission three or four voluntarily reported benefit therefrom in elementary stages and no one volunteered to report harm or lack of benefit4 ,if reports had been asked for on these magazines1 ,i believe it would have been far more favorable than on books1 classes or courses4 ,these magazines use many articles by writers telling their own experiences1 difficulties1 solutions4 ,the people best equipped to teach others are those who have themselves learned how--who have accomplished1 not merely theorized4 ,each is handicapped as a teacher by the facts that his methods and principles are naturally those he has found best adapted to his own individual case1 that the needs of no two individuals are exactly alike and that his methods may be for some others altogether useless or even harmful4 ,but in these magazines where many writers are heard from these very differences appear and the intelligent reader can pick and choose with profit4 ,most of all1 he learns that no one rule applies to all writers alike4 ,,question ,,vi ,how much of your craft have you learned from reading current authors8 ,the classics8 ,,answers ,bill ,adams3 ,i have to admit that ,i know no current authors--,i never read a magazine story1 and exceedingly seldom a book4 ,used to read a great deal twenty to twenty-five years ago4 ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams3 ,how can one tell8 ,i might guess at half and half4 ,paul ,l4 ,anderson3 ,mostly the classics3 that's one reason ,i haven't sold more stuff--too old-fashioned4 ,william ,ashley ,anderson3 ,not much--if any--from current writers1 with a few isolated examples--except for those who have already become standard3 ,kipling1 and authors of similar standing in various countries4 ,i believe strongly in the classics and regret very much that they were not very deeply ingrained in me when ,i was at school1 as they were fundamental in literature4 ,i believe just as strongly in the standard works of literature4 ,but ,i believe a professional author wastes time reading current authors1 unless the work has distinct and special merit and is brought to his attention4 ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey3 ,i should put the classics 7using the word in the widest sense1 say from ,homer and the ,bible to ,maupassant and ,mark ,twain7 first4 ,good models are of any time and all time4 ,from good models living and dead and what ,i know of their methods ,i learned any craftsmanship ,i have4 ,edwin ,balmer3 ,when ,i began writing ,i considered ,kipling and ,richard ,harding ,davis and ,sophocles about the best writers in the world4 ,i had taken a great deal of ,greek in college and took an ,m4 ,a4 at ,harvard in ,greek and when ,i finished ,i could read classical ,greek almost as readily as ,english4 ,i remember consciously admiring and trying to put into my writing some of the sense of quantity which the ,greeks used4 ,the first story ,i ever sold to a magazine was certainly strongly influenced in its wording by ,greek models4 ,i still think ,greek literature second to none4 ,ralph ,henry ,barbour3 ,who knows the answer to this question8 ,not ,i6 ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett3 ,i have absorbed1 rather than learned1 a great deal from current authors--especially ,english authors4 ,the classics ,i feel to be an invaluable background--a background that too many ,american authors lack4 ,nalbro ,bartley3 ,from the classics1 ,i think ,i have learned much--also from the daily newspapers but not from current authors4 ,konrad ,bercovici3 ,reading current authors ,i have learned what not to do4 ,i have only learned something about writing from the ,bible1 a little more from ,balzac1 and if writing were a trade and ,i were a young man1 ,i should apprentice myself now to ,anatole ,france4 ,ferdinand ,berthoud3 ,none4 ,don't read current authors4 ,have never read the classics4 ,i wrote my first story for my own amusement and without knowing that it was a story1 and without any single thought of how other people wrote4 ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr43 ,can't honestly say ,i've gained a great deal from either4 ,try to read current authors to learn1 if possible1 the secret of just how they put it over4 ,have read most of the classics and have doubtless1 though unconsciously1 benefitted from them4 ,farnham ,bishop3 ,i've read everything from ,diamond ,dick to ,marcus ,aurelius1 beginning early and sitting up late1 mixing my reading till now it is utterly hopeless for me to disentangle the results and reactions4 ,there are huge gaps in it1 and some rather odd specializations4 ,how much have ,i learned from ,homer and ,vergil1 and how much from ,kipling and ,conan ,doyle8 ,blessed if ,i know the exact proportions6 ,but ,i think that varying your reading is a safeguard against writing pseudo-,kiplingese and diluted ,o4 ,henry4 ,algernon ,blackwood3 ,none4 ,i read little fiction4 ,as a boy ,i missed the classics1 and have only made up a little of this leeway since4 ,i never read a story without feeling how completely otherwise my own treatment of his idea would have been--probably1 that is1 how much better his treatment is than mine4 ,max ,bonter3 ,whatever ,i may have learned from contemporaries has been acquired unconsciously and without design4 ,i studied ,milton intensively with the idea of letting some of his wonderful construction sink into me--particularly the first two books of ,paradise ,lost4 ,have never regretted the time so spent4 ,katharine ,holland ,brown3 ,hard to answer4 ,reared on the classics1--by the simple device of keeping them on the top shelves1 with the grave command1 ,not to be read till you grow up4 ,will admit to an extreme preference for the most recent of the current fiction4 ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley3 ,hard to say how much ,i got from classics and so on4 ,a great deal4 ,rough guess--should say ,rudyard ,kipling and an ,english author named ,neil ,lyons were my best teachers4 ,prosper ,buranelli3 ,reading current literature does nothing but harm4 ,read ,sophocles4 ,thompson ,burtis3 ,i should say that all the superficialities of the craft ,i have learned from current authors4 ,fundamentals1 such as vocabulary and characterization1 ,i believe ,i learned from the classics4 ,as a young and green writer1 ,i believe ,i am picking up tricks of the trade constantly from my contemporaries4 ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain3 ,how much ,i owe to reading current or classic authors ,i have not the slightest idea4 ,i have not consciously studied the work in half a dozen stories4 ,and ,i have not1 within my memory1 read a story without a certain critical attitude which unconsciously noted its structural features4 ,for all the readiness with which my mind conjures settings for what ,i read1 ,i don't think ,i have ever read anything without constant consciousness of the man who wrote it1 or ever forgotten to watch the writing4 ,though ,i was late in putting my efforts to actual use1 my desire to write fiction goes back of my memory4 ,at twelve years of age ,i was habitually putting into words every emotion and situation and scene ,i saw1 experienced or felt4 ,i shall never know in this world to what degree that has reacted upon me to make me everlastingly the actor of what ,i imagined ,i should be rather than the natural doer of what ,i was4 ,perhaps ,i should put it that the expression of things has always assumed entirely undue importance4 ,in that attitude1 ,i have unconsciously studied everything ,i have read4 ,and here ,i might mention that1 for me1 the greatest difficulty of the relation between reading and writing is the avoidance of unconscious imitation4 ,i can not read ten pages of ,addison or ,irving1 still less of ,gibbon or ,macaulay1 without having my writing run into sonorous cadences that frequently are as out of place as a ,gregorian hymn-tune for a coon-song's words4 ,writers of striking idiosyncrasy1 like ,o4 ,henry1 or ,samuel ,blythe in his humorous sketches1 ,wodehouse1 or ,harry ,leon ,wilson1 or anything in slang or dialect1 are completely fatal to the straightaway putting of what ,i want to say which is my only notion of a style of my own4 ,robert ,v4 ,carr3 ,i might imagine some writer helped me1 when he merely salved my prejudice or put into words certain racial memories that harmonized with mine4 ,george ,l4 ,catton3 ,consciously1 little4 ,subconsciously1 it is hard to say2 perhaps all of it4 ,from the classics1 ancient classics1 none4 ,never had the patience to wade through a lot of explanatory matter and minute detail ,i found in the so-called classics--to get at a fact or truth that could have been put in one sentence to stand out in the clear4 ,classics8 ,not to my way of thinking6 ,i don't have to be told one thing twenty different ways to get the guts of it4 ,classics8 old-fashioned expositions of old-fashioned views and ideas1 most of which have been exploded long ago4 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers3 ,current authors1 nothing4 ,classics1 much4 ,roy ,p4 ,churchill3 ,both are necessary4 ,the classics for vocabulary4 ,people and current writers for modern styles4 ,one is as valuable as the other to me4 ,carl ,clausen3 ,a great deal4 ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper3 ,none from current authors4 ,a lot from the classics1 all devoured by the time ,i was sixteen4 ,i had read everything from ,dickens to ,gautier by that time4 ,arthur ,crabb3 ,i think ,i have learned very little from reading current authors1 if you mean by current authors the average writer for the popular magazines4 ,i used to read a great many stories1 but of late years have practically stopped doing it4 ,i have read and am reading constantly classics1 if by that you mean great books written in the last three or four hundred years4 ,i think that one of the reasons ,i am not more successful is that ,i try to write1 as ,i see it1 along the lines of the great novelists and haven't the goods4 ,if ,i aimed at a less pretentious mark ,i would probably do a great deal better4 ,mary ,stewart ,cutting3 ,i have read everything classic and current that ,i could lay my hands on from the age of six4 ,elmer ,davis3 ,haven't learned it4 ,william ,harper ,dean3 ,my work is influenced greatly from reading current authors4 ,little through the classics1 unless you include ,dickens among the latter4 ,from him ,i have absorbed an invaluable conception of what the true meaning of atmosphere is1 the weight of the short sentence and the power of the long one4 ,but ,i am inspired in many ways when ,i read ,hall ,caine or ,hutchinson or ,hamsun or ,conrad4 ,i aspire to the easy1 forceful style of ,hutchinson1 ,i want to be able to handle my characters with that charming grace which characterizes ,conrad4 ,harris ,dickson3 ,i read spasmodically current fiction1 browse among the classics and naturally pick up ideas4 ,these pick-ups are not1 as a rule1 conscious4 ,things just soak in1 as water soaks into the ground and a spring comes out somewhere else4 ,captain ,dingle3 ,impossible for me to say4 ,if ,i have learned from anybody it has been unconsciously4 ,had ,i taken a master1 ,i suspect ,i might have got farther4 ,louis ,dodge3 ,i get enthusiasm from reading current authors and the classics2 but ,i try to find my own stories among people and tell them in my own way4 ,to me a good book is like a preacher 7the ungracious pastor of ,shakespeare73 it says to me be good--but it doesn't show me how4 ,j4 ,allan ,dunn3 ,i don't know4 ,don't believe much until ,i had myself acquired a certain amount of technique and could recognize the cleverness of others4 ,phyllis ,duganne3 ,i've learned a great deal from reading current authors4 ,it's interesting to read a story and like it1 and then pick it to pieces to see how its writer made me feel as he did1 how he made scenes so vivid and people so real1 how he took an ancient plot and made it worth reading even when ,i knew after the first paragraph what the end would be4 ,and it's instructive4 ,and ,i suppose the same thing holds more or less in the classics4 ,i'm much more interested in the modern school1 so far as my own work is concerned4 ,walter ,a4 ,dyer3 ,i have read studiously both modern authors and the classics1 and have got more inspiration from the latter4 ,walter ,richard ,eaton3 ,nobody can say for me1 ,i'd answer4 ,one learns much of his craft 7in both senses67 from a study of his market1 the magazines4 ,that is1 he adapts the size 7length7 of his story1 etc41 to the editorial demands4 ,e4 ,o4 ,foster3 ,i have been an omnivorous reader all my life1 the dictionary and encyclopedia being my favorite works4 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel3 ,nearly all from current writers4 ,j4 ,u4 ,giesy3 ,all of it except what ,i have worked out myself4 ,have been a somewhat omnivorous reader all my life4 ,george ,gilbert3 ,no author can answer that1 for he does not know himself4 ,kenneth ,gilbert3 ,current authors have been very helpful2 classics scarcely at all4 ,holworthy ,hall3 ,if ,i have learned anything at all about any craft1 ,i have learned it from ,leonard ,merrick1 ,mary ,rinehart and ,theophile ,gautier4 ,richard ,matthews ,hallet3 ,i've probably learned a lot from reading current authors4 ,couldn't quite say how or what2 and people who read me may doubt the above proposition4 ,the danger of watching the tricks of a contemporary consists in liability to ape him in your own stuff1 especially if he is a powerful contemporary4 ,we have with us all the time young shadow-forms of ,kipling1 ,o4 ,henry1 etc4 ,i dogged ,conrad nearly to my undoing4 ,a man with some writing instinct can pick up the mannerisms of another writer as easily as butter absorbs a taint4 ,the danger from reading the classics is less1 and such reading is probably worth more to a man4 ,william ,h4 ,hamby3 ,not consciously from either3 although ,i know ,i must have benefited from both1 especially modern writers4 ,a4 ,judson ,hanna3 ,i can not say that reading the classics has helped me to write a story which will sell to an ,american magazine4 ,i have received much valuable help by reading current authors4 ,for instance1 a story appearing in ---- has passed the test4 ,by studying it ,i get an idea of what makes a short story4 ,however1 the most help ,i have ever received ,i gained from criticisms1 by magazine editors1 of rejected stories4 ,joseph ,mills ,hanson3 ,it seems to me difficult to estimate how much of one's craftmanship in writing has been gained from reading the work of others and how much from his own impelling instincts and impulses4 ,if he feels the necessity of expressing himself in writing1 his natural abilities and limitations in narration probably govern his craftsmanship in greater degree than any reading4 ,i believe1 however1 that my own style has been influenced at different times by different writers who aroused my admiration1 both current authors and classic ones4 ,such influence ,i think is detrimental to one's individual style and should be guarded against4 ,even a poor individual style is better than a poor imitation of another's style4 ,but the general effect of reading good authors can not but be elevating and improving to one's own imagination and narrative ability4 ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman3 ,have developed more disgust than delight in reading current authors1 because ,i find so much that is rotten-incorrect-ridiculous and out of reason in them4 ,for instance ---- ---- telling us that when on skiis1 crossing snow five feet deep1 he found a bird sitting on its eggs in a nest4 ,and ---- ---- giving a grizzly bear a round track4 ,the classics help me most4 ,for clearness in composition--,shakespeare and the ,bible4 ,drummond's poems aid me4 ,being foolish enough to do some versifying myself helps me in prose writing4 ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw3 ,i've got a lot from both1 possibly more from current authors4 ,joseph ,hergesheimer3 ,all my early and important reading was in the ,english lyrical poets4 ,robert ,hichens3 ,i have learned1 ,i think1 a great deal by reading certain authors1 but not current authors4 ,a book that has helped me is ,tolstoy's ,author's ,art4 ,r4 de ,s4 ,horn3 ,after the beginner has got the fundamentals of writing straight in his mind the greatest assistance he can get anywhere is from reading current authors and the classics4 ,the classics show him the art at its highest form3 the models of technique4 ,the current authors show him the popular style and the trend of the times4 ,neither one should be studied to the exclusion of the other4 ,a fifty-fifty ration is best1 ,i think4 ,clyde ,b4 ,hough3 ,how much of your craft have you learned from reading current authors8 ,absolutely all that ,i know4 ,from the classics8 ,none4 ,i don't strive to write classics1 so why study them8 ,the classics of today1 most of them1 were not considered classics when they were written4 ,and the good human stories of to-day will be the classics of to-morrow4 ,emerson ,hough3 ,i hope ,i never imitated any current author4 ,could not any classic4 ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson3 ,i don't know2 but ,i think wide reading 7not necessarily1 or even at all1 fiction7 is necessary to good writing4 ,inez ,haynes ,irwin3 ,i do not think ,i have gained anything technically from reading the classics--with the exception of the ,elizabethan dramatists4 ,and ,i can not say exactly that they helped me technically--they delighted1 thrilled and inspired me4 ,i suppose1 to be perfectly fair1 ,i ought to say that the ,russian novelists1 who also dominated my girlhood1 gave me my taste for realism4 ,i have learned more than ,i can tell from the work of my contemporaries4 ,when ,i was at ,radcliffe ,college1 following ,i think the example of ,stevenson1 my ,harvard instructor had the class write themes in imitation of the ,bible1 ,dryden1 ,walton1 ,addison1 ,johnson1 ,goldsmith1 etc41 etc4 ,i believe now it would have had infinitely more value if we had been studying the short stories which were appearing in ,mc,clure's ,magazine at that period--a great period in ,american short-story writing4 ,i can not overestimate how much ,i have gained from the short fiction of such writers as ,o',henry1 ,percival ,gibbons1 ,edna ,ferber1 ,fanny ,hurst1 ,joseph ,hergesheimer1 ,willa ,cather1 and of course ,henry ,james and ,joseph ,conrad4 ,will ,irwin3 ,i suppose that ,i have learned a great deal of my craft from both current authors and the classics4 ,how much1 it would be hard to say4 ,one absorbs such training unconsciously4 ,charles ,tenney ,jackson3 ,as to current authors and the classics ,i read the former very little2 and the latter seem to be part of a past curiosity which left me with a certain vague1 large respect much as you would give to a ninth-century cathedral or a tapestry4 ,i reckon they did their durndest in their time1 but ,i could wish that some ,athenian philosopher had stopped a moment to record what he ate for breakfast1 how the family wash was handled1 what he shaved with 444 all about the life about him1 in fact2 the picture1 the color1 the motives of folk about him4 ,my imagination turns from the temples to what possibly housed the cobbler who mended ,caesar's sandals1 and where his children played4 ,the guesses of the classic writers as to the riddle of life are not of interest1 for ,i have my own2 but ,i would like to know the flavor of the common life about them4 ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson3 ,i can't say how much technique ,i have learned from reading current authors4 ,the classics is an easier question4 ,the answer is about nothing1 net1 plus war tax4 ,mary ,johnston3 ,i do not know4 ,john ,joseph3 ,have been a tremendous reader and student of both current and classic literature1 and if ,i know anything at all about writing ,i must have picked it up in this manner4 ,lloyd ,kohler3 ,i think that it's safe to say that ,i've learned a good half of my craft from reading and studying current authors and the classics4 ,there is a danger in this1 especially if one follows a certain current author too closely4 ,it's best to read them all4 ,as to the classics1 there is little danger of ever getting too much of them--,i'd venture that the average of us don't get enough of the classics4 ,i know that ,i don't4 ,harold ,lamb3 ,current authors1 no4 ,i read them very little as a boy1 and hardly at all as an author4 ,the classics1 yes1 if you let me name my own classics4 ,they were my friends4 ,they still are my friends4 ,i refer to the coterie gathered together in the libraries of my grandfather and uncle4 ,messrs4 ,gustave ,dor1 sop1 the ,nibelungs1 ,roland and ,oliver--the ,song1 you know--,pierrot1 ,prince of ,tatary1 ,the ,apostles1 ,dante in ,purgatory1 ,plato1 ,rider ,haggard1 ,napoleon1 ,don ,quixote de la ,mancha 7but ,sancho ,panza was a better chum74 ,a host of others4 ,but these had the finest pictures--an artist's library1 and a poet's4 ,so they were my earliest friends4 ,i had others4 ,especially ,francois ,villon1 ,catullus1 ,henry1 ,babur1 ,li ,po1 ,macdonald1 ,robert ,burns4 ,sinclair ,lewis3 ,i don't know4 ,hapsburg ,liebe3 ,since ,i never had any schooling1 ,i guess ,i learned the little ,i know from reading1 both modern authors and classics--,i haven't read enough of the classics2 they seem wordy to me4 ,the average magazine1 ,i guess1 wouldn't buy or publish half the classics now if they were new4 ,romaine ,h4 ,lowdermilk3 ,can't say4 ,more from current authors1 anyway4 ,eugene ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr43 ,can't say1 but doubtless ,i've learned a great deal from reading current authors 7for technique in current fiction7 and from the classics for the basic fundamentals4 ,rose ,macaulay3 ,a great deal4 ,crittenden ,marriott3 ,mighty little4 ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney3 ,thus far1 ,i should say that current authors have had more influence upon my writing than have the classics1 due to the fact that ,i read rather for amusement than for any lasting good which ,i might derive4 ,ray ,mc,gillivray3 ,in so far as any one must be blamed1 ,i believe the classics--if you'll stretch the definition to include also ,nick ,carter1 ,old ,sleuth and the ,dalton ,boys--are responsible4 ,i set the onus of responsibility at the door of my own general cussedness1 the trait which makes me lay off any labor any time a bunch of good pals takes a notion to drift from here to helangon1 taking as equipment a deck of cards1 a few well-hidden quarts1 a couple of rifles and shotguns1 a camera and some merry songs of the road as cargo for the old gas-buggy4 ,such a guy must write2 it's about the only excuse he's got to live--except the living1 which is joy4 ,helen ,topping ,miller3 ,i read all the classics when ,i was very young4 ,how much of my ability to write ,i owe to those early associations ,i am not able to judge4 ,of late ,i have naturally studied the craft of successful current authors4 ,from modern novels ,i do not feel that ,i gain anything2 indeed it is very rarely that ,i am able to finish a book without being dismally bored4 ,on the other hand1 scientific and historical works1 especially ancient history and religious history1 fascinate me4 ,travel also forms a large part of my reading4 ,thomas ,samson ,miller3 ,impossible to say how much ,i am indebted to current authors and the classics4 ,this is all subjective4 ,anne ,shannon ,monroe3 ,i do not read many current authors--haven't the time4 ,i know many are good and ,i miss a great deal1 but out on our coast we just have twenty-four hours a day1 the same as in ,new ,york1 and some of them must be spent in the open1 when the open is such an enchanting wonderland4 ,i read the classics in school-days--had bookish parents who drove them down our throats--but not since4 ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery3 ,i think ,i owe considerable to my greedy reading and rereading of standard fiction--the old masters--,scott1 ,dickens1 ,thackeray1 ,hawthorne4 ,occasionally1 too1 a well-written modern magazine story has been helpful and illuminating4 ,but1 as a rule1 ,i think aspiring authors will not reap much benefit from current fiction--except perhaps from a purely commercial point of view in finding out what kind of stories certain magazines take6 ,most writers1 except those of absolute genius1 are prone to unconscious imitation of what they read and that is a bad thing4 ,frederick ,moore3 ,i can not gauge what the classics have done for me4 ,there is some bunk about classics4 ,but ,i believe that behind every writer there is the inherited tendency to write4 ,this trait seems to well up1 even if several generations have been skipped in the art4 ,the creative urge does not always show itself in the same metier--for instance1 it will crop out as music in one generation1 as painting or sculpture in another1 or as invention4 ,talbot ,mundy3 ,god knows4 ,i haven't read much4 ,kipling has given me more pleasure than any other writer4 ,have only just begun to read4 ,had no particular education1 beyond the usual grounding in ,latin1 ,greek and ,english--all worked into me with a stick and with all the useful parts left out4 ,kathleen ,norris3 ,the best modern authors1 and all the classics one can assimilate1 seem to me indispensable4 ,but unless one can read them in their own languages it is obvious that the only gain would be in plot1 construction and character work4 ,but every one1 from ,milton to ,galsworthy1 for style4 ,anne ,o',hagan3 ,i can't answer this1 but ,i should say that ,i had learned most of my craft from reading the ,english classics4 ,grant ,overton3 ,in the beginning ,i really learned everything from reading4 ,i do not think one learns his writer's craft directly from reading either current authors or the classics4 ,i think he gets from good reading a mental elevation and impetus4 ,the rest must come out of himself4 ,sir ,gilbert ,parker3 ,nothing4 ,i have always gone my own way1 good or bad4 ,hugh ,pendexter3 ,i am not conscious of being helped by current fiction1 which ,i read for entertainment purely4 ,i studied and taught ,latin and ,greek but could never discover my work in those subjects has helped me any in my work of writing4 ,clay ,perry3 ,i am afraid it is impossible to answer such a question4 ,undoubtedly the reading of the classics when ,i was a boy has had a more lasting influence upon me than the reading of current authors in the past few years4 ,if by classics is meant recognized craftsmanship by modern authors1 ,i should say that ,i had learned a great deal from such writers as ,jack ,london1 ,edith ,wharton1 ,hall ,caine and a score of modern writers whose style and craftsmanship is good4 7,one or both47 ,michael ,j4 ,phillips3 ,i have not read the classics extensively4 ,i can't see ,dickens nor ,shakespeare4 ,i consider ,charles ,reade1 the ,cricket on the ,hearth fellow1 and ,blackmore1 who wrote ,lorna ,doone1 great artists and ,i suppose they influenced me4 ,of course ,i have been taught very largely by my job1 which has practically always been newspaper work4 ,in the shortest newspaper item there must be a certain construction4 ,it must have a beginning1 tell its story in orderly fashion1 and an end4 ,in my formative newspaper days ,i had the advantage of being trained by a metropolitan newspaper man who was the best judge of news values ,i ever knew4 ,he taught me unerringly1 or nearly unerringly1 to put my finger on the novel1 the dramatic1 the leading feature of a newspaper article1 or story1 and play it up4 ,i think that this has been of great assistance to me in fiction writing2 that is1 ,i believe it has taught me selection and emphasis--what to write and what was the more important4 ,walter ,b4 ,pitkin3 ,what ,i have learned about writing has definitely come from little reading1 much observation1 and an irresistible tendency to write about all sorts of things4 ,nobody ever urged me to write4 ,i began it when ,i was a schoolboy1 kept elaborate journals1 sold a story when ,i was about ten years old for ten dollars1 wrote essays1 treatises1 fantasies1 poems1 everything but plays1 in fact2 and have probably written in my life1 in one way or another1 at least twenty million words of copy4 ,i have never liked the classics2 have read very little in them2 know only three of ,dickens1 four of ,thackeray1 never a novel of ,george ,eliot1 and so on4 ,am bored to death by things that are not contemporary and verifiable in my own life4 7,this is probably a violent reaction against too much study of ancient philosophy and literature when a youth47 ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell3 ,classics and current authors have their reflective influence upon the mind2 but ,i have refrained from trying to study any of them with one exception4 ,kipling's magnificent condensation ,i believe to be worthy of emulation4 ,as for ,o4 ,henry1 ,i think he is the curse of ,american writers4 ,the person who reads one of his stories can not help but try1 unconsciously1 to ape the brilliant gallop of his style1 and they all come to grief4 ,the other authors have their styles1 but to me they give little that is remarkable4 ,with them it is the story that counts4 ,lucia ,mead ,priest3 ,i have always been a reader2 ,i can not answer you4 ,may be all ,i have ever done has come out of the reservoir of many years' storage4 ,i should say it is a toss-up between the classics and modern literature4 ,creative power is low and ,i have been a great reader2 there you are6 ,may be all of me is somebody else4 ,can you unravel that8 ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes3 ,current authors1 none4 ,the classics1 all4 ,frank ,c4 ,robertson3 ,i should say that ,i have learned about seventy-five per cent4 of my craft from reading current authors1 and about one per cent4 from the classics4 ,perhaps this is because ,i have devoted about the same proportion of time to reading each4 ,ruth ,sawyer3 ,everything ,i know has been gained through contact with authors--and these largely the so-called classical4 ,coupled with these1 the most helpful stimuli ,i have had have come from the constructive criticisms given by kindly and humane editors4 ,chester ,l4 ,saxby3 ,the classics are mainly barren stuff for me--labored writing1 involved presentation1 devious and unnecessary description and reference1 slag-heaps of introspection4 ,i've learned from them--what not to do4 ,but from current authors ,i have gained everything4 ,i could say ,i have my little saints3 ,mary ,johnston1 ,booth ,tarkington1 ,jack ,london1 ,margaret ,deland1 ,ben ,ames ,williams1 ,richard ,harding ,davis4 ,barry ,scobee3 ,tee-totally nothing1 unless it might be for a few minor--what shall ,i say1 tricks of technique8 ,this in the current story4 ,i seem to have been unable to get anything from reading other writers1 except in the instance of one or two ,i have come to know4 ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott3 ,so far as current authors are concerned--and even the classics--,i find that1 when ,i try to derive benefit from them1 ,i imitate and fall down4 ,in other words ,i fail to be myself and a man can be nobody as well as he can be himself4 ,of course a man may derive knowledge and inspiration from all good authors1 but he takes those qualities and builds them into himself so that they are part of himself4 ,in this way all good reading is beneficial and ,i have benefitted4 ,one thing might be pointed out4 ,the classics stick in my memory much more than does the work of modern authors4 ,robert ,simpson3 ,i have learned a great deal from studying how the other fellow did it4 ,this applies to all sorts of writing from that of the rawest novice to ,scott and ,boccaccio4 ,but ,dumas1 ,hugo1 ,balzac1 ,dickens1 ,stevenson1 ,kipling1 ,o4 ,henry1 ,addison1 ,swift1 ,lamb1 ,newman1 ,carlyle1 ,emerson and several others of the big guns among fictioneers and essayists have had most influence on whatever style and technique ,i've achieved in twenty years of trying to learn how to write4 ,theodore ,seixas ,solomons3 ,i have no idea how much current authors have taught me4 ,mighty little that is useful1 ,i believe1 in comparison with the dangers to imitation they have constituted4 ,the classics1 however1 read largely in youth1 must have been of tremendous influence1 but chiefly1 ,i think1 in the matter of expression4 ,i think the story-telling art is a thing antecedent to any influence of stories or story-tellers1 common or classic4 ,arthur ,d4 ,howden ,smith3 ,most of it1 ,i should say1 in about equal proportions4 ,raymond ,s4 ,spears3 ,i read magazines rather than authors1 for ,i find that magazines generally group authors rather sharply--perhaps ,i should say magazines group moods of authorship4 ,i read what ,i like1 and ,i have five feet of bandits1 badmen1 desperadoes above fifteen feet of ,mississippi ,river2 and ten feet of outdoor hand-books and information1 including pearls1 formulas1 wild animals1 under six feet of classics1 including ,borrow1 ,plutarch1 ,poe1 ,ruskin1 ,emerson1 etc4 ,i am not conscious of playing any favorites among classics1 dime novels1 hand-books1 government documents1 poetry1 history1 natural history1 etc4 ,norman ,springer3 ,practically all ,i have learned about story writing4 ,i've tackled the living and the dead both1 with good results4 ,julian ,street3 ,i've read both--that is in ,english4 ,i believe that ,latin and ,greek 7languages ,i don't know7 tend to increase one's vocabulary and beautify one's style4 ,i know some ,french and ,italian and ,i think languages help4 ,it is good to read ,french--for delicacies of expression and grace of style4 ,the style is the man4 ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling3 ,i think ,i picked up most of my ideas on how to write from the ,russians4 ,booth ,tarkington3 ,learned nothing from reading current authors2 all from authors now dead4 ,from the classics1 ,i don't know what proportion4 ,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle3 ,at the risk of being called a low-brow ,i must admit that ,i do not enjoy the classics4 ,i have only read a few1 which is another low admission4 ,i feel toward them as ,i do toward the old masters in art--admit that they are wonderful--and change the subject4 ,lucille ,van ,slyke3 ,i ar'n't larned me my craft and never expect to4 ,i don't want to be either a deliberate or unconscious copy cat4 ,but ,i'll tell you this--it sounds funny but it isn't--,mother ,goose is actually the biggest help ,i have as a writer4 ,almost any situation in life or books or plays will sum itself up in a ,mother ,goose rhyme1 plot and all4 ,and if any writer knows a better 'ole--let him go to it6 ,atreus von ,schrader3 ,with rare exceptions ,i find that ,i very much prefer the classics1 using that term in its broader sense1 to current writers4 ,this is true only of the longer forms of fiction4 ,the short story1 in its present state1 has been developed within the last decade or two4 ,jack ,london1 for example1 is of another period2 tremendously colorful1 but too often lacking in plot4 ,upon rereading your question1 ,i find ,i have only half answered it4 ,i believe the modern ,american short story is in a class by itself for neatness and finish of plot4 ,but for color and substance1 for care and matured thought1 the older writers are our masters4 ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch3 ,do not believe ,i have learned anything much from reading current authors4 ,do not know about the classics4 ,like the ,greeks1 the ,latins1 the ,french and ,russians4 ,thoreau1 ,anatole ,france1 etc4 ,am at a loss to answer this4 ,john ,t4 ,mc,intyre1 who to me is a master of technique1 has probably done more than anything else for me by pointing out faulty tendencies to be guarded against4 ,henry ,kitchell ,webster3 ,i don't know4 ,g4 ,a4 ,wells3 ,what ,i have was gained both from moderns and the classics in about equal proportions4 ,i would say that the classics taught me style1 the moderns structure4 ,the two writers most responsible for what style ,i may show are ,macaulay and ,emerson1 though ,i would feel guilty did ,i fail to mention ,lowell1 ,stevenson1 ,addison1 ,carlisle1 ,fenimore ,cooper4 ,there are others ,i can't call at the moment4 ,to me1 ,macaulay is the peer of all writers1 whether modern or classic1 and ,i attribute my style to him4 ,for structure ,i would earnestly recommend ,post1 ,o4 ,henry1 ,kipling1 ,mrs4 ,rinehart in the novel1 and ,de ,maupassant2 and more intimately1 ,gordon ,young1 ,mundy1 ,solomons and ,pendexter1 to mention a few4 ,a student should not study the classics for structure1 provided he wishes to write modern fiction4 ,and to even matters1 he should not study the moderns for style4 ,moderns have style1 but it is not the quality of the classics4 ,william ,wells3 ,don't know2 have read very widely1 some translations of the classics1 am familiar with nearly all that is best in both ,american and ,english literature4 ,ben ,ames ,williams3 ,i'm unable to recall having learned anything about writing from reading modern authors4 ,what ,i have learned from them has been acquired unconsciously4 ,i've read comparatively little written by living writers1 except that for four years ,i read all the magazines1 every issue1 all the way through4 ,i had never read ,conrad at all till some fatuous reviewer compared one of my stories to his work2 the same is true of ,hardy4 ,i am entirely at odds with the play-in-the-dirt school of modern writers4 ,they may be right2 but the things that seem to them ugly and depressing seem to me beautiful and even glorious4 ,they1 ,i think1 look at them from the outside4 ,but as the fellow said1 many an honest heart beats under a ragged jacket4 ,i'm not talking about sex stories4 ,i've no quarrel with them4 ,i'm talking about the ,main ,street school4 ,if a man tries to take care of his family and help them forward1 ,i don't care whether he appreciates ,dunsany or not2 and if a woman loves her husband and her children1 she doesn't lose caste in my eyes by failing to appreciate ,amy ,lowell4 ,there are other tests of manhood and womanhood besides a razor-edge taste in literature2 and one of the most valorous and admirable men ,i know1 a guide in the ,maine woods1 who loves his neighbors1 speaks not uncharitably1 helps when he can and tells the truth1 can not even read his own name4 ,there is a splendor in the commonplace life which most of us live1 even though the only novel in the house may have been written by ,harold ,bell ,wright1 and the only poetic works may be the ,book of ,job and the ,song of ,songs4 ,the assumption that when fine men die they must pass an examination on art before entering the pleasant ways that wait for them seems to me utterly unsound4 ,but this is beside the point2 a digression4 ,to the second head of the question3 ,i get a distinct inspirational stimulus from reading the more-or-less classics4 ,kipling1 ,de ,maupassant1 ,poe and some parts of ,o4 ,henry2 all the ,frenchmen with whom ,i am familiar except ,balzac2 ,fielding1 ,the ,tale of ,two ,cities1 ,the ,way of ,all ,flesh4 ,balzac is over my head4 ,dickens1 outside of the novel named1 seems to me a caricaturist rather than a novelist4 ,the ,growth of the ,soil ,i hold to be the finest novel ,i ever read4 ,no need of prolonging the list4 ,reading them over and over1 the books which most appeal to me1 ,i always put them down full of a brave determination to write something as fine4 ,that the resultant effort dwindles out discourages me only until ,i have read the book again4 ,i know no better way to put yourself in the mood for trying to write good stuff than by reading good stuff4 ,honore ,willsie3 ,i have read and studied current and classic writers constantly as training for my work4 ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer3 ,nothing from either4 ,william ,almon ,wolff3 ,i don't know that ,i can distinguish between classics and modern authors4 ,i've learned most of what ,i know that way1 ,i suppose4 ,edgar ,young3 ,can't say4 ,have read many of the modern authors and most of the classics4 ,also have read rather widely in ,spanish4 ,,summary ,classics1 of course1 is a variable term1 but even when not specifically defined it serves the general purposes of the question4 ,of #aac answering1 #eh found the classics useful to their craft2 current authors1 #di4 ,some benefit3 classics1 #aj2 current1 #ac4 ,yes3 classics1 #cb2 current1 #ba4 ,much3 classics1 #ad2 current1 #ac4 ,all3 classics1 #b2 current1 #b4 ,little3 classics1 #aa2 current1 #aj4 ,none3 classics1 #ac2 current1 #ah4 ,waste of time3 classics1 #j2 current1 #a4 ,harm3 classics1 #c2 current1 #d4 ,don't know3 #ag4 ,not classified3 #d4 ,the tabulation is on both influence and value4 ,from the answers one gathers that the classics are read for3 the fundamentals1 highest art1 clearness1 vocabulary1 characterization1 style2 current authors for vocabulary1 what not to do1 modern style1 popularity1 short-story structure4 ,while allowance must be made for those deriving benefit from both1 the #ajg who found benefit from reading other authors contrast strongly with the #be who stated either elementary or advanced benefit from classes1 courses and books 7all or any7 on how to write4 ,it must be borne in mind that what some consider benefit would be considered a loss by others4 ,a rough checking up of the answers shows that1 while some #ij authors or books were mentioned1 no one of them was mentioned often3--,kipling #h2 the ,bible1 ,dickens and ,o4 ,henry1 #d2 ,maupassant1 ,conrad1 ,jack ,london1 #c2 ,milton1 ,emerson1 ,scott1 ,homer1 ,sophocles1 ,hall ,caine1 ,balzac1 ,anatole ,france1 the ,russians1 ,poe1 ,gautier1 ,mary ,roberts ,rinehart1 ,richard ,harding ,davis1 #b4 ,since no general expression as to particular books or authors was called for1 these chance expressions are not indicative of anything except that no particular ones seem found sufficiently valuable to bring about much spontaneous mention4 ,among the manuscripts 7the total submitted1 not merely the accepted ones7 coming in to my own particular magazine the writers whose influence seems most marked are ,kipling1 ,o4 ,henry1 ,conan ,doyle1 ,jack ,london1 ,stevenson4 ,the list would vary at other editorial desks1 but at most of them these five would probably be included4 ,only #g of our answers warn against the dangers of imitation4 ,the warning is badly needed1 particularly by beginners4 ,the essence of style is expression of self1 not of some one else1 yet the manuscript world is tragically full of writers who are straining every nerve--and killing or drugging the individuality that alone can get them to any place really worth reaching--in a silly effort to write like some one else4 ,they can't1 for the simple reason that they can't be this some one else4 ,and meanwhile1 instead of expressing themselves1 they are burying themselves4 ,possibly ,o4 ,henry1 ,kipling and ,doyle produce the greatest numbers of imitators1 but current fiction provides many ephemeral models that produce noticeable waves of imitation4 ,even with successful writers1 who can say where the benefit from studying other authors ends and harm begins8 ,of what value is technique if gaining it has suppressed any of the individuality whose expression is technique's only warrant for existence8 ,few indeed are the writers who can not profit from a study of good models1 yet few are they who can unerringly reap the undoubted benefit without paying for it in some loss of individuality4 ,perhaps those most safe against the danger are those least in need of the benefit4 ,there can be no question of the benefit to be derived1 but to every beginner--and to most writers on the highway of success--there is need to shout a warning against letting the models absorb him instead of his absorbing the models4 ,,question ,,vii ,what is your general feeling on the value of technique8 ,in the following each writer naturally answers according to his own particular definition of technique1 only a small minority expressing any doubts as to its exact meaning1 but the general conception is sufficiently common to all for the purposes of our questionnaire3 ,,answers ,bill ,adams3 ,i do not know what technique is4 ,i have bronchial asthma4 ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams3 ,that it is one writer's meat and another writer's poison4 ,paul ,l4 ,anderson3 ,an author can not have too fine a technique1 any more than a machinist can have too fine tools2 technique is a tool1 and the better it is the better the work that can be done with it4 ,but either artist1 author or mechanic can become so interested in his tools that he over-elaborates his work--authors and artists do this more often than machinists6 ,william ,ashley ,anderson3 ,an author ought constantly to try to master his technique in the hope of reaching a point where his ideas may be put into form without hesitating or wasting effort over the means of expression4 ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey3 ,i rate technique high but second to knowledge of men and the world4 ,ralph ,henry ,barbour3 ,technique is something you ought to have and not be aware of the fact4 ,when you know you have it you become a pest4 ,it's like happiness4 ,being happy is fine1 but when you make a cult of it and become glad1 glad1 glad6 folks will run away from you4 ,to the beginner ,i'd say1 ,don't worry4 ,write your story and let technique take care of itself4 ,let it go hang1 for that matter4 ,paraphrasing a chap who could write pretty good fiction himself1 the story's the thing4 ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett3 ,technique to be valuable should be unconscious4 ,the best way to get it is to be born with it4 ,the next best way is to absorb it through the work of those already masters of it4 ,the poorest way is to study it deliberately and practise it consciously4 ,nalbro ,bartley3 ,it is essential and a most admirable thing to possess it1 but to my mind1 technique can be dispensed with if one has to choose between the red-blooded story and the purely mechanical perfection of transcribing it4 ,konrad ,bercovici3 ,a little technique does not hurt4 ,it is like salt and pepper in a dish1 but who wants a dish of salt or a dish of pepper8 ,ferdinand ,berthoud3 ,i don't quite understand4 ,do not feel enough of an authority to have an opinion on the subject4 ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr43 ,almost impossible to answer4 ,just what do you mean by technique8 ,webster's definition1 summarized1 is artistic execution4 ,taking it as such1 technique is almighty important4 ,to sell1 a story must read well4 ,it must be smooth1 finished1 plot must be well developed1 interest sustained1 etc4 ,all of this can be classed as literary technique4 ,farnham ,bishop3 ,technical training is good in so far that it teaches a man to use the tools of his trade4 ,but unless he was born to the trade1 he'll never master it4 ,creative ability is as the ,creator is pleased to bestow it4 ,the very small quantity that ,i possess has been much more helped than hindered by my teachers4 ,the more a man writes1 the better his technique should become4 ,to tell a good tale plainly is better art and harder work than jig-sawing and bedecking a poor little bungalow of an idea to make it look like a palace4 ,algernon ,blackwood3 ,i have never consciously studied technique4 ,up to a point technique must be instinctive4 ,but it can be over-stressed4 ,it can overlay an idea1 especially a thin idea4 ,its value1 of course1 can not be over estimated4 ,it is essential4 ,but no text-book has ever helped me much4 ,max ,bonter3 ,wish ,i knew more about technique4 ,am trying to learn4 ,katharine ,holland ,brown3 ,profoundly valuable--if the story lives1 too4 ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley3 ,technique is essential3 technicalities 7as above7 seem to me murderous4 ,most important point of technique 7to me7 is tempo--taking the two extremes of dull legato and fatiguing staccato and hitting the exact point between them1 using the exact combination of them1 you need to produce the particular effect you want4 ,never saw anybody try to teach this4 ,doubt if it could be taught4 ,prosper ,buranelli3 ,technique is everything4 ,a writer who can not write is an illiterate4 ,the trouble with letters in this country is that its literary men are illiterates--,i mean even fellows like ,dreiser and ,sherwood ,anderson4 ,thompson ,burtis3 ,i am somewhat uncertain as to what technique means1 to be truthful4 ,if it means skilful construction1 well-turned phrases1 proper handling of suspense1 etc41 as my instinct leads me to believe1 ,i am strongly of the belief that it is very important4 ,i read so many good stories that interest me not at all--so many others which1 boiled down1 have nothing much to them but which through the skill and facility of the writer are charming and interesting to me4 ,i have read stories where the young fellow met the girl1 they liked each other and got engaged1 which pleased4 ,others with colorful background1 unusual characters and rapid-fire events have been murdered for me because ,i sat back and watched the green author botch them1 annoy me with missed opportunities1 prick me with unfortunate phrasing1 harass me with clumsy construction1 etc4 ,there are a fluency1 an inevitable1 logical interest and a sense of complete satisfaction in a sound1 properly constructed1 skilfully written yarn told by a master of his craft which are unmistakable1 ,i believe4 ,tricks of the trade1 many of which ,i see through1 nevertheless add life and personality to a story for me4 ,take ,talbot ,mundy and his trenchant by-passages on everything in general4 ,i enjoy them1 and yet ,i can see him sticking them in1 sometimes4 ,and ,i couldn't read a page without knowing it was ,mundy writing4 ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain3 ,in that attitude1 technique has become so much a habit of feeling that ,i can not tell where it begins or leaves off in my own construction of a story4 ,where ,i consciously resort to technical tricks of writing1 such as deliberately arranged shifts from one to another view-point for the sustaining of suspense1 ,i am always hampered with a sense of cheapening the work by the introduction of a mechanical device4 ,robert ,v4 ,carr3 ,i am insensible to technique4 ,i know what the dictionary says about it1 but the dictionary is full of words4 ,a lot of things that many discuss glibly are just words to me4 ,george ,l4 ,catton3 ,am in doubt of your use of the word4 ,my dictionary says3 manner of artistic performance1 which would be1 in this case1 style4 ,and in this age of a used up supply of plots and themes and characters and incidents1 style must be about everything4 ,an author's personality is the only new thing possible to-day in fiction4 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers3 ,it is an essential part of all creative work4 ,roy ,p4 ,churchill3 ,frankly1 technique is something ,i have never seen a synonym for4 ,it is evasive4 ,perhaps you might say that technique is the life of the story4 ,without it a story is dead4 ,with it alive4 ,and there are a great many kinds of life4 ,some pleasant and some ugly4 ,some appealing to one person and some to another4 ,for me this thing called technique must be in a yarn to make it live1 and the more of it the stronger4 ,that's why just polish isn't technique4 ,carl ,clausen3 ,if over-emphasized1 it kills the spontaneity of the story4 ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper3 ,technique is excellent1 but it is like the frosting on pie4 ,sometimes we would like to scrape it aside and find something ,,real underneath4 ,arthur ,crabb3 ,i think it is at least one of the most important things in writing4 ,some genius may get along without it1 some isolated individual may evade the issue for a while1 but not for long4 ,mary ,stewart ,cutting3 ,i think technique has great value4 ,elmer ,davis3 ,it can be overdone1 but most of us are in no danger4 ,william ,harper ,dean3 ,i feel that technique is the leaven in a story--you can ruin the possibilities in a situation in its development if your technique is poor4 ,illogical sequence in the development1 the stressing of minor situations1 the slighting of the weightier ones1 the faltering in the forward march to the climax--these things mean poor technique and a poor story4 ,harris ,dickson3 ,technique1 it would seem to me1 is the handling of a story in harmony with its matter4 ,naturally the method of handling a detective story is different from that of a treatise on esoteric ,buddhism4 ,a negro story violates every known rule of white technique to follow a rambling and garrulous illogical method of its own--which becomes logical when applied to our brother in black1 for that is the process of the ,african mind4 ,he's a curiously devious oriental4 ,captain ,dingle3 ,i don't understand exactly what this question means4 ,in fact1 except in the matter of plot1 ,i scarcely know what technique means4 ,as for plot1 ,i believe that far more stress is put upon this as an essential than any audience or readers demand4 ,louis ,dodge3 ,as for technique1 ,i like the technique of ,jack ,dempsey1 who hits first and hardest4 ,i don't mean that he hasn't any technique3 ,i mean simply that he is ,jack ,dempsey4 ,phyllis ,duganne3 ,my general feeling is that technique saves time and labor--and that you get it only through much previous time and labor4 ,j4 ,allan ,dunn3 ,the value of technique in story writing is1 ,i think1 in exactly the same ratio as technique is to the painter1 the singer1 the musician1 the sculptor1 the architect4 ,it is more elusive in writing1 but it must be acquired4 ,the world is full of chaps who mistook an ear for music1 an eye for color1 a faculty for mimicry and a desire to write as a token of genius that would flow like buttermilk out of a jug4 ,technique constitutes the difference between the amateur and the professional in every profession4 ,walter ,a4 ,dyer3 ,if ,i did not still retain a belief in the value of technique ,i should be in despair4 ,walter ,prichard ,eaton3 ,without technique not one in a hundred can get by--and the one exception who does will be found to have created a new technique6 ,e4 ,o4 ,foster3 ,my training in newspaper writing is that technique is a most valuable asset4 ,with the proper technique a man can make even an ordinary newspaper story interesting4 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel3 ,a minor consideration4 ,subordinate to the actual story4 ,a tool only4 ,j4 ,u4 ,giesy3 ,i admire a good technique--just as ,i admire any finished work by a finished workman4 ,i would not however damn a virile and entertaining bit of plot or narrative because of faulty technique unless hopelessly defective1 ,i think4 ,george ,gilbert3 ,technique is merely a means to an end4 ,many of the world's biggest stories are weak in technique1 but go big because of their theme4 ,kenneth ,gilbert3 ,i have a high regard for technique4 ,nothing disgusts me more than serious technical flaws1 yet ,i try to be temperate about it because ,i realize that ,i may be more alert for such faults than is the average reader4 ,i firmly believe that unless technique can be supplanted by really worth-while originality1 it should always be observed in a general way1 at least4 ,holworthy ,hall3 ,you might as well ask my general feeling on the subject of technique in art or music4 ,technique constitutes the only difference between what is good and what is bad4 ,but if you ask me what technique is--,i should have to write you a book about it1 because the expression itself is a paradox4 ,richard ,matthews ,hallet3 ,i am a little suspicious of the word technique as applied to writing4 ,fiction has two parts1 form and essence1 or matter4 ,technique1 ,i take it1 runs to the form and governs the method of presentation4 ,if the matter is there1 it will carry nearly any natural kind of presentation with it4 ,technique is too liable to be synonymous for complexity and subtlety4 ,technique ruined ,henry ,james4 ,few candid people will say that his later work is even half as good as the simpler ,roderick ,hudson4 ,the earlier stuff of ,conrad and ,kipling is better than the later1 for the same reason4 ,the fact is that generally speaking1 animal spirits and a living zest in the things of this earth are a big element in fiction1 and as a man's senses dull and his experiences get more commonplace1 his matter crumbles through his fingers1 and then he resorts to technique to cloud the issue1 much as a cuttle-fish squirts ink4 ,a little technique is as good as a lot4 ,william ,h4 ,hamby3 ,i don't think much about it4 ,i do not believe a writer who is a clear thinker and has mastered the rudiments of expression need spend much time thinking of his style4 ,a4 ,judson ,hanna3 ,technique1 if striking enough1 seems to give a writer a strong1 but temporary1 vogue4 ,for instance1 the technique of ,o4 ,henry and ,ring ,lardner and ,george ,ade4 ,the only striking technique ,i recall at the moment which1 ,i believe1 will become classic1 is the technique of ,kipling4 ,joseph ,mills ,hanson3 ,good technique undoubtedly will help a mediocre story to get across2 but if a story is inherently unique and forceful1 it will get across whether it is technically excellent or not4 ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman3 ,i feel that too much emphasis is placed upon technique by many1 to the exclusion of clearness and simplicity4 ,yet a certain amount is essential4 ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw3 ,to my mind technique is invaluable4 ,it will save a poor story when nothing else will4 ,joseph ,hergesheimer3 ,naturally1 one must write well4 ,robert ,hichens3 ,i do not believe in writing at haphazard4 ,the best writers take infinite pains4 ,joseph ,conrad and ,george ,moore are examples of this4 ,guy de ,maupassant1 one1 ,i think1 of the most perfect story tellers who ever lived1 was trained by ,flaubert in the art of writing4 ,young writers should not hurry or think that anything will do4 ,i believe in writing with enthusiasm and then considering the result with critical coldness4 ,r4 de ,s4 ,horn3 ,technique is a word that always brings ,stevenson promptly to my mind4 ,because technique is the part of the art that comes from long and careful study and practise alone1 and ,stevenson is the shining light along these lines4 ,he set out deliberately to be an author and put weary years in at the task before he ever tried to capitalize it4 ,but look what a master he became4 ,technique is the polish on both the diamond and the paste jewel4 ,it enhances the real thing and makes the imitation salable4 ,a story may sell that is naturally strong in itself even though it be weak in technique2 but this is no argument for neglecting technique4 ,just think how much more wonderful it would have been with the extra luster added4 ,and this much is certain3 no master of any art ever lived who had not added to his natural gifts the added technique acquired by long practise and study4 ,clyde ,b4 ,hough3 ,in my opinion technique is second only to plot4 ,emerson ,hough3 ,more thought and less technique would be better for the country4 ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson3 ,i never think about it4 ,inez ,haynes ,irwin3 ,this is a very difficult question to answer4 ,technique is highly valuable of course--necessary4 ,some writers give one the impression that they have more technique than matter4 ,as between the two1 ,i would rather have a great deal to say1 even if ,i said it awkwardly1 than nothing to say even if ,i said it exquisitely4 ,i suppose the perfection for which most writers aim is fullness and originality of matter1 plus a beautiful technique4 ,will ,irwin3 ,naturally an author1 like a painter1 must have technique4 ,the best of thought and feeling must remain private thought and feeling unless the writer learns how to put it into a form which is pleasing and convincing to the reader4 ,naturally1 too1 technique may be overdone2 and it can not conceal barrenness of thought imagination and feeling4 ,charles ,tenney ,jackson3 ,as to your question on technique1 ,i assure you1 in reading1 it is everything to me4 ,i will lose interest in any tale at once when ,i see it is not well written4 ,plots seem so dolefully commonplace1 they are all ragged to tatters2 and if an author can not present his stuff with some attempt1 at least1 to distinction1 to personality1 ,i can't go him much4 ,the setting1 the color1 the style and material are more than plot1 which will wander away into unrealities and commonplaceness in no time if not worked upon by sincere discrimination4 ,a plot is no more than a dead dog which a good taxidermist can make to stand up stuffed so artfully that you believe it might wag its tail4 ,if you can get it to bark--good6 ,you're a genius1 but after all the bark and not the dog is the important thing1 and the art of it4 ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson3 ,i don't know4 ,i have known brainier men than ,i hope to be fail dismally when tackling the fiction game because they had stuffed themselves so full of technique that it stuck out all over their stuff4 ,university fiction course professors hold technique up as a sort of bogy4 ,they overemphasize its importance1 in my estimation4 ,the word itself scares many beginners4 ,why don't the profs come down out of the clouds and use a simpler word1 namely1 mechanics8 ,i look upon a story as a matter of mechanics4 ,certain set elements make a story4 ,conjunction of these elements1 plastered up with new stuff1 or a new way of portraying them1 makes a salable story4 ,i have made speeches before journalism classes1 classes in short story writing1 one of them the extension course of the ,university of ,california4 ,i quoted to this effect3 ,a story is never so dead as when buried in words4 ,i emphasized it4 ,i scandalized several admirers of certain well known writers1 one sonorous1 heavy1 wordy gentleman in particular when his name was mentioned1 by stating frankly that even while ,i envied his vocabulary1 his characterization1 his color1 ,i always passed up his stuff because it wandered too far afield1 because he lacked plot1 or because the plot was submerged so deep in words that ,i could not pump it out4 ,a story with me is a matter of mechanics1 but ,i do my best to eliminate visible traces1 and above all to make the story human4 ,mary ,johnston3 ,it has great value1 but content comes first4 ,john ,joseph3 ,generally speaking ,i divide all stories into two classes4 ,one class ,i call a painting1 the other a mechanical drawing4 ,the painting will live and be read from generation to generation4 ,the other will be read and thrown aside and forgotten4 ,you can't lay off a painting with compass and try-square4 ,for that reason the more rules a writer is compelled to keep his eye on1 the less able he will be to express the thing he wants to express1 the less chance he will have to achieve that elusive1 intangible1 subtle something that distinguishes the story that is a painting from the one that is merely a mechanical drawing4 ,one of the greatest afflictions of mankind is his tendency to jump to conclusions1 and to assume something to be true when he does not1 as a matter of fact1 know whether it is true or not4 ,theorizing is perhaps the principal avocation of mankind1 and to the chronic theorizer facts mean nothing4 ,add to this the curse of precedent and the getting into ruts which is often miscalled policy1 and you have the cause of half the failures in every walk of life4 ,too1 independent thinking is the rarest of all achievements4 ,all of which means that in my opinion the editor who will get out in the highways and byways and find out who is reading magazines and why they read a particular magazine will get the surprise of his life4 ,i have had this writing bug in my bonnet ever since ,i was a kid4 ,never till lately have ,i had time1 or tried to write for publication1 but ,i have made a very careful study of readers during all these years4 ,i am quite certain that ,i have quizzed at least five thousand persons as to their likes and dislikes in the matter of fiction1 always with the view to some day having a try at it myself4 ,i think that the value of structure or technique is vastly overrated by the editor generally4 ,that is1 if he is trying to please the largest possible number of readers4 ,of course if he is merely trying to get out a perfect magazine1 from a literary standpoint1 that is a different matter4 ,the reader--the general reader--cares not a whoop about these things4 ,he demands just one thing in his fiction1 and no more3 ,the story must absorb him1 and that's all there is to it4 ,lloyd ,kohler3 ,a knowledge of technique is essential4 ,harold ,lamb3 ,technique8 ,it must be all-important1 but if you think about it too much1 you are apt to make a mess of things4 ,sinclair ,lewis3 ,i don't know what this question means4 ,hapsburg ,liebe3 ,my general feeling as to the value of technique8 ,one should study and cultivate it4 ,i haven't been able to do it1 so far4 ,romaine ,h4 ,lowdermilk3 ,fortunately for fiction1 technique can not ride it to death4 ,good fiction1 especially adventure and humor1 are to a certain extent immune from technique4 ,of course technique1 properly applied1 is necessary and used in every story whether knowingly or not4 ,still1 it is nothing in itself1 to my notion4 ,eugene ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr43 ,technique is so often over-stressed that beginners are in danger of thinking manner comes first and forgetting matter entirely4 ,have something to say first2 then try to say it4 ,if you don't get it said1 then go to a technician to find out what's wrong4 ,so1 little by little1 you will get the technique1 and in a way that it becomes a part of you4 ,like hydrogen in the air1 technique can't be rated too highly1 but taken alone it's dangerous--to the beginner4 ,a natural born story teller intuitively tells his yarns without knowing a single rule of technique4 ,but natural born or not1 ,i'm in two minds if it would not be as advantageous for all beginners to tell stories a year or two before they tackle technique at all4 ,then1 when they do1 technique will help them1 and may not hurt them at all4 ,rose ,macaulay3 ,technique means1 to me1 the whole art of writing1 so of course ,i regard it as valuable to writers4 ,crittenden ,marriott3 ,wish ,i had it4 ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney3 ,perhaps ,i overrate the importance of technique1 but ,i believe that it is the fundamental factor in success4 ,in my mind1 it comes before plot4 ,i have read a good many stories with next to no plot at all--but they were put across1 and ,i enjoyed them4 ,and ,i have read half through more stories and chucked them aside--even though their plots might have been regular knockouts1 had ,i stuck around to see4 ,ray ,mc,gillivray3 ,i believe technique strictly a minor consideration--after true interest and sympathy and punch are achieved4 ,and of these1 punch is most important4 ,no one ,i know--and ,rascoe1 ,mencken1 ,fanny ,butcher and some others drop into this honored 787 class--so far has stopped to pick to pieces ,growth of the ,soil to find out whether or not it violates rules of novel technique4 ,no boxer lately has made more than a four-round study of the question as to whether ,mr4 ,dempsey utilizes crude or polished technique in his art4 ,champions1 both4 ,both have the punch1 and a thoroughgoing sincerity about landing it at precisely the right place4 ,technique1 you say8 ,perhaps1 but if so1 technique is a quality inherent in worth and can not be achieved at all in a story which simply is written according to a ruled line drawn on graph paper4 ,for my reading or my writing give me sincerity1 sympathy and punch1 and ,i'll let the ,french fiction fans worry about the mold into which any tale is cast4 ,helen ,topping ,miller3 ,as a teacher of technique1 ,i realize the value of it to the beginner in arriving early at a certain mechanical facility in writing4 ,too devoted a study of methods1 however1 ,i think has a tendency to weaken the self-confidence of a writer and to hamper and stifle the imagination4 ,i have never studied technique1 except in teaching it to others4 ,i had become a contributor to ,the ,saturday ,evening ,post before ,i had ever studied the subject at all4 ,my advice to beginners is to learn technique--and then forget it4 ,thomas ,samson ,miller3 ,it can be overdone1 but ,lord spare us the eeny meeny miney moists4 ,some stories read like ,turkish prayer wheels4 ,conrad has an ,english that entrances1 but has no idea at all of plot construction4 ,browning--,robert ,browning--wrote the best short stories1 in monologue4 ,fra ,lippo ,lippo1 ,andrea del ,sarto1 etc41 are perfect short stories of the theme kind--theme and human interest4 ,anne ,shannon ,monroe3 ,there's a right way to do everything1 and the wrong isn't worth doing4 ,i believe in revising till you sweat blood--but ,i can't afford the time always to do it4 ,one must live4 ,when one realizes what it means to put a piece of matter before the eyes of the world--the typing1 reading by editors1 setting up1 proof-reading--hammering and pounding a thing into a fixed place1 it seems nothing short of criminal to do all this work--and make a place for a thing that has not reached its highest point of perfection--to materialize a lot of crudity4 ,every writer should go through the printing trades1 know the publishing business from a to izzard1--and then ,i think he would feel more keenly the actual crime in putting out something that isn't worth all this putting into form and shape4 ,imagine setting up1 in the composing room1 all the mistakes of the careless writer--deliberately setting up mistakes6 ,it's a fright6 ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery3 ,i feel that its value is great up to a certain point4 ,but when you become conscious of a writer's technique that writer has reached the point of danger4 ,when you find yourself getting more pleasure from the way a writer says a thing than from the thing itself1 that writer has committed a grave error and one that lessens greatly the value of his story4 ,carried too far1 technique becomes as annoying as mannerisms4 ,frederick ,moore3 ,there isn't any authorship without technique4 ,it may be natural1 that is1 unconscious--but it must be there4 ,the title of a story is part of the technique4 ,talbot ,mundy3 ,its importance can hardly be exaggerated1 although ,i have ignored it consistently and without excuse4 ,technique is as important to the writer as it is to a swordsman or a boxer or a diplomat1 but it is rarely to be found in hand-books4 ,it varies limitlessly with the individual4 ,certainly the knowledge of how other men achieved particular effects can do no harm4 ,but to make technique anything more than a means to an end would be fatal4 ,kathleen ,norris3 ,that technique is merely interpreted personality1 and personality is the most fascinating thing in the world4 ,anne ,o',hagan3 ,i feel that the value of technique is enormous4 ,grant ,overton3 ,i do not think the value of technique can be exaggerated1 but ,i know of no method of directly acquiring it4 ,sir ,gilbert ,parker3 ,vastly important1 but the story is everything4 ,hugh ,pendexter3 ,this query is blind 7for me74 ,clay ,perry3 ,i believe that technique is something that comes absolutely last in the consideration of creating a story4 ,michael ,j4 ,phillips3 ,i have to be restrained when technique is mentioned4 ,any person who deliberately strives to say things in fiction in an impressive manner1 to roll out sonorous sentences and use nice1 long1 mouth-filling words1 is either a wonderful stylist or an ass4 ,if he is a wonderful stylist1 well and good2 his stuff will be worth reading for the gorgeous riot of word-pictures on which one may feast his inner vision4 ,if the writer is not a wonderful stylist1 he is an ass4 ,also a hypocrite1 intellectually speaking1 because he is trying to be what he is not4 ,he is trying to set himself up as a magnificent fellow who is to the manner born and tosses big words about in the air as a juggler does oranges4 ,to me ideal technique is the manner of writing which best expresses the character1 personality and flavor of the person who is writing while at the same time it permits him to tell his story in the clearest1 simplest and most understandable manner4 ,any pretentious style says3 ,i'm a devil of a fellow1 but my story may be rotten4 ,simple1 natural expression says3 ,here's my story1 told as best ,i can tell it4 ,walter ,b4 ,pitkin3 ,my early classical training1 especially my long study of ,aristotle1 gave me an insight into the fundamental worth of technique and1 ,i think1 enabled me1 fairly early1 to distinguish between technique and the humbug recipe-formula stuff which half of the college teachers and the correspondence quacks peddle4 ,technique in the ,greek sense is the basis of all good art1 even the most lyrical4 ,for all great art is communicative in some degree2 and technique is the science of effective communication4 ,no more1 no less4 ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell3 ,i know nothing of technique except in a general and hazy way4 ,technique to me means three words3 ,tell the story4 ,lucia ,mead ,priest3 ,i should think technique is as essential to the writer as the foundation of a house is to a builder4 ,as ,i think of it1 the art of the writer is like the history of ,italy's painters4 ,her old masters had great stories to tell but they were minus technique4 ,they had no perspective1 no anatomy4 ,hampered by these limitations1 there came a day when their intelligence was aroused4 ,every man was so interested in the new things he was learning--the technique1 he entirely forgot his story4 ,then came the giants1 they whose hearts were full of grand themes1 whose minds and hands were trained to the doing4 ,unhampered by the machinery of their art1 they gave forth masterly interpretations of great stories4 ,this is1 ,i think1 the evolution of the individual worker1 whatever the craft4 ,most particularly is this true of the writer's4 ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes3 ,nothing worth while without endless labor4 ,frank ,c4 ,robertson3 ,my feeling in regard to technique is that it is something that must be mastered before any real success can be achieved4 ,but ,i feel that a writer should to a certain degree master a technique that is peculiar to his own personality4 ,that is why ,i am skeptical about a too rigid adherence to the rules laid down in the text-books4 ,the first consideration1 in my estimation1 is to write the story1 then smooth it over with the shining gloss of technique4 ,then you will have used no more technique than is necessary2 but try writing the story according to the rules and it is liable to be cramped and artificial4 ,ruth ,sawyer3 ,i think there always must be technique4 ,it is something that must be mastered in the beginning and then allowed to drop into the subconscious mind and stay there4 ,i can not imagine a good story being written by any author who is conscious of his technique4 ,chester ,l4 ,saxby3 ,i put too much store by it4 ,i warm to a delicately sculptured story1 a thing of shape and beauty apart from the plot4 ,but ,i strive to break myself of this weakness4 ,the true technique is directness almost crude1 restraint of emotion1 fullness of fact with scant explanation4 ,look into your heart and write is a mistake of which ,i'm the victim4 ,heart serving mind--that's writing4 ,jack ,london had the secret4 ,barry ,scobee3 ,technique is certainly necessary for any writer4 ,it is the letter1 and of course the letter of itself avails nothing4 ,there must be the spirit4 ,but the spirit must have technique4 ,in my elementary work ,i learned something of technique4 ,i am not aware any more of how much ,i do use1 until1 as on only two or three occasions1 ,i have looked over a raw beginner's manuscript4 ,but the book learning on fiction writing is a part of me despite my unawareness of it4 ,and ,i learn more all the time1 but ,i haven't studied short story writing in three or four years4 ,but in my opinion technique is as essential in this as in any trade or profession4 ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott3 ,i just looked up technique in four dictionaries3--,worcester's 7#ahhg71 ,collins' 7not dated71 ,murray's 7#aijh7 and ,hill's ,vest ,pocket ,french-,english 7#ahih74 ,the word wasn't there4 ,what does it mean8 ,robert ,simpson3 ,technique1 to my mind1 is of the first importance4 ,true1 a man may write a perfectly good story without an ounce of real dyed-in-the-wool technique in his system1 but the same story1 technically correct1 would be a much bigger and better story in every way4 ,no artist can possibly do justice to his art without a practical understanding of technique4 ,arthur ,d4 ,howden ,smith3 ,i find myself constantly valuing it more and more4 ,theodore ,seixas ,solomons3 ,my feeling on technique is that1 like those bodies of it1 so to speak1 which make up text works on the subject1 it is after the fact4 ,like grammar1 they undertake to examine writing 7speech7 and tell us facts they ascertain about its structure4 ,but the structure--the story1 the ,english speech--antedates the analysis1 having been formed unerringly in adjustment to the laws of receptivity and response in the auditor4 ,both grammar and expositions of literary technique have been too empirical to be of much assistance in guiding the formation of speech practises and fiction practises4 ,something more fundamentally psychological must be devised before either will be of much actual help4 ,raymond ,s4 ,spears3 ,two things are indispensable in my stories3 a certain group of data and a certain form of technique4 ,editors usually look for technique1 and often don't know it when they see it2 ,i refer1 of course1 to simple plot1 7,aristotle's definition71 requiring complex plot only4 ,the truest1 highest1 broadest things ,i do are commonly simple plot1 with beginning1 continuity1 end1 but without complexity4 ,most editors say ,fine--but no plot6 of this type4 ,so1 to live1 ,i have to complicate4 ,of course1 technique is utterly indispensable though it may be unconscious4 ,norman ,springer3 ,i think the writer must learn how to use the tools of his trade4 ,if he is to make the most of his material1 he must study technique2 or acquire it in some way1 by absorption1 or anyhow4 ,from my own observation1 ,i believe there is a danger in technique--it lies in worshiping it1 in placing it before the story1 in making the form assume more importance than the substance4 ,the oldest error in the world1 ,i suppose4 ,think of all the writers who are masters of technique1 wonderful technicians of language1 and who are empty1 with nothing to say4 ,they've lost their guts getting a style4 ,certainly a writer must acquire technique--just as a painter acquires skill with a brush1 or a bricklayer with a trowel4 ,julian ,street3 ,there must be technique1 but technique is not so important as character or story4 ,joseph ,conrad is a wretched technician1 but is a big man with a big sense of character and story and a powerful picture-maker4 ,but he is clearly always tangled up in method4 ,his trick of having a man tell his story instead of telling it himself is a great error--an error into which the author of ,if ,winter ,comes fell1 in that book1 when he did not take the reader to the court-room for his big scene but had a character tell about it4 ,that is like the horse race that occurs off stage in the theater4 ,the actors pretend to look through glasses and shout ,now they're at the quarter6--,salvatan wins6 ,but we--the audience--don't see the horses running4 ,true1 that method is sometimes inescapable1 but ,conrad could often avoid it1 and ,hutchinson could easily have avoided it in his delightful novel4 ,if ,winter ,comes deserves its success1 but it would have been a much finer book but for certain revelations of absolute ineptitude4 ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling3 ,without technique a writer is lost1 but ,i think it should be subconscious1 just as one's feeling for ,english rhythm and the picturesque effect of words is subconscious4 ,booth ,tarkington3 ,the same as ,tennyson's3 ,it's not what we say1 but how we say it2 but the fools don't know that4 ,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle3 ,i believe that technique is the greater part of a fiction story--and the hardest to master4 ,lucille ,van ,slyke3 ,if by technique you mean facility--,i'd say it was immensely valuable to those who can grab it--,i never could--writing gets harder and harder the older ,i get4 ,atreus von ,schrader3 ,technique is valuable in that it does away with hit-or-miss writing4 ,the author who knows his technique will know when a story is a story1 and why4 ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch3 ,i am hardly competent to judge4 ,henry ,kitchell ,webster3 ,if there is such a thing as a positive technique1 ,i do not know it4 ,i have been writing stories for the past quarter-century1 and ,i don't know how to do it4 ,i have learned1 in that twenty-five years1 an immense number of ways not to do it4 ,i can sit all day rejecting seductive-looking devices as they occur to me1--sometimes because ,i can see just what the snare is that they are spreading for me2 sometimes because nothing more than instinct bids me beware of them--and when a real1 honest1 eighteen-carat1 sound-to-the-core story comes along ,i think ,i have learned to recognize it three times1 perhaps1 in five4 ,what technique ,i have managed to acquire1 then1 after laborious years1 is almost wholly negative1 and ,i've learned to be thankful even for that4 ,g4 ,a4 ,wells3 ,many writers 7the majority of them it seems to me7 get by without technique4 ,that is1 they are not consciously aware of the fact that they have technique4 ,that is1 in the highest form4 ,walpole1 ,galsworthy and perhaps ,richard ,washburn ,child1 are deliberate technologists4 ,that is to say 7as their work appears to me7 they are purposely aware of the rules of writing during the entire process of writing4 ,technique shows in every line they set down4 ,the contrary of this is what ,i mean when ,i say that most writers are unaware of the fact that they have technique4 ,galsworthy never forgets the rules4 ,he would never wittingly express himself in a manner that did not conform with the highest form of technique4 ,gilbert ,chesterton and1 ,i think1 ,h4 ,g4 ,wells are of like caliber4 ,i think the writer who leaves conscious consideration of technique out of the question predominates4 ,but there is this much about it--no writer can produce first-class work 7literature as the term is strictly applied7 until he has fully mastered technique4 ,the better the architect the better the structure4 ,the architect who does not understand wind pressures1 tensile strengths1 compression1 torque1 weight stress and the other values of construction can never design a perfect structure4 ,the same way with a writer4 ,a low grade of technique produces a low grade of literature4 ,i rank technique very high4 ,possibly my respect for it comes of the lack4 ,william ,wells3 ,oh1 ,lord6 ,ben ,ames ,williams3 ,i rate technique highly4 ,it seems to me a generalization from which there are few exceptions that with perfect technique any subject-matter can be transformed into a classic tale4 ,my note-books are almost as full of articles of faith in my technical creed as they are of incident or description for later use in stories4 ,the most important single element of technique seems to me to be the introduction at every opportunity of commonplace details of daily life4 ,to tell your reader that your characters get up at seven fifteen1 take a shower1 a shave1 sing while they shave1 put on their shoes1 go down to breakfast4444 ,these things lend1 ,i think1 a similitude of life to a story which can be had in no other way4 ,it is the ability to do this in the highest degree1 ,i think1 which makes ,tarkington's work so fine4 ,if your hero and heroine wash dishes together1 tell how they do it2 hot water1 soap-shaker1 dry cloths4 ,the reader will nod and say3 ,exactly2 ,i've done that myself4 ,this fellow knows what he's writing about4 ,and believe whatever else you have to tell4 ,honore ,willsie3 ,i think technique is as valuable to the author as to the musician4 ,it is to the story what the steel structure is to the sky-scraper4 ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer3 ,my feeling on technique is that it must obviously be present in some degree in all well-told stories1 or let us say1 in all stories acceptable to the better magazines4 ,but ,i could not teach it and ,i doubt if it can be successfully taught4 ,how many famous writers are graduates of such a course8 ,william ,almon ,wolff3 ,the important thing to keep in mind about technique1 it seems to me1 is that it is a means to an end4 ,too many people think of it as an end in itself1 which it can not be4 ,these are the people who say that a writer who has broken their rules has not technique1 or a bad technique4 ,rot6 ,his technique is right if he has accomplished his purpose1 which is to tell his story clearly and convincingly4 ,what does it matter how he tells it8 ,technique is essential1 indispensable--but its test must be a pragmatic one4 ,i think the reason for most failures though1 is not technical but this--that the writer has nothing to tell4 ,i remember what ,freeman ,tilden once told me3 ,very often ,i think a story is frightfully difficult1 in a technical sense4 ,i can't seem to get it done4 ,and then ,i find out that the trouble is that ,i haven't a story--never did have one4 ,edgar ,young3 ,in the widest meaning of the word technique is of great value4 ,,summary ,tabulating the above1 out of #aab answerers we find #dj attaching extreme importance to technique1 #de taking a sort of middle ground1 and #ba assigning it little or no importance4 ,to the last may be added #c who don't know the exact nature of technique but indicate that they assign slight value to it4 ,unclassified1 #a2 venturing no opinion1 #b4 ,to say that technique is not important in writing is to say that it is not important to know how4 ,one can not write fiction at all without knowing how1 without technique4 ,do #ba of our writers therefore not know how and do #de of them consider not knowing how to be not extremely important8 ,no1 and as a matter of fact investigation would probably show that some of the #ba possess more technique than do some of the #dj who attach most importance to it4 ,it is evident that at least some of those belittling technique are thinking of technique in its most formal sense--of books of rules1 of strictly academic instructions1 of hours spent in intensive study of abstract ways and means4 ,bear in mind that while naturally no one is born in possession of technique there are some who1 perhaps before they even begin to write1 have unconsciously absorbed from reading fiction a good many principles of construction and general method1 while to others reading has brought little understanding of technique and when they begin authorship they must make deliberate study of methods before they can produce anything resembling well constructed fiction4 ,any editor can point to authors whose earliest stories were written with sufficient technique to warrant publication1 and to many more whose early efforts had great faults and who acquired technique only by slow development through practise and study4 ,this book has utterly failed of a main purpose if1 through the answers of the writers themselves1 it has not shown vividly and forcefully that writers vary in methods1 principles and purpose fully as much as in natural ability and results4 ,if all had agreed as to the exact definition of technique or as to its exact place in the scale of importance1 it would have been a miracle4 ,nor can ,i1 or any one else1 step in and definitely fix its relative importance or give it an iron-clad definition that will entirely satisfy all writers4 ,but if we turn back to the discussion of technique in the chapter on thinking of the reader when writing we can find a definition of technique that will at least explain the differences of opinion that may now confuse us4 ,technique is applied knowledge of all that facilitates and perfects expression4 ,literature is an expression or interpretation4 ,no expressing or interpreting can be done unless it is done to some one4 ,even when writing is solely self-expression the writer must constitute his other self1 his critical self1 the representative of human minds in general and the judge of whether he has succeeded in reaching human minds with his message by recognized human symbols and in accordance with generally accepted human standards4 ,his other or critical self is the adapter of his creations to the demands of a common human standard of expression and understanding--is his guide as to technique and the repository of all he knows concerning technique4 ,during creation he may or may not be conscious of this critical self1 but he can be unconscious of it only if technique has been so thoroughly absorbed and assimilated that the critical self can apply it automatically1 working in perfect unison with the creative self or1 if you like1 having become identified with the creative self or passed its knowledge on to the creative self until that knowledge has become a part of the creative self4 ,of all technique that has not yet been thus thoroughly assimilated he will be conscious2 the less assimilated1 the more conscious2 the more conscious1 the more distracted and hampered by these tools that demand attention for themselves instead of fitting unnoticed into the creative hand4 ,in other words1 technique so thoroughly assimilated that it is unconscious is mastered technique4 ,no other kind is4 ,so long as any bit of technique is still so strange to the creative hand that it has not become an unnoted part of it1 that bit of technique may even then be a useful tool but it has not been thoroughly mastered4 ,and to the extent that it is not mastered it will distract the creator's attention from the creating to itself4 ,unmastered technique is therefore both bad and good4 ,good1 because it is on its way to becoming mastered technique and because even in the process it has some value4 ,bad1 because it distracts from the real creating1 hampers and cripples it4 ,if a writer1 whether beginning or experienced1 adds new technique too rapidly1 he will be too much distracted and slowed up and his individuality1 upon which the value of all his creating is wholly dependent1 is too much held back from free expression--blocked1 cramped1 suppressed and atrophied4 ,there can be no general rule as to how much new technique a writer can take up and assimilate at one time any more than there can be a general rule as to how much a man can eat and assimilate during a given time1 but in either case there is a line beyond which lie indigestion and harm4 ,a man can kill himself by eating too much4 ,the creative self can be crushed under too great a mass of technique fed to it in too short a time4 ,because of this ,i do not hesitate to indict the entire present system of teaching the writing of fiction4 ,that system1 common to practically all colleges1 correspondence courses1 special teachers and books dealing with the subject1 consists of seizing the beginner or comparative beginner1 leading him to the dining-table and forcing down his throat at one sitting more food than he can digest in ten weeks4 ,naturally1 acute and often chronic indigestion results4 ,in a few months or a year they feed him more technique than he will be able to digest in five years1 if ever4 ,the result is an appalling injury to his creative possibilities--an injury from which in the large majority of cases there is never a complete recovery and too often never even a partial one4 ,the workman is crushed by his tools4 ,individuality is killed or aborted by the mere means for its expression4 ,sometimes they talk to him about preserving his individuality1 but they kill it just the same4 ,i do not base my charge on a theory4 ,for more than a score of years as editor on half a dozen fiction magazines ,i've had the results of this teaching thrust under my eyes in an unending flow of its results--stories often perfect as to the formal rules of technique1 but all merely mechanical constructions without a breath of life4 ,as one writer has expressed it1 these stories are an endless procession of ,fords1 each complete in all its parts1 well built according to a plan1 but all of them only collections of machinery and all exactly alike4 ,no individuality1 no expression of anything not expressed a million times before1 no art4 ,just mechanics4 ,the cause is evident--more technique gobbled down than can be assimilated1 so many tools piled on that individuality is crushed beneath the load4 ,if proof is needed it can be found by applying the remedy4 ,when one of these crushed1 aborted writers discovers the seeming cause or has it shown to him1 casts overboard all his hampering technique and creates freely1 the results prove the diagnosis correct4 ,he can not afford permanently to abandon technique or the acquisition of technique1 any more than a man can afford permanently to give up eating1 but he can give up biting off more than he can digest4 ,omitting from consideration writers who lack sufficient ability ever to succeed1 most writers who fail do so because they write under a strain1 artificially1 mechanically4 ,they write this way because1 from instructions or from fiction itself1 they have taken on more technique than they can digest or master4 ,self-expression becomes impossible4 ,individuality itself is stunted1 buried alive or killed outright4 ,experienced writers too often suffer from the same trouble4 ,how many writers can you recognize from their stories if their names are covered up8 ,so pronounced an individuality in their work may not be considered a necessity of good art1 but1 to present the situation more liberally1 do you not find the book and magazine fiction of to-day for the most part very much cut from the same monotonous pattern or half-dozen patterns8 ,give to all writers the same material and plot and the resulting stories will for the most part be so much alike that any one of them would serve fairly well for all4 ,only the minority will turn out stories with real individuality4 ,a distinction should be drawn1 of course1 between really individualized creations and stories individualized only by mannerisms or affectations of style1 which may or may not be really individual but are only surface phenomena4 ,american present-day fiction reeks with these surface tricks--to the detriment of real art and of appreciation of real art4 ,one very particularly marked tendency toward degeneracy in our literature is the growing tendency to decorate a story with purely surface cleverness4 ,instead of expressing his material in the language that best conveys its meaning and spirit1 a writer pretty well lets his real material shift for itself and seeks for language that in itself will allure and charm the reader4 ,to him style means only an opportunity for parading his ability for quaint or taking phrase1 glittering aphorism1 cynical superiority1 general sophistication4 ,all these are useful tools if used in proper place1 but writers of this type use them without discrimination4 ,the result is a paste jewel that pleases many readers1 but the result is nothing that even approximates literature4 ,ignore this glittering tinsel and look beneath4 ,generally you will find no characterization1 no real portrayal of life1 no anything that makes real literature4 ,sometimes a plot and often a situation1 but the rest is emptiness4 ,often the glitter is a true product of individuality1 but the individuality isn't worth putting on paper as literature4 ,these writers should be essayists1 not fictionists4 ,as fictionists they are only vaudeville artists4 ,yet they are a real menace to ,american literature1 for they appear regularly in most of our best magazines and between covers issued from our best book houses4 ,of this last type one good thing can be said--they are not suffering from too much real technique4 ,for writers in general there can be no such thing as too much technique1 provided it is really assimilated4 ,nor can there be anything more harmful than a stomachful of technique undigested4 ,,question ,,viii ,what is most interesting and important to you in your writing--plot1 structure1 style1 material1 setting1 character1 color1 etc48 ,in going over the answers to various parts of this questionnaire there has again and again risen the speculation as to what would be the effect upon literary criticism in general1 particularly professional literary criticism1 if such facts as are here presented direct from the actual desks of the writers themselves were read and seriously studied by the critics4 ,and applied not only to the writings of the authors here speaking1 but to fiction in general4 ,to how much more just assessment would it lead1 to how much more real an understanding of actual and comparative values1 to how much clearer a grasp of fundamentals8 ,there are good critics1 to be sure1 some very good1 but many very bad ones4 ,professional literary criticism in ,america1 including both the smallest local mediums and those of most repute1 is1 generally speaking1 perfunctory1 superficial1 casual1 over-sophisticated1 sub-understanding1 hereditary1 hack1 and a long list of other uncomplimentary adjectives4 ,perhaps the gravest indictment is that of being hereditary1 for this is more or less the root fault4 ,critics1 however inhuman their victims may consider them1 are entirely human and therefore subject to the human failing of accepting the dicta of the past1 not as merely the best the past has been able to hand on to the present1 but as the final word that neither the present nor the future can improve upon and that neither should dare to question4 ,if the past itself had acted wholly on this theory a century or five centuries ago1 its bequest to the present would be lacking in a century or five centuries of accomplishment and progress4 ,the development of this speculation has little place here and less in connection with this question than with those concerning the imagination1 but it has clamored for a hearing all through the compiling of this book4 ,so now it's had it4 ,reader as well as writer will find interest in the preferences shown in the following answers4 ,to know a writer's taking off place is illuminating in any appreciation or understanding of his work4 ,to writers there is here again further proof of the futility of general rules1 and from the actual experiences of a hundred writers it is impossible that a beginner or even a writer of experience should not glean information that otherwise would come only through time1 work and experiment4 ,,answers ,bill ,adams3 ,character and color1 7when ,i've got 'em ,i say1 ,hang you1 ,jack--,i'm all right47 ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams3 ,it depends largely upon the nature of the stories4 ,in my ,our ,square stories1 setting1 color1 style and atmosphere4 ,in my more serious works such as ,success and ,the ,clarion1 character1 plot1 structure and the interplay of living forces which partake of and fuse all of these elements4 ,paul ,l4 ,anderson3 ,character1 material1 color1 style1 structure1 setting1 roughly in the order given 7not invariably2 it depends on the story74 ,plot is essential2 it's the skeleton on which the living thing is built4 ,to my mind1 the greatest of fiction writers1 in the order given1 are ,shakespeare1 ,sienkiewicz1 ,defoe1 and ,hugo4 ,the setting is1 properly speaking1 a part of the plot4 ,william ,ashley ,anderson3 ,material1 setting1 character1 and color4 ,but this is accidental1 and the result of personal and unusual experience4 ,all these elements ought to be of value1 and relative importance4 ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey3 ,character is far most interesting and important to me1 then style1 and construction comes in the third place4 ,edwin ,balmer3 ,answered under ,i4 ,ralph ,henry ,barbour3 ,i hold character the most important in writing4 ,if you've got that1 you've got the rest4 ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett3 ,material4 ,nalbro ,bartley3 ,character development4 ,konrad ,bercovici3 ,all the things put together make a story4 ,ferdinand ,berthoud3 ,setting4 ,my old ,africa always4 ,i couldn't write a story of anything outside of ,africa to save my miserable life4 ,then ,i like fooling with the various men ,i've known and making the poor beggars laugh and suffer4 ,those who are alive of my characters would murder me if they caught hold of me4 ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr43 ,to me1 plot and material are the most interesting1 but ,i consider structure and style by far the most important4 ,setting is of minor value if style and structure are good4 ,witness ,arnold ,bennett6 ,a man who has solved the secrets of style and structure can write about anything and make it salable and interesting4 ,farnham ,bishop3 ,plot1 probably1 at present4 ,i feel the story first1 as a whole4 ,then ,i begin to see the men who are behind it and ready to begin living it--character4 ,perhaps ,i should have put material before plot1 as the latter usually springs from the former4 ,setting and color ,i find very easily1 after ,i have dug up all the available facts1 which is much more fun than setting them down1 for ,i write slowly and laboriously1 forming each sentence carefully in my mind before ,i set down a word of it4 ,therefore my style is terse and bare4 ,algernon ,blackwood3 ,material1 style1 setting1 character1 color4 ,max ,bonter3 ,style1 ,i don't bother about4 ,i just try to make my lingo appropriate for the thoughts ,i want to express4 ,material1 setting1 character and color always interested me more than plot and structure4 ,i am just now beginning to realize the importance of plot and structure and to pay to them the attention that they require4 ,katharine ,holland ,brown3 ,most interesting--and most difficult--the translation of the story1 from an image 7very much scrambled1 but clear to myself17 to one that will be clear to others4 ,therefore1 the structure1 and the pointing-up of the plot4 ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley3 ,most important ingredient to me8 ,color6 ,with five exclamation points4 ,prosper ,buranelli3 ,structure and style4 ,the rest are easy4 ,thompson ,burtis3 ,in order of interest3 ,characterization1 plot1 structure1 material1 color1 setting4 ,style means nothing whatever to me as yet4 ,it never occurs to me4 ,i write as naturally and with as little trouble as ,i talk4 ,consequently ,i have no style1 probably4 ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain3 ,i can not answer this at all4 ,plots are my chief difficulty4 ,structure comes next4 ,style is unconscious4 ,material comes easily after a plot4 ,settings present difficulty or interest to me1 only when some peculiar market requirement demands fitting stories to them rather than them to the stories4 ,my early ministerial experience fastened my attention upon characters1 and ,i find them without effort4 ,on the question of character in fiction ,i shall say more under ,x4 ,color interests me only when ,i have to get it from outside my own experience4 ,to me the supreme interest is always the reaction between situation and character4 ,robert ,v4 ,carr3 ,i do not know4 ,george ,l4 ,catton3 ,theme first1 then style1 then characters2 the rest about equal in importance1 with color last4 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers3 ,fifty-fifty4 ,roy ,p4 ,churchill3 ,plot and character first with all the rest trailing after4 ,carl ,clausen3 ,in their order named3 ,character1 plot1 structure1 color and setting4 ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper3 ,all these ingredients are necessary1 with plot1 structure1 material1 and one which you haven't mentioned1 accuracy1 very much to the fore4 ,arthur ,crabb3 ,mind4 ,or if you prefer character4 ,next to that is style4 ,the structure is1 of course1 taken for granted4 ,the plot1 setting1 color1 etc41 seem to me to be1 as ,i said before1 frames of the picture4 ,one of my greatest weaknesses is my inability1 or possibly unwillingness1 to make the plot strong enough4 ,mary ,stewart ,cutting3 ,i think that structure1 style1 material and character are important in the order mentioned4 ,elmer ,davis3 ,character1 feeling4 7,if you've ever seen any of my stuff you won't believe this1 but you ought to see the stuff ,i haven't sold47 ,william ,harper ,dean3 ,to me plot is the most interesting and important4 ,the rest of it--style1 color1 setting1 etc41 can be sweated into keeping with the demands of the plot4 ,but if plot is illogical or non-gripping 7,i do not mean exciting71 then all the polishing and retouching in the world will not make a story of the piece4 ,harris ,dickson3 ,in my own work this differs greatly4 ,i have just finished a story that deals with the building of a levee4 ,as levee construction is little known outside of this river country1 ,i devoted much pains to the setting and color4 ,besides this1 the background of this story wields a very strong effect on the characters themselves4 ,sometimes a story is a character story1 and incidents are chosen to develop that character--as in the first ,old ,reliable story4 ,sometimes it may be the story of a single adventure in which the characters may be subordinated to the events4 ,captain ,dingle3 ,material1 setting1 character4 ,louis ,dodge3 ,the first consideration in writing a story should be to tell a story1 ,i suppose2 but that should go without saying1 and certainly style comes second1 and your style ought to be you1 and not something you got out of a book4 ,in other words1 a story is wearisome if it isn't original1 if it hasn't got something of the author in it4 ,phyllis ,duganne3 ,i am more interested in character1 its development and peculiarities than anything else1 in either reading or writing4 ,i like style and good structure1 but ,i think that real people--real people in fiction1 ,i mean--who interest me and make me either like or hate them1 are most interesting4 ,j4 ,allan ,dunn3 ,i should be inclined to state that character drawing was the most important thing to me in my writing4 ,it is very likely my weakest point but it is to me the most essential thing1 the delineation of character and its working under certain circumstances4 ,i try for style4 ,try hard to recognize of what my style may consist4 ,i like to write a story through one pair of eyes1 if possible1 and that calls for an ingenuity that is interesting4 ,plot comes next to character1 then style1 then color and setting4 ,i enjoy recalling local conditions1 ,i revive the thrill of certain atmospheres1 ,i get a thrill from trying not to let them run away with me and to use atmosphere and color only where they tie up with action4 ,and ,i continually realize that ,i do not follow my own few rules4 ,walter ,a4 ,dyer3 ,leaving out the question of what ,i believe to be the requirements of editors1 ,i find the elements in writing most interesting to me in about this order3 style1 color1 character1 setting1 structure1 material1 plot4 ,probably ,i've just reversed the needed order4 ,walter ,prichard ,eaton3 ,character is plot--,galsworthy4 ,he said it of plays1 but it is true of stories4 ,character is always most important4 ,e4 ,o4 ,foster3 ,plot1 style and setting are to me the most interesting things in writing4 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel3 ,material1 setting1 character4 ,j4 ,u4 ,giesy3 ,plot first1 character drawing4 ,structure is a part of plot1 don't you think8 ,george ,gilbert3 ,the whole story is important2 when ,i try1 consciously1 to pay any attention to the elements you mention1 the story escapes2 ,i have only rubbish left4 ,kenneth ,gilbert3 ,the most interesting and important elements in fiction to me are plot1 style and color4 ,plot above all others2 style that by itself may put over the story when the plot is not what it should be1 and color that the story may grip the reader4 ,without color a plot is merely harsh charcoal strokes on a white background1 and without style the story has no charm4 ,structure1 of course1 is important1 and material1 setting and character will serve to attract attention1 but ,i hold the three first-named to be vital4 ,holworthy ,hall3 ,first--always--the story2 second1 the style2 third1 there is no third4 ,richard ,matthews ,hallet3 ,i would sell my soul at any time for a good plot1 but it must be one for which ,i can furnish background and foreground out of my own experience4 ,a plot attracts facts and characters as a magnet attracts iron filings4 ,if it is really a plot1 and not a pseudo-plot or theme1 which is the amateur's usual conception of a plot1 you will be conscious of a quickening all along the line1 and all opposition dissolves as you go along4 ,if it is not really a plot1 the obstacles will look big1 the talk will lag and the characters will have paper legs and vacant faces4 ,touch a match to it and look for another one4 ,william ,h4 ,hamby3 ,of importance in the order named3 character1 plot1 color4 ,a4 ,judson ,hanna3 ,the most interesting feature of my work is setting and color4 ,all else--plot1 movement1 punch and kick1--is a rather weary necessity4 ,joseph ,mills ,hanson3 ,in practise1 though perhaps not in theory1 the most interesting and important to me of the elements mentioned by you in the writing of a story1 are1 in their order2 plot1 setting1 character1 material1 color1 style1 structure4 ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman3 ,the most important items in story writing to me are--the appeal to a reader's sympathies--local color--character--and the work it will do in strengthening moral qualities1 such as honesty1 truthfulness1 courage4 ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw3 ,first and most of all character4 ,then plot1 setting1 structure and style4 7,i've lumped color with setting47 ,joseph ,hergesheimer3 ,humanity6 ,understanding6 ,robert ,hichens3 ,everything's important4 ,r4 de ,s4 ,horn3 ,a question difficult to answer4 ,it depends pretty much on the type of story4 ,a character story would naturally depend hugely on the handling of character4 ,i always have an instinctive feeling as to which is the most important in the story ,i am planning to write1 and ,i try to capitalize it accordingly4 ,wouldn't it be better to say that plot1 character and atmosphere should be considered of primary importance in the building of a story8 ,clyde ,b4 ,hough3 ,i'm interested most intensely of all in the action and humanness1 that is to say the human action1 realistic emotions1 desires and ambitions of my characters which ,i strive to express in terms of action4 ,next is plot and next is structure4 ,material and setting are incidental4 ,style1 characters and color should be adopted to suit the occasion4 ,emerson ,hough3 ,the story4 ,the period4 ,the thing itself4 ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson3 ,character4 ,inez ,haynes ,irwin3 ,all these things intrigue me but if ,i must make a choice1 ,i will say ,i am interested in character first2 atmosphere1 which ,i think includes color and setting1 second2 style third4 ,of course ,i am assuming that ,i start with a plot but after all ,i should1 ,i suppose1 say plot first because until there is a plot1 there is no writing4 ,will ,irwin3 ,i am most interested in character1 next in style1 and next in color4 ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson3 ,plot and material most important4 ,characterization vitally necessary to make the story real4 ,structure and style the most interesting1 principally because ,i let them take care of themselves1 if they will4 ,setting and color8 ,use a camel hair brush1 not a shovel4 ,mary ,johnston3 ,i can't say4 ,all are so inwound4 ,lloyd ,kohler3 ,the plot probably gets the most consideration2 style is also an important consideration4 ,harold ,lamb3 ,this is a knotty kind of question4 ,are not character and setting part of material1 and color of setting8 ,chasing one's imagination1 as it were1 around a vicious circle8 ,just now1 at least in tales based on history or folk-lore1 ,i give most thought to material1 least to structure4 ,sinclair ,lewis3 ,how can one segregate them8 ,hapsburg ,liebe3 ,the most interesting and important things to me in writing are--first character1 then situation and setting1 then--well1 maybe structure4 ,romaine ,h4 ,lowdermilk3 ,character4 ,the characters must be individuals1 not mere types4 ,oh1 how ,i hate the hero1 tall and handsome1 a swift-roping1 hard-riding cowboy6 ,characters must be human and have mannerisms and act natural6 ,plot is next4 ,i must have plot or ,i haven't a story4 ,style stories are a bore to the kind of people ,i write to4 ,all the rest--material1 color1 setting1 structure and so on depend on the sort of story and the characters4 ,i want 7#a7 people1 7#b7 action1 7#c7 spots of humor1 7#d7 plot--unless you call action the plot4 ,i don't4 ,eugene ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr43 ,plot--that is1 characters acting and acted upon--is the most interesting and important to me in writing4 ,all the rest is incidental4 ,rose ,macaulay3 ,style1 on the whole4 ,but all of them4 ,crittenden ,marriott3 ,mostly plot2 sometimes all color4 ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney3 ,character and color--with a hope that some day style may be the most important4 ,ray ,mc,gillivray3 ,character1 plot4 ,see previous answers4 ,helen ,topping ,miller3 ,character and setting interest me most4 ,thomas ,samson ,miller3 ,i put material first1 character next1 then structure2 that is1 ,i would prefer to put them so1 but commercially1 plot is first1 puppet characterization next 7editors have insistently congratulated me on characters who were not characters at all74 ,anne ,shannon ,monroe3 ,it is difficult to say what are the most interesting and important things to me in writing1 for every bit of it interests me intensely4 ,i even love to read proof--it's a thrill to look at a galley proof4 ,but the characters1 ,i believe1 are of keenest interest--just as people are more interesting than trees or landscapes4 ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery3 ,in my own writing character is by far the most interesting thing to me--then setting4 ,in the development of the one and the arrangement of the other ,i find my greatest pleasure and from their letters it is evident that my readers do1 too4 ,this1 of course1 is because my flair is for these things4 ,in another writer something else--plot1 structure or color would be the vital thing4 ,only the very great authors combine all these things4 ,for the rank and file of the craft1 ,i think a writer should find out where his strength lies and write his stories along these lines4 ,in my own case ,i would never attempt to handle complicated plot or large masses of material4 ,i know ,i should make a dismal failure of them4 ,frederick ,moore3 ,plot comes first1 structure next1 characters third4 ,if these three are handled skilfully1 that is style4 ,setting and color not important4 ,a good story is--a good story4 ,talbot ,mundy3 ,i am afraid that abstract ideas are the important points of a story to me4 ,i don't care so much about a character as why he does so and so4 ,i like to know his mental arguments and all about his motives4 ,but ,i'm afraid that is heterodoxy4 ,setting and color certainly mean a great deal4 ,kathleen ,norris3 ,setting is the most fascinating type of writing1 to me4 ,i should suppose character drawing to be by far the most important and the most difficult4 ,anne ,o',hagan3 ,character development1 then setting1 then style4 ,grant ,overton3 ,it depends on the story4 ,on the whole1 the material seems to me the most important thing4 ,i have seen all the excellences wasted on stuff that was simply not worth writing about4 ,sir ,gilbert ,parker3 ,all are important4 ,hugh ,pendexter3 ,drama1 material1 structure1 atmosphere and character4 ,clay ,perry3 ,character1 plot1 philosophy1 style1 material1 color1 setting1 structure4 ,this is the order of importance in which ,i would place them4 ,as to their interest1 to me1 ,i place character first1 always2 philosophy second1 plot third and so on4 ,walter ,b4 ,pitkin3 ,the following order of interest holds in my case3 #a1 the thought of the story2 #b1 the plot2 #c1 the character 7or revelation of human nature in action72 #d1 the setting2 #e1 the color 7which merges1 for me1 with the setting74 ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell3 ,plot1 character1 color4 ,lucia ,mead ,priest3 ,they are all like one another as half pence are4 ,if you ask me which gives me the greatest pain ,i shall confess to plot and structure4 ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes3 ,character1 plot1 color4 ,frank ,c4 ,robertson3 ,the most interesting things to me in writing are character1 material and plot4 ,the most important1 because ,i have to work the hardest upon them1 are setting1 structure and color4 ,ruth ,sawyer3 ,plot--and its necessary structure2 character--and its necessary setting4 ,chester ,l4 ,saxby3 ,can only say what ,i've already said on this point3 that development is the thing4 ,it's like saying1 though1 who is most necessary on a baseball team4 ,where would you be if one of them was lacking8 ,material is the most often slighted in writing1 ,i believe4 ,stories are thin through lack of it4 ,barry ,scobee3 ,all equally1 ,i believe4 ,if my story lacks any one in proper portion and keeping with the others it will drag with me1 and when a story drags in the writing it makes me wonder1 makes me feel something is wrong with it4 ,however1 a story will drag and bore sometimes when it is good1 so one must be careful about self-hunches4 ,but ,i must have plot1 a puzzle1 a frame to hang the story on to get from crisis to crisis4 ,to me1 the plot lends the essential puzzle and drama arrangement4 ,structure tells it properly4 ,style--well1 after all1 ,i don't pay the slightest attention to style1 if by that is meant the writer's style4 ,i don't know whether ,i have any style or not1 or what it is like4 ,no one ever told me4 ,material--that1 after all1 is the big thing4 ,but ,i love the setting if it is in my beloved ,southwest1 or where ,i know every detail--blade of grass1 or quirk of human1 or smile of woman--that is1 what's back of 'em4 ,character--well1 ,i have found if ,i don't pal with my characters and know all their thoughts1 the story doesn't appeal to the editors4 ,color8 ,i don't know4 ,maybe ,i don't have much color4 ,the word doesn't stir my thought much4 ,local color1 do you mean8 ,i'd get that in the setting4 ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott3 ,plot1 structure1 style1 etc41 are all equally interesting to me and equally difficult4 ,perhaps clearness1 suspense and the surprise ending interest me the most4 ,if there is anything else--all the better6 ,robert ,simpson3 ,the most interesting thing about a story to me is the keynote4 ,that decided upon1 character1 structure1 style1 plot and so on follow naturally4 ,they can't help themselves4 ,the keynote is struck1 of course1 in or about the chief character4 ,as he or she is1 the other chords and discords sound accordingly4 ,i try never to write two stories alike4 ,each story1 of course1 may have a fairly general resemblance to all of the others from the reader's standpoint1 but the note each strikes is as different as ,i can make it4 ,i am referring now particularly to book length yarns1 although my notion applies in a lesser degree to short stories as well4 ,arthur ,d4 ,howden ,smith3 ,in order3 plot1 structure1 character1 color1 material1 setting1 style4 ,theodore ,seixas ,solomons3 ,structure and character4 ,structure will make or break any story1 because the reader's fiction curiosity or interest is not to be satisfied unless you rigidly adhere to certain laws of interest by which he is governed4 ,and character is the vitalizing principle that gives snap and satisfaction to his reading4 ,to put it metaphorically1 if the structure is not right he simply can't swallow the story1 because it opposes corners and angles to the form of his mental gullet4 ,but even given a proper structure1 the story is insipid to the taste unless the people are real and enough out of the ordinary--have enough character--to be interesting4 ,the other elements you enumerate1 especially plot and style1 are great aids1 merely4 ,raymond ,s4 ,spears3 ,i find material1 characters1 setting 7atmosphere color71 the most interesting2 but this betrays1 of course1 my lack of scholarship4 ,norman ,springer3 ,i think in about the following order--character1 color1 style1 structure1 plot1 material4 ,but not always4 ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling3 ,i am simply delighted with every one of the elements of a story which you mention4 ,take any one out and it is like taking the tires off an auto4 ,to me it is not a rational question4 ,for instance1 which do you like best1 the tires1 seats1 engine or chassis of an auto8 ,sure ,i like them best4 ,booth ,tarkington3 ,i don't make your subdivisions4 ,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle3 ,it is rather difficult to say which part of the story is of the most importance to me in writing4 ,the character has always been foremost1 ,i believe2 because style1 structure1 setting and color must follow in order to complete the characterization4 ,lucille ,van ,slyke3 ,something you left out of your list6 ,something ,barrie calls that damned thing called charm6 ,ohee6 ,if ,i could put on paper that--,i'd let any old body have the plot and character and the rest6 ,but trying to get it there is like walking on a tightwalker's rope over ,niagara--you're liable to slip off and get drowndededededededead6 ,end as plain mush4 ,atreus von ,schrader3 ,of all these1 color is most important to me2 i4 e41 purposeful characters in colorful settings4 ,i prefer stories wherein people do things to those in which nothing moves but the wheels in the characters' heads4 ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch3 ,structure1 material1 color4 ,henry ,kitchell ,webster3 ,the most important and interesting thing to me1 in writing fiction1 is character4 ,g4 ,a4 ,wells3 ,i consider character the most interesting feature of a story4 ,a story without character is minus4 ,plot also interests me4 ,however1 not too much should happen4 ,about two years ago ,i read a story of about forty thousand words4 ,in every line something happened1 and when ,i had finished the story ,i was decidedly tired1 both mentally and physically4 ,there is such a thing as having too much action in a story4 ,i don't care for a story that lacks structure and style1 though if the plot is strong and the character-drawing good1 structure and style can go hang4 ,setting is important4 ,william ,wells3 ,oh1 ,lord6 ,ben ,ames ,williams3 ,under these various heads3 ,plot in a short story is often the most important element2 in a longer story it is interesting chiefly for its effect on the characters of the characters4 ,structure always of first importance4 ,a story can be made1 or ruined1 by using narration instead of a scene2 by inverting the order of incidents2 by neglecting sign-posts2 by cheating the reader out of the big moment he expected2 by putting your climax too early--or too late4 ,or by many another structural coup or mistake4 ,style is essential--and various4 ,i try to tell my story1 produce my effect in the simplest possible way4 ,material not important except in the negative sense that some themes are taboo4 ,setting not important in a short story1 though it may be made so4 ,always important in a novel4 ,in a short story you may lift your characters out of their background and deal only with them4 ,in a novel you must set them against their proper surroundings4 ,character3 ,the more definite1 the better4 ,or in other words1 the more the better4 ,color3 ,i see no difference between color and setting4 ,in this paragraph ,i assume to express only my own views1 of course4 ,i've stated these views dogmatically for the sake of brevity4 ,honore ,willsie3 ,i could not differentiate4 ,all are essential to the finely rounded tale4 ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer3 ,style and plot4 ,william ,almon ,wolff3 ,well1 you have to have a story first of all4 ,so1 ,i suppose1 plot comes first4 ,but you have to have people1 too1 so character can be bracketed with plot4 ,after that the importance of various elements depends1 it seems to me1 on the particular story4 ,edgar ,young3 ,style highly important1 verisimilitude1 plot4 ,with style and verisimilitude a man can go far in story writing4 ,by style ,i mean manner of narration in connection with the particular story being written4 ,,summary ,by assigning seven points to a first choice1 six to a second choice1 etc41 we get a general perspective on the trend of these answers as a whole4 ,where several elements are named without indicating order of preference all are scored as first choice unless the order of the group is otherwise located4 ,of #ajh answerers #c were unable to assign relative values1 #b were not tabulated1 #b stated only that importance varies with each particular story and #a replied1 ,i don't make your subdivisions4 ,tabulating the remaining #ajj answers we have a roughly formulated score as follows3 ,character #dcj ,plot #cbi ,style #aib ,structure #ahj ,setting #aga ,color #aff ,material #aeh ,all #ef ,action #ba ,atmosphere #af ,situation #ac ,development #g ,abstract ,ideas #g ,clearness #g ,suspense #g ,surprise #g ,drama #g ,keynote #g ,humanity #g ,thought #g ,charm #g ,theme #g ,verisimilitude #g ,feeling #g ,philosophy #f ,period #f ,humor #e ,punch #c ,the seven elements specifically mentioned in the question were merely the stock names commonly used in the profession that happened to mind and were of course intended only to suggest the general purpose of the question4 ,neither the seven nor the twenty-one other elements mentioned in the table are all mutually exclusive and on some there is no agreement of definition4 ,this is of no moment4 ,we are not compiling a dictionary or a mathematical table1 though some of these summaries may give that impression4 ,we are seeking only to discover general trends4 ,any deductions must be of a general1 not a final1 nature1 and most emphatically there must always be allowance for the individual case1 which on occasion can and should defy all general rules and trends4 ,the value of such laboratory tests as these lies in our using as a basis1 not theories1 but facts1 our real purpose being not to prove or disprove accepted theories but to draw whatever conclusions the facts dictate4 ,there is1 ,god knows1 little enough of this kind of work being done4 ,instead1 the writing world is littered with thousands of hereditary rules1 arbitrary dicta1 theoretical conclusions and unsound generalities4 ,here are facts2 let us get from them what suggestions we may1 each after his own fashion and according to his own needs4 ,i could fill pages with my deductions and conclusions from these answers1 some of them perhaps very good for my own case and perhaps very bad for the next person4 ,it may be that the experienced writer can profit more from the presentation of these facts than can the beginner4 ,just as ,i with twenty years of editorial experience can profit from them infinitely more than ,i could have done five1 ten1 twenty years ago4 ,we are all prone to conclude that we have solved a matter for all time1 when in reality we have only become a little weary of learning and a little sot in our beliefs4 ,on the other hand1 a little learned in the beginning may be more effective than much learned later by experience1 for experience means vanished years4 ,that writers in general can and do learn from one another as to problems and methods there is no doubt1 and here are writers by the score instead of by ones and twos4 ,these tabulations serve only toward a general perspective1 the more specific values being in the answers themselves4 ,a more general classification of the elements considered in this section of the questionnaire may be worth while1 grouping them roughly as to general nature3 ,plot1 structure1 action1 situation1 development1 suspense1 surprise1 drama1 punch--#egd4 ,character--#dcj4 ,setting1 color1 atmosphere1 period--#cei4 ,style1 clearness1 accuracy1 charm1 verisimilitude--#bbj4 ,material--#aeh4 ,abstract ideas1 keynote1 humanity1 thought1 theme1 feeling1 philosophy--#dh4 ,,question ,,ix ,what are two or three of the most valuable suggestions you could give to a beginner8 ,to a practised writer8 ,,answers ,bill ,adams3 ,in the matter of hints--to beginners--don't begin yet4 ,wait till you've had a chance to learn a bit more4 ,to practised writers1 ,for ,god's sake don't talk so much4 ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams3 ,to a beginner3 to learn to look at men and things directly1 not obliquely1 to write what you want to write1 not what others want you to write2 to adopt and cling to their creed1 abominated or considered heretical by most non-writers1 that fiction is and always must be more interesting and compact than life1 or it is not fiction4 ,as for advising a practised writer3 why invite one to practise an impertinence toward those who know as much of the craft as ,i myself do8 ,paul ,l4 ,anderson3 ,to read analytically4 ,to write4 ,william ,ashley ,anderson3 ,a beginner ought to read voraciously1 learning to distinguish the real from the false4 ,he ought to study both history and literature4 ,and he ought to start off with the thorough realization that the great writers were great thinkers1 regular men and hard workers4 ,he ought never make a pose of writing1 but go at it1 rather1 as though it were a real job4 ,there is nothing to say to a practised writer except that he ought to have an ideal and set high standards for himself1 otherwise he will inevitably become hack4 ,a writer must sooner or later show his personality in his works1 and if he has no personality 7it may be a personality formed by his brain and character2 his physical appearance has nothing to do with it7 he can never hope for continued success4 ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey3 ,to a beginner--know people and sympathize with them4 ,to a practised writer--don't use the same characters4 ,edwin ,balmer3 ,to try it on editors and get their real reactions4 ,not to think you're good4 ,ralph ,henry ,barbour3 ,suggestions to the beginner8 ,nothing new1 certainly4 ,make your stories real1 though4 ,have real characters1 let them act naturally in natural scenes and talk natural talk4 ,don't strive for a style4 ,that comes4 ,or doesn't come4 ,it doesn't matter in either case4 ,i'm one of the old-fashioned sort who believe that writing is something that can't be learned as you learn china painting or bridge or how to conduct one's self in good society4 ,i have a hunch that the ability to write anything any one else wants to read is somewhere inside one when one lets out the first infantile squall4 ,i may be wrong4 ,writing1 after all1 is just a method of self-expression1 like painting1 music1 sculpture4 ,successful musicians are not made4 ,they may be perfected4 ,that is likewise true of painters and sculptors4 ,however1 there are all grades of musicians1 and likewise there are many grades of writers4 ,even a little natural ability will get you somewhere if you cultivate it4 ,any one who wants to write has my sympathy and good wishes4 ,i say go to it4 ,only1 if you're taking up writing merely because it looks like an easy path to affluence or because you're tired of gas-fitting or selling automobiles or doing housework1 don't be disappointed if editors seem hard-hearted4 ,to the practised writer ,i have no suggestions to make4 ,i'm not that cheeky4 ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett3 ,my advice to a beginner would be to write all the time2 to a practised writer1 not to write all the time4 ,nalbro ,bartley3 ,don't write anything you are not familiar with4 ,if you haven't worked on a newspaper1 do so4 ,don't be afraid to revise if an editor says to do so--the art of your story is not likely to be imperiled6 ,keep moving--in the way of getting new angles and fresh copy4 ,a practised writer so many times writes a story which is hailed as his best1 his masterpiece1 and then he settles back into turning out endless echoes of the same1 without realizing that he is retrograding4 ,don't mix too much with inky people--you will do nothing but talk shop and get into a deadly rut4 ,stay where you can see life--because authors are not going to buy or read your stories and the fiction reading public does not want to read about authors--they want to read what authors write about the fiction reading public4 ,konrad ,bercovici3 ,if one feels it is the only thing he wants to do2 if he feels within himself the call of the minstrel2 if he can enjoy a good meal or a tall glass of wine one day and dry bread the next1 a soft downy bed one night and the cold ground the following3 if he feels he can live that haphazard life without any desire to equalize it1 by spreading out his pennies so that he may have a little more than dry bread every day instead of affluence one day and misery the following3 if he has had a manuscript returned sixty times and still invests the next twelve cents 7borrowed from a friend7 for a postage stamp to mail same manuscript for the sixty-first time1 then there is some hope that some day he may become a writer4 ,every one writing is really an apprentice4 ,it is the most difficult and the most impossible of all the arts1 for none of us can really write4 ,ferdinand ,berthoud3 ,don't try to write of something you don't know about or have not experienced4 ,don't get the impression that copying the style and structure of any successful writer will be a sure stepping stone to immediate success4 ,pretty clothes are not much use unless you have something good to wrap them round4 ,don't get the mistaken idea that writers become sudden millionaires by sitting down and pounding the keys a couple of hours a day4 ,as to giving advice to a practised writer--,i haven't the nerve4 ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr43 ,to a beginner ,i can only say that the way to learn to write is to write4 ,no one ever learned to swim on dry land4 ,write all the time4 ,make yourself your own merciless critic4 ,make up your mind you're rotten and figure how to improve4 ,take some incident from the daily paper4 ,write a story from it--not over two thousand five hundred words for a starter4 ,lay it aside till it's cold and then go over it1 thinking only ,here's a poor story by some one ,i don't know4 ,how can ,i make a good1 readable yarn out of it8 ,realize that you can't be a ,kipling or an ,o4 ,henry1 but you can become successful just the same4 ,as soon as you are suited with a story send it to a magazine for which it is suited4 ,ask for a criticism of it4 ,frequently you'll get one1 as editors really want to help writers4 ,don't get discouraged4 ,remember that1 as far as sales are concerned1 you're really writing for just one or two men--the readers on the staff of that particular magazine4 ,what one reader doesn't like another might4 ,read ,martin ,eden but don't let your ego get too big for your cosmos as ,martin did4 ,remember that ,jack ,london had been severely bitten by the bacillus of socialism1 and make allowances accordingly4 ,i'll wait until ,i am a practised writer before ,i attempt to offer advice to one4 ,farnham ,bishop3 ,feed your fiction with facts4 ,never cheapen your name and your self-respect by writing a pot-boiler4 ,have only one grade3 the best4 ,if you can't make a living at first by writing1 enlist or take a regular job--and learn about human beings and human nature in the barracks or the shop1 till you have something real to write about4 ,learn to use a typewriter and always keep a carbon copy until the story appears in print4 ,to the practised writer3 ,join the ,authors' ,league and the ,authors' ,guild4 ,build up your own staff of technical advisers2 an astronomer to coach you in the ways of the moon1 a retired sea-captain or naval officer1 doctors1 lawyers1 engineers1 buck-privates and other experts in all walks of life4 ,algernon ,blackwood3 ,to a beginner--don't write unless you simply can not keep it back4 ,write to please yourself4 ,never think of a public4 ,reduce your first attempts to the briefest possible length4 ,see in how few words you can make your idea or plot intelligible4 ,to a practised writer--feel dissatisfied with everything completed1 put it aside and forget it entirely1 then read it over months later--and revise4 ,max ,bonter3 ,i am only a beginner myself4 ,naturally ,i wouldn't be idiotic enough to offer suggestions to anybody4 ,i have often wondered1 however1 what my fate would have been if ,i had followed the line of least resistance4 ,looking at my first story after twenty-two years of rough house1 ,i see that it was nothing but cub bunk4 ,nevertheless at that time the editor told me that ,i had promise1 etc41 and advised me to keep going4 ,what would have happened to me if ,i had started to swell up at the tender age of eighteen and could have found a market for the stuff8 ,why1 at that time ,i fancied that a swallow-tail coat represented the ne plus ultra of social advancement6 ,i must have had a grain or two of sense under my callowness4 ,now1 after twenty-two years of real life1 ,i feel justified in making a beginning4 ,i think that maybe1 if ,i work faithfully1 ,i can say something before ,i quit4 ,katharine ,holland ,brown3 ,don't write unless you are profoundly convinced that you will be miserable in any other occupation4 ,then1 if you have determined that you will write1 tramp straight over everything and everybody that gets in your way4 ,remember that to be a writer will cost everything you have got1 and more too4 ,but go up to the counter and pay4 ,it's worth all you can pay4 ,after winning a certain amount of recognition1 don't imagine that you can afford to lean back and relax4 ,there isn't any back to a writer's chair4 ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley3 ,to beginner1 read ,kipling and write regularly without trying to imitate him4 ,to old hand1 don't tell your plots before they're written4 ,not because they're liable to be stolen1 either4 ,prosper ,buranelli3 ,i don't know of any suggestion--save don't write unless you can't do anything else4 ,if you have the consciousness of genius1 become a hobo1 because you are feeble-minded4 ,thompson ,burtis3 ,as from one beginner to another1 without elaboration1 ,i should say that the first dozen suggestions would all be comprised in one3 write about the scenes1 characters and events you know best and don't describe a single thing or type on which you have to use your imagination too much4 ,society girls writing about the untrammeled ,west and a ,kankakee newspaperwoman writing about ,reginald ,vandervere are sad1 and ,i think all people who want to write whom ,i have known have inevitably believed that their own actual experience and acquaintance provided nothing interesting4 ,the other two suggestions ,i would make would be3 ,go at writing as you would learning any trade--study published stories in detail2 learn proper technical procedure from books or experienced writers1 and work at it1 forgetting for the moment to consider it an art instead of a business4 ,having decided to write about something one knows about1 and having mastered technique enough to know that in plot1 construction and material the embryo story is salable1 do not let your wild desire to sell it and be a writer cause you to revise1 revamp and change your story so much that it will lose its personality--its power of reflecting you yourself4 ,the best story1 ,i firmly believe1 which ,i ever conceived finally ended up at half a cent a word after many weary hours of work on it because ,i had revised it until three prominent editors coincided in the judgment that it was manufactured4 ,it was woodenly written4 ,i believe the first draft of a lot of stories beat the final one4 ,of course the newer the writers the harder they must work1 but ,i believe stage fright often makes them as stiff as an amateur actor4 ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain3 ,my first nineteen suggestions to a beginner would be ,punch's celebrated advice to those about to marry--don't4 ,literature is an art4 ,if one can conceivably be happy outside it1 he had much better stay there4 ,as a lucrative profession it is simply a gamble4 ,if a man is free of all dependents and can stay so indefinitely1 he can afford to yield to the urge of the muse of fiction4 ,even then1 better not4 ,if he has dependents1 no circumstance or artistic urge or anything else should lead him to engage in literature at the expense or to the exclusion of some other sufficient employment for a livelihood4 ,needs demanding a source of income half that of a plumber's helper will prove sufficient to hamper his advance in his art1 turn his life into a rack of financial worries1 spoil for him all natural affections1 wreck his nerves1 weaken his mental powers1 break his health4 ,i know4 ,almost every editor for whom ,i have ever written has insisted that my best stuff was worthy of a much better market than he could give me4 ,the constant need of money to keep the family together has compelled me to sell my best with my worst1 where ,i knew it would bring quick cash4 ,it has driven me to make a nuisance of myself to editors who would be kind and quick2 it has kept me from trying editors who could not render such prompt service4 ,it has tied me to the cheapest and poorest markets4 ,it has caused me to fill these to overflowing1 only to the eventual loss even of them4 ,for the man who can not or will not take this advice1 ,i know of no qualification ,i possess to give any other4 ,robert ,v4 ,carr3 ,i can think of no suggestions that would equal what a man finds out for himself4 ,george ,l4 ,catton3 ,write a story1 doing your very best on it and paying no attention to any rules1 and submit it to a reliable1 cold1 disinterested critic4 ,then when he has read it1 ask him if he thinks you could ever make good in the field4 ,if he says no1 stop right there and forget it4 ,if he says yes1 go to it and stick to it in spite of hell6 ,but first1 before you go any farther1 get that critic to point out to you your mistakes1 and correct them4 ,after that pay no more attention to critics1 or to courses of study4 ,then write4 ,write6 ,write6 ,write6 ,laugh--and write4 ,weep--and write6 ,get mad--and write6 ,and write6 ,and laugh at rejection slips2 they don't mean anything4 ,to a practised writer ,i would say3 ,if you want to be a big boy in the game1 and you have the money to invest1 spend ten thousand dollars in an extensive advertising campaign of your work4 ,that's the big secret and the only secret4 ,and inside of a year or so you'll get back your ten thousand with a thousand per cent4 interest4 ,and ,i'm willing to prove it anytime4 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers3 ,to a beginner1 be sure you have something to say1 then learn how to say it4 ,to a practised writer1 work and pray4 ,roy ,p4 ,churchill3 ,to a beginner ,learn to express your observations4 ,to an oldtimer1 ,learn to repress your observations4 ,that is1 the beginner is afraid to write fully about his characters1 or does not know how4 ,the oldtimer does know how1 and preaches too long without selection4 ,carl ,clausen3 ,don't give up4 ,don't get conceited4 ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper3 ,know your subject4 ,make your story live4 ,stay away from the plaudits of your friends and treasure every bit of criticism you can get from persons who know4 ,for the practised writer1 this motto3 ,i've just got a hunch for a story4 ,it's going to be the best thing ,i ever did in my life4 ,for1 ,i don't care how poor that story may be when it is finished1 it is the enthusiasm that will make and keep making a writer4 ,when he sits down coldbloodedly just to write a story--that's about the time they're beginning to grease the toboggan4 ,arthur ,crabb3 ,to beginners3 ,have an independent income1 no troubles1 and a whole raft of experience4 ,far be it from me to make suggestions to a practised writer except from a commercial point of view4 ,from that point of view ,i should say find out what an editor wants and give it to him1 no matter how distasteful the job may be4 ,as ,i see it1 current fiction writers are divided into two classes1 those who know thoroughly what they are writing about and those who don't know anything at all what they are writing about4 ,so far as ,i can discover there does not seem to be much middle ground4 ,mary ,stewart ,cutting3 ,one of the most valuable experiences ,i ever had was that of manuscript reader for two months4 ,i found that every two out of three stories that failed did so on account of unbalanced construction4 ,an architect does not build a house with all the windows at the top and none at the bottom4 ,a woman does not make a dress with the sleeves put in back and front instead of at the sides4 ,but people write stories with apparently no idea of relative proportion such as would apply to anything else which they undertook4 ,elmer ,davis3 ,to a beginner1 take the ,keeley cure and try to get the infection out of your system before it is too late4 ,to a veteran1 none4 ,william ,harper ,dean3 ,to the beginner ,i would say1 ,write about the things that strike deeply into your sense of emotion and damn the rest4 ,to the practised writer3 ,for ,god's sake don't prostitute your ability for any editor--don't write to order4 ,go hungry and suffer the pangs of near-failure 7you will do both at times67 if needs be1 but hang on to what you know is life6 ,don't let go for the easy money of the tailor-made story--these have made it necessary for us to import stories to ,america4 ,easy money from story writing buys a ticket through the primrose path to--obscurity6 ,be a writer1 not a hack6 ,harris ,dickson3 ,personally my most valuable suggestion to myself is to write the thing that ,i know4 ,for instance1 ,i did three or four historical novels that might have been done by anybody that was able to read certain books in which the material lay4 ,any hack writer can do such stories in any library4 ,naturally they have no particular value4 ,but the man's story of his own back yard1 of his own neighbors1 of his own town1 of the conditions that he knows the best1 has more or less value as a contribution to current history4 ,like the journals of ,st4 ,simon1 ,pepys1 ,the ,jesuit ,relations1 etc41 from which later histories are written4 ,the young writer as well as the old must bear in mind that he offers his work1 not in competition with his next-door neighbor1 nor in competition with his town1 his state1 his country or his own generation1 but in competition with the best that has ever been produced by the best brains of the world4 ,therefore he must do his level best1 at whatever cost of time and labor4 ,he simply can not afford to let a story leave his hand when a better word will improve it4 ,captain ,dingle3 ,to a beginner3 ,write only of what you know from personal contact2 write your stories as you would write your letters2 avoid a multiplicity of advisers4 ,write with your soul as well as with your pen1 and the first real editor who sees your stuff will either encourage you to go on or send you a printed slip4 ,if that comes1 go back to work4 ,to a practised writer3 ,write your best1 even after you have arrived4 ,don't let an editor down by giving him trash just because you believe he will take it for your name's sake4 ,louis ,dodge3 ,my suggestion to a writer1 practised or otherwise1 would be3 ,be yourself--but be yourself developed to the highest possible degree4 ,and ,i should want it understood that development is something that comes more largely from within than without4 ,to educate is to lead out1 or draw out--not to fill up4 ,phyllis ,duganne3 ,i suppose a beginner ought to learn just what he needs to put into a story to make it convincing2 his good plot is nothing at all unless he knows how to make his people alive4 ,that's about the most valuable thing ,i've been learning4 ,and if he's inclined to use too many words1 he ought to learn not to do that--words can get so in the way of a story4 ,i'm not advising practised writers yet2 maybe ,i will some day4 ,j4 ,allan ,dunn3 ,i have suggested with good results to several beginners that they should try to write in dramatic form entirely before they start a story4 ,that they should write about what they know at first hand4 ,that they should leave the psychological alone4 ,i think ,i can assimilate advice myself but ,i don't know for sure and ,i don't want to attempt to advise a practised writer4 ,i don't want to give an opinion on what is wrong with his yarn4 ,i was an editor once4 ,walter ,a4 ,dyer3 ,i would advise beginners to practise restraint in writing and to seek to be sincere4 ,also to cultivate the imaginative qualities in the development of character and the making of pictures4 ,to a practised writer ,i have no right to advise anything1 but ,i admire independence and a devotion to the highest ideals of style and structure2 ,i despise the tendency to fall in with the crowd and devote the greater energy to the invention of the plot and emotions that the public wants4 ,walter ,prichard ,eaton3 ,to a beginner--remember that the ,book of ,ruth is told in three thousand words and ,guy de ,maupassant's ,price of ,string in three thousand words4 ,e4 ,o4 ,foster3 ,the most valuable suggestions ,i would give to a beginner are3 ,first1 to write2 second1 to write and third1 to write4 ,to a practised writer ,i could say first a big mailing list1 such as technical1 sporting magazines out of the ordinary line1 so that pot-boilers could be adding to the regular income1 second to originate a style of your own4 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel3 ,having admitted that ,i can't boss my own work1 ,i'm hardly in position to tell another writer how to do it4 ,since you ask for suggestions to beginners1 however1 here are one or two for which there wasn't room on the questionnaire3 ,study words4 ,they're the bricks with which you build your story-house and you should know how to lay them right4 ,learn just what they mean4 ,you can not correctly express your ideas without the requisite vocabulary4 ,avoid using long or unusual words or complicated sentences1 so far as possible4 ,you should know what the long and unusual words mean1 for occasions may arise when no others will express your exact meaning2 but usually you can1 and should1 use simple words and simple sentences4 ,this makes your stuff easy to read4 ,the reader doesn't want to be forced to consult the dictionary in order to find out what you're trying to say4 ,read as much as you can4 ,reading will help greatly to give you the hang of writing4 ,but1 in writing1 don't try to model your stuff on something you have read4 ,develop it in your own way4 ,don't be a copy-cat4 ,keep trying2 that is1 keep writing4 ,if your first stories don't land with editors1 don't quit4 ,consider these rejected stories as practise work1 and write new ones4 ,you will gain in ease and power with every new tale written4 ,as for suggestions to a practised writer1 the best and only one ,i can give is this3 ,pick your field and then specialize in that field4 ,learn all you can about it--you never can know too much4 ,if you can1 develop a new field2 then you'll be its master1 not merely a follower of the trails laid down by others4 ,the beaten paths are always crowded with other folks who are trying to do the same thing you're doing4 ,if you can't be a pioneer1 then try to make yourself the best man in whatever line you've chosen--the sea1 the mountains1 the jungle1 the city1 the small town1 or what-not4 ,knowledge is power is an ancient bromide1 but absolutely true4 ,j4 ,u4 ,giesy3 ,complete interest in work1 dogged perseverance1 a study of language and its shades of meaning--a study of dialogue with a view to both virility and naturalness--a painting of descriptions broadly and concisely rather than in detail 7for a beginner74 ,i'd hesitate to advise a practised writer till ,i got into his class myself4 ,george ,gilbert3 ,write2 peddle your stuff through the mails4 ,keep away from editors2 you can't influence them2 do not let them influence you4 ,especially keep away from the editor who wants you to write something like the last1 or string that idea into a series or a serial4 ,be yourself and let all else not matter4 ,do not write to order or to please any editor or set of readers4 ,kenneth ,gilbert3 ,to the beginner ,i would say3 ,be sure your plot is strong1 dramatic and not commonplace2 start the action quickly1 never let up on the suspense1 and end it with a twist4 7,the so-called surprise story1 but the safest with which to make the first landing47 ,modesty forbids me to suggest anything to the practised writer4 ---- writers require no such advice from me1 and ,i wouldn't care to set down on paper any suggestions to the ladies and gentlemen who over-write many of our other magazines4 ,holworthy ,hall3 ,study ,latin1 forget ,o4 ,henry and manage to have a rich relative or an independent income in order to avoid the necessity of gambling with good ideas and turning them into bad stories for immediate cash4 ,to a practised writer without identity1 ,i should hardly venture to offer suggestions4 ,richard ,matthews ,hallet3 ,i would say to a beginner that after eight years in this game ,i was forced to hold up a ,spanish miner for food2 and yet for seven years after that ,i have made a living at least and paid up debts4 ,if the beginner is like me1 he will need patience4 ,if not this year1 next1 and if not then1 perhaps five years hence4 ,respice finem4 ,i think ,i would also advise him not to set out to be an author1 but if he has an itch to write1 let him remember that and do it on the side1 but let him also have another trade or profession and plug at that for his actual contacts4 ,a spectator pure and simple will give a pretty thin interpretation of things1 usually4 ,a lawyer grows better as a lawyer by the mere exercise of his profession1 and so a doctor2 but an author by sitting at a desk can improve nothing but his technique--that thing at which ,i look aslant4 ,he must go elsewhere for his matter4 ,he must charge himself if he is to discharge4 ,and this is not done too easily by strolling among his fellow-citizens and pestering them with questions4 ,unless you have some ground-knowledge1 you can not even put the right questions4 ,let him do something4 ,let him look to his personality1 in other words4 ,in my opinion it will not tower much over what it is when he leaves everything for writing4 ,william ,h4 ,hamby3 ,the most interesting thing in the world is human life4 ,real fiction is life interestingly told4 ,of all artists the writer is the greatest1 for in creating a living1 acting human being he comes nearest exercising the power of a god4 ,a beginning writer should be intensely interested in many things1 the more the better4 ,his mind should be eternally curious4 ,he must love life and people1 especially people of simple human qualities4 ,then he must discover which of these interests he can portray most vividly and give his stories or articles a background of his greatest liking4 ,at first it is hard to tell whether a thing is merely of personal interest to the writer or of general interest to the public4 ,many things are interesting or funny purely because we know the characters to which they happen4 ,the writer must first make us acquainted with the character before we can become interested in the details of their lives4 ,advice1 like medicine1 is usually more profitable to give than to take1 but here is the sum of the advice ,i would give a new writer2 like your chief character tremendously1 make him want something terribly1 give him the dickens of a time getting it1 but let him get it4 ,a4 ,judson ,hanna3 ,this may sound cynical1 but goes4 ,to the beginner3 ,there seems to be little opportunity in the field of fiction for originality4 ,follow the herd4 ,to the practised writer3 ,you know how you got there4 ,keep going along the same track and you'll go farther4 ,which sounds like an ,irish bull4 ,in explanation--the very fact that an editor will tell you just what he wants and what he does not want seems to prove that a writer must manufacture his stories according to system4 ,the only chance for originality that ,i have discovered is in variety of plot4 ,joseph ,mills ,hanson3 ,to a beginner1 unless he be of the unusual type of ,poe1 ,jules ,verne or ,h4 ,g4 ,wells3--,adhere to familiar subjects2 personally familiar if the subject be of the present time2 historically familiar if of the past4 ,know ten times as much about your subject as you can possibly impart to the reader in the story in hand4 ,tell your story in as few words as possible 7,i wish ,i could practise that precept myself674 ,write naturally2 do not strive for dramatic eloquence4 ,to a practised writer3--,do not become self-opinionated and over-confident in your own abilities4 ,either tendency spoils the freshness of view and the simplicity of statement that is the charm of the best writing4 ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman3 ,i have given written advice to a number of beginners1 which can be condensed thus--concentrate interest upon one figure--maintain interest unbroken--provide continuity of incident--give central figure an obstacle or obstacles to overcome by individual grit1 wit and perseverance--have a plotted1 dramatic ending1 with very short denouement4 ,in addition ,i tell them--short words--short sentences--short paragraphs4 ,accuracy without detailed measurement1 et cetera4 ,forceful quiet ,english4 ,wit1 humor and pathos in proper proportions4 ,dramatic suspense4 ,clearness of expression that will inform the most obtuse without wearying the clear-minded quick thinkers4 ,to the practised writer ,i would say--be sure1 since a writer looks like a fool when he makes ridiculous statements4 ---- makes a judge deny the right of appeal1 when all he could do was to deny a new trial4 ,i would tell the writer to avoid1 as he would the plague1 a too free use of words requiring a dictionary at the reader's elbow4 ,i would tell him to remember that ,america needs sanity1 not ravings of a madhouse1 and to write such things as would help her stand four square and solid before the whole of creation4 ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw3 ,in all humility ,i'd say to the beginner--,write about what you know of with simplicity and repression4 ,joseph ,hergesheimer3 ,there are none but the need of honesty4 ,robert ,hichens3 ,try to write each page as if it were the only page you would ever write4 ,make each page as good as you can4 ,don't give yourself up to some special effort later on in your book4 ,put forth your best powers4 ,don't be niggardly4 ,many writers are lazy-minded4 ,that is fatal4 ,you must be ready to take any amount of trouble over your book4 ,never think of money rewards or of the opinions of critics when writing4 ,try only to satisfy yourself thoroughly and don't worry about what others will think or say4 ,never imitate another writer4 ,r4 de ,s4 ,horn3 ,to the beginner ,i would say3 ,remember that writing is as much a profession as banking or engineering2 therefore don't try it unless you are prepared to give it the same study and effort that you would have to give these others to make anything of a success4 ,carry a note-book always and note anything that suggests a story4 ,write at least four hours every day1 whether you feel inspired or not2 the ideas will come after a little while4 ,don't get discouraged2 success came to the biggest authors only after the most discouraging failures4 ,revise--and revise--and revise6 ,and stick to the people1 the things1 that you know4 ,to a practised writer ,i would say3 ,please don't write on your reputation4 ,write every new story just as carefully and conscientiously as though you were trying your first story on your first editor4 ,it's so disappointing to pick up a poor story by a good author4 ,clyde ,b4 ,hough3 ,read1 study1 absorb and dissect current fiction1 take it apart sentence by sentence1 word by word1 even dissect the words and see why some other word would not have done better4 ,as a suggestion to the practical writer--still study current fiction4 ,emerson ,hough3 ,to the beginner--,don't6 ,to the practised writer--,quit6 ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson3 ,no practised writer wants suggestions--not my suggestions anyway4 ,to a beginner--,read all you can of the best stylists1 write all you can1 and when you have started a thing always finish it1 never abandon it4 ,inez ,haynes ,irwin3 ,i have only one suggestion to the beginner--getting into the habit of writing every day4 ,i have no suggestion to make to the practised writer4 ,will ,irwin3 ,to the beginner4 ,get the writing habit4 ,train yourself to write every day1 whether you feel like it or no4 ,write only about the life you know4 ,try to be yourself4 ,avoid the habit of abandoning a piece of work half-way through4 ,finish what you have begun1 no matter how bad it seems to you4 ,to practised writers--,i humbly withhold advice6 ,charles ,tenney ,jackson3 ,as to suggestions to new writers1 ,i should think1 whether of any value or not1 they are given above4 ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson3 ,to a beginner8 ,first1 second and fourth sentences in ,,viii4 ,to a practised writer the same4 ,mary ,johnston3 ,feel and think4 ,continue to feel and think4 ,lloyd ,kohler3 ,to the beginner ,i would advise that1 after he has studied the numerous books on fiction writing1 he forget about them entirely when he begins the story4 ,the minute he attempts to write a story according to rule1 he is playing with fire4 ,he should study form and technique1 study the masters1 and then1 when the story is actually begun1 forget everything but the story itself4 ,without doubt the greatest number of rejected stories are rejected because of either the weakness or triteness of the plots used4 ,beginners should always keep uppermost in mind the fact that the story's the thing4 ,get the story first2 technique and style are secondary--but always very important also4 ,harold ,lamb3 ,to a very beginner1 to make friends with some one who knows a great deal more about writing than he does4 7,this is the only school open to the beginner4 ,there is no academy for the would-be writer1 no night course or laboratory4 ,they say the world is the university of the story teller4 ,but1 after all1 is not that only another way of saying he must learn to crawl by himself1 unless some one wiser than he will instruct him87 ,and then to make friends with those who have told stories in other languages4 ,to read them in their own speech4 ,the most valuable to me are ,french1 ,chinese1 ,scandinavian1 ,russian1 ,persian4 7,no1 ,i do not read ,russian or ,scandinavian4 ,translations do1 for these47 ,and to write poetry4 ,it is a good idea to burn it all up afterward4 ,that is a very valuable suggestion4 ,not just emotional poetry1 or that slip-shod thing1 free verse4 ,but ,i think the beginner will learn that most of the masters of his craft know both the music and the mechanism of language4 ,all the early masters did4 ,to-day1 ,i wonder if the tools of the masters of the craft cut as deep as then8 ,well1 non sequitur4 ,to the experienced writer1 to follow every whim4 ,and to do a lot of work4 ,he should know how to go about that4 ,and a most valuable suggestion1 if some one else will make it1 too1 would be keep away from dictionaries1 encyclopedias1 fiction magazines1 literary clubs4 ,sinclair ,lewis3 ,work1 work1 work4 ,hapsburg ,liebe3 ,to both the beginner and the practised writer ,i would say3 ,get something to write about1 and know your subject1 before you write2 and write that one story as though it were to be the best story in the world--and don't throw away time on little stuff--try for the biggest1 always1 and damn the wishwash and slush 7as ,j4 ,london called it1 and ,i will add7 gush1 mush and tango4 ,romaine ,h4 ,lowdermilk3 ,i can think of nothing but the trite4 ,work6 ,work6 ,write6 ,write6 ,count each story that you finish--even if you fail to sell--as an exercise in which you learn something4 ,think of the tight-rope performer or opera singer4 ,they have spent months1 years1 at expense learning their business before being able to turn a penny4 ,the writer can at least consider the story-writing as an avocation until he becomes proficient4 ,he can turn out a story once in a while though his days be spent over the ribbon-counter4 ,so to a beginner ,i suggest cutting out the night dances1 pool1 cards and the like and spending from seven to eleven each night at the typewriter--practising6 ,don't get the idea story writing is easy money4 ,be willing to give effort for each dollar received and you're more likely to get the dollar4 ,it's hard1 hard work and when ideas refuse to come it's even harder4 ,and when editors seem for a while to turn the cold shoulder to stories you have poured your very life into you begin to wonder if there isn't some pull being exercised by the authors whose punk--very1 very punk--stories you see in the big noise magazines4 ,but don't quit4 ,stay with it4 ,that is cold food but the only kind ,i have to offer4 ,keep writing and try to learn something every day about the trade4 ,editors can't haul you along if you refuse to follow their lead4 ,they can't teach you4 ,to the practised writer ,i can only beg him to stick to the things he knows4 ,nothing pains me more than to read western stories written by persons who know nothing of the ,west4 ,oh1 the rope-tricks and the cactus and the wild-horses and the cowboys they so glibly sling into a story6 ,one writer told of gathering armfuls of sun-dried cholla 7cactus76 ,another told1 lightly1 of horseplay in which one puncher heaved another into a clump of cholla6 ,now see1 ,i am going to write of a ,new ,york editor3 ,john ,jones1 editor of one of the big1 down-town magazines1 finished his breakfast while his charming little wife1 ,mary1 packed his lunch-bucket4 ,then he arose from the table and1 with a brief kiss upon her ruby lips1 he ran down the steps and out across the bottle-strewn lawn and down along the maple lined street4 ,mary stood in the door and waved as he turned the last corner4444 ,john whistled gaily as he strode into the editorial office1 punched the time-clock and set his lunch-bucket in the cloak room4 ,he removed his coat and put on the long1 black cloth cuffs that ,mary had made2 he climbed briskly to his stool and1 as the whistle blew1 turned to the papers that littered his desk and began to write rapidly4444 ,now1 then4 ,that's as near right as most of the cowboy stories that appear in any magazine except ----4 ,you hate to read of that lunch-bucket as much as ,i do to read of wearing the chaps into the ,denver hotel1 or using a hair-rope for a riata6 ,and all the rest4 ,eugene ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr43 ,to a beginner1 see ,,vii and ,,xi4 ,to a practised writer3 ,repent1 brother6 ,rose ,macaulay3 ,do not begin4 ,very few beginners will come to any good4 ,to practised writers3 ,stop4 ,very few practised writers have not already written too much4 ,crittenden ,marriott3 ,choose one type of story and stick to it4 ,otherwise you'll lose on all styles4 ,facility is a curse4 ,if you want to write in several styles1 have a nom de plume for each4 ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney3 7,see also under answer to ,v47 ,one suggestion--the all-fired importance of taking the old pen in hand often and as regularly as may be1 and of batting out lines1 scads of them4 ,and let it be the writer himself that flows with the ink1 not ,zane ,grey1 ,thackeray or ,o4 ,henry4 ,ray ,mc,gillivray3 ,to a beginning writer3 ,read much of the best of the sort of writing you wish to do4 ,suit your own abilities and interests in the choice--and your abilities depend upon what you have seen1 felt1 lived and learned4 ,study every person as a human character4 ,live as full a life as your typewriter will let you4 ,write like a demon--and don't let up until your yarn satisfies you and at least one editor4 ,to experienced professional writers ,i wouldn't say a word4 ,my questions1 on the other hand1 would keep them humping4 ,helen ,topping ,miller3 ,my suggestion to beginning writers is3 first1 learn people4 ,know as many people from every walk of life as possible4 ,learn their lives1 their troubles1 their problems1 the joys they have--their outlook on the rest of the world4 ,having acquired a strong sincerity in dealing with humanity1 the writer must inevitably produce work which will ring true4 ,in my opinion1 giving convincing and appealing character plot becomes more or less a matter of mechanics and the employment of the dramatic sense4 ,second3 learn the language4 ,study poetry1 the psalms1 songs1 the ,gospels--every form of tuneful1 rhythmic writing4 ,to make words sing is to my mind the supreme gift in writing ,english4 ,and ,i can give no better advice to the practised writer than this4 ,thomas ,samson ,miller3 ,never force yourself1 for the stuff then comes from the head instead of from the heart4 ,it doesn't ring true4 ,quit before you are tired and you'll be more eager to get at the work on the morrow4 ,anne ,shannon ,monroe3 ,i would suggest to a beginner that he first be sure he has something to say3 then put it every bit on paper2 then find the main thread and eliminate everything that does not make it stand out2 to read it aloud1 and get the sound of his stuff2 to read it to other people and get their reactions2 to lay it aside till he forgets it1 and then go over it again--maybe half a dozen times4 ,to eliminate every word he can eliminate and still tell his story clearly and convincingly4 ,and then to copy it beautifully--and send it to an editor4 ,one more point3 to pay not an iota of attention to praise of his work1 when he reads it to his friends1 but to note their actual reaction--their interest1 curiosity1 enjoyment of his story4 ,what they say has no value2 how they enjoy it is everything4 ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery3 ,as to advising beginners--why1 ,i love to do it4 ,advice is so cheap and easy4 ,first1 ,i always tell them what an old lady used to say to me3 ,don't marry as long as you can help it1 for when the right man comes along you can't help it4 ,so--don't write if you can help it2 because if you ought to write and have it in you to make a real success of writing you can't help it4 ,if you are sure you can't help it1 then go ahead4 ,write--write--write4 ,revise--revise--revise4 ,prune--prune--prune4 ,study stories that are classed as masterpieces and find out why they are so classed4 ,leave your stories alone after they are written long enough to come to them as a stranger4 ,then read them over as a stranger2 you'll see a score of faults and lacks you never noticed when they came hot from your pen4 ,rewrite them1 cutting out the faults and supplying the lacks4 ,i would advise beginners to cultivate the note-book habit4 ,jot down every idea that comes to you as you go on living--ideas for plots1 characters1 descriptions1 dialogue1 etc4 ,it is amazing how well these bits will fit into a story that wasn't born or thought of when you set them down4 ,and they generally have a poignancy that is lacking in deliberate invention4 ,for example1 ,i was once washing the dinner dishes when a friend happened to quote to me the old saying3 ,blessed are they who expect nothing1 for they shall not be disappointed4 ,i retorted1 ,i think it would be worse to expect nothing than to be disappointed4 ,then ,i dropped my dish cloth and rushed to jot it down4 ,it lay in my note-book unused for ten years and then it motivated one of the best chapters in my first book4 ,this illustrates what ,i mean by the note-book habit4 ,practised writers should try to avoid mannerisms and stereotyped style4 ,they won't succeed1 of course1 but they should try4 ,also1 they shouldn't presume on their success and think that anything goes because they write it4 ,frederick ,moore3 ,read and labor4 ,don't get out of practise4 ,talbot ,mundy3 #a4 ,write4 #b4 ,rewrite4 ,the beginner can learn to write only by writing1 just as you can learn to run only by running1 or to ride by riding4 ,i believe that rewriting is almost the most important thing of all4 ,go over a story again and again and again may be a counsel of unattainable perfection1 but ,i know it's good4 ,it has never failed in my own case4 ,when ,i have failed to satisfy it has been because1 for financial reasons1 ,i have neglected this essential4 ,it may rarely happen that because of long forethought or peculiar skill or familiarity with a certain subject1 a writer may be able to dash off a story without pause4 ,perhaps pause is a bad thing anyway4 ,but reconsideration--polish--elimination of unnecessary words1 sentences1 paragraphs and even chapters--these are almost as important as the plot4 ,for of what use is a story if it gives the reader no pleasure to read8 ,each story should be a finished job4 ,there ought to be a law against writing more than one book a year4 ,in fact there is a law against it4 ,i'm going to reform and obey the law4 ,one book or its equivalent in twelve months would pay ninety-nine out of a hundred writers 7in the end7 vastly better than the novelette a month that ,i have been attempting4 ,kathleen ,norris3 ,write as freely as you would bake if you meant to be a baker4 ,imagine that your seventeenth story is going to be your first success1 and move steadily and indifferently through the discouragements that meet the first sixteen4 ,live1 in loving and giving1 to the full2 and think of your work as a sort of overflow4 #dth to #efth rule4 ,write4 ,anne ,o',hagan3 ,the usual one--know enough about your story1 your characters1 their lives and experiences1 to be in a way possessed by them when you are working with them4 ,otherwise you can't write with any profit4 ,do things not connected with the business of writing now and then--study unrelated topics1 travel1 farm1 get into movements1 etc41 etc41 not for the purpose of getting material but for the purpose of getting fertilizers2 as the good agriculturist plows1 cultivates and seeds a field every now and then1 not in order to reap a crop1 but in order to plow under his crop for the enrichment of his soil4 ,grant ,overton3 ,there is no suggestion of a concrete sort that one can make which will be of any value to a beginner--that is1 a general suggestion4 ,he must work it all out for himself4 ,he will get it with all his intellectual five or six or seven senses from reading and from following writers and other people in general4 ,the work of synthesis is his job4 ,the creative emergence is his genius if he has it4 ,a practised writer is not in need of suggestions1 or1 if he is1 they have nothing to do with his actual writing but with his qualities as a man and a thinker1 his general outlook upon life1 his philosophy1 etc4 ,sir ,gilbert ,parker3 ,none4 ,hugh ,pendexter3 ,to the beginner3 write what you know4 ,be interesting4 ,to the practised writer3 have nothing happen beyond the plane of human possibilities4 ,it is better to keep to the plane of probabilities4 ,truth may take such grotesque shapes as to surpass the wildest fiction1 but fiction should always be truthful4 ,clay ,perry3 ,to a beginner ,i would say3 get into a writing game1 newspaper work1 if possible1 and you will soon find out whether you really want to write as a career4 ,use raw life as a study4 ,mix with the common herd and get to know them4 ,be of the people and you will be for the people and they will be for you2 it will reflect in your work4 ,to a practised writer3 ,keep close to the source1 human nature4 ,don't go away and hide for long periods at a time4 ,try to turn out in each successive story something better than the last4 ,let each one be your current masterpiece4 ,walter ,b4 ,pitkin3 ,i can not give two or three suggestions to a beginner1 for every beginner is an individual1 having his own peculiarities of interest1 perception1 bent and instinctive expressiveness4 ,all ,i can say is that all beginners1 irrespective of individual differences1 must achieve three things3 insight into and enthusiasm over some aspect of life that is capable of being dramatized or similarly portrayed in narrative2 secondly1 a sense of effective presentation1 be it of drama or character or what not2 and1 lastly1 some kind of original touch1 which obviously can not be defined except in some useless negative way4 ,each of these three achievements involves both native ability and training4 ,the training need not come from schools or teachers2 it may come from the worker's own resolve to observe1 analyze and practise4 ,ability alone gets only a little way4 ,training alone gets nowhere4 ,a word on the second achievement mentioned4 ,effective presentation involves much more than a command of ,english4 ,it involves1 over and above that1 skill in selecting episodes1 angles of approach1 phases of character and action which stress the significant in your story and blur or wholly remove the trivial and irrelevant4 ,in this department of your work1 nothing succeeds so well as patience1 elaborate observation and practise in thumb-nail sketches and persistent revision4 ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell3 ,there is only one valuable suggestion3 ,know your own story4 ,know where it is going to end4 ,if the climax is clear any road can lead to the climax4 ,i never had trouble except when ,i ignored that rule4 ,if one knows the climax there need be no rambling to get there4 ,give me a snappy climax and ,i can build any story to it4 ,lucia ,mead ,priest3 ,i do not feel competent to suggest in this1 but ,i will venture to state what ,i feel is a sad lack in our current literature--it is a loss in moral values4 ,why has the story of ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson swept the ,english reading people off its feet8 ,because he has given us something for which we were hungry--a decent1 whole-souled1 high thinking man4 ,mark ,sabre is not impossible1 nor a namby-pamby4 ,he is real4 ,the fact that the world has responded is reassuring4 ,we are not dead to honor or clean thinking after all4 ,for one1 ,i am deadly weary of flaunting naked bodies and the coarse souls that meet us on every printed page4 ,let us turn the leaf4 ,let us1 every last man of us1 get down into himself1 into his decencies1 and turn his pen their way4 ,he will reap his reward1 ,i believe4 ,ask the publishers about ,if ,winter ,comes4 ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes3 ,never read book reviews or literary magazines--books about books4 ,frank ,c4 ,robertson3 ,to the beginner1 and ,i would not presume to advise any other kind1 ,i would say that1 if there is the innate ability to write1 adherence to three simple rules should bring success4 ,think1 ,work1 ,revise4 ,but above all think4 ,and realize right at the beginning that bluffs won't work4 ,don't pretend to be a writer until you are one4 ,the instant you stop to pose you lose some of the momentum that is carrying you along toward success4 ,the woods are so full of posers that there is no longer any distinction even in being a good one4 ,ruth ,sawyer3 ,for a beginner ,i should say write simply1 write of the best and the most inspirational things and people that you know4 ,test the value of what you do by the quality of human appeal that is in it and remember that the finest and most lasting influences in any art are those that build toward something and not those that pull down4 ,to the practised writer ,i have nothing to offer4 ,he knows what he wants to do and how he wants to do it better than ,i can tell him4 ,chester ,l4 ,saxby3 ,to a beginner3 ,read6 ,read6 ,read6 ,anything1 everything--and discuss it4 ,nobody can tell a beginner what to write or how to write--in the way of style or type of story1 ,i mean4 ,let him go1 and then be fair enough to his future to find fault4 ,of course1 a beginner should seek the society of a practised writer1 and a practised writer should seek the society of the beginner4 ,the beginner needs insight into methods1 and the practised writer1 ,god wot1 gets as jaded and blas and scrawny as anything if he doesn't forever look behind him4 ,to the practised writer3 ,quit thinking of the reading public4 ,be inspired once more4 ,look back4 ,barry ,scobee3 ,for the beginner3 ,know you want to and will write4 ,then learn technique4 ,then get something out of your own experience to write about--in other words1 have something to write about4 ,don't flounder as ,i did because ,i had nothing to write about4 ,as soon as ,i found something to write about ,i began to sell4 ,by something to write about ,i mean something you love1 understand1 are sincere about4 ,advice1 hints to the practised writer8 ,nothing doing6 ,i'll try to listen1 though4 ,one more thought here3 ,it seems to me1 after all1 that sincerity is the great need and essential of the writer4 ,i saw in the ,metropolitan five or six years ago that of two thousand stories submitted not one seemed to be sincere4 7,that may not have been the precise statement1 but it is the impression ,i got then47 ,and the statement set me to thinking1 and has kept me at it now and then ever since4 ,sincerity6 ,the editors of ---- sent a story back to me recently4 ,it wasn't sincere writing and ,i knew it4 ,there's no use2 ,i can't bluff or four-flush or give short measure in my fiction and get away with it4 ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott3 ,my best advice to a beginner is to write one hundred stories4 ,i would not advise a practised writer4 ,he would not be a practised writer if he accepted any advice that did not come from within himself4 ,robert ,simpson3 ,to a beginner ,i should say above all things1 write incessantly1 write simply1 and revise without end4 ,learn to appreciate the true value of criticism4 ,all criticism is good1 however incompetent or unjust some of it may be1 if only because it expresses a point of view4 ,study the stories of the recognized masters1 then those of the rank and file1 and finally the clumsy tricks of other beginners4 ,lots of beginners have ideas and tricks of writing that are worth knowing and mastering and applying to your own particular style4 ,finally1 always remember that in a story1 no matter what its class or nature1 three things are absolutely essential4 ,these three are interest1 suspense and climax--the beginning1 the middle and the end4 ,i won't split straws about the possible overlapping of interest and suspense1 because ,i don't allow myself to become confused about their meanings4 ,in beginning a story one must write with a view to taking hold of the reader's interest4 ,as the story progresses it must develop suspense to retain that interest more firmly1 and1 when the climax is reached1 one must be sure that it satisfies that interest4 ,of these three the climax is the most important1 largely because it is the final impression the reader has of the story4 ,he takes that final impression away with him4 ,what went before is more or less of a blur1 and no matter how brilliantly the climax may have been led up to1 if it does not satisfy the interest of the reader1 his impression of the story is going to be flat and unprofitable4 ,therefore1 try to get the climax first4 ,to the practised writer ,i should say--practise some more4 ,simplify4 ,make one word grow where a dozen grew before4 ,there is no graduation day in the school of writing4 ,do not be tempted by success into the worship of false gods4 ,keep your work clean and honest and remember that it is your public's only conception of you4 ,the man who doesn't put all of the ,god that is in him into the stuff he writes isn't an author at all4 ,he's only a parasitic imitation4 ,and he who does--well1 he doesn't have to be reminded that it is a long and dusty road to the ,throne4 ,arthur ,d4 ,howden ,smith3 ,simplicity of language4 ,simplicity of plot4 ,clear-cut characterization4 ,they apply to new and experienced writers4 ,theodore ,seixas ,solomons3 ,on plot1 or the story factors1 ,i would tell a beginner to be sure it's a story4 ,if1 boiled down to a few sentences1 it interests a person1 particularly a young person1 and elicits1 naturally1 the remark or the question ,now what do you think of that6 it will mean it has that beginning and end and curve between which distinguishes it from a mere piece of life or a mere tale1 or a mere unorganized1 disunified thing which1 no matter what skill may be used in the handling of it1 can never be a story4 ,next ,i would tell him to beware of excerpts from life1 so-called true stories1 as he would avoid rattlesnakes4 ,finally1 that as to the language content of his story1 his expression1 to begin with natural expression1 to write as he would write in a letter to a pal1 and learn dignity and style1 gradually1 by a series of modifications and buildings upon that natural speech of his4 ,as to grammar and rhetoric1 they will give him little trouble if he builds up from his own speech4 ,by this means he will always remain clear and always retain his own individuality2 he will avoid imitation and avoid fine writing4 ,as to all the rest--everything--as to technique1 ,i would tell him constantly and always to consider himself as a reader and not as a writer1 and rigidly adhere to all his prejudices and whims as a reader1 while learning to become a writer4 ,that's all4 ,to a practised writer ,i'd merely omit that middle advice about working up a style from his common speech in writing letters or talking1 for the practised writer has gone beyond the possibility of doing that4 ,but the rest of my advice to the beginner ,i would repeat to the practised writer1 for depend upon it1 whatever his faults are1 they may be corrected by following that advice4 ,i wish somebody was around me to make me do it6 ,raymond ,s4 ,spears3 ,work on a newspaper1 and learn how to gather facts4 ,formulate a habit of recognizing literary technique--as sentence structure1 paragraphic1 chapter1 etc4 ,and weigh everything in a scales that shows habit of mind regarding moral rectitude or obliquity4 ,i think every writer owes it to the public to use his talents1 say for an average of one hour a day1 in unselfish public service4 ,for clean politics1 help along education1 drive out criminal practises1 as sale of narcotics1 contract swindling1 etc4 ,this is just a notion4 ,norman ,springer3 ,for a beginner3 ,learn to take criticism4 ,even if it hurts4 ,especially if it hurts4 ,that's the kind that helps4 ,don't waste your time inventing fancy plots--they've all been done before4 ,don't take your ideas of life from the movies4 ,and beware of the inspirational story1 that one that comes rushing full clad out of your mind and just dribbles from your finger-tips4 ,every writer gets these stories occasionally2 they are never as good as you imagine them to be1 they always need careful revision1 and--this is important--it is this sort of story that sometimes turns out to be an unconscious plagiarism4 ,so don't be too proud of the easy to write story4 ,the practised writer3 ,well1 ,i don't know4 ,i'm not practised enough myself4 ,but judging from observation1 the chief danger to the practised1 and successful1 writer lies in the fact that he may catch egotitis4 ,julian ,street3 ,the beginner should read good stuff1 but should not imitate4 ,he should study life around him1 not life out of books4 ,at least he should not write out of what he has read1 but out of his experience4 ,the experienced writer frequently needs cutting4 ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling3 ,beginners should study the dictionary1 look up at least five thousand synonyms for the verb say1 talk to everybody1 love thieves1 oil stock salesmen and book agents as well as he does the cook1 the banker and the home-run slugger on his home-town team2 read everybody's stuff and resolve to do better2 look at sunsets and flappers1 listen to sermons for amusement and go to the vaudeville for thoughts of depth and gravity4 ,have no advice for professional writers--their habits are fixed4 ,booth ,tarkington3 ,i don't know how to make a suggestion to a beginner without knowing that beginner2 same applies to a practised writer4 ,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle3 ,giving advice to beginners is like trying to teach a novice to shoot4 ,you can hand 'em the gun1 point out the target and explain about notching the sights4 ,a typewriter for a gun1 paper for ammunition and the editor for the target4 ,seriously1 ,i should tell them to write only of things of which they know4 ,do not copy any one1 try to stick to their own vocabulary1 and be human4 ,after they grow past writing only of things they know1 perhaps they might expand4 ,i never have4 ,lucille ,van ,slyke3 ,i'd say to a beginner--,don't do it6 ,not unless you just can't help yourself1 not unless you can't stop yourself6 ,and ,i'd say to a practised writer1 ,stop1 unless you can keep singing1 ',i1 too1 have lived in ,arcady and have never forgotten the way back6' ,incidentally1 the way ,i wedged in might interest a very beginning writer4 ,my first paid job at writing was book reviewing4 ,i was less than twenty and utterly unqualified for such a task1 but it was the only job ,i could get4 ,it was probably hard on the chaps whose books ,i reviewed1 but very good for me4 ,i did it for about a year and in that time began to understand that the wretched books in the lot by unknowns 7why any publisher risked time on them ,i couldn't see7 were by persons who knew nothing about what they were writing4 ,so ,i registered a vow within me that ,i would never insult any editor by sending him anything that ,i wasn't as sure as ,i could possibly be contained all that ,i could find out about its subject4 ,that a beginning writer better tackle children because it was the only age she could possibly have anything like a perspective for4 ,that everybody else had done ,american children so well that ,i'd better tackle foreign ones4 ,i had just pulled through a classical course at college and decided ,i'd like to try ,greek children4 ,i couldn't go to ,greece1 so ,i prowled about ,new ,york trying to find a ,greek colony4 ,stumbled on a ,syrian one4 ,fell head over heels in love with 'em4 ,pretty nearly lived with 'em for three years4 ,spent all the time ,i could in the ,oriental room at the library1 dragging out all the history and legend and poetry1 good1 bad or indifferent1 that ,i could corral4 ,spent another year struggling with dialect and pondering over whether ,i'd dare risk it--or risk reproducing the effect ,i wanted without it4 ,in all it was nearly four years before ,i had a single story on paper--and it took me about two years to write just fifteen stories--all of which were sold4 ,then ,i stopped quick while the stopping was good1 because ,i didn't want to get into a rut4 ,this can be of no possible use to any writer with genius or talent but it might help a person like myself who had nothing to begin with but an inclination to write4 ,and it was a way into finding out that ,i could earn money while ,i was learning to write--,i mean trying to learn to write6 7,again ,i realize that it was a thing that started the first story--a queer-shaped loaf of bread in a ,syrian baker's shop--the kind of bread that is sold to be used at the party given when a little ,syrian cuts his first tooth47 ,atreus von ,schrader3 ,to the beginner2 don't write a story unless you know and understand both your characters and your setting4 ,to a practised writer2 find a group of characters and stick to them4 ,this makes for better writing and for cumulative value until1 as is almost invariably the case1 the thing is overdone4 ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch3 ,to spin the tale in such a way that the reader must live through it4 ,henry ,kitchell ,webster3 ,the best advice ,i have to give a beginner is that he write1 and keep on writing2 that1 when he has told his story1 he despatch it to an editor1 or a series of editors1 and forget it1 telling a new story1 if he has a new one to tell1 instead of trying to improve an old one4 ,g4 ,a4 ,wells3 ,the advice to the beginner to condense is important4 ,most stories printed will stand pruning1 many of them to a considerable extent4 ,i would also impress upon the tyro the absolute necessity of work4 ,work6 ,he can't observe union hours4 ,twelve hours a day is about right2 fifteen if possible4 ,read anything and everything4 ,one class of literature is likely to make a parrot of him4 ,only those who have the grace to see good in a rejection slip belong in the game4 ,the beginner must make up his mind that possibly 7very likely7 he will have to struggle years before he breaks through4 ,far too many aspiring young men and women go into the game of authorship with a guess-,i'll-write-a-story-and-sell-it-fo r-a-thousand-dollars spirit4 ,first stories do get across now and then1 but they are the exceptions and not the rule4 ,i sold my first story six years after ,i began to write1 and in the meantime accumulated a bale of rejection slips4 ,i am still at it4 ,most aspirants quit cold after a few rejections4 ,they haven't the guts 7pardon7 to stick it out4 ,there are a number of would-be authors in this town4 ,one by one they crop up1 bloom a while in the sun of anticipation1 then the vitriol of disappointment withers them and they fade again into the soulless clerks and truck drivers of yore4 ,too much stress can not be placed upon persistence4 ,persistence alone may mean the difference between success and failure4 ,i would advise the practised writer to turn out less and better work4 ,he should forget money and write for the sake of art4 ,he should not depend too much upon past performances1 for even laurel withers4 ,most important of all1 he should quit while the quitting is good1 and not go on and on until his work shows that he has lost his grip4 ,mark ,twain went too far4 ,london also4 ----'s later stuff is insipid4 ---- is beginning her second childhood in authorship4 ---- used to write good stories4 ,it is perhaps a blessing that ,o4 ,henry died before he ruined himself with serious stuff4 ,i admit that later work has a finish1 a polish that early work lacks2 but very seldom does later work show the fire1 the vigor1 the enthusiasm1 the freshness that early work does4 ,so it is a good idea for the practised writer not to make a marathon of what should be no more than a dash4 ,william ,wells3 ,oh1 ,lord6 ,honore ,willsie3 ,study story structure every day4 ,use a dictionary and thesaurus constantly4 ,practise the forming of sentences and paragraphs as constantly as you would practise scales were you a musician4 ,i have no suggestions for the practised writer4 ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer3 ,to a beginner ,i would suggest a thorough reading of the popular magazines1 a shot at the newspaper game if possible1 plenty of clean white paper1 a typewriter1 and a resolution to take punishment in the form of hard work and rejections4 ,the first time an editor says or writes1 444 but your work interests me1 and ,i would like to have a talk with you1 all will be forgotten6 ,to a practised writer ,i would say this--apologizing for what might be thought patronization--don't forget they are coming up from the depths every year1 just as you came up4 ,editors1 as a whole1 crave discoveries1 new names1 fresh viewpoints1 etc4 ,don't think of attempting to rest on past laurels4 ,don't keep a once popular character too long before your readers1 work harder now than you did before you landed4 ,look around you1 the biggest names are the biggest producers1 year after year4 ,you're a writer--all right1 write4 ,william ,almon ,wolff3 ,for the beginner3 ,be sure you have something to say4 ,retain a single point of view in a short story4 ,know--and make clear--exactly why people do what they do1 and see to it that they never do anything simply to help the plot along4 ,who am ,i to suggest things to the practised writer8 ,but those three things1 and1 especially1 the third1 are pretty good things for any one to keep in mind1 ,i should say4 ,edgar ,young3 ,write what you know about2 do not take other men's underlying ideas and try to make a story from them1 for the result will be weaker than the original2 do not lose faith in your own values of your work4 ,,summary ,obviously little comment is needed from a compiler4 ,here both the beginner and the practised writer have the best advice from those best qualified to give it--those who have proved their theories by success4 ,the road to that success is no more a common one than it is a royal one4 ,what serves one writer best1 serves another little1 not at all or very ill4 ,the beginner's own intelligence must choose for him among all these offerings of advice the ones best adapted to his own particular case4 ,taken as a whole1 the advice given is invaluable--stimulative and soundly helpful4 ,but the test of its value to any writer must lie in his own discriminating judgment based on a sure knowledge of his own gifts1 weaknesses and habits4 ,since it is brought out so forcefully in one of the answers and forcefully enough in so many others1 one point deserves notice4 ,an answerer gives1 as his advice to experienced writers1 ,for ,god's sake don't talk so much6 ,it may sound flippant4 ,it may sound presumptuous1 since to some experienced writers this man may be unknown4 ,almost certainly it will not be taken seriously by those who most need to heed the advice4 ,knowing the man1 ,i know it is not flippant2 knowing his work1 ,i know it is not presumptuous1 for he has gifts of expression that most of our best known writers can never attain4 ,there can be no doubt of the soundness of his advice or of the need of it4 ,that it should be given so many times in these answers is particularly significant4 ,there is frequent discussion of the difference between literature and magazine fiction including what is found between book-covers4 ,it is a hardy analyst who would attempt drawing a definite and final line of demarkation between the two1 but one easy distinction may be made4 ,literature expresses what needs to be expressed2 the greater part of our magazine fiction expresses too largely for the sake of hearing itself talk prettily and a great deal1 or because its authors have found they can get money and popularity and standing from a gift of cultured1 or mere taking1 gab4 ,this is perhaps even more true of established authors--yea1 even some of our most famous--than it is of our beginners4 ,i do not mean that all of them analyze the situation and follow the method as conscious policy4 ,it would be more hopeful if this were the case4 ,the bulk of them are proudly content under the amazing delusion that what they write has literary quality4 ,it hasn't4 ,the best that can be said of it is that it is fool's gold1 for it glitters exceedingly despite its lack of worth4 ,it is1 for the most part1 words only4 ,generally beautiful words or amusing words or very scholarly words1 all skilfully and pleasingly joined together1 sprinkled heavily with a cheap cologne giving off a strong smell suggestive of literary quality and interspersed with modest little cries of ,note the genius in this turn of phrase6 ,and1 prithee1 do not miss the scholarly distortion of this simple sentence or the very literary vagueness in the expression of this elementary and commonplace idea6 ,behold1 too1 how the really skilled hand can stretch this infinitesimal atom of material into pages of exquisite and delightful reading6 ,how crudely would one lacking literary gift have set it forth in a few plain words6 ,and1 pardon1 reader1 but you haven't been so dull as to miss noting the heights of sophistication from which your author looks contemptuously down upon the puppets he moves with careless skill upon his board1 upon the board and even upon the very moving8 ,or perhaps such cries are omitted and the reader merely confronted with an army of words marching impressively in literary formation without worthwhile distinction1 carrying no baggage and with no literary reason for marching at all4 ,yes1 ,i'm bitter4 ,and very1 very sick at the stomach4 ,for most critics call this procession of words literature1 and most of the public meekly accept the dictum4 ,worse1 it becomes a model for other writers4 ,and all the time it builds up the ruinous idea that literature is something apart from life and reality1 incompatible with simplicity and naturalness1 an inorganic thing of exotic plumage1 something not everlastingly dependent upon the anxiously exact adaptation of expression to something worth expressing4 ,in our answers above ,i have in more than one place omitted the name of one of the best known ,american magazines because of unfavorable mention4 ,in one case part of an answer was omitted bodily because its whole point was the advice to practised writers not to read that magazine or the work of a certain well-known writer not included among our answerers4 ,the reasons for that advice were not stated1 but that magazine is perhaps the chief exponent of the surface-glitter and infinitely wordy type of story1 shaped editorially with no consideration of real literary worth or anything else except large popular sales and adherence to a formal morality rather lacking in ethics4 ,yet it is a strong factor in providing standards for critics lacking any of their own1 in influencing both editors and writers toward similar material and in lowering the tastes and standards of the general reading public4 ,unfortunately it is not the only exponent of the over-written story4 ,you find them in most of our best magazines1 in the school of realism as well as that of idealism or romanticism4 ,if you doubt1 analyze one of them4 ,remove the word-wrappings and search beneath4 ,you will find1 quite often1 incident1 sometimes a great deal of it2 sometimes a real plot1 though generally a threadbare and slight one4 ,but in most cases you will find little structure worthy of the name1 sometimes because there is nothing much with which to construct and sometimes because if the author had ability for structure he would not prostitute himself on that kind of story4 ,you may find caricature1 even characterization done with a clumsy brush in gaudy colors and jutting outline1 but no characterization that warrants the story's existence on that score4 ,color very probably--a whole box of colors melted under a forced draft4 ,probably so much setting that the photography of it contributes much of the illusion of the story's being literature4 ,other things1 of similar quality and degree4 ,but literature8 ,not even a chemist's trace4 ,i am heartily glad some of our answerers turned the light where it is needed4 ,probably the chief weaknesses in present-day ,american fiction are three in one3 #a4 ,wordiness #b4 ,lack of simplicity #c4 ,surface tinsel ,teachers of fiction might contribute a worthy service by compelling all students to gaze upon1 say1 the relentless brevity and simplicity of ,de ,maupassant that yet gives more and more subtle shadings1 even in translation1 than most of the wordy ones can give in five times the space4 ,or ,flaubert's exquisite nicety in word selection1 not for the mere sensual sound of the word but for the word's real office in expression4 ,perhaps such frank expression may seem out of place in this volume4 ,but being a magazine editor and the compiler of this book does not free me from all other obligations4 ,and there is need of every voice that can be raised in outcry against the tidal wave of words that is drowning so much of ,american fiction4 ,as to good taste1 ,i am less interested in it than in trying to help against this increasing evil4 ,the advice of our answerer ought to be nailed to the wall above the desk of--what per cent48--of our established writers3 ,for ,god's sake don't talk so much6 ,,question ,x ,what is the elemental hold of fiction on the human mind8 ,,answers ,bill ,adams3 ,life pitched against death2 and man the master4 ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams3 ,the devotion to something afar ,from the sphere of our sorrow4 ,paul ,l4 ,anderson3 ,the inherent necessity for excitement1 which1 despite the ,puritans and the high-brows1 is as much an elemental need as food4 ,william ,ashley ,anderson3 ,it is a mental stimulant4 ,like every other stimulant1 the doses vary1 and it affects various tastes in various ways4 ,it has the power of frightening1 amazing1 inspiring1 amusing1 enraging--in fact working upon all the human emotions4 ,it has the power to derange human minds2 it has also the power to soothe them4 ,its appeal rests directly upon the curiosity of man1 i4 e41 the insatiable desire of man to hear something unusual he has not already heard4 ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey3 ,tell me a story4 ,ralph ,henry ,barbour3 ,the satisfaction of a craving for romance in a civilization that is more and more coming to look on it as sinful4 ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett3 ,the desire for emotional reactions greater than those the average life affords4 ,nalbro ,bartley3 ,the opportunity to phantasy in a harmless fashion4 ,the average person occupied with average tasks demands a release from monotony which wholesome fiction supplies4 ,they want to see the commonplace glorified--even if it is between the pages of a book4 ,konrad ,bercovici3 ,the human mind has never held anything else but fiction4 ,it is the only real thing in life4 ,science is a myth4 ,it has been invented by fiction writers4 ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr43 ,fiction takes the reader out of the drab monotony of life into a new world of color and action and romance4 ,he finds there what ,jack ,london calls his purple passages4 ,that's why the shop-girl reads ,three ,weeks and ,the ,sheik which bore most men to tears4 ,most women cherish1 unknowingly perhaps1 a suppressed eroticism4 ,sex-interest and sex-emotions are to her the greatest factors in existence4 ,the average man takes his sex-emotions casually4 ,woman is essentially monogamous1 man polygamous4 7,gosh1 ,i didn't mean to get in that deep6 ,my wife would run me ragged if she read it4 ,sounds like ,i've been reading friend ,freud1 doesn't it87 ,o4 ,henry covered the appeal of fiction to the average individual when he described the tired clerk who would remove his shoes1 place his aching feet against the cold radiator1 and read ,clark ,russell6 ,farnham ,bishop3 ,story-hunger1 which is as strong as any of the other natural appetites4 ,algernon ,blackwood3 ,i do not know4 ,max ,bonter3 ,fiction seems to take the reader over the hill--beyond the horizon4 ,the mind takes a voyage into the mysterious1 reveling in strange scenes1 characters and situations4 ,then it swings back from exoticism with renewed zest for the commonplace4 ,fiction is the holiday spirit in literature4 ,it is an orgy in which we spend our emotions4 ,we feel better afterward4 ,katharine ,holland ,brown3 ,the fact that we all like to dramatize ourselves1--and the story-writer helps us do it8 7,this is a question1 not a reply47 ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley3 ,i do not know4 ,guess--vicarious adventure4 ,prosper ,buranelli3 ,the ,arab spinning tales before a fire1 or the drummer telling a nasty story4 ,shocking the boobs and pleasing the scapegraces with accounts of marvels either small or great1 in which the narrator would like to have figured--only he has a broken backbone4 ,thompson ,burtis3 ,the fascination of overcoming1 by proxy1 through the personalities of hero or heroine1 difficulties1 dangers and problems1 and of temporarily feeling with one's self the greatnesses of the storied person4 ,particularly in fiction of more adventurous type1 ,i believe ,john ,smith's kick comes from perceiving how much like ,daring ,dave ,devere he really is4 ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain3 ,i believe it is love of the more intense emotional states4 ,fiction provides these by proxy for those whom circumstances or indolence prevents from actual experience in sufficient frequency4 ,others seek in artificial stimulants the heightening of emotions not normally excited by circumstance itself4 ,a few go after the actual experiences4 ,the trouble with this is the rarity of really thrilling experiences1 even for men or women able to spend their lives in hunting for them1 and the fact that no experience can hold its grip on the emotions through repetitions4 ,the actually thrilling experiences readiest to hand for everybody are those of animal appetites1 and these are the most dangerous4 ,gambling1 a little higher in the quality of its thrills1 is hardly to be recommended4 ,yet a certain amount of excitement is really wholesome1 necessary to save the mind from rusting in grooves too well worn to call forth its activities4 ,personally1 ,i believe that mild alcoholic stimulants have always been a benefit to the race1 all their after reactions notwithstanding4 ,but the raising of emotional states through imaginary experiences offers what1 in these days1 is as readily obtainable stimulant as alcohol has ever been1 and one freer from the objections of after reactions and of peril in excess4 ,hence the value of fiction in inducing exalted moods4 ,and this leads to my ideas of character drawing4 ,on the assumption that the first appeal of fiction is as an opportunity for proxy experience of emotions1 it seems obvious to me that extreme character drawing is generally a mistake4 ,the reader can not imagine himself as a hero whose characteristics are extremely different from his own1 as any extreme characteristics will surely be4 ,even when a character is so well drawn as to arouse strong feeling of liking or dislike1 ,i doubt if the ordinary reader can take the interest in him or his imagined experiences that he will instantly feel in himself as placed in the same series of events4 ,it is certainly difficult to acquaint a reader with any one in the limits of a short story1 for whose fate his interest can be aroused to equal his good old love for himself4 ,for this reason ,i rarely draw a strikingly marked character for the hero of a story4 ,robert ,v4 ,carr3 ,perhaps a desire to escape the commonplace1 or1 perhaps1 mental laziness and the desire to ride on the imagination of another4 ,george ,l4 ,catton3 ,to be amused4 ,eight-tenths of the population of to-day are too cowardly to think and want nothing but full guts and to be amused4 ,comedy will sell to-day1 and slapstick comedy at that1 faster and quicker than anything else4 ,and that rotten sex stuff--who but a moron would read it8 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers3 ,amusement4 ,roy ,p4 ,churchill3 ,voyage into new seas4 ,the elemental pull toward new experiences4 ,carl ,clausen3 ,ask a college professor who teaches fiction writing but does not write himself4 ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper3 ,fiction is the world of our dreams come true4 ,for the clerk in the store1 his dream is adventure4 ,for the girl in love1 it is the ,prince ,charming4 ,for the discouraged man1 it is the yarn of the fellow who fights past obstacles4 ,we like fiction because in that we see the things we would like to do become realities in the person we easily can imagine ourselves to be4 ,did you ever see a reader wanting to be the villain of a story8 ,hardly4 ,arthur ,crabb3 ,among the upper classes1 a means of passing away an otherwise unoccupied hour or two2 to the middle and lower classes it is either a stimulant to a poor imagination or takes the place of imagination entirely4 ,mary ,stewart ,cutting3 ,it expresses what we would like to express4 ,elmer ,davis3 ,relief from troubles4 ,this1 ,i think1 is as true of realism as of the so-called literature of escape4 ,realism at least turns your attention from your own worries to other people's4 ,william ,harper ,dean3 ,the elemental hold of fiction1 if ,i get your point1 is through humanity's inner craving to see itself mirrored1 to have its tragedies and triumphs interpreted1 so that each of us may say1 ,oh1 that's me--my life6 ,i have lived that1 felt it4 ,i'm glad some one understands4 ,harris ,dickson3 ,perhaps1 that each of us is his brother's keeper and likes to hear what ,bud is doing4 ,some of us love small-town gossip1 some crime yarns1 some revel in the poetic1 the romantic1 the imaginative4 ,but from the dawn of time the ,teller of ,tales has been a force--like the troubadour whose songs were legal tender for his welcome everywhere4 ,captain ,dingle3 ,wonder1 ,i imagine4 ,louis ,dodge3 ,that it enables an individual to go places and do things 7vicariously7 and utter sayings which would otherwise be beyond him4 ,a reader is a man with a score of eyes and hands and feet4 ,phyllis ,duganne3 ,interest1 ,i suppose4 ,the main object of most people's lives is not to be bored--and fiction can help them attain that grand end considerably4 ,and for people whose lives are dull and rather empty1 ,i suppose fiction offers an outlet2 the reader can become hero or heroine and do grand and noble things4 ,just like the movies4 ,j4 ,allan ,dunn3 ,in an attempt to be brief1 ,i think it is a conjuration of what he or she would like to have been if their lots had been cast differently4 ,i think it sometimes stimulates to adventures1 to a struggle against the commonplace4 ,that it can undoubtedly mold opinion and create a recognition of the virtues4 ,that it can show--if the fiction is painted with the colors from the palette of ,life itself1 excellent example4 ,that it is the poor man's purse and the stay-at-home's vicarious romance4 ,it is ,aladdin's ,lamp--the ,magic ,carpet4 ,walter ,a4 ,dyer3 ,this is rather too deep for me4 ,fiction is1 in a measure1 in its relation to life1 what massage is to exercise4 ,mighty useful sometimes4 ,walter ,prichard ,eaton3 ,say--have a heart6 ,well1 in one word--,escape4 ,e4 ,o4 ,foster3 ,to my own mind fiction is as necessary as food to the body4 ,the tired man or woman may throw themselves out of the ordinary routine returning refreshed to take up again the hum-drum labors of life4 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel3 ,entertainment2 refreshment by substituting new pictures for those of every-day life4 ,j4 ,u4 ,giesy3 ,the spirit of play--make-believe--the element of the might have been--relaxation1 change4 ,the mind reaches out to contact other than routine experience4 ,george ,gilbert3 ,its power to lift the reader out of himself and make him live in another realm4 ,kenneth ,gilbert3 ,a sincere desire to escape if but momentarily from the commonplaces of life4 ,if we have imagination at all we are adventurers2 we have a curiosity to see the odd and unusual2 to possess a helmet of invisibility and the power of levitation2 to have the under-currents of human impulse that we sense yet can not describe run before us as we would have them do4 ,holworthy ,hall3 ,love--,success--,youth4 ,richard ,matthews ,hallet3 ,a good yarn carries you out of yourself4 ,it's a red wishing-carpet1 a transporting cloud1 nothing more or less4 ,makes you forget for a time the everlasting1 tormenting ego4 ,william ,h4 ,hamby3 ,answered in above4 ,a4 ,judson ,hanna3 ,i believe that suspense is the elemental hold in fiction1 having in mind the average reader1 and the editors' demands4 ,speaking personally1 the elemental hold is character and development4 ,i have a sort of cynical contempt for happy endings because they do not ring true4 ,events and episodes in real life so rarely end happily1 in my experience4 ,joseph ,mills ,hanson3 ,the elemental hold of fiction on the human mind ,i take to be the fascination of uncertainty4 ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman3 ,to me it seems that it lies in its power to reveal to one the minds of hundreds1 to show in brief how other people live and think and act1 and to cultivate in the mind of the reader wholesome ambitions4 ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw3 ,granting that you read what you like1 ,i should say that it is the enjoyment of imagining some one's doing what you would like to do yourself4 ,joseph ,hergesheimer3 ,the story6 ,r4 de ,s4 ,horn3 ,the elemental hold of fiction on the human mind is deep-rooted4 ,it began in the make-believe days of childhood2 it continues to death4 ,it is hope1 it is appreciation2 it is akin to invention and progress4 ,without the imagination--and what is fiction but molded imagination8--life would be a pretty hopeless1 sordid existence4 ,clyde ,b4 ,hough3 ,it is exactly in proportion to the humanness of the fiction4 ,humans are enthralled by fiction because it reproduces thrills1 emotions1 desires1 etc41 which they have experienced or can understand and which by the help of their imagination they re-live temporarily without any aftermath disadvantages4 ,emerson ,hough3 ,maybe bread and butter1 and love4 ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson3 ,being told a story4 ,inez ,haynes ,irwin3 ,it offers release and escape from whatever burdens life has brought and it extends experience4 ,will ,irwin3 ,it satisfies the social desire--the human love of knowing and1 if possible1 of liking1 other people4 ,and it gives the illusion of widened experience4 ,charles ,tenney ,jackson3 ,the elemental hold of fiction on the human mind appears to be that it is the last adventure1 the last romance1 the bringing of novelty1 of charm1 of forgetfulness4 ,life for men has become so standardized1 so propagandized1 chucked into routines by civilization1 that his primal stirrings--which1 primitively1 he satisfied by clubbing his dinner out of the jungle or swiping a woman from his neighboring tribe--must now be soothed in reading about it in its modern phases4 ,that's why you sell magazines--sure6 ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson3 ,principally1 ,i think1 the chance it affords a person to get outside of himself1 to be for the time being1 while he reads1 something he is not1 something he wants to be1 to live vicariously life and action that he has no chance to live in the flesh1 but would like to live4 ,then again1 to learn1 to laugh--,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle's stuff holds more laughs to the page than that of any other writer1 to me1 at least4 ,but what's the use8 ,some analytical guy will answer in a thesis on psychology that will knock 'em cold4 ,i can't or won't4 ,mary ,johnston3 ,it is a mode of truth4 ,john ,joseph3 ,it is based on the almost universal passion to see the triumph of the right4 ,and a story in which everything seems likely to go to pot and then suddenly straightens out right will always hold the reader provided it is plausibly told4 ,sympathy for the underdog is a phase of this point1 too4 ,too1 every human is more or less of a hero worshiper1 and has also a tremendous urge to get into the limelight himself4 ,and if he can't actually get in1 the next best thing is to imagine himself there4 ,hence there is always more or less of a tendency to picture himself as the hero4 ,this urge for the limelight is a fundamental trait of human nature1 and a very necessary one4 ,it is simply a desire to appear well in the sight of his fellowman2 and it is really the driving-power behind all human endeavor beyond satisfaction of the purely animal desires4 ,hence1 a story should 'rouse something in the reader that will make him want to get busy and take a hand himself1 so to speak4 ,that is my idea of a really good story--one that will hold the reader from start to finish--and no mere mechanical perfection or nicety of literary diction can possibly take the place of it4 ,i read lots of stories1 7they seem to be published literally by the tens of thousands7 and after ,i have finished them ,i sit and wonder why in ,heaven's name they were published4 ,and the only answer ,i can find is technique1 structure and literary polish4 ,too much insistence on these points has a tendency not only to handicap the writer1 but to standardize style1 and ,i read magazines the subject-matter of which might every word of it have been written by the same author1 as far as ,i could tell4 ,curiosity is another powerful element4 ,perhaps the most potent of all1 in a certain sense4 ,a mystery story intrigues all classes of people4 ,of course it must have the other qualities mentioned1 too4 ,harold ,lamb3 ,to be honest1 ,i don't know4 ,a child likes a story because it opens a door that the child can not open of itself4 ,it pleases a child to have imaginary experiences1 giving pleasure1 the stimulus of danger1 and the satisfaction of curiosity4 ,a grown-up is pretty much the same4 ,except that a child desires especially to have curiosity satisfied1 and a grown-up likes to forget things4 ,sinclair ,lewis3 ,it affords an escape--the reader or hearer imagines himself in the tale4 ,eugene ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr43 ,imagining yourself in the same fix4 ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney3 ,the impulse1 weak or dominant1 that is in all mankind--to be what he is not1 to have what he has not1 and to see that which he has not seen4 ,that1 ,i think1 is the elemental hold of fiction on the human mind4 ,ray ,mc,gillivray3 ,the hypnotizing grasp it exerts upon imagination--persuading1 compelling the reader to project himself1 his likes and dislikes1 his sympathies and his ambitions into the story he peruses4 ,helen ,topping ,miller3 ,the withdrawing of the reader from his own world1 transporting him into an imaginary place where he is able to picture things as he wishes them rather than as they are4 ,every reader has more or less yearning for the dramatic4 ,in reading fiction he sees himself the hero1 fights the conflicts and achieves the reward which the author supplies4 ,thomas ,samson ,miller3 ,sentiment1 curiosity1 heroism4 ,anna ,shannon ,monroe3 ,the story hold--the love of a story1 whether a crisp anecdote or a novel2 the thing that lifts one out of his surroundings into another world for a little while4 ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery3 ,the deep desire in every one of us for something better than we have known4 ,in fiction we ask for things1 not as they are1 but as we feel they ought to be4 ,this is why the oft-sneered-at happy ending makes the popular novel4 ,fairy tales are immortal--in some form or other we must have them or we die4 ,fiction redresses the balance of existence and gives us what we can't get in real life4 ,this is why romance is1 and always will be1 and always should be more popular than realism4 ,frederick ,moore3 ,it is in the joy of make-believe4 ,animals have the same trait in some degree4 ,also1 ,let ,george do it4 ,that is1 let the other fellow get shot while ,i enjoy the thrill but know all the time that my slippers are on and ,i'm safe enough4 ,talbot ,mundy3 ,it reveals himself to every reader4 ,kathleen ,norris3 ,might it be that life disappoints most of us1 and we like to lose ourselves in dreams where things come just a little nearer comedy1 tragedy1 retribution1 revenge and achievement8 ,grant ,overton3 ,on the part of the writer1 a desire to make some one else feel what he has felt2 on the part of the reader1 the craving to understand something that one does not fully understand1 even though one feels it and has felt it often4 ,hugh ,pendexter3 ,to entertain4 ,once it captures the reader's interest its power is unlimited4 ,it can teach and preach and direct the trend of national thought provided it continues to entertain4 ,christ taught ,his great truths by parables4 ,clay ,perry3 ,stimulation of the imagination2 creation of a fairer1 cleaner1 or at least a different and more romantic world than that of every day4 ,michael ,j4 ,phillips3 ,good fiction is a journey1 all too brief1 into fabled ,araby--to lands of sandalwood and frankincense and myrrh and spikenard and all those other wonderful1 glowing words of which ,i don't know the exact meaning but which lift us out of ourselves4 ,lucia ,mead ,priest3 ,we know nothing1 truly1 of mind and heart of even our nearest4 ,the writer plays the part of ,omniscience4 ,we like to know how the other fellow feels2 we like to see him messing about in situations in which we1 too1 have been lost--or found4 ,it is human interest in the virtues and weaknesses of our kind4 ,fiction is as old as man4 ,read it on the tomb of ,ti or the more-up-to-date ,beowulf4 ,is it not curiosity8 ,perhaps interest in the affairs of the other fellow1 for we all love gossip--8 ,yes1 all of us4 ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes3 ,putting yourself in his place4 ,frank ,c4 ,robertson3 ,it satisfies the longing for change4 ,the body at best is a slow and cumbersome thing1 and practically stationary compared to the flights of mind4 ,in fiction we live thousands of lives--without it we live but one4 ,ruth ,sawyer3 ,i should say the same hold that folk tales have had since man developed a mind4 ,the desire for idealizing2 the enjoyment of seeing his own human activities re-created for him and the everlasting appeal of adventure4 ,i believe that the adult quite as much as the child reader likes to picture himself as the hero or main actor in the stories4 ,i suppose one could sum this all up in terms of imagination stimuli4 ,chester ,l4 ,saxby3 ,i can't answer this one1 unless you mean the selfish desire in each one of us to picture ourselves as heroes--and the thing called sympathy that we can't disown4 ,but perhaps evolution makes us crave these indirect experiences in lieu of direct ones4 ,barry ,scobee3 ,have ideas but ,i could hardly express them yet4 ,might be1 ,a feller wants company4 ,might be1 it suggests strength1 success1 victory2 contains warning4 ,how's this for a theory8 ,the human mind is eternally seeking harmony4 ,a perfect story1 or a well done story1 gives a subtle sense of harmony1 like music but more subtle4 ,i think the answer goes still deeper1 and ,i shall find it sometime4 ,robert ,simpson3 ,conflict--the clashing of forces1 or the pursuit by one force of another that does not want to be caught4 ,conflicts may appear in many guises1 from a young love interest to a mastodonic fight between prehistoric brutes1 but in some form or another conflict must predominate4 ,theodore ,seixas ,solomons3 ,we are immensely curious about life1 and in a way that mere description of it from the point of view of psychology1 history1 past and current1 geography1 industry and the like1 wholly fails to satisfy4 ,for it is man's specific reaction to his environment in his efforts to accomplish his urges in which we are principally interested1 and in order that we may make comparison of our own reactions with those of others about us1 we crave not those dry1 statistical texts setting forth systematically acquired knowledge but instances of actual men's and women's reactions to environment--actual life itself4 ,thus any narratives of parts of the ordinary life of others are more interesting to us1 essentially1 than text knowledge1 but since life is so largely routine and monotony1 since there is so little in any given actually true narrative that is likely to be in the least novel or to afford us the comparisons which we crave1 our appetite has been wont to seek satisfaction in narratives specially selected to pretend the exceptional and unusual2 and those who satisfy this desire are the story-tellers4 ,the impulse of the story-teller1 then1 is to present life in its exceptional and therefore interesting phases and happenings--interesting just in proportion to the degree in which it presents for our personal comparison men and women in situations1 and engaged in actions1 which lift them--and hence ourselves--out of the common routine4 ,thus1 vicariously1 we slake our thirst for varied1 high tension living1 with its emotional tests and thrills4 ,the fictional element is accidental1 depending only upon the circumstance that actual life fails1 usually1 to furnish the story-teller with a completely satisfying narrative of strange and unusual reactions4 ,actual life is so conditioned by the usual and routine that even when the unusual thrusts up its head and people get into unusual situations1 the routine and the usual quickly submerge the unusual--in fine1 the story fails consistently to maintain our exaltation to a logical end4 ,hence the story-teller finds that in order completely to satisfy his hearers he must thwart this tendency of actuality by continually substituting and supplying4 ,he does not take anything not found in life--else at once his art is defective4 ,but he uses materials of life that never were actually found together in life1 so far as he knows4 ,he may find two-thirds of a story ready to hand in an actual life story1 and then he needs to supply from his mind's storehouse of general-life happenings 7i4 e41 things that are so natural that they either have happened or may happen at any time7 enough to form the remaining third4 ,the aim is merely to carry out as well as possible the aim of the story-desire he seeks to allay which is to experience vicariously sorts of life and living which1 either because of their novelty to us1 or because of special urgings and aptitudes1 are grateful and satisfying to us4 ,fiction1 then1 in the sense of its elemental hold on us1 is that conscious modification of the actual occurrences of life by rearrangement of them so that they present to us complete experiences of the sort for which we yearn4 ,the more perfectly we are enabled to visualize ourselves as actually going through these experiences--and to visualize the characters going through them amounts precisely to this--the stronger the hold of the fiction because the more completely and perfectly it satisfies the desire to which it is directed4 ,hence the vital necessity of naturalness1 whether the matter be of realism or romanticism4 ,raymond ,s4 ,spears3 ,fiction is an adventure to the mind4 ,norman ,springer3 ,an escape from reality1 or1 at least1 from environment2 and in fiction the reader realizes in a sense the wishes and ambitions that are thwarted in life4 ,it is the power to make-believe4 ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling3 ,i think the main hold fiction has on human beings is that it gives them imaginary experiences which they could neither get nor think by themselves4 ,it is first aid to the mentally lazy and dull4 ,as proof of this1 take the movies4 ,these are even more obvious and require less concentration than fiction1 so they are correspondingly more popular4 ,i am speaking now of the appeal of popular fiction4 ,it is the same thing to the public that the leg show is to the tired business man--born tired4 ,however1 one should differentiate the stages of the human mind4 ,children read fiction out of curiosity about the world they are to enter1 grown-ups read it to escape from the world they have entered1 old age reads it to recall the world they have left behind4 ,lucille ,van ,slyke3 ,oh1 but you've asked a mouthful6 ,what are ,yonkers1 anyhow8 ,if you knew the answer to that you wouldn't be an editor and if ,i did1 ,i'd weave it so hard into everything ,i write that even the most blas editor in ,christendom--or out of it--would be walking about waving the manuscript with sheer joy when he got to the end of it6 ,but ,i'll venture a guess--that it's the same thing that made ,e4 nibble the apple4 ,atreus von ,schrader3 ,it is probably the same hold as that of liquor or drugs2 it takes the addict away from himself1 his troubles and his ennui4 ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch3 ,perhaps to entertain1 but ,i believe it goes further than this2 the average person's life is a narrow thing--not what that person would choose at all probably4 ,fiction to the mass offers the opportunity to lift out of that close circle of existence1 to live1 to see1 to mingle with the world1 to do the things which they are physically1 mentally or morally unable to do4 ,henry ,kitchell ,webster3 ,it is so elemental that it is pretty hard to get back to4 ,i suppose it springs from human gregariousness4 ,we feel enough alike1 enough a part of all mankind1 each of us1 to feel that what has happened to another might happen to us4 ,reading fiction stimulates us1 therefore1 and exalts us with a sense of our own infinite possibilities4 ,g4 ,a4 ,wells3 ,fiction is to the mind an antidote for the mental aches and ills of reality4 ,it is in part a recompensation for living4 ,it transports us from what is to what we would wish4 ,it carries us back to the days of 'tend-like and restores the illusions of fancy4 ,it is the oasis in the dry desert of life4 ,it provokes and at the same time in a measure satisfies the spirit of adventure that we inherit from the race4 ,we crawl as babies from the crib to see what's around the corner4 ,most of us incessantly long for adventure4 ,and1 as we can not have adventures1 we soothe ourselves by watching others at their adventures4 ,life for most of us is rather colorless1 a routine made up of meals1 beds1 offices and shops1 with now and then a dash of pleasure to make it all endurable4 ,we move in grooves4 ,we complain that nothing ever happens to us4 ,we are discontented that nothing ever does4 ,we may wish to march out with a gun and kill somebody4 ,the law forbids4 ,but there is that desire1 so to satisfy it we turn to fiction and see other men march out with a gun and kill somebody4 ,we want to go to ,alaska and dig for gold and have all sorts of scrapes4 ,we can't4 ,so we let ,jack ,london or ,rex ,beach tell us of more fortunate people who did what we wished to do4 ,fiction is a safety valve4 ,ben ,ames ,williams3 ,people read fiction1 ,i suppose1 for the sake of the emotions which it awakes in them4 ,i'm speaking of the highest form of fiction1 which we call art4 ,to stimulate emotion is the function of art in any form2 people enjoy this stimulant as they do any other1 because it is a part of human nature to enjoy being stimulated4 ,volstead to the contrary notwithstanding4 ,honore ,willsie3 ,the romantic appeal to the imagination4 ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer3 ,the reader's enjoyment in being a hero or heroine by proxy1 i4 e41 the reader1 for the time being1 is the hero or heroine of the tale and rejoices or weeps according to the action of the yarn4 ,when they are gripped by a story they stop for the moment wishing they were rich1 beautiful1 brave1 famous1 strong1 clever1 etc4 ,while reading1 they are all or any of those things1 in the degree the leading character is4 ,william ,almon ,wolff3 ,its power to entertain4 ,that is a statement of enormous implications1 and much less simple than it sounds4 ,edgar ,young3 ,arousing memories of sights1 feelings1 etc41 etc41 from the subconscious mind above the threshold of consciousness1 so that a re-experience takes place4 ,where no such experiences have taken place1 sympathy from similar experiences of the reader4 ,,summary ,the following state they do not know or don't understand the question--one that it is an academic question3 ,edwin ,balmer1 ,ferdinand ,berthoud1 ,algernon ,blackwood1 ,robert ,hichens1 ,lloyd ,kohler1 ,hapsburg ,liebe1 ,rose ,macaulay1 ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell1 ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott1 ,julian ,street1 ,booth ,tarkington1 ,william ,wells4 ,here again the answers need no tabulation or extensive comment4 ,their greatest value lies in forcing upon beginners a general knowledge of the real nature of fiction4 ,to a majority of them it is merely a game played by somebody's rules1 a pastime with no rules at all1 a chance of making money1 an opportunity to pour out on the world a rather uncomfortable and obstreperous something inside them1 a serious business of imitation1 all these and more1 but never a thing eternally based on the fundamentals of human nature4 ,formal rules concerning it can mean nothing except as those rules are justified by fiction's human-nature fundamentals4 ,and the beginner1 buried under thousands of rules made by all kinds of people1 most of them unequipped for the making of rules1 has no way of telling an unsound rule from one worth observing unless he can test it by some fundamental principle that is adequate and satisfying to his intelligence4 ,nor1 having found an equipment of rules to meet his needs1 can he reconcile or even understand seeming conflicts among them1 or make fully intelligent use of any one of them1 when it comes to their practical application in the thousands of varying cases that will arise in his work4 ,no rule or collection of rules can cover the infinite number of those cases with fineness and nicety1 or even cover them at all1 unless back of those rules there is an understanding of the fundamental principles upon which those rules are based4 ,if the writer is to stand and march upon his feet1 he can not lean his weight upon crutches handed him by others4 ,it is not possible to make all the crutches he will need4 ,he must learn to do his own walking and he must himself know his direction and his path4 ,,question ,,xi ,do you prefer writing in the first person or the third8 ,why8 ,though this matter is of far less importance than those thus far considered1 it serves to settle a question that has been much discussed1 probably even more by readers than by authors4 ,that is1 it settles the question in the only way it should or can be settled--by showing that there can be no definite answer4 ,not only must each writer decide according to his own individual case1 but1 unless his natural bent and ability lie very strongly in one direction or the other1 he must--or at least should--make a separate decision as to each story he undertakes4 ,on various phases touched upon in even this simple matter there is flat contradiction of opinion4 ,this wholesome difference again brings out the point that generalities1 particularly when shaped into general rules1 are not likely to be safe guidance4 ,the everlasting value to beginners in the writing game is that they themselves and their material1 not definite1 unyielding rules laid down by any writer or by anybody else1 should be the deciding factors in their work of conveying to the reader what they have to say4 ,,answers ,bill ,adams3 ,never tried the first4 ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams3 ,the third4 ,because ,i am prone to find myself hampered by self-consciousness in the first person1 though not invariably4 ,paul ,l4 ,anderson3 ,the third2 you can swing a wider loop4 ,it is admitted1 though1 that the first person gives a more intense effect1 and ,i sometimes use it4 ,william ,ashley ,anderson3 ,it is immaterial1 and depends upon the nature of a story4 ,but ,i think a story is most naturally told in the first person4 ,this also insures the action being continuous4 ,it also adds an illusion of authenticity4 ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey3 ,in the third person4 ,the first person1 apart from technical difficulties1 seems to me to encourage diffuse writing on the insignificant4 ,edwin ,balmer3 ,i occasionally write in the first person4 ,it is a more limited way of writing than in the third person because1 among other reasons1 continued use of the first person in many stories of different character certainly breaks down the sense of illusion4 ,i think a man should never write in the first person as a woman and vice versa4 ,ralph ,henry ,barbour3 ,i prefer writing in the first person4 ,nearly every writer does1 and will say so if he's truthful4 ,i write in the third person because editors believe1 correctly or incorrectly1 that readers prefer it4 ,i prefer the first person because it is easier4 ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett3 ,i prefer the first person because it offers a more direct way of telling a story4 ,the public1 ,i think1 prefers the third person because this form permits a wider range of sympathies4 ,nalbro ,bartley3 ,i prefer the third person for writing because it is more impersonal and one can get into the swing of the story in a more intense way4 ,konrad ,bercovici3 ,no particular preference4 ,ferdinand ,berthoud3 ,third--for many reasons4 ,one is that ,i know editors and the public prefer stories in the third person1 and another is that it is easier and more convincing4 ,a third reason is that ,i've never tried the first person4 ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr43 ,depends entirely on the particular story4 ,first person is ordinarily easier1 but your hero can be made much more heroic if some one else is talking about him4 ,farnham ,bishop3 ,in the third4 ,when ,i try telling a story in the first person it makes me too self-conscious and gums up the action4 ,algernon ,blackwood3 ,third person4 ,the use of the first person tends to remind a writer of himself1 whereas fiction should mean an escape from one's tiresome self--a projection into others4 ,max ,bonter3 ,i seem to have no preference in this regard4 ,katharine ,holland ,brown3 ,the first person4 ,easier4 ,besides1 ,i like to be in it myself4 ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley3 ,used to prefer first person4 ,now equally at home in both4 ,natural instinct when telling a pleasant lie is to have yourself in it4 ,later--third person gives you greater scope4 ,the ,i doesn't have to be carried from place to place to report things4 ,prosper ,buranelli3 ,i would rather be hanged than write in the first person4 ,a fellow who can't thrust himself forward without the use of ,i doesn't know even how to brag4 ,thompson ,burtis3 ,i have no choice4 ,humorous stuff ,i like to write first person1 because of the latitude in language4 ,ordinary stuff1 on second thought1 ,i believe ,i would rather write third person1 the reason being that ,i can then draw the character that ,i would represent more fully4 ,another great plot advantage is that by not tying one's self down to a first-person story he can present the mental reactions and innermost thoughts of both hero and villain4 ,this adds a great deal to the opportunities of a story4 ,the first person story is limited to the scenes and thoughts of ,i alone4 ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain3 ,i think ,i rather enjoy first-person writing best4 ,but that is a matter ,i regard as entirely to be determined by the nature of the story4 ,the first person carries a degree of conviction not so easily obtained in the third person4 ,i really think it has no effect in the matter of the reader's ability to put himself in the hero's place4 ,he reads it as ,i4 ,that is just as near him as he4 ,obviously the first person can not be used 7#a7 where the suspense concerns the life of the hero1 who could not have died and told the tale2 7#b7 where the mental processes of more than one character must be brought in1 since the personal introduction of the writer himself precludes knowledge of the thoughts of others2 7#c7 where the hero's acts are such that to tell them would be boastful4 ,my own rule as to persons is this3 ,where the character fitted to my general aim in the story is essentially too weak to hold the sympathy of the reader1 ,i use the first person1 even at the cost of straining to show others' mental processes by actions4 ,i can not escape the conviction that there is a man-to-man-ness about the first person which commands sympathy4 ,i should give up trying to write a story with a hero guilty of any real weakness1 if ,i found it could not be done in the first person4 ,for a story in which a striking character is introduced as hero1 ,i particularly like the use of the first person for a secondary character in the position of a witness4 ,it affords easier conviction of truth as in its use for the hero4 ,it provides instant opportunity to present the hero in attractive light4 ,i should use this method to the limits of its possibilities but for the fact that it is the one which makes it most difficult for the reader to put himself in the hero's place4 ,that fact relegates its use with me to stories of characters so strongly marked as to require the reader's friendship for1 rather than his self-identification with1 the hero4 ,which indicates the place ,i give the third person by elimination4 ,it becomes1 after all1 the one of principal use interfering with no manner of suspense1 allowing for presentation of the reasoning of any or all characters of the story1 commanding sufficient sympathy for any character from dead neutral up1 if at all properly handled4 ,robert ,v4 ,carr3 ,according to mood4 ,george ,l4 ,catton3 ,immaterial4 ,all depends on the requirements of the particular story4 ,in the first person there is less explanatory matter needed2 that's the only difference4 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers3 ,it makes no difference4 ,roy ,p4 ,churchill3 ,i would rather be an observer than an actor1 if ,i am to tell the story4 ,carl ,clausen3 ,third4 ,first limits my view-point4 ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper3 ,it depends entirely on the story4 ,i use the third person mostly1 but there are times in stories of great sympathy when it is impossible to use anything but the first4 ,third person preferred1 however4 ,arthur ,crabb3 ,it depends on the theme to be developed2 generally ,i should say in the third person4 ,by that ,i mean that the author does not appear at all4 ,a writer can do a whole lot more if he keeps himself out of it and then if he restricts himself to what he could see and know himself4 ,mary ,stewart ,cutting3 ,i prefer writing in the third person1 though in two or three of my favorite stories ,i have written in the first person4 ,usually the third person gives you more scope4 ,elmer ,davis3 ,depends on the story4 ,obviously in an ,i story there are things you can't tell the reader without introducing the old expedient of the messenger or something like it4 ,but it has its merits if the plot permits4 ,william ,harper ,dean3 ,i seldom write a finished story in the first person4 ,but 7and here's something7 did you ever write a story in the first person and then go through it and change it to the third person and inspect the result8 ,i can write a much better story in the first person--a more spontaneous one than in the third4 ,for in the first person ,i say what ,i would say under certain circumstances in the plot1 feel what ,i would feel--whereas writing ,he thought--1 makes me stop and think--now what would he think8 ,and right there you are in danger of inventing instead of interpreting as you should be doing4 ,harris ,dickson3 ,i began writing in the first person4 ,don't know why ,i have abandoned it4 ,i do believe1 however1 a tale in the first person1 well told1 takes a stronger hold on the imagination4 ,perhaps because1 like every child who asks ,daddy1 is it true8 we seem to get an atmosphere of verity from the fellow who says1 ,this happened to me4 ,for the same reason the teller of anecdotes prefers to lay them on himself1 or his friend4 ,captain ,dingle3 ,first person1 though it seems unpopular1 so ,i don't indulge often4 ,this way ,i fall into my characters' boots easier4 ,louis ,dodge3 ,i like to write in the third person chiefly for convenience4 ,the first person must go in at a door2 the third may go in at a keyhole or through a wall4 ,phyllis ,duganne3 ,i much prefer writing in the third person4 ,the first person seems to have so many limitations2 if the first person is your hero or heroine1 there are so many things he can not tell about himself that have to be told in other ways4 ,i don't like to read stories in the first person1 as a rule2 ,i don't find them so convincing4 ,this ,i person is always getting in the way of the story4 ,first-person stories are easier to write2 ,i mean that they flow more easily1 though ,i think they are harder to make convincing4 ,i think people usually resent this ,i who thinks he knows so much1 and talks at such great length4 ,it makes a story out of it--an unreal thing--while a story in the third person has no one1 ever present1 to remind you that it's only a tale and may not be true anyway4 ,j4 ,allan ,dunn3 ,i enjoy writing in the first person but do not believe it attracts the majority4 ,it smacks of conceit1 for one thing1 but if one writes of a character in which one can project one's own thoughts1 character1 successes1 failures1 hopes and despair1 the intimacy is a stimulus4 ,it has limitations because the hero1 if he sees everything1 condenses the narrative4 ,and he is only a translator for the other characters4 ,so ,i prefer the third for sheer craftsmanship4 ,to write a first person narrative through the eyes of a third person1 who may be a minor character but a shrewd observer1 is one of my preferences4 ,walter ,a4 ,dyer3 ,it all depends4 ,i usually write in the third person1 because in that form a character can be handled more freely1 but ,i have written stories in a frame of mind that demanded only the first-person treatment4 ,walter ,prichard ,eaton3 ,it is easier to write in the first1 because the process of thinking ,i identifies you with the character4 ,also1 it is more dangerous1 because the same process identifies the character with you4 7,this is really quite wise and intelligent47 ,e4 ,o4 ,foster3 ,i prefer writing in the third person so as to have as little of my own personality enter into the story as is possible4 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel3 ,no preference4 ,depends on the story4 ,some are told more naturally in first person2 others in third4 ,j4 ,p4 ,giesy3 ,the first1 ,i think1 since in it ,i may1 as it were1 vicariously live the part exactly as the actor lives his part for the time being and consequently enter very nearly into the thing4 ,however1 ,i very frequently choose the third because of the very nature of the subject in hand4 ,george ,gilbert3 ,some stories can only be told in the first2 some only in the third person4 ,the story itself decides the person1 not the author4 ,if the story is one that can only be told best by one person's having knowledge of all the incidents1 the first person becomes permissible1 not mandatory4 ,if the story is such that no one person could have had knowledge of all the details without recourse to the receipt of letters1 telephone calls1 confidences given in such a way as to interrupt the thread of the tale1 the story calls for other treatment than first-person telling4 ,the limitation on the first-person story1 when the narrator is the hero1 is this3 ,it is plain that the narrator lived to tell the story1 so no matter what peril he gets into during the tale1 the reader must know he survived1 unless it is a tale of a manuscript found buried or in family archives1 etc4 ,the first-person-narrator story is most effective when the narrator is not the hero1 yet some fine tales have been written that violate this rule of mine4 ,in any event1 the author must look into his story at the beginning and decide this point4 ,another author might have an entirely different idea on it1 and succeed at a given tale where ,i would fail using my rule4 ,kenneth ,gilbert3 ,while writing in the first person is the easiest way to tell a story1 ,i prefer the third for the freedom of description it permits4 ,many stories1 however1 would fall flat if not written in the first person4 ,holworthy ,hall3 ,third person4 ,generally more convincing and less conceited4 ,richard ,matthews ,hallet3 ,i have written both ways4 ,the first person makes an easier narrative1 but makes it harder to develop a plot4 ,and ,i find1 curiously1 by asking the question a great many times and from being criticized myself1 that there is among a great body of readers an odd aversion to a story in the first person4 ,i've never heard even the semblance of a reason for it1 but no matter1 it exists and will certainly work against the popularity of a story in the first person4 ,there is also a considerable group of persons who profess unwillingness to read a story with the faintest touch of dialect in it2 in spite of this dialect stories thrive4 ,so do some stories written in the first person4 ,william ,h4 ,hamby3 ,really prefer writing in the first person1 but rarely do4 ,a4 ,judson ,hanna3 ,this is a matter governed by circumstances4 ,by far the majority of my published stories have been written in the first person4 ,as a rule1 ,i prefer to write them so because it allows so much freedom of expression and creates an informality between writer and reader that appeals to the reader4 ,it is the personal touch4 ,joseph ,mills ,hanson3 ,i prefer to write in the first person because it gives me a sense of more intimate grasp of the motions of the characters and a more vivid realization of the situations4 ,nevertheless1 ,i have written more often in the third person2 perhaps because the former seems1 also1 egotistic4 ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman3 ,in the third person1 because writing in the first gives a feeling of indecent exposure of the intimate corners in my soul4 ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw3 ,in short stories ,i've no particular preference1 although ,i think it a trifle easier to use the first person4 ,in long work ,i find the first person much the harder1 as then a vast number of facts and ideas must be presented from the single point of view4 ,i also find the transition more difficult4 ,joseph ,hergesheimer3 ,third1 for obvious reasons4 ,robert ,hichens3 ,i prefer writing in the third person4 ,i like to tell a story1 not to tell about myself4 ,as a rule1 ,i dislike a novel written in the first person and ,i very much dislike a story told in the form of letters4 ,i scarcely know why4 ,r4 de ,s4 ,horn3 ,i generally prefer writing in the third person4 ,in this case ,i can go anywhere1 describe anything4 ,i am omnipotent2 ,i can see through walls1 read minds1 experience emotions unlimited4 ,in the first person ,i am narrowly proscribed4 ,i can only represent my own emotions and what ,i can know through the medium of my five senses4 ,the only advantage of the first person is that stories thus told have an air of veracity1 of plausibility1 that is particularly desirable at times4 ,furthermore1 they can the more strongly enlist the reader's emotions and sympathies4 ,clyde ,b4 ,hough3 ,i prefer to write in the third person4 ,it gives me more scope4 ,emerson ,hough3 ,i don't know--as it chances4 ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson3 ,in the third4 ,i feel my own individuality would get in the way if ,i wrote in the first4 ,inez ,haynes ,irwin3 ,i think writing in the first person is infinitely easier than writing in the third because inevitably one dramatizes more when writing in the third person and describes more when writing in the first person4 ,dramatizing is more difficult than describing4 ,perhaps that is why ,i prefer the third person--the other seems too easy4 ,yet there's an ease about first-person writing1 an informality4444 ,it goes swiftly1 breezily1 directly4 ,will ,irwin3 ,when ,i began1 ,i liked best to write in the first person4 ,now ,i prefer the third4 ,why1 ,i can not say exactly4 ,probably because your interests increase with years1 and when writing in the first person you have limited yourself to the interests1 experiences and observations of but one character4 ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson3 ,third person4 ,simpler1 usually more effective1 is easier for me4 ,have written only two stories in first person4 ,mary ,johnston3 ,depends on what you're doing4 ,john ,joseph3 ,i very much prefer writing in the third person1 but when it comes to an old-time western story--well1 ,i have lived these things and the detached third person doesn't seem to belong1 nor conventional ,english4 ,i have heard these people talk every day for too many years1 have heard too many camp-fire tales1 ,i suppose1 and the more a writer polishes his story the less real it seems4 ,lloyd ,kohler3 ,the third person4 ,i don't like that eternal ,i4 ,still1 ,i have read many authors who could handle that very same ,i convincingly4 ,more power to them6 ,harold ,lamb3 ,the first person is a little more fun4 ,because it gives a freer hand in description and more play to emotion4 ,sinclair ,lewis3 ,third1 less 7obviously7 egotistical4 ,hapsburg ,liebe3 ,i prefer writing in the third person because in the first ,i can't keep the perpendicular pronoun sufficiently down4 ,e4 ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr43 ,in the first person4 ,comes easier1 less formal1 your reader not a reader but seemingly a friend on the other side of the hearth4 ,i'd recommend it to a beginner4 ,also tell him to forget he is writing literature1 and to keep in attitude of writing a letter4 ,rose ,macaulay3 ,third4 ,because ,i dislike reading stories told in the first4 ,crittenden ,marriott3 ,third4 ,in the first the quotation marks are such a bother4 ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney3 ,the third person4 ,it is easier1 for me1 and1 ,i think1 more effective4 ,ray ,mc,gillivray3 ,fifty-fifty with me4 ,first person is easier4 ,the third person style has been responsible for most of the best literature ever written4 ,not all1 but most4 ,helen ,topping ,miller3 ,i have never written anything in the first person--it intrudes the personal idea and hampers my view-point4 ,i prefer to see my characters impersonally4 ,thomas ,samson ,miller3 ,the first person always seemed to me the more plausible1 for in the third person the author often relates actions and happenings that occurred thousands of miles apart at the same time4 ,i can never forget that some one is telling me the story and that some one couldn't be--say in the heroine's bedroom1 if he is a man author4 ,anne ,shannon ,monroe3 ,it is easier to write in the first person--more easily made real2 but ,i prefer the third4 ,the third is less personal1 more the spectator's account of the whole4 ,writing in the first1 there are many things you can't tell1 because you1 as one of the characters1 can't know it all2 as a spectator--a sort of on-looking creator--you can know it all4 ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery3 ,personally ,i prefer writing in the first person1 because it then seems easier to live my story as ,i write it4 ,since editors seem to have a prejudice against this1 ,i often write a story in the first person and then rewrite it1 shifting it to the third4 ,as a reader1 ,i enjoy a story written in the first person far more than any other kind4 ,it gives me more of a sense of reality--of actually knowing the people in it4 ,the author does not seem to come between me and the characters as much as in the third-person stories4 ,wilkie ,collins's ,woman in ,white is a fine example of the use of the first person4 ,it could not have been half so effective had he told it in the third4 ,and ,jane ,eyre simply couldn't have been written in any but the first4 ,frederick ,moore3 ,i like to write in the third person1 because then ,i'm a god--all seeing1 all knowing1 all controlling--so far as the characters are concerned4 ,talbot ,mundy3 ,on the whole1 ,i think1 the third person4 ,it is easier to keep things concrete1 and to keep off the paper the mental actions and reactions of ,number ,one4 ,kathleen ,norris3 ,a story in the first person is limited because the teller of it is presumably the hero1 and consequently he has to imply his own merit1 beauty or intelligence4 ,more than that1 he must be present at every scene related and the plot must move in spite of him1 as it were4 ,this sort of story was enormously popular in ,dickens' day1 but it does not fit the new ,american type of novel4 ,anne ,o',hagan3 ,i don't know4 ,it's easier in the first person1 but ,i don't think the results are apt to be so clear cut4 ,grant ,overton3 ,i have1 as it happens1 never written anything except certain passages in the first person4 ,i think ,i have no preference4 ,it is all a matter of technical advantage in presentation4 ,hugh ,pendexter3 ,i have no preference and use both first and third person as the story demands4 ,i have started more than one story in the first person and found it impossible2 perhaps because of plot demands4 ,a story that walked lamely in the third person behaved well when told in the first4 ,if ,i desire to show a young man1 neither ,whig nor ,tory1 but leaning toward the latter and his gradual turning to the former1 the first person affords for me the only vehicle4 ,if plot is accentuated1 the third person becomes the vehicle4 ,clay ,perry3 ,i prefer writing in the third person rather than in the first because1 personally1 ,i have always been more or less self-conscious and ,i have the same feeling in writing4 ,just to use the word ,i as now is hard work for me4 ,michael ,j4 ,phillips3 ,i despise first-person writing4 ,i quarrel with the prig who is telling the story4 ,he is either too wise or too ignorant4 ,he either knows too much or doesn't know enough4 ,if he is an actor in the story who really is deserving of a lot of credit and admiration1 ,i can neither give him credit nor admire him4 ,if he values himself as truly as a swashing1 swaggering fellow who would be likable if some one else wrote of him1 he becomes a hopeless braggart4 ,and if he is modest1 he does not glow sufficiently bright and ,i think3 ,well1 how did this fathead ever stumble into this delightfully distinguished1 daring1 lawbreaking group of real folks8 ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell3 ,third person4 ,the ,i becomes monotonous in print4 ,nobody can avoid it when the first person is used4 ,lucia ,mead ,priest3 ,i do not prefer the first person1 in fact ,i do not approve of it1 save for a certain type of writing4 ,but when ,i write in the third ,i find myself growing stiff and formal4 ,i am less direct1 inclining to consciousness and pomposity4 ,i don't know why4 ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes3 ,either1 according to circumstances4 ,frank ,c4 ,robertson3 ,depends on the nature of the story4 ,as a rule ,i think the third person gives the writer more latitude for the development of character and material4 ,ruth ,sawyer3 ,the third person4 ,unless the story needs the direct confession of an autobiographical treatment1 ,i think the intrusion of the first person as eye-witness or teller of the tale makes for complexity rather than simplicity4 ,personally it has the same effect on me that my neighbor makes when she says1 ,my sister's husband told me that his friend1 etc4 ,chester ,l4 ,saxby3 ,i like writing in the first person for the pleasure of dwelling intimately with the hopes and fears of the character4 ,i like writing in the third person for that strong1 austere impersonalness--like a laboratory investigation4 ,all in the mood1 ,i presume4 ,we're not always the same4 ,it explains the rejection of much good stuff by editorial offices4 ,i think1 on the whole1 ,i prefer the first-person story4 ,it's the story of me then2 ,i'm putting forth effort as the story proceeds2 ,i feel the reality more4 ,but it's a difficult metier4 ,barry ,scobee3 ,i prefer writing in the first- or third-person according to the story4 ,no other reason4 ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott3 ,i prefer the third person because editors prefer the third person and ,i have grown accustomed to the way of least resistance so far as editors are concerned4 ,besides1 that ,i is hard to use genuinely in reference to all kinds of characters4 ,robert ,simpson3 ,i prefer writing in the third person because it is1 constructionally speaking1 the simplest4 ,arthur ,d4 ,howden ,smith3 ,first is easier4 ,it's more convincing4 ,theodore ,seixas ,solomons3 ,i prefer1 for celebrity 7it's easier and quicker7 and humanness1 writing in the first person4 ,its handicaps are1 of course1 that the omniscience of the third person is wanting and it is impossible to describe the characters and action in terms of the author's best philosophy when the character telling the story is almost always unable to achieve such philosophy4 ,i therefore use the first person only when the action is such as not to require the peculiar advantages of third-person narration4 ,but ,i much prefer the first person1 because of its naturalness and humanness1 when the nature of the story permits its use4 ,raymond ,s4 ,spears3 ,some of my best work is under assumed name in first person--an adventure of the imagination4 ,norman ,springer3 ,i like the first person best4 ,i seem to be able to get under the skins of the characters better4 ,julian ,street3 ,the third person is less easy but is generally the method of the best writers4 ,the first person is 7with some exceptions7 the refuge of the tyro4 ,as a writer learns his job1 he is likely to write more and more in the third person--especially if he is a person of taste4 ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling3 ,i have no preference as to the person4 ,i find the first person good for rapidity of relation and the elision of endless detail2 the third person is best for expansiveness4 ,booth ,tarkington3 ,of course writing in the first person is infinitely easier4 7,that's one reason it should rarely be done47 ,the reason that writing in the first person is easier is this3 ,the writing is supposed to be done by a fictitious person2 the author1 therefore1 does not feel so responsible1 himself1 for the quality of his prose4 ,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle3 ,a great majority of my stories have been written in the first person4 ,in fact1 ,i began writing that way because ,i could tell a story better than ,i could write one1 and because1 in the first person1 there are fewer threads to carry4 ,characterizations are easier to depict in the third person1 ,i believe1 except in a humorous story1 when ,i would rather describe a character in the first person4 ,lucille ,van ,slyke3 ,third person4 ,because it seems to me that not one person in a thousand can successfully keep up the illusion of being another person very long4 ,first person writing is a sort of lie as soon as it leaves personal experience behind1 and most of us do not have a great many thrilling experiences personally4 7,i happen to adore writing in second person and do a great deal of that for sheer amusement4 ,i wouldn't be so silly as to submit it to any editor1 for ,i am aware of the well-known aversion to it--but1 admitting that it presupposes a highly imaginative reader1 think what fun it is for both writer and reader4 ,i have been awfully interested in ,louise ,dutton's stories about an adolescent girl in which she uses second person a great deal but lapses to third--or indirect discourse--so often that she much breaks her continuity which makes me feel as though ,i were jumping in and out of a ,punch and ,judy box--,i love the minutes ,i'm being ,judy but get rather mixed when ,i am trying to be ,punch67 ,atreus von ,schrader3 ,i prefer writing in the third person1 because ,i believe the use of the first person distracts1 nearly always1 from the illusion of reality4 ,nine times out of ten the first person is used because it is easier1 and for no other reason4 ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch3 ,have no choice4 ,henry ,kitchell ,webster3 ,i seldom write in the first person1 but there is a certain kind of story where the mechanical advantages it offers are great enough to more than compensate for its limitations4 ,g4 ,a4 ,wells3 ,i prefer writing in the first person1 though seldom do so because ,i am not enough the craftsman to subdue my egotism4 ,i like first person better because ,i get closer to the story4 ,it is the personal equation4 ,when one writes first person he goes on the stage and acts2 no matter how large or small his part1 he is in the show4 ,in the third person he sits with the audience and merely records what happens4 ,his readers have the same advantages he has and he can't show a superior air4 ,i often write a story in the first person1 and when finished strike out the big ,i's and substitute the name of the principal character4 ,that way ,i get direct contact with the story4 ,william ,wells3 ,third4 ,too darned bashful2 seems like bragging4 ,ben ,ames ,williams3 ,i prefer writing in the manner best calculated to produce the effect ,i desire4 ,this is a technical question1 to be answered differently in different cases4 ,honore ,willsie3 ,i prefer third-person writing1 for1 while it is more difficult than first-person writing1 it is less apt to have an egotistical effect on the reader4 ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer3 ,i prefer writing in the third person1 but have written two hundred fifty short stories in the first1 because my readers seem to prefer that4 ,i find writing in the first person much easier than any other4 ,william ,almon ,wolff3 ,the third4 ,there is1 for me1 a certain artificiality about first person writing2 a certain seizing upon illicit aids4 ,it's great fun to write in the first person1 and1 sometimes1 of course1 it's the right thing to do4 ,but not often1 ,i think4 ,you dig deeper when you're interpreting life through your description of people seen objectively4 ,edgar ,young3 ,writing in the first person used to come natural to me1 due to the fact that for years as a traveler ,i told many tales in this fashion to amuse friends and was an adept at it4 ,at present ,i prefer third person work4 ,,summary ,an analysis of the general trend of these #aji answers shows that the first person is preferred and generally used by #ad1 the third person by #ed1 while #da may be classed as neutral4 ,of this #da only #bd are entirely neutral2 #h1 while using both1 prefer the third1 and #i1 while using both or for various reasons using the third1 prefer the first4 ,some of the answers speak not only as writers but as readers and doubtless most of the others in their preference as writers voice also their preference as readers4 ,on this rough assumption we might say that of #aji readers #bc prefer stories in the first person to #fb preferring the third4 ,two1 as writers now preferring the third1 originally preferred the first and1 by free and easy analysis1 might be assumed to have1 as readers1 rather a preference for the first4 ,if so1 the score becomes #be to #fj3 ,again1 quite a number among both classes and also neutrals consider first person easier and therefore--perhaps--more natural and therefore--perhaps--more pleasing4 ,a much smaller number give the third person as easier4 ,this highly suppositional reasoning would bring the score for first person considerably nearer that for third4 ,all of which has no value except as a straw indicating the truth of the generally accepted theory that most readers prefer third-person narratives to those told in first person1 and as indicating that the proportion may be anywhere from #c to #a on down to #aj to #g4 ,rather pathetic as information1 isn't it8 ,but not half so pathetic as the fact that writers and editors really know so little as to the reading public's preference on this point that even such weak-kneed conclusions as the above are of some small value because they are at least drawn from a few data of fact4 ,nor one-tenth so pathetic as the fact that1 while this commonly accepted theory seems justified by the above straw1 there are quite a few other theories commonly accepted by writers1 editors and critics that lack the support of even so slender a fact-straw as this4 ,as stated at the beginning of the chapter1 the real value of the investigation is the answers' proof that the question of first person versus third is wholly a matter to be decided according to each writer's individuality and the nature of each particular story he takes up4 ,not by anybody's general rule4 ,,question ,,xii ,do you lose ideas because your imagination travels faster than your means of recording8 ,which affords least check--pencil1 typewriter or stenographer8 ,this question1 like the preceding one1 was added to the questionnaire at the suggestion of several experienced writers with whom ,i consulted4 ,as is pointed out in some of the answers1 the choice of means of recording would seem a matter to be decided wholly in accordance with the idiosyncrasies of each particular writer4 ,but human nature is somewhat prone to settle down upon one method without trying all and it may well be that some writers now wedded to one method may1 on learning the experiences of over a hundred others1 try some new method and find it advantageous4 ,certainly the answers as a whole give an interesting and full presentation of the practical arguments for and against the various methods1 and1 as in all the answers to the questionnaire1 there are various bits of information not always bearing directly on the particular issue that will be found illuminating and valuable4 ,,answers ,bill ,adams3 ,never lose an idea while ,i'm writing4 7,be nothing left if ,i did1 m'lad47 ,god help poor sailors4 ,samuel ,hopkins ,adams3 ,yes2 but ,i catch a lot in the act of escaping by keeping a reserve sheet of paper close at hand while writing1 and ,i will break off in the middle of a sentence if necessary to pin the fugitive down4 ,pen or pencil4 ,you can't head off an escaping idea with a typewriter4 ,i've never tried a stenographer for fiction2 if ,i did1 she would lead a wild-goose chase sort of existence1 for my mind constantly courses ahead of my plot and brings in small game to be attended to while the main chase proceeds4 ,paul ,l4 ,anderson3 ,no1 because ,i have the whole thing planned beforehand4 ,sometimes1 if ,i have an unusual idea1 which seems likely to get away1 ,i note down a word or two on a scrap of paper and keep it by me while writing4 ,this happens oftener with a turn of words than with a fundamental idea4 ,the fastest mode of production1 by far1 is dictating to a s'nog'f'r1 as they are usually called in conversation4 ,next1 the typewriter2 next1 the pen2 last1 the pencil--the blame thing keeps getting dull and you have to stop to sharpen it6 ,i can seldom afford a stenographer1 but when ,i can1 and have a good one1 composition is unalloyed bliss2 ,i can light a cigarette1 put my feet up1 and live the whole story1 without distractions4 ,joy6 ,william ,ashley ,anderson3 ,with a typewriter of light touch ,i can write most clearly and sharply1 because1 ,i think1 ,i feel the restraint of the appearance of words actually in type4 ,the most agreeable tool to me is a goose quill4 ,i only used quills a little while1 in ,england1 where they are still in use even in government offices4 ,there is practically no friction between the quill and paper1 and no noise4 ,the effect is complete privacy and smoothly flowing words4 ,i do sometimes lose ideas which get away from me4 ,h4 ,c4 ,bailey3 ,i never lost ideas by forgetting them4 ,i write in pencil and slowly4 ,dictation or typewriting would be impossible to me for any imaginative work4 ,edwin ,balmer3 ,typewriter4 ,ralph ,henry ,barbour3 ,i don't think my imagination ever gets so far ahead of my means of recording that ,i lose ideas4 ,as to those means ,i prefer a typewriter4 ,i have never tried to dictate--to a stenographer4 ,i don't believe that ,i'd like it4 ,or maybe the stenographer wouldn't4 ,anyway1 ,i intend to keep on pounding it out myself4 ,frederick ,orin ,bartlett3 ,i use a typewriter and find that travels fast enough for me--as long as ,i don't worry particularly over what keys ,i hit4 ,nalbro ,bartley3 ,no--,i do all my stuff on a typewriter4 ,i revise it personally--,i make the final copy myself4 ,konrad ,bercovici3 ,i never lose any ideas4 ,i never begin to put them down until they are rounded out in my mind4 ,one never loses anything except what he does not care to possess4 ,ferdinand ,berthoud3 ,yes1 ,i do1 but ,i mostly pick them up again unexpectedly1 perhaps months afterward4 ,always write my draft in pencil1 as it is easier to make instant alterations4 ,also the clicking and mechanism of a typewriter are liable to bring me suddenly back from out of my dream world4 ,h4 ,h4 ,birney1 ,jr43 ,no2 ,i don't think so4 ,story is pretty well outlined in my mind before ,i start writing4 ,i personally write entirely with a fountain pen4 ,dislike the scratching of a pencil and the lack of permanency of penciled notes4 ,have tried doing my work direct from brain to typewriter1 but find that the purely mechanical strain of using ten fingers1 returning carriage1 watching right-hand margins1 etc41 tends to hamper thought4 ,tried stenographer only once1 so am not qualified to express opinion there4 ,farnham ,bishop3 ,i always compose mentally before ,i begin to write4 ,conceived the plot of ,malena while walking post1 outlined the whole novel and held it in my head until ,i came off guard4 ,often come back from a walk with one or two long paragraphs composed and memorized1 ready to be set down4 ,i have held ideas and worked them over mentally for months and years1 before writing a word on the subject4 ,that being the case1 ,i almost never write except on my trusty ,corona1 ,h4 ,p4 ,method4 ,algernon ,blackwood3 ,imagination invariably travels faster than power of recording it4 ,i use shorthand to jot down bits that flash ahead of the words ,i am actually typing at the moment4 ,these flashes otherwise prove irrecoverable4 ,with a stenographer beside me ,i could not think of a single sentence4 ,i compose straight on to my own machine4 ,max ,bonter3 ,typewriter seems to afford me least check in recording thoughts4 ,i write ,pitmanic shorthand two hundred words a minute1 but seldom use it in composition4 ,in this case my hand is speedier than the flow of ideas4 ,moreover1 ideas that would flow as fast as that would not seem to be reliable4 ,such a flow of bull would have to be edited very carefully afterward--so why be so precipitate8 ,better take it easier and pay more attention to logic than verbosity4 ,the clatter of a typewriter does not disturb my train of thought4 ,i don't need a sound-proof cell when ,i write4 ,when ,i feel in the mood for writing my spine is stiff and ,i sit straight in my chair and punch hard4 ,i like to feel the keys bounce back from the platen4 ,it makes me feel as if ,i'm punching something and getting somewhere4 ,katharine ,holland ,brown3 ,yes4 ,either the typewriter or a pen4 ,never a stenographer4 ,f4 ,r4 ,buckley3 ,never lost an idea that way yet4 ,i write extremely fast1 and without conscious effort1 on the typewriter--up to ninety words a minute4 ,i used to write in pencil and pen when on ,english newspapers2 now ,i'm used to the typewriter1 ,i find it and the hand-methods' check equal4 ,i mean1 typewriter used to check me1 now hand-writing does4 ,just what you're used to4 ,typewriter for me4 ,prosper ,buranelli3 ,it seems to me that a writer is a person with the gift of gab1 but whose gift of gab is slower than the jawbone4 ,slow typewriting is about the speed of my gabble4 ,thompson ,burtis3 ,yes4 ,i have never used any other means of writing than a typewriter4 ,i do not believe that ,i would be effective through a stenographer1 and ,i'm damn certain that ,i'd never write a line unless ,i was starving if ,i had to depend on pen or pencil4 ,george ,m4 ,a4 ,cain3 ,i do lose ideas before ,i can catch up to them with the recording4 ,i have never done any writing for publication otherwise than directly upon the typewriter4 ,any handwriting entirely confuses me4 ,i can use a typewriter blindfolded4 ,i can write with it twice or three times as fast as with the pen or pencil4 ,without having tried it1 ,i imagine that the presence of a stenographer would greatly bother me at first4 ,i have always thought that ,i might possibly get better results by using a dictaphone and then cutting out about two-thirds of what ,i said to it4 ,heaven knows ,i am prolix enough on a typewriter4 ,i hesitate to credit heaven with any generally distributed knowledge of what ,i would do1 if it involved no greater effort than talking4 ,robert ,v4 ,carr3 ,when manufacturing literary sausage ,i naturally want to grind it out rapidly4 ,but if ,i am working on what seems to be a good story1 ,i can get my ideas down with a pencil4 ,george ,l4 ,catton3 ,lots of ideas are lost that way1 though they generally come back4 ,pencil1 with me1 affords the least check on loss4 ,robert ,w4 ,chambers3 ,do not lose ideas thus4 ,pencil and eraser4 ,roy ,p4 ,churchill3 ,i believe the mind can be trained to construct with the means at hand4 ,i have seldom lost any real valuable ideas by having the spirit run away with the physical construction of some sort of record4 ,at first ,i wrote with pencil1 which is slow1 then on a machine1 which is faster1 and now dictate to a rapid stenographer4 ,i have had to get the habit of each method1 and time would be lost if ,i had to change again4 ,carl ,clausen3 ,sometimes4 ,pencil4 ,courtney ,ryley ,cooper3 ,that depends also4 ,i use every possible style of writing4 ,i have started a story by pen1 switched to pencil1 gone to the typewriter and dictated the climax1 the reason being this3 ,i must write character slowly4 ,i must do action as swiftly as it is possible for me to put it down4 ,and when the action becomes too fast for my typewriter1 ,i dictate4 ,in other words1 although it is bromidic1 ,i know1 ,i live my stories to a great extent4 ,i personally go just as slow or as fast as the story itself--there are times when ,i can not write swiftly to save my life--because ,i am in a maze of slow characterization4 ,then again1 ,i have to go like an express train to keep up with my story4 ,arthur ,crabb3 ,to some extent1 but not seriously4 ,i sometimes have trouble in retaining ideas that come when ,i am off the job4 ,pencil4 ,mary ,stewart ,cutting3 ,no1 as ,i said before1 when ,i imagine anything1 ,i write it down and so do not lose my ideas4 ,a fountain pen in my hand greatly facilitates thought and expression4 ,elmer ,davis3 ,yes1 but still worse because ,i sit around and think about the damn thing before ,i start writing at all1 and most of the good stuff is gone by the time ,i drag out the old mill and get to work4 ,never tried anything but typewriter1 though ,i have seen stenographers who would take a man's mind off the fleeting thought and the evanescent phrase4 ,william ,harper ,dean3 ,no1 ,i can keep up with my ideas1 because ,i can write fast on a typewriter4 ,i seldom leave it until the story is done in its first draft--an eight-thousand-word story will go down in the rough before ,i leave the machine4 ,then come the long careful hours of revision and rewriting1 the thumbing of my ,thesaurus4 ,but ,i must get it down in black and white while ,i am hot with it--that's why ,i'll never write a book4 ,i couldn't write a thousand words to-day and a thousand to-morrow4 ,no1 when ,i'm full of the thing it must be written4 ,harris ,dickson3 ,no4 ,i am an expert typewriter and stenographer1 and have so few ideas that ,i can not afford to let one get away4 ,captain ,dingle3 ,i can only write one way--typewriter--straight out from my imagination4 ,neither pen nor pencil helps1 nor any amount of notes1 except such as are necessary to avoid errors of date or place4 ,imagination seems to keep up4 ,when it slows1 ,i know it's time to clew-up for a spell4 ,louis ,dodge3 ,if ,i get a good idea--conceding that ,i ever do--it never gets away from me permanently4 ,it'll come back4 ,but ,i get along better with a typewriter4 ,it's easier1 that's all4 ,phyllis ,duganne3 ,i don't lose ideas because my imagination travels faster than my means of recording while ,i'm actually working4 ,i can lose them through being interrupted before ,i've finished4 ,a typewriter affords least check2 it's almost impossible for me to write with a pencil4 ,and my own typewriter is so well trained that it can write just about as fast as ,i can put my thoughts into words4 ,j4 ,allan ,dunn3 ,i find that my own typing keeps up fairly well with my imagination1 a little behind1 far enough to look over the situation ahead and amend or alter it4 ,but then ,i have usually thought out my day's typing beforehand1 probably several times over4 ,the machine is less check than any other medium1 but it was not until ,i had acquired a certain speed4 ,if my technique bothers me ,i can sometimes dictate very rapidly4 ,i find1 however1 that the matter of proper punctuation1 dialect and unusual spelling suffers at the hand of another--this includes a dictaphone4 ,i had a hard fight getting away from pencil to the typewriter1 but ,i don't want to go back4 ,walter ,a4 ,dyer3 ,i write pretty rapidly1 and so ,i seldom lose ideas4 ,when ,i find my mind running ahead it is usually a warning that what ,i am doing is dull4 ,if an idea jumps into my mind that ,i am afraid ,i shall forget1 ,i sometimes stop and jot down a note of it4 ,usually the best stuff comes when the mind and the typewriter are well synchronized4 ,i used to write with a lead pencil1 but ,i have learned to use a typewriter with less effort and so with better results4 ,walter ,prichard ,eaton3 ,i lose ideas because ,i quit to play golf4 ,when ,i am writing ,i should certainly feel sore if ,i couldn't hold one till ,i got it down4 ,i never use a typewriter--never found one that could spell4 ,when ,i use a pen ,i write so badly that nobody can tell whether it can spell or not4 ,i can't dictate4 ,i at once begin to write like ,daniel ,webster's ,bunker ,hill ,oration4 ,e4 ,o4 ,foster3 ,i lose ideas because my imagination travels faster than my typewriter4 ,of the four channels--pen1 pencil1 typewriter and stenographer1 the typewriter affords the least check to my imagination4 ,arthur ,o4 ,friel3 ,yes4 ,pencil4 ,j4 ,u4 ,giesy3 ,at times4 ,the typewriter serves me best4 ,george ,gilbert3 ,i use the typewriter1 because ,i am skilled on it to the point where ,i can write two thousand four hundred words an hour4 ,i once wrote ten thousand words at one sitting1 averaging two thousand an hour4 ,the story was not revised materially4 ,i gained this skill transcribing one hundred million words during my long career as an ,associated ,press code operator1 taking twelve thousand to fifteen thousand words a night for many years4 ,i can think on the machine easily4 ,kenneth ,gilbert3 ,while ,i do not lose ideas because of mechanical inability to set them down rapidly1 ,i lose enthusiasm for them1 and1 perhaps1 some of the precious fire that would make them glow stronger4 ,i find a typewriter the least check on my imagination4 ,i have never tried a stenographer1 but ,i have long felt that a dictating machine would be very helpful4 ,holworthy ,hall3 ,not yet4 ,pencil4 ,richard ,matthews ,hallet3 ,my imagination does not travel at better than a snail's pace4 ,i could do a cuneiform inscription without the sacrifice of a single idea4 ,sometimes ,i compose on a typewriter and sometimes with a pen4 ,if you write fast on the typewriter1 if you really do bring the speed dogs into play1 and you are a fast thinker1 you gain momentum1 ,i should think4 ,but ,i always gain momentum at the expense of nearly everything else4 ,i do at most two thousand words a day1 even on re-write stuff1 and going at this pace1 you can see that my imagination does not feel the lag of the writing instruments4 ,a friend of mine leans into the horn of a dictaphone every morning and sprays vocal folly there2 but ,i never got courage for that4 ,that horn would follow me in dreams4 ,william ,h4 ,hamby3 ,yes4 ,to me the pen4 ,a4 ,judson ,hanna3 ,i certainly would lose ideas because my imagination travels faster than my means of recording had ,i not adopted a plan for nailing down these fugitive ideas4 ,when an advance idea comes to me ,i break off composition instantly1 even in the middle of a sentence1 and record the advance idea4 ,later ,i run back over the rough draft1 pick out the fugitive ideas and insert them where they are most effective4 ,i began by writing with a pen1 slowly2 discarding the pen for the typewriter1 and finally settling down to the use of the pencil on any scrap of paper that is at hand when the thoughts come1 writing so swiftly that ,i have trouble in deciphering my writing if ,i allow it to become cold4 ,as my mind works now1 ,i could not use a stenographer4 ,in fact1 the mere presence of another person in the room where ,i am writing disconcerts me and disorganizes my train of thought4 ,joseph ,mills ,hanson3 ,my imagination seldom travels faster than my means of recording4 ,i find it easiest to do original writing with a pencil4 ,the next easiest method is with a typewriter4 ,e4 ,e4 ,harriman3 ,at times my ideas seem to run down a smooth chute at lightning speed and no stenographer or human tongue could keep up with them4 ,i lose some on the way4 ,the machine for me every time4 ,nevil ,g4 ,henshaw3 ,i often lose ideas by not being quick enough to get them down4 ,for first draft ,i can't go beyond a pen or pencil4 ,joseph ,hergesheimer3 ,pen4 ,robert ,hichens3 ,no4 ,i write always with a pen and not very fast4 ,r4 de ,s4 ,horn3 ,yes2 that is one of the most provoking things about writing4 ,the imagination so far outspeeds all methods of recording that ,i can command4 ,clyde ,b4 ,hough3 ,i am able to express ideas as fast as ,i can compose them4 ,dictation to a stenographer is the easiest method in writing for me4 ,emerson ,hough3 ,i never have any ideas to lose4 ,sometimes ,i write in longhand1 sometimes on the typewriter4 ,i dictated about half of ,the ,mississippi ,bubble direct on the machine in my business office4 ,wrote the rest at home between ten o'clock at night and four in the morning4 ,if you think the medium does not matter1 does it8 ,i don't really see much use in trying to get at these things4 ,every fellow writes in his own way1 or ought to do so4 ,so far as these things helping other writers may be concerned1 ,i really don't think there is much in it4 ,it's a hard enough game1 and so far as ,i can get at it1 experience is the only teacher in it that is worth a cuss4 ,sometimes not even experience is worth that much4 ,advice is nearly always worth a great deal less4 ,a4 ,s4 ,m4 ,hutchinson3 ,not1 ,i think1 when ,i am actually writing4 ,inez ,haynes ,irwin3 ,my husband1 ,will ,irwin1 believes that difficulty in the mechanical means of expression makes for lucidity and elegance of style4 ,he always uses pen or pencil4 ,i think this is only partly true4 ,i think there are times when it is impossible to get things down with enough speed4 ,i am sure that sometimes ,i lose ideas and expressions when imagination is flowing free and ,i can not register its outpouring quickly enough4 ,i can of course get my ideas expressed more quickly when ,i dictate to a stenographer4 ,there is no doubt in my mind that a story gains directness1 a certain fluency1 fluidity and plasticity--and a quality1 which comes from the spoken word alone--in dictation4 ,perhaps equally it loses in precision and compression4 ,i started writing with a pencil2 rejected the pencil for the typewriter2 the typewriter for dictation to a stenographer4 ,now ,i am writing with the pencil again4 ,next month1 ,i may revert to the typewriter4 ,in my opinion an ideal way to compose would be to dictate the story first and then rewrite the dictated version with a pencil4 ,will ,irwin3 ,i can not remember ever losing an idea because my means of recording was not fast enough4 ,in writing fiction1 and generally in writing journalism1 ,i use a pen or lead pencil4 ,i have a tendency to be diffuse1 and a slow and difficult means checks this4 ,i regard the typewriter and dictaphone as the enemies of style4 ,frederick ,j4 ,jackson3 ,my imagination travels fast1 but ,i get a death clutch on my ideas4 ,typewriter is my favorite3 cleaner1 more effective copy4 ,pen next4 ,pencil too mussy4 ,stenographers are the bunk4 ,haven't found one who can take my stuff right4 ,mary ,johnston3 ,there are ideas too swift for our catching--as yet4 ,i prefer a soft1 black pencil4 ,john ,joseph3 ,yes1 my pencil lies beside the machine and ,i make a great many notes1 otherwise ,i'd lose many good 787 ideas4 ,the typewriter affords the least check to the imagination4 ,lloyd ,kohler3 ,yes1 ,i have often lost ideas because my imagination travels faster than my means of recording4 ,a pencil or fountain pen affords the least check4 ,i have never tried the stenographer plan--,i'm afraid ,i'd be a little self-conscious2 gun-shy1 you know4 ,harold ,lamb3 ,no1 when the imagination travels over a bit of ground it is always able to return4 ,as for ideas1 a penciled note1 a word or so1 will bring them back ,a typewriter gives least check1 probably due to habit4 ,tamen shud6 ,sinclair ,lewis3 ,rarely4 ,typewriter4 ,hapsburg ,liebe3 ,my imagination often travels too fast1 and then ,i make notes4 ,i use a pencil for writing names of characters and the situation roughly2 the rest ,i do on a typewriter2 it makes a better1 clearer picture for me to see as ,i go along4 ,romaine ,h4 ,lowdermilk3 ,i do lose ideas that way4 ,i can get them down better with pencil1 for it gives opportunity for quick substitution and marking-out4 ,still1 ,i do most of the work on a typewriter1 as it is more convenient when it comes to revision 7double space74 ,i can't always read what ,i write by hand4 ,my imagination works best at night2 criticism in the morning4 ,i do best thinking in hot weather4 ,i don't get up at night to write but have lost good ideas by not doing so4 ,and ,i hope there's something useful in the foregoing6 ,eugene ,p4 ,lyle1 ,jr43 ,not often--not often enough4 ,ideas are slow travelers4 ,i wish they could keep up with my fingers on the typewriter4 ,typewriter affords the least check1 or about the same as a pencil4 ,rose ,macaulay3 ,yes4 ,waterman's safety fountain pen4 ,crittenden ,marriott3 ,pen and stenographer about the same4 ,homer ,i4 ,mc,eldowney3 ,i have a skeleton of my entire story4 ,it is simply scribbled in a hurry and ,i keep the pen moving fast enough to prevent the ideas from getting away before ,i can rope and hog-tie them4 ,ray ,mc,gillivray3 ,stenographer4 ,often she interjects ideas into the scripts ,i never even imagined4 ,still1 she's not bad1 though a letter like this would burn out her bearings4 ,helen ,topping ,miller3 ,my stories are usually fairly complete in my mind before ,i begin to write them4 ,usually the first thousand words are so completely formulated that ,i could recite them before ,i put a line on paper4 ,no matter what ,i am doing--traveling1 teaching1 going about my domestic tasks1 ,i am making up stories in my head1 as the children say4 ,i write on a typewriter1 usually1 though ,i am able to work as rapidly with a fountain pen on rough paper4 ,i can not use a pencil4 ,thomas ,samson ,miller3 ,i use pen1 and sometimes an idea slips in memory1 but nothing of great importance1 and if it is best work--work done over and over--the idea is picked up again4 ,anne ,shannon ,monroe3 ,yes1 ,i am never able to keep up with my ideas2 often ,i have to stop typing and make a note on a scrap of paper1 of something on ahead1 fearful lest ,i forget it when ,i come up with it4 ,i use a typewriter altogether4 ,l4 ,m4 ,montgomery3 ,i don't think many ideas ever get away from me by reason of slowness of recording4 ,my aforesaid note-book habit has been of tremendous value here4 ,i write with a pen and couldn't write with anything else--at least1 as far as prose is concerned4 ,when ,i write verse ,i always write on an ordinary school slate1 because of the facilities for easy erasure4 ,but for prose ,i want a ,waverly pen--this is not an advertisement--,i just can't write with any other6 a smooth unlined paper and a portfolio ,i can hold on my knee4 ,then ,i can sail straight ahead and keep up with any ideas that present themselves4 ,but these are only personal idiosyncrasies and have nothing to do with a writer's success or non-success4 ,so no aspiring beginner need despair because his or her stationer is not stocked up with ,waverly pens6 ,frederick ,moore3 ,i sometimes lose ideas because my imagination travels too fast4 ,it may be that those ideas are like the fish that got away--not so big4 ,but just the right angle on a situation will sometimes slip away and won't come back for days4 ,then it is not wise to chase it too hard1 for it seems to get out of reach entirely if pressed too close4 ,it frequently comes back under the queerest circumstances and when least expected4 ,the writer works all the time--at the theater1 walking1 and sometimes when talking with another person on other subjects4 ,my own hands on the typewriter beat everything in the way of creating4 ,i have tried all others4 ,the other person1 in dictating1 seems to act as a barrier with me4 ,i find myself watching the effect of what ,i dictate on that person1 or the secretary makes faces or looks bored1 or makes a noise when he breathes1 or looks at me4 ,so ,i have to do it myself to avoid assault and battery4 ,and ,i won't allow machine copying1 for ,i find that if ,i copy myself1 ,i change the turn of a sentence or add to something that makes an improvement4 ,and a stretch of writing is more exhausting than a similar period at the hardest of labor4 ,only the writer knows what a sapping1 wearing job writing a story happens to be4 ,that is what makes 'em so cranky4 ,talbot ,mundy3 ,the typewriter seems best1 but ,i am going to try a dictaphone by way of experiment4 ,as regards the losing of ideas1 when found make a note of is probably the remedy4 ,then the only difficulty is to force yourself to consult your note-book and1 having consulted it1 to link up again the hurriedly made note with the wonderful winged idea that inspired it4 ,the only stuff really worth writing is poetry1 although ,i'd hate to have to read nothing else6 ,the stuff ,i enjoy reading most of all is philosophy and metaphysics4 ,next after which1 good books of travel and treatises on finance and bee-keeping hold the board4 ,i believe that the apex of exquisite enjoyment is1 for instance1 reading ,kant or ,john ,wesley and shooting their arguments all to pieces4 ,but ,i can't afford to enjoy myself4 ,kathleen ,norris3 ,to lose ideas seems to me to imply an untidy sort of brain4 ,the imagination needed for a story should not be a spasmodic1 incoherent1 impulsive sort of business1 but an orderly production4 ,a person who would lose ideas would also lose her purse1 her friends1 her petticoat1 and eventually1 ,i should suppose1 her mind4 ,anne ,o',hagan3 ,i think ,i'll answer this the other way around1 naming the things that oppose the most check in their order--pen1 stenographer1 typewriter1 pencil4 ,grant ,overton3 ,i always compose on the typewriter4 ,i should lose ideas if ,i had to write by hand1 but ,i generally sit down to a day's work of possibly three concentrated hours with only a vague idea of what ,i shall write about4 ,i may know a sentence or two4 ,i let it build itself up from moment to moment4 ,all the ideas and most of the pictures grow out of the moment before4 ,sir ,gilbert ,parker3 ,i could not dictate a word1 and ,i never used a typewriter4 ,all ,i do is written by hand with a pen4 ,hugh ,pendexter3 ,often4 ,but they usually come back to me without any conscious effort to reclaim them4 ,the typewriter is my best medium for setting down the story4 ,i never use pen1 pencil1 or dictate4 ,but there is no medium ever invented that can keep up with a man's imagination and preserve all the coloring and minuti of effects4 ,clay ,perry3 ,i used to lose ideas because of being unable to get them on paper fast enough1 but since ,i educated my two forefingers to the hunt and touch system on the typewriter that happens very seldom4 ,having done practically all my fiction work for the past five years on a mill and never through dictation1 ,i can not say whether dictation would help more4 ,a pen or pencil would cramp my style very badly1 now4 ,i've synchronized my mind to the mill4 ,however1 ,i believe this is purely an artificial1 mechanical condition which could be worked out1 one way or another1 in necessity4 ,michael ,j4 ,phillips3 ,newspaper training has disciplined my mind so ,i lose nothing through failure of speed to transcribe4 ,it is all right for some1 but ,i would be afraid of a yarn that forced me to such speed4 ,the thing would be impossible when ,i had finished it4 ,usually use typewriter and copy all of my own short manuscripts1 having longer ones copied by stenographer4 ,the newspaper game has taught me to dictate either over the phone or to stenographer2 to typewrite2 and to write with pencil with equal freedom4 ,i wouldn't care for a pen4 ,under the circumstances1 the typewriter is the most practicable1 so ,i use it almost exclusively4 ,walter ,b4 ,pitkin3 ,i lose much through inability to record fast enough4 ,i work best when typing myself2 next best with a pen or pencil4 ,i am totally unable to dictate anything but the deadest form-letter stuff to even the most sympathetic stenog6 ,i have two utterly distinct styles and manners1 one when writing freely and one when talking to a secretary or stenog4 ,the latter is simply awful4 ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell3 ,no4 ,my imagination travels fast but ,i do not lose ideas because of it4 ,out of a hundred ideas1 five are good4 ,those five1 if good1 need not be forgotten4 ,it works out automatically4 ,i remember a good idea4 ,the rest can go hang4 ,being a newspaper man1 ,i use the typewriter constantly and now ,i can not write longhand without a cramp in two minutes4 ,lucia ,mead ,priest3 ,sometimes my thoughts get ahead of me4 ,if they are not nailed down they are likely never to come again4 ,i can keep up fairly well--if ,i do not have to decipher the next day1 ,i am safe4 ,i do not use the typewriter for several reasons4 ,mechanical things are irksome2 ,i am lazy4 ,i use a pencil and a stenographer does the rest4 ,eugene ,manlove ,rhodes3 ,yes4 ,pencil4 ,frank ,c4 ,robertson3 ,i find it pays to turn the imagination loose until the story is well outlined in the mind before touching paper4 ,then it is comparatively easy to concentrate upon the immediate problem before you when you sit down to write4 ,i compose only on the typewriter4 ,ruth ,sawyer3 ,yes4 ,i prefer typewriter4 ,and when the material is definitely clear and fresh in my mind ,i prefer dictating4 ,chester ,l4 ,saxby3 ,pen or pencil is a greater drag on me than a typewriter is4 ,due to habit1 no doubt4 ,i have never dictated4 ,oh1 yes1 ideas crowd on at times2 but with a pencil ,i should find the crowding rushed my writing into chicken-tracks ,i couldn't read afterward4 ,the very fact that typewriting holds me back ,i regard as an advantage2 the first impulse must too frequently be rejected4 ,literature should be cooked up in hot blood--and then written cold4 ,barry ,scobee3 ,i would lose ideas because my imagination travels faster than my typewriter1 but ,i jot down points for my story1 even pages ahead1 as ,i go along and they come to mind4 ,typewriter affords least check for me4 ,never tried a story with any other tool4 ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott3 ,i lose a few ideas because my imagination travels faster than my means of recording but ,i usually pick up others1 equally good1 which ,i would have missed had my recording kept pace with my thoughts4 ,the typewriter affords me the least check1 but ,i believe that to be a matter of habit4 ,one thing about a typewriter is that you get a better look at your stuff as it goes down4 ,robert ,simpson3 ,i don't lose many ideas owing to a rapid fire imagination4 ,i haven't got one4 ,frequently it goes wandering off into bypaths1 but the only thing ,i lose then is time4 ,everything ,i write is first written and revised in pen and ink4 ,i detest a typewriter4 ,arthur ,d4 ,howden ,smith3 ,no4 ,typewriter4 ,theodore ,seixas ,solomons3 ,i seldom lose ideas in that way4 ,from my answer to ,,ii you will see that even if ,i happen to think faster than ,i can write1 if the thought is a useful one it automatically attaches itself to my memory4 ,as to the mechanism of writing1 ,i am only now abandoning the pen and using1 for almost all composition1 the typewriter4 ,but for the greater legibility and the quickness1 when quickness is needed1 of the machine1 ,i should continue with the pen1 for with me it is most conducive to careful first expression4 ,i write with widely separated lines--about twice the usual spacing1 or even three times4 ,this1 either with the pen or on the machine4 ,my purpose is to avoid the necessity of making a new draft on new paper when ,i come to revise4 ,i now use but the one manuscript draft1 making all my changes on that4 ,occasionally ,i am obliged to prepare some new sheets1 but ninety-five per cent4 or more of the original sheets are retained4 ,if ,i happen to be in my stride1 or1 what is more likely1 if the matter happens to be easy to write1 a page or two may escape with little correction4 ,again1 ,i may line and interline1 but ,i have the space and by using a fine script1 which comes easy to me1 ,i am able to make great changes and additions while retaining the original page4 ,the advantages of this will be manifest when one considers the value of having before one constantly1 in his revisings1 all his past thought and expression4 ,here1 in my way of working1 ,i have before me always the complete history of the fashioning of the thought--the sentence or paragraph4 ,often ,i later resume the original form1 having found1 by the lapse of time1 that the improvement ,i sought and fancied ,i had achieved involved some objection greater than that ,i strove to remedy4 ,this and many other advantages of this method would be impossible if a completely new copy were made1 for one would never think to go back to the old1 and if he did it would be difficult and cumbersome4 ,incidentally1 it is a time-saver4 ,when my first draft is a typed one ,i revise with the pen on the same sheets4 ,raymond ,s4 ,spears3 ,i can keep up with my typewriter1 when writing stories4 ,if my mind jumps ahead too fast1 ,i make a pencil note to recall the look into the future of the story4 ,norman ,springer3 ,the mind always runs ahead of the work4 ,it plays around the sides of the story1 so to speak4 ,but ,i don't think there is any loss4 ,if an idea isn't used1 it sinks back into the mind and some day it pops up again4 ,i compose on a typewriter4 ,it is a plodding business4 ,but fast enough1 for ,i find myself pausing only too often4 ,this query brings up another item4 ,it is the difference between thinking a story and writing it4 ,and ,i find that this too is a common experience among writers ,i know4 ,thinking up the story is fine work1 pleasant and exhilarating4 ,when you have your materials and your characters you think out the yarn from beginning to end4 ,everything seems crystal clear1 every detail in its proper place1 every difficulty solved4 ,it appears to you to be a very good story indeed and ridiculously easy to write4 ,you begin to write1 and alas1 the story that seemed so clear in your mind turns out to have been not clear at all1 but nebulous4 ,as you thought it1 it was beautiful2 as you write it1 it is a mess4 ,no matter how hard you try1 you can never get down upon paper the wonderful story you thought4 ,the best you achieve is a caricature4 ,another common experience is what ,i call bumping into the stone wall4 ,there comes a time in every story1 usually toward its end1 when you get stumped4 ,by this time1 anyway1 you are usually pretty well disgusted with the tale4 ,it is so inferior to what you planned1 so different from the fine story you saw when you thought it out4 ,your mind is also eager to be at new work4 ,so you bump into the stone wall4 ,this wall is usually some little hitherto unconsidered detail that suddenly assumes huge proportions4 ,it seems to have wrecked your story4 ,there is nothing to do then but plug1 and pretty soon the difficulty is surmounted4 ,i mention this because ,i've noticed that the stone wall is the place where the new writer is apt to throw up the sponge4 ,julian ,street3 ,i have that tendency but have trained myself to catch the ideas as they come by4 ,the fancies that come when one is writing ,i have often called butterflies of thought4 ,one must be ready always with the net and get them before they fly out of the window again4 ,t4 ,s4 ,stribling3 ,i never lose my ideas if ,i catch any4 ,anything will do except a stenographer2 ,i can't bear to have another person in the room while ,i work2 they disturb me just as much sitting silent and motionless as if they were raising bedlam4 ,booth ,tarkington3 ,sometimes4 ,the pencil is best for me4 ,w4 ,c4 ,tuttle3 ,i have never dictated any copy4 ,i am not fast on a typewriter--using only two fingers and profanity--but ,i am never more than two chapters behind my imagination4 ,seriously1 ,i never know what the next paragraph is going to contain4 ,lucille ,van ,slyke3 ,i'd like to kid myself along by thinking ,i lose heaps of ideas that way1 but common sense tells me they aren't very impressive or ,i wouldn't lose them4 ,typewriter4 ,except at those heavenly1 rare--awfully rare--moments when ,i get a faint inkling 7no pun intended67 of how it must feel to be an inspired writer instead of a bungling1 struggling tortoise of a scribbler who is handicapped by being a trifle softheaded and by having to carry a beloved house around on her back as she crawls4 ,at those times ,i like a big fat pencil1 a whole box of big fat pencils4 ,atreus von ,schrader3 ,no4 ,typewriter4 ,t4 ,von ,ziekursch3 ,find the typewriter most satisfactory4 ,occasionally have stopped to jot down a note on some touch that ,i know ,i wanted to add later in the story and might forget in the fever of the story4 ,henry ,kitchell ,webster3 ,i don't think ,i ever lost an idea because my imagination had outrun the means of recording4 ,i sometimes dictate1 sometimes write on the typewriter2 ,i think the difference is unimportant4 ,g4 ,a4 ,wells3 ,my imagination would move miles ahead of my writing instrument if ,i let it4 ,i therefore adjust the tempo of my imagination to keep pace with the recording instrument4 ,i think the use of a recording instrument depends upon the mood4 ,i have trouble using a typewriter in artificial light4 ,can not use a pen during the day with the same facility as at night4 ,i detest a pencil and very seldom use one4 ,my mind is more free with a pen than with a machine1 though most of my writing is done altogether on the machine4 ,william ,wells3 ,no1 because ,i can call them back4 ,typewriter2 can't dictate1 get all balled up2 maybe lack of practise4 ,ben ,ames ,williams3 ,i use a typewriter and find it satisfactory2 to use pen or pencil for more than a few minutes tires me1 physically1 and my handwriting becomes entirely illegible4 ,honore ,willsie3 ,sometimes4 ,soft pencil4 ,h4 ,c4 ,witwer3 ,i have lost many ideas1 plots1 titles1 bits of dialogue1 etc41 because my imagination has traveled faster than the means of recording it4 ,it has not always been convenient to make notes4 ,for example1 ,i might be working on a story and later be at a theater or almost anywhere1 and an idea for a funny or dramatic scene in this particular yarn will strike me4 ,by the time ,i get back to my story1 intervening events may have driven the idea entirely out of my mind4 ,yet weeks afterward it will crop up again most unexpectedly1 apropos of nothing at all1 and ,i'll think1 ,darn it1 ,i should have used that in such and such a story6 ,i find the typewriter affords least check and work on it exclusively4 ,william ,almon ,wolff3 ,i can keep up with my imagination when ,i use a typewriter2 ,i can't with pen or pencil4 ,i can't dictate at all4 ,that is1 ,i suppose1 a matter of habit and custom4 ,edgar ,young3 ,write directly on a typewriter by touch system and rewrite from another person's reading where ,i catch many inconsistencies and change them as ,i write4 ,i consider composing on a typewriter a very poor method and wish ,i had always used a pencil1 marking out swiftly when the wrong word or sentence was put down4 ,this letter is a fair sample of what ,i compose at a first draft4 ,,summary ,total answering1 #aaa4 ,losing ideas through too slow means of recording1 #dc2 #aj of these prevent a final loss by making notes4 ,not losing1 #ee4 ,in tabulating the means of recording affording least check or preferred for general reasons1 in several instances where a writer habitually still uses more than one1 a score has been given for each4 ,the heavy predominance of the typewriter was rather surprising to the tabulator1 as was also the greater use of pencil than of pen4 ,typewriter #fc2 pencil #bd2 pen #bc 7#d of these specified fountain pen and #a a goose quill72 longhand 7neither pen nor pencil specified7 #a2 dictation to stenographer #i2 any #a2 any but stenographer #a4 ,no dictaphone except #a prospect4 ,this tabulation1 like all others in this book1 though carefully made1 can not be exact1 some answers not lending themselves to definite or even entirely satisfactory tabulation4 ,this is of little moment1 since in all cases the only purpose to be served is that of ascertaining general tendencies and drawing general comparisons4 ,,the ,,end ,transcriber ,notes3 ,passages in italics were indicated by underscores4 ,passages in bold were indicated by equal signs4 ,small caps were replaced with ,,all ,,caps4 ,errors in punctuations1 inconsistent hyphenation1 and inconsistent were italics were not corrected unless otherwise noted4 ,on page #g1 etc8 was replaced with etc484 ,on page #be1 propellor was replaced with propeller4 ,on page #ca1 told it me all wrong was replaced with told it to me all wrong4 ,on page #ce1 the period after ,r4 ,t4 ,m4 ,scott was replaced with a colon4 ,on page #gh1 #a receive these was replaced with ,i receive these4 ,on page #ha1 whether logical or no was replaced with whether logical or not4 ,on page #if1 ,it's aim1 was replaced with ,its aim14 ,on page #aai1 that is too minute44 was replaced with that is too minute44 ,on page #aba1 ,mary ,stuart ,cutting was replaced with ,mary ,stewart ,cutting4 ,on page #abd1 subconciously was replaced with subconsciously4 ,on page #abg1 ,dicken's was replaced with ,dickens'4 ,on page #ach1 a period was put after 7hope ,i'm not getting atrophied674 ,on page #aed1 a period was put after it is a terrible arraignment to numbers4 ,on page #afe1 a period was put after ,otherwise ,i think there is little if any difference4 ,on page #aic1 a period was put after ,i had been reading 7by somebody else674 ,on page #aih1 as ,i want them too was replaced with as ,i want them too4 ,on page #bjg1 ,imagaination was replaced with ,imagination4 ,on page #bhh1 ,mauspassant was replaced with ,maupassant4 ,on page #cji1 ,gilbert ,chesterson was replaced with ,gilbert ,chesterton4 ,on page #cbg1 ,anna ,o',hagan was replaced with ,anne ,o',hagan4 ,on page #cbh1 attention to style1 ,if by that was replaced with attention to style1 if by that4 ,on page #cdb1 begining was replaced with beginning4 ,on page #cdg1 a a was replaced with a4 ,on page #cfe1 corrall was replaced with corral4 ,on page #cij1 ,,chapter ,,xi was replaced with ,,question ,,xi4 ,on page #djj1 ,colliers' was replaced with ,collins's4 ,on page #dji1 ,paul ,k4 ,anderson was replaced with ,paul ,l4 ,anderson4 ,on page #dae1 the period after ,holworthy ,hall was replaced with a colon4 ,on page #dbb1 ,ann ,o',hagan was replaced with ,anne ,o',hagan4 ,on page #dae1 the period after ,e4 ,s4 ,pladwell was replaced with a colon4