There are three qualities which all authors should aim to incorporate in their writings if they are to be a blessing rather than a curse to humanity: these are cleanness, healthiness and righteousness. They may be introduced in many and various forms; and are often to be found in wholesome laughter, spontaneous gaiety, good cheer, breathless adventure, revelations of beauty, as well as in direct appeals to the higher nature. Anything that will arouse sane emotions, and divert the mind from self, is to be welcomed as a benefaction in this world of many sorrows.
The late Charles Heber Clarke—better known to the public as "Max Adeler"—enjoyed great popularity at one time as a humorist. He was a man of strong religious convictions; and there came a day when he ceased to write his humorous pleasantries, seeming inclined to regard them as so much wasted opportunity. On one occasion however, a clergyman whom he met while travelling, on discovering his identity, grasped his hand and said, "You have made me laugh when there seemed nothing left to laugh about; you have helped me to get over some of my darkest days. I owe you more than I owe any other man in the world."
"And when he had finished pouring out his gratitude," said "Max Adeler," (who told me this himself), "I began to wonder whether, after all, one might not be doing as much good in the world by making people smile and forget their troubles, as by preaching at them."
To help humanity God-ward is the greatest privilege we can aspire to; but this can be done by other means besides the writing of hymns and commentaries. Everything that tends to lift humanity from the low-lands of sorrow or sordidness or suffering, and to point them to the great Hope; everything that will aid them to live up to the best that is in them, and to strive to recapture some long-lost Vision of the Highest, will be helping in the great work of human regeneration that was set on foot by the One who came to give beauty for ashes.
While only a few are entrusted with the message of the prophet or the seer, we all can specialise on whatsoever things are lovely and pure and of good report; and we shall be of some use—if only in a quiet way—to our day and generation if we can help others also to think on these things.
But one point must not be overlooked—and in saying this I am summing up most that has gone before: If a book is to succeed, it must be well written.
Because a certain number of highly unpleasant books have succeeded, and a certain number of highly moral books have failed, beginners sometimes consider this as an indication of public preference. What they forget, or do not know, is this: The nasty book succeeded, in spite of its nastiness, because it was well and brightly written; while the moral book failed, in spite of its goodness, because it was badly written and superlatively dull. If the moral book that failed had been as well written as the nasty book that succeeded, it would not only have done as well as the nasty book, it would have done a great deal better.
All but a small degenerate section of the public prefer wholesome to vicious literature—but nobody wants a dull book! And the amateur writer of good books often overlooks this latter fact.
Therefore, bear in mind that it is not sufficient that you make a book clean and healthy and good; you must endeavour to make cleanness as attractive as it really is, and healthiness as desirable as it really is, and God-ordained Righteousness the most satisfying of all the things worth seeking.
When you can do this, you will find a fair-sized public waiting, and anxious, to buy your books.
You will not know what good you may be doing—it is never desirable for any of us to hear much on this score, humanity is so sadly liable to swelled head! But occasionally some one in the big outside world may send you a sincere "Thank you." When this comes you will suddenly realise, though you cannot explain why, that there are some things even more worth while than the publisher's cheque.
A
Abbreviations to be avoided in verse, 247
Abstract qualities to be gauged, 25
Alexander, Mrs., Burial of Moses, 75
Allen, James Lane, and local colour, 176
Allingham, Wm., poem by, 170
Allusions, hackneyed, 155
Amateurs, what they need to cultivate and avoid, 47
Amateurs, two classes of, 139
Amateurs copying unawares, 203
Amateurs and marriage offers in stories, 209
Amateurs' lack of first-hand knowledge, 198
Ambiguity, avoid, 157
American writers and local colour, 174, 175
Ancient facts undesirable except in text-book, 149
Angel Court, Austin Dobson, 290
Anthologies, verse, 75, 76
Antiquated expressions, 52
Arnold, Matthew, 75
Article, settle object in writing it, 147
Articles that are not wanted, 151;
big subjects to be avoided, 155;
"How to ——," editors overdone with, 154;
which fail, 138;
useful divisions, 136;
ruled by form, 136;
on subjects already dealt with, 153;
study type of, in magazine you are writing for, 152;
must be sent to editors in time, 150;
must be topical, 150;
starting in the middle, 147
Artist and detail, 100
Artist's fragments, an, 167
Artistic atmosphere, 178
Artistic training and literary first attempts, 4, 98-100
"Atmosphere," healthy and otherwise, 181;
as a time saver, 180
Atmospheric purpose of story writer, 89
Audience, settle on your, 126
Austen's, Jane, old-world "atmosphere," 184
Author's aim to help readers God-ward, 293
Authors must have something in their heads to write down, 11
Authorship compared with dressmaking, 5, 7
B
Baby prattle in amateur verse, 239
Barclay, Mrs., White Ladies of Worcester, 41;
The Rosary, 210
Barrie, Sir J., and dialect, 195
Barrie, Sir J., short stories, 91;
Window in Thrums, 224
Beautiful thoughts do not guarantee beautiful writing, 98
Begin in the middle, 147
Be natural, 48, 106
Benson, Dr. A. C., 65
Big subjects to be avoided, 154
Birrell, Augustine, 65
Blackmore and local colour, 174
Blue pencil to be used by writer rather than editor, 252
"Body," needed in writing, 123
Bolshevism in literature, 291
Booksellers as readers, 118
Books that shriek, 38
Books which survive. Why? 29
Boothby, Guy, and proof corrections, 223
Boudoir stories, 206
Brain misuse, nature's revenge for, 36
British Weekly, for style, 56
Broad Highway, The, "atmosphere" of, 184
Browning, Mrs. and Christina Rossetti, 76
Browning, Mrs., "Sonnets from the Portuguese," 244
Browning's Paracelsus, 71;
"rough-hewn" method, 70
Bryant and Longfellow, 76, 77
Bullock, Shan F., and local colour, 174
By-gone models of amateurs, 209
C
Cable, George, 176
Cabmen, article on, 113
Callers on editors, 274
Canton, William, 42
Caricature is not characterisation, 142
Carlyle's "rough-hewn" method, 70
Cataloguing instead of art, 140
Causes of actions to be studied, 27
Central idea, necessary to story, 79
Character delineation needed in love-stories, 215
Characterisation is not caricature, 142
Characters in story, values of, 84;
should not be multiplied unduly, 220;
should explain themselves, 216, 219;
to be introduced early, 219
Chatterton, 269
Cheap books, the flood of, 38
Chesterton, G. K., paradoxes of, 165
Children, mistakes of writers for, 127
Chimney-pot, evolution of the, 43
Chimney-pots, Ruskin's chapter on, 44
Choate, Joseph H., on Dickens, 231
Choose topic from your own environment, 200
Clarity, aim for, 161
Classics, our purpose on reading them, 111, 112
Clarke, Charles Heber, 293
Cleanness should be made attractive, 295
Cleverness must not be obtrusive, 109
Climax, do not anticipate, 228
Climax in article, 147
Climax, never lose sight of, 89
Coleridge's Kubla Khan, 75, 170
Colloquialisms, avoid, 195
Condensation, need of, 106
Condensation never spoils beginner's work, 257
Contrasts, incidents inserted in stories as, 86
Copy, universal tendency to, 202
Copying unrecognised by amateurs, 203
Country of the Pointed Firs, The, 224
Craddock, Chas. Egbert, and local colour, 176
Cranford, 184, 201
Creating an "atmosphere," 185
Creation and copying, 203
Criticise your own work, 129
Criticism, editors have no time for, 9
Crockett, S. R., and dialect, 195
Curtailment of sentences may be carried to excess, 50
"Curtains" are sound business, 229
"Curtains," Dickens', 231
"Curtains" necessary for serial publication, 231
Cut down your MSS., 253
Cynic really gets nowhere, 30
D
Dante, why we read, 111, 112
David and Jonathan, 155
Defects overlooked by fame, 124
Delay in editorial decision on MSS., 276
Delete superfluities in your MS., 254
Dénouement as a surprise, 213, 225
Detail, knowledge of, imperative, 21;
study of, 100;
too much, 92, 140
Devices to reach editors, 283
Dialect an extra mental strain on reader, 194;
requires exceptional skill, 195
Diary form of story, 191
Dickens, Charles, an adept at "curtains," 231
Dickens, central ideas of, 79
Diffusiveness, 106
Divine discontent, 197
Dobson, Austin, Angel Court, 290
Does the public want it? The publisher's question, 267
Dog, the real, 19
Doll heroines, 26
Dombey and Son in U. S. A., 231
Dream Days, Kenneth Graham, 224
Dreams of youth valuable, 235
Dressmaking and authorship, 5, 7
Dull book not wanted by anyone, 295
Dulness not necessary to goodness, 294
E
Earle, Mabel, Valley Song, 248
Eccentricity will not secure permanent interest, 122
Editorial routine, 283
Editors do not purchase MS. because first attempt, 263;
have no time to criticise and advise, 280;
only buy what pays to publish, 264;
take time to read MSS., 276;
unmoved by irrelevant appeals, 261
Emotionalism, 184
Emotions of author not always interesting, 220
Ending, a happy one best, 226
Entertaining, every book should be, 128
Environment and circumstances to be studied, 19
Environment, your own, as your subject, 200
Every generation allows special characteristics of speech, 49
Exclusive information necessary, 45
Extracts, lavish use undesirable, 161
Expressions, antiquated, 52
F
Facts, ancient, to be omitted, 150
Facts needed, 21
Fame overlooking defects, 124
Farnol, Jeffrey, and old-world "atmosphere," 184
Feeding the brain with snippets, 37
Fiction, monotonous character of MSS., 80
Fiction, "strong," 287
Field, Eugene, Limitations of Youth, 249
"Fiona Macleod," 171
First attempts rarely acceptable, 102
First attempts in literature compared with art and music, 4
First-hand knowledge, need of, 198
First-person limitations, 188
Forest of Wild Thyme, Alfred Noyes, 250
Form as applied to articles, 136
Formless fragments, 167
Fragments, 166
Framework of story, 82
Freak writings cannot be forecasted, 268
G
Garden of Verses, a Child's, R. L. Stevenson, 250
Genius, mistaken ideas of, 4
Genius scarce, 13
Gloom manufacture is wrong, 227
Glow-worms as a hat-trimming, 153
God-ward help in literature, 293
Golden Age, Kenneth Graham, 224
Goodness does not excuse dulness, 295
Gosse, Dr. Edmund, 65
Graham, Kenneth, Golden Age and Dream Days, 224
Grandmothers in amateur fiction, 210
Gray's Elegy, 67
Green, Dr. S. G., and Pickwick Papers, 232
"Grip" needed for selling, 117
"Grit" necessary in a novel, 122
H
Hackneyed phrases, 155
Healthiness, authors should aim at, 292
Healthiness should be made desirable, 295
Hearn, Lafcadio, and local colour, 174
Heroine, the rose-petal, 209
Hiawatha's appeal to children, 250
"How to ——" articles overdone, 154
Human characteristics to be studied, 18
Human heart, pivot of great stories, 28
Hysterical "atmosphere," 184
I
Idea, original, lost, 160;
ornate language cannot cover lack of, 160;
starting, forgotten by amateurs, 126;
the central, 79, 81
Ideas and words, 59;
as varied as human nature, 81;
more important than rhapsodies, 236
"Imaginative writing," 162
Immoral fiction, 288
Improbabilities, 162
Inaccuracy in detail fatal to success, 23
Incidents should not be crowded, 220
Income expected without training, 4
Indefinite style to be avoided, 150
Ingelow, Jean, 75
Inner workings of mind and heart to be studied, 26
Interest readers, the need to, 116
Interviews with editors undesirable, 272
Introductions to editors useless, 270
Invisible Playmate, 42
Involved sentences, 159
Isolation foolish for an author, 31
J
Jacobs, W. W., and local colour, 173
James, Henry, long sentences of, 165
Jewett, Sarah Orne, 176;
Country of Pointed Firs, 224
Journalists as models for the amateur, 57
K
Kernahan, Coulson, 65
Keynote of story, 79
Kipling, Rudyard, and local colour, 174;
short stories, 91;
"The Recessional," 75
Kipling's "Cat that walked by itself," 142;
varied styles, 104
Know your characters, 29
"Kubla Khan," 75, 170
L
Lady of the Decoration, 194
Lady of the Lake, 173
Landscape painting, 178
Language, pleasing, 71
Learning must not be obtrusive, 108
Leave off when finished, 147
Length of story must be considered, 134
Letters, story in the form of, 193
Life ever offering new discoveries, 29
Literary student at disadvantage compared with students of arithmetic, 6
Literature, an elusive business, 7;
good, what constitutes it, 7;
intangible, 8
Little, Frances, Lady of the Decoration, 194
Little Women, 201
Local colour and American authors, 174
Local colour subordinate to personality, 28
Locality should be known to story writer, 220
Longfellow, Bryant and Swinburne, 76, 77
Lovers' outpourings in amateur verse, 239
Love-story difficult for amateur, 211, 224
Love-story, need for character delineation, 215
Love-stories outlets for girls' emotions, 221
M
Magazine is a business proposition, 264
Main theme should make universal appeal, 27
Major, Charles, 184
Mannerisms not tolerated, 164
"Mark Twain" and preacher, 251
Marriage offers in amateur stories, 207
"Max Adder's" humour helpful, 293
Men and women as they really are, 29
Mental "atmosphere," conveying our own, 187
Mental food needed, 12
Mental indigestion, 37
Metrical composition, laws to be studied, 235
Meynell, Alice, "Song," 238
Minor details in stories, two purposes of, 86
Mitford, Miss, Our Village, 185
Modern English seldom used by amateur, 48
Modern style gained by reading modern stuff, 54
Modernity of style desirable, 50
Money-making should not alone be object in writing, 148
Monotony fatal to success, 120
Moral books should be as well-written as nasty ones, 295
Morley, Viscount, and prize poem, 73
Motif important, 81
Motives that prompt actions, 26, 27
MSS., proportion of accepted, 3
MSS. rejected, reasons why, 10, 148, 197
MSS. should be typed, 278
Music and art compared with literature, 4, 5, 6, 132
N
Nature dissertations in amateur verse, 239
Nature and mind, effects of nutriment, 11
Nature's revenge for misuse of brain, 36
Negatives, double, 159
New reliable matter will find acceptance, 46
Newspaper leading articles for style, 54
Notes of observations, 17, 20, 21
Novel, "grit" necessary for, 122
Novel, three-volume, 132
Novel, wedding need not be chief aim of, 80
Novelty desirable, 120
Novice must train himself, 6
Noyes, Alfred, 75, 250
O
Object, be sure of your, 127
Observation saves from pitfalls, 22
Observation to begin just where you are now, 32
Obvious not the whole of the story, the, 26
Old-fashioned style not wanted to-day, 52
Old-world "atmosphere," 183
Omar Khayyám, pessimistic "atmosphere" of, 184
One-sided view of life due to isolation, 31
Other people's brain-work not acceptable, 46
Originality necessary, 46
Originality not peculiarity, 164
Original work is rare, 202
Our Admirable Betty, "atmosphere" of, 184
Our Village, Miss Mitford, 185
Out-doory "atmosphere," 185
P
Padding stories, 85
Painting, three-part basis of, 132
Peculiarity not originality, 164
Peculiarity will not secure permanent interest, 122
Pedantic style, avoid, 161
People, study of, needed, 30
"Personal" marking does not carry to editor, 283
Personal outlook of readers, 119
Pessimism manufacture is criminal, 292
Pessimistic "atmosphere," 184
Pett Ridge and local colour, 173
Phil May's methods, 255
Pickwick Papers and school holiday, 232
Picture palaces versus reading, 39
Pigeons in war, amateur article on, 146, 149
Plato, why we read, 111, 112
Plausible imp, the, 257
Plots, making, 108
Plots, well-worn, 204
Poems for comparison, 76
Poems should have some definite thought, 236
Poetic idea in every poem, 237
Poetry anthologies, 75, 76
Poetry leads to good prose, 72
Poetry, reading aloud, 74
Poetry, the so-called "new," 244
Point, necessary to a story, 214
Polish, 222
Preliminary studies for perfect work, 101
Press dates are long before publication, 150
Proposals in fiction and real life, 212
Psychological bearings to be noted, 24
Publisher better judge than author, 267;
not a philanthropic agent, 265
Publisher's requirements must be conformed to, 282
Publishers specialise in fixed directions, 269
"Pull together" your MS., 255
Punch and a "curtain," 233
Punch, influence of, 286
Purpose, all writing should have a, 128
Q
Quiller-Couch, Sir A., 65
Quotation marks, 161
R
Reader's choice, rather than yours, for the reader, 151, 152
Reading, aloud, 55, 74;
helps you to judge the worth of information, 43;
loss of the power of, 39;
and nibbling, 40;
necessary for historical stories, 41
Read only what you can read thoroughly, 40
"Realism" in fiction, 290
Reliability essential, 46
Return of MSS., 277
Reviewers, 118
Rhapsodies do not constitute poetry, 236
"Rich sonority," 54
Righteousness, authors should aim at, 293
Rives, Amélie, and local colour, 176
Rosary, The, heroine of, 210
Rossetti, Christina, 75;
and Mrs. Browning, and Tennyson, 76, 77
"Rough-hewn" method, 70
Routine in editors' offices, 283
Rubáiyát, pessimistic "atmosphere" of the, 184
Rules, established, save our wasting time, 130
Ruskin's "Chapter on Chimney-Pots," 44;
defects overlooked, 124;
Poetry of Architecture, Queen of the Air, Preterita, 65;
Sesame and Lilies, 65, 183;
tangents, 137
S
Schools for literature needed, 5
Scott's Lady of the Lake, 173
Secondary matter in story, 85
Seeing yourself in print should not be alone the object in writing, 148
Selection, instinct for, 139, 146
Self-expression, craving for, 9
Selling, the essential of book production, 119
Sensational, the demand for, 38
Sentences should be short, 221
Serial publication necessitates "curtains," 231
Sesame and Lilies, 183
Settle your chronological starting point, 145
Shakespeare language not necessary to amateur, 50
Shakespeare and spiritual values, 28, 29;
why we read, 111, 112
Sharp, Wm., 171
Shaw, Bernard, cynical scintillations of, 165
Shelley's Cloud, 75
Short sentences an advantage, 221
Short stories need same rules as long ones, 90
Shrieking books, 38
Skimming, danger of, 36
Slang indicates ignorance, 62
Slang, monotony of, 61
Slangy style, avoid, 161
Smile, making people, 293
Snippets of reading, 37
Sonnets from the Portuguese, Mrs. Browning, 244
Sound, refined and otherwise, 69
Spectator articles for style, 55
Speeding up our sentences, 49
Spiritual values to be noted, 24
Spiritual values and Shakespeare, 28, 29
Stale material, 45
Start where you are, 224
Starting-point, chronological, to be settled, 145
Steel, Mrs. F. A., 91, 174
Stevenson, R. L., Essays, 64;
Garden of Verses, 250
Story, "atmospheric" purpose of author, 89;
balance of, 135;
assessing values of characters, 85;
climax never to be lost sight of, 89;
contrasts, examples of, 87;
cut out irrelevant particulars, 136;
dovetailing incidents, 89;
framework of, 82;
get well under way early in, 134;
historical reading necessary for, 41;
keynote of, 79;
length of, 134;
the minor details, 86;
the three-part basis, 132;
incidents, select those that matter, 142;
in form of diary, 192;
in form of letters, 193;
over-crowding with detail, 92;
"slap dash" method of writing, 92;
told in clear manner most popular, 196;
written in first person, limitations of, 188;
written in third person usually best, 188;
secondary matter in, 85
Stories by masters, nothing merely a "fill-up," 86
Stories, short, need same rules as long ones, 90
Strauss' sound monstrosities, 68
"Strong" fiction, 287
Style, avoid indefinite, 156
Style of writing should vary, 104
Subjects must be of interest to readers, 119;
not repeated by editors, 153;
unable to be studied should be avoided, 19
Successful books must be well-written, 294
Swinburne and Longfellow, 76
Sympathy needed to write convincingly, 29, 30
T
Tact necessary to contributors, 284
Taylor, Ann and Jane, 124
Tennyson and Christina Rossetti, 77
Tennyson's "Break, break, break," 171;
"Flower in a Crannied Wall," 171
Tennyson's poems for reading aloud, 74
Thinking, formless, 171
Third-person narrative usually best, 188
Thought transference, 59
Thought, beware of labouring a, 160
Thoughts, difficulty of writing them down, 98
Three-part basis of story, 132
Timothy's Quest, 224
Topicality, keep an eye on, 150
Training for authorship imperative, 5
Training yourself, 140
Travellers, publishers', as readers, 118
Typed MSS. most likely to be read, 278
U
Ugliness is not art, 291
Uncle Tom's Cabin, central idea of, 79
Unpleasant topics, 288
Unseen that counts, the, 24
Using two words where one will suffice, 50
V
Valley Song, by Mabel Earle, 248
Verse, abbreviations to be avoided in, 247
Verse, amateur, 239
Verse anthologies, 75, 76
Verse-making, laws of, to be studied, 235
Verse must voice world-wide need, 243
Verse, worth reading, amateur, 239
Verse-writing a useful exercise, 234;
leads to good prose, 72
Vocabulary of average person, 60
W
Wax-Figure characters, 26
Wedding need not be chief aim of novel, 80
Well-worn plots, 204
When Knighthood was in Flower, "atmosphere" of, 184
Wholesome literature preferred by public, 295
Why, every, hath a wherefore, 160
Why some books survive, 28, 29
Wiggin, Kate Douglas, 224
Wilkins, Mary E., and local colour, 175, 176
Wilson, President, 171-word sentence, 221
Window in Thrums, A, 224
Wister, Owen, and local colour, 176
Woman's Magazine offered unsuitable subjects, 153
Woman's Magazine at press some weeks before publication, 150
Wooden-horse heroes, 26
Word, value of a, 66
Word-picture, fragmentary, 169
Word-picture study, 104
Word-pictures, need to select incidents for, 141
Words, greatest writers had no more than we, 251
Words, subject should regulate choice, 158
Words, use simple, 67
Words, using two when one will suffice, 50
Write as you actually speak, 48
Writing difficult to reduce to set of rules, 8
Writing is hard work, 204
Writer's influence greater than preacher's, 287
Writing a serious responsibility, 287
Writing that lasts, 25