Writers Membership in Literature
by John Steinbeck
I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature.
About thr Author
John Steinbeck at Amazon
Dedicated to the classic books on fiction writing. Learn to write short stories, novels, and plays by studying the classic how-to books. I believe fiction writing is a Craft. In the hands of a writer who has mastered the Craft, it can become more than that. It can become Art. Art = Talent + Craft But the bedrock is Craft. There are fundamental techniques to be studied, unfamiliar tools to be mastered, tricks of the trade to be learned. And it all takes time. (Writing Mastery) (Writing Craft)
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Sunday, April 30, 2023
Writers Membership in Literature by John Steinbeck | Writing Quote
by John Steinbeck
Picturing Your Storyworld by Randy Ingermanson | Advanced Fiction Writing
Picturing Your Storyworld
by Randy Ingermanson
Advanced Fiction Writing
Maps bring a storyworld to life. If you’re a fan of The Lord of the Rings, you’ve probably spent a fair bit of time poring over the map of Middle Earth that J.R.R. Tolkien created. The map helps you make sense out of the very complicated story.
I’ve always wished I could draw like that, but I just haven’t ever developed my drawing skills, so it’s not possible right now.
The novel I’m currently trying to finish up is set in the world of first-century Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. I’ve been to modern Israel several times and I’ve spent many days on-site in various locations where my story is set. I have more than 10,000 pictures of my storyworld, and I know the geography pretty well.
But it’s very hard to put that geography into words. Very hard.
A Picture Really Is Worth 1000 Words
It’s a worn-out cliche, but in the case of geography, it’s absolutely true. A map is worth a whole lot more than 1000 words.
Several months ago, I decided to hire a graphic designer to draw some maps for me.
Then I realized how hard that was going to be. None of the maps I’ve found in books is anything close to what I want. So I can’t just hand a graphic artist a map and say, “Draw me something a bit like this, only different.”
The horrible truth dawned on me that trying to tell an artist how to draw my maps would end up taking a lot of words. To really explain what I wanted, I’d need to draw them a picture. But if I had the skills to draw them a picture, I wouldn’t need a graphic artist in the first place.
I did a little research online and found some cool map-drawing tools. Some of them are web-based. Some are Windows-only. One is Mac-only.
They all have different features, and I finally settled on the Mac-based tool, a fairly pricey program named Ortelius. Fortunately, Ortelius lets you download a trial version to test.
A Learning Curve
Ortelius is amazingly powerful. But like most powerful tools, the learning curve is steep. I thought it was important, so I took a week and worked through the entire tuturial for Ortelius.
At the end of that week, I felt confident enough to start drawing my maps. And it’s going very well. I had a list of 7 maps I wanted drawn. I’ve now got 4 of them done, and they came out much better than I would have expected.
Now that I’m well into this project, I wish I’d tackled it years ago. I’ve always known that geography matters a lot to a story. Drawing my own maps forced me to make many hard decisions to get rid of all ambiguity. (When you have 20 different maps and they all disagree in one way or another, you have a lot of ambiguity.)
How Maps Affect Your Story
Already, I can see that a good map helps you think out your story.
In my storyworld, people walk everywhere. Walking takes time, so you need to be able to estimate how long it takes to get between any two places.
But you can’t walk where there aren’t roads, so you also need to work out where the roads are. That puts constraints on your story, which helps in two ways:
- It tells you when your characters don’t have a choice, which is useful to know. Sometimes, they’re forced to go through some particular town. When you know that, it suggests ideas for what must happen along the way.
- And it tells you when they do have a choice, which can help generate conflict. Sometimes, all choices have downsides. When you know that, you have a meaningful dilemma, and that’s good for your story.
Visualizing Your Action
Action is a crucial part of any scene. If you want to visualize the action in your scene, it’s crucially important that you know what the stage is like.
A fair bit of my story happens in the small village of Nazareth. The archaeology of Nazareth is poorly understood, which means that there aren’t any good maps of the village. Without a map, it’s easy to write a very generic scene with very generic action.
What I discovered when I made my own map of Nazareth was that the act of making a map forced me to remove all the fuzziness from my mental picture of the place. It brought everything into focus for me. And once I had it in focus in my own mind, it was vastly easier to put it into focus on the page.
So after drawing my map of Nazareth, I went through my entire novel and checked every scene. I found that a handful of scenes could be put into sharper focus, now that I had a map. So I tweaked those scenes. It would have been smarter to do that before I wrote the novel. But now that I’ve got good map-making software, I’ll do better in the future.
Homework
- How well can you visualize your storyworld?
- Are there fuzzy parts of your mental image of your world?
- Would it bring things into focus if you drew a map on paper? (Even a rough sketch.)
- How long would it take to sketch out a quick map?
- How much value would that have for your project?
About The Author
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Classic Fiction Writing Books That You Can Read For Free Online
Classic Fiction Writing Books That You Can Read For Free Online
Writing Books Index
Fiction Study
- A Manual of the Art of Fiction by Clayton Hamilton (1919)
- A Study of Prose Fiction by Bliss Perry (1902)
- Fiction as Art and Life by Robert Saunders Dowst (1919)
- Forces in Fiction and Other Essays
- How to Study The Best Short Stories by Blanche Colton Williams (1919)
- Materials and Methods of Fiction by Clayton Hamilton (1911)
- The Importance of the Single Effect in a Prose Tale by Edgar Allan Poe (1842)
- The Two Supreme and Highest Arts by Oscar Wilde
Fiction Writing
- Analyzing a story's plot: Freytag's Pyramid
- An Important Quality of the Writer's Mind is Sympathy by Elinor Glyn (1922)
- Anton Chekhov’s “Gun Theory” of Writing
- Caroline Gordon Advice on Fiction Writing to Flannery O’Connor
- Composition-Rhetoric by Stratton D. Brooks and Marietta Hubbard
- Fiction Writing: Characterization by Robert Saunders Dowst (1918)
- Figures of Speech by F. V. N. Painter (1903)
- Fundamentals of Fiction Writing by Arthur Sullivant Hoffman
- How do I get my Start as a Writer?
- How to Tell a Story, and Other Essays by Mark Twain
- Kinds of Description by Lewis Worthington Smith
- Learn to Write Short Stories Studying the Classic How-To Books
- Many Who Attempt To Write Can Never Succeed
- Notes On Writing Weird Fiction by H.P. Lovecraft
- Talks on Writing English by Arlo Bates
- The Art Of Fiction by Henry James
- The
Art of Story Writing : Facts and Information about Literary Work of
Practical Value of Both Amateur and Professional Writers by Nathaniel
Clark Fowler Jr.
- The Art of the Story-Teller by Marie L. Shedlock
- The Art of Writing by George Randolph Chester
- The Art Of Writing Fiction by Mary Burchard Orvis (1948)
- The Author's Craft by Arnold Bennett (1914)
- The Craft of Fiction by Percy Lubbock (1921)
- The Philosophy of Composition. By Edgar Allan Poe
- The Prince of Storytellers Tells His Own Story by E. Phillips Oppenheim
- The Subjective and Objective Writer by Lewis Worthington Smith (1902)
- The Technique of Fiction Writing by Robert Saunders Dowst (1918)
- The Technique of the Mystery Story (1913) by Carolyn Wells
- The Technique of the Mystery Story by Carolyn Wells (1913)
- The Writer, Volume VI, April 1892. by Various
- Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations by Georges Polti
- Prefaces to Fiction by Boyce, Argens, Derrick, Manley, Scudéry, and Warburton
Literary Criticism
- Confessions and Criticisms by Julian Hawthorne
- Criticism and Fiction by William Dean Howells
- Masters of the English Novel: A Study of Principles and Personalities by Richard Burton (1909)
- The English Novel and the Principle of its Development by Sidney Lanier (1883)
Novel Writing
- A Model Lesson in Novel Writing
- A Novelist on Novels by Walter Lionel George
- Fiction Writing: The Novel by Robert Saunders Dowst (1918)
- How I Write My Novels by Margaret Wolfe Hamilton (1897)
- How to Write a Novel: A Practical Guide to the Art of Fiction
- The Responsibilities Of The Novelist, And Other Literary Essays by Frank Norris (1903)
- The Novel v. The Short Story by Anonymous (1901)
- The Novel; What It Is by F. Marion Crawford
- The Study of a Novel by Seldon Lincoln Whitcomb (1905)
- The Technique of the Novel. The Elements of the Art, Their Evolution by Charles Francis Horne (1908)
- Writing the Atmosphere / Tone of a Story by Robert Saunders Dowst (1918)
Play Writing
- Gustav Freytag's Dramatic Technique by Gustav Freytag
- How to Write a Play by William Gillette and Dudley H. Miles
Poetry Writing
Short Story Writing
- A Manual of the Short Story Art by Glenn Clark (1922)
- Climax and Conclusion by Charles Raymond Barrett
- Elinor Glyn System of Writing (1922)
- Fiction Writing: The Short Story Robert Saunders Dowst (1918)
- Hints on Writing Short Stories by Charles Joseph Finger (1922)
- How to Write a Short Story: An Exposition of the Technique of Short Fiction (1906)
- How To Write Fiction, Especially The Art Of Short Story Writing : A Practical Study Of Technique (1896)
- How To Write A Short Story
- How to Write Short Stories by L. Josephine Bridgart, (1921)
- Narrative Forms by Lewis Worthington Smith (1902)
- Requirements of the Short Story by Rosa M. R. Mikels (1915)
- Short Story: its Principles and Structure by Evelyn May Albright, (1907)
- Short Story Writing: A Practical Treatise on the Art of The Short Story by Charles Raymond Barrett (1900)
- Short Story Writing : an Art or a Trade? by Nathan Bryllion Fagin
- Short Story Writing And Free Lance Journalism by Sydney A Moseley
- Story Composition by Sherwin Cody (1897)
- Studying the Short Story: sixteen short-story classics, with introductions, notes and a new laboratory study method for individual reading and use in colleges and schools. (1918)
- The Contemporary Short Story, a Practical Manual by Harry Torsey Baker, ( 1916)
- The Character Interest by Lewis Worthington Smith
- The Elements of the Short Story by Edward Everett Hale and Fredrick Thomas Dawson, (1915)
- The Plot of the Short Story by Henry Albert Phillips (1912)
- The Writing of the Short Story by Lewis Worthington Smith (1902)
- Writing the Short-Story: A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK ON THE RISE, STRUCTURE, WRITING AND SALE OF THE MODERN SHORT-STORY by J. Berg Esenwein
Writing
Writing Tools
Writing Quotes
- Ernest Hemingway’s “Iceberg Theory” or "Theory of Omission" of Writing
- Fiction Writing Having Artistic Quality
- Fiction Writing: What About Dialect?
- Fiction Writing Quote by Ralph Henry Barbour: Story Idea
- Not Born With The Novel-writing Gift by Mark Twain
- Quote from Anton Chekhov to Maria Kiselyova, January 14, 1887
- Three Ideas to Telling a Tale by W. E. B. Du Bois
- The Ability to Create Life with Words by Flannery O'Connor
- The Three Factors of [ a Writers'] Success
- You Can’t Do That In Fiction by Flannery O’Connor
Free eBooks
The Art of Story Writing : Facts and Information about Literary Work of Practical Value of Both Amateur and Professional Writers by Nathaniel Clark Fowler Jr. (PDF)
.jpg "The Art of Story Writing : Facts and Information about Literary Work of Practical Value of Both Amateur and Professional Writers by Nathaniel Clark Fowler")
The Art of Story Writing : Facts and Information about Literary Work of Practical Value of Both Amateur and Professional Writers
by Nathaniel Clark Fowler Jr.
A WORD AT THE START
The writing of stories of every class and of any length, and of every kind of literature, whether or not published in book form, is a distinct art or profession, may be considered as a trade, and cannot be accurately weighed or measured unless subject to both ethical and commercial consideration.
To refuse to discuss the making of literature commercially, or from a business point of view, would be unfair and unprofitable.
It is obvious that the majority of writers con- sider their pens as remunerative tools, and that they produce literature, or what resembles it, not wholly for fame and for the good that they may do, but because of the money received, or expected, from their work.
The making and marketing of literature, then, are not removed wholly from the rules or laws which govern the manufacture of a commodity. If literature was not a commodity, in some sense, at least, it would not have a market and be paid for. Any analysis of it, therefore, must take into account its commercial or trade value.
In this country, many thousands of men and women depend entirely upon their pens for a livelihood, and ten times as many thousand write wholly for fame or for the good they can do, with or without expectation of receiving a financial return.
Several books have been written claiming to contain rules, regulations, or instructions for the writing of every class of literature. While none of these books are valueless, I think that most of them are altogether too technical, and that some of them pretend to do the impossible.
One may receive specific instructions in stenography, typewriting, book-keeping, and other concrete work, depending upon experience for proficiency ; but it is difiicult, if not impossible, to tell any one how to write so that he may become proficient in this art largely from the instructions given.
I do not believe that it is possible for any one, not even an experienced writer, to impart an actual working knowledge of composition, which will be of more than preliminary benefit to the reader.
Instead of loading this book with instructions, and attempting to tell the would-be writer what to do and what not to do, or to build a frame which he may use as a model, I have devoted many of my pages to the giving of information which I hope will not fail to assist the reader.
I am entirely unbiased, and have no ax to grind at the reader's expense. I am telling him the truth as I see it, and am using the eyes of others as well as my own.
Personal opinion, even if given by an expert, has little value, unless it is based upon the composite.
What I have said, then, is of the little I know, combined with the much which I think I know about what others know.
I have attempted neither to skim the surface, nor to bore into the depths. Rather, I have chosen to present typographical pictures of literary fact, starting at the beginning and ending at the result.
CHAPTER I
Entering a Literary Career 1
CHAPTER II
The Writing of Novels 6
CHAPTER III
The Writing of a Short Story 20
CHAPTER IV
The Story of Adventure 28
CHAPTER V
The Mystery Story 31
CHAPTER VI
The Detective Story 33
CHAPTER VII
Stories for Children 35
CHAPTER VIII
Humorous Writing 39
CHAPTER IX
Special Stories or Articles 45
CHAPTER X
The writing of stories of every class and of any length, and of every kind of literature, whether or not published in book form, is a distinct art or profession, may be considered as a trade, and cannot be accurately weighed or measured unless subject to both ethical and commercial consideration.
To refuse to discuss the making of literature commercially, or from a business point of view, would be unfair and unprofitable.
It is obvious that the majority of writers con- sider their pens as remunerative tools, and that they produce literature, or what resembles it, not wholly for fame and for the good that they may do, but because of the money received, or expected, from their work.
The making and marketing of literature, then, are not removed wholly from the rules or laws which govern the manufacture of a commodity. If literature was not a commodity, in some sense, at least, it would not have a market and be paid for. Any analysis of it, therefore, must take into account its commercial or trade value.
In this country, many thousands of men and women depend entirely upon their pens for a livelihood, and ten times as many thousand write wholly for fame or for the good they can do, with or without expectation of receiving a financial return.
Several books have been written claiming to contain rules, regulations, or instructions for the writing of every class of literature. While none of these books are valueless, I think that most of them are altogether too technical, and that some of them pretend to do the impossible.
One may receive specific instructions in stenography, typewriting, book-keeping, and other concrete work, depending upon experience for proficiency ; but it is difiicult, if not impossible, to tell any one how to write so that he may become proficient in this art largely from the instructions given.
I do not believe that it is possible for any one, not even an experienced writer, to impart an actual working knowledge of composition, which will be of more than preliminary benefit to the reader.
Instead of loading this book with instructions, and attempting to tell the would-be writer what to do and what not to do, or to build a frame which he may use as a model, I have devoted many of my pages to the giving of information which I hope will not fail to assist the reader.
I am entirely unbiased, and have no ax to grind at the reader's expense. I am telling him the truth as I see it, and am using the eyes of others as well as my own.
Personal opinion, even if given by an expert, has little value, unless it is based upon the composite.
What I have said, then, is of the little I know, combined with the much which I think I know about what others know.
I have attempted neither to skim the surface, nor to bore into the depths. Rather, I have chosen to present typographical pictures of literary fact, starting at the beginning and ending at the result.
CONTENTS
A WORD AT THE STARTCHAPTER I
Entering a Literary Career 1
CHAPTER II
The Writing of Novels 6
CHAPTER III
The Writing of a Short Story 20
CHAPTER IV
The Story of Adventure 28
CHAPTER V
The Mystery Story 31
CHAPTER VI
The Detective Story 33
CHAPTER VII
Stories for Children 35
CHAPTER VIII
Humorous Writing 39
CHAPTER IX
Special Stories or Articles 45
CHAPTER X
The Writing of Poetry 47
CHAPTER XI
Play Writing 58
CHAPTER XII
Motion-Picture Plays. 84
CHAPTER XIII
The Name of a Book or Story. 87
CHAPTER XIV
Literary Schools 91
CHAPTER XV
Literary Agencies or Bureaus 94
CHAPTER XVI
The Preparation of a Manuscript 98
CHAPTER XVII
Manuscript Paper 108
CHAPTER XVIII
Copying Manuscripts 110
CHAPTER XVIII:
The Number of Words in a Manuscript 118
CHAPTER XX
Revising Manuscripts 115
CHAPTER XXI
How To Send a Manuscript 120
CHAPTER XI
Play Writing 58
CHAPTER XII
Motion-Picture Plays. 84
CHAPTER XIII
The Name of a Book or Story. 87
CHAPTER XIV
Literary Schools 91
CHAPTER XV
Literary Agencies or Bureaus 94
CHAPTER XVI
The Preparation of a Manuscript 98
CHAPTER XVII
Manuscript Paper 108
CHAPTER XVIII
Copying Manuscripts 110
CHAPTER XVIII:
The Number of Words in a Manuscript 118
CHAPTER XX
Revising Manuscripts 115
CHAPTER XXI
How To Send a Manuscript 120
CHAPTER XXII
Rejected Manuscripts 126
CHAPTER XXIII
The Size of a Book 129
CHAPTER XXIV
The Number of Words in a Book 188
CHAPTER XXV
How A Manuscript is Received and Handled
By a Book Publisher 186
CHAPTER XXVI
Terms for the Publication of Books 148
CHAPTER XXVII
Contracts with Book Publishers 149
CHAPTER XXVIII
Disreputable Publishers 168
CHAPTER XXIX
Copyrighting 172
CHAPTER XXX
Quoting from Copyrighted Matter 177
CHAPTER XXXI
The Danger of Libel 179
CHAPTER XXXII
The Price of a Book 182
CHAPTER XXXIII
Illustrations 185
Rejected Manuscripts 126
CHAPTER XXIII
The Size of a Book 129
CHAPTER XXIV
The Number of Words in a Book 188
CHAPTER XXV
How A Manuscript is Received and Handled
By a Book Publisher 186
CHAPTER XXVI
Terms for the Publication of Books 148
CHAPTER XXVII
Contracts with Book Publishers 149
CHAPTER XXVIII
Disreputable Publishers 168
CHAPTER XXIX
Copyrighting 172
CHAPTER XXX
Quoting from Copyrighted Matter 177
CHAPTER XXXI
The Danger of Libel 179
CHAPTER XXXII
The Price of a Book 182
CHAPTER XXXIII
Illustrations 185
CHAPTER XXXIV
Thb Reading of Proofs 195
CHAPTER XXXV
Books Published at the Author's Expense 204
CHAPTER XXXVI
Complimentary Copies of Books 206
CHAPTER XXXVII
Books in Libraries 208
CHAPTER XXXVIII
The Advance Publication or Republication
Of Books Stories and Articles 210
CHAPTER XXXIX
The Linotype, Monotype, and Typesetting
Machines 213
CHAPTER XL
Electrotyping and Stereotyping 215
CHAPTER XLI
The Value of Experience and Timeliness . 217
CHAPTER XLII
Syndicate Writers 225
CHAPTER XLIII
Paper-Covered Books 282
CHAPTER XLIV
The Selling Value of Reputation 286
Thb Reading of Proofs 195
CHAPTER XXXV
Books Published at the Author's Expense 204
CHAPTER XXXVI
Complimentary Copies of Books 206
CHAPTER XXXVII
Books in Libraries 208
CHAPTER XXXVIII
The Advance Publication or Republication
Of Books Stories and Articles 210
CHAPTER XXXIX
The Linotype, Monotype, and Typesetting
Machines 213
CHAPTER XL
Electrotyping and Stereotyping 215
CHAPTER XLI
The Value of Experience and Timeliness . 217
CHAPTER XLII
Syndicate Writers 225
CHAPTER XLIII
Paper-Covered Books 282
CHAPTER XLIV
The Selling Value of Reputation 286
CHAPTER XLV
The Incomes of Book Workers
CHAPTER XLVI
The Income of Magazine and Newspaper
Writers 244
CHAPTER XLVII
The Remuneration Received by the Favorite
Few 247
CHAPTER XLVIII
Records of Manuscripts 251
The Incomes of Book Workers
CHAPTER XLVI
The Income of Magazine and Newspaper
Writers 244
CHAPTER XLVII
The Remuneration Received by the Favorite
Few 247
CHAPTER XLVIII
Records of Manuscripts 251
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Friday, April 28, 2023
The Plot of the Short Story by Henry Albert Phillips (PDF)
The Plot of the Short Story
by Henry Albert Phillips
(1912)
The Plot of the Short Story:
An Exhaustive Study, Both Synthetical and Analytical, with Copious
Examples, Making the Work a Practical Treatise by Henry Albert Phillips
I.-MISLEADING FORMS OF NARRATIVE 1
Illuminating Comparisons of the modern Short Story with (1) the
Anecdote; (2) the True Story; (8) the Fable; (4) the Allegory; (6) the
Character Sketch and the Character Study; (6) the Humorous Story; (7)
the Playlet; (8) the Novel; (9) the Novelette.
II.— THE MODERN SHORT STORY ... 11
A Comprehensive Definition; the Name a Misnomer.
III.— THE PLOT 14
What It Is ; Its Importance and Relationship in the Modem Short Story; the Obstacle; Logic and Plausibility.
IV.— LAWS GOVERNING THE PLOT ... 19
The Dramatic Unities with an Additional Unit; Care; Compression; Simplicity; Dispatch; Completeness.
V.— PLOT ANALYSIS 23.
"Mrs. Knollys" and "The Necklace" as Examples; the Triangle Plot
VI.— INSPIRATION 80
Mood; Stimulants; the Powers and Employment of Imagination.
VII.— THE PROCESS OF PLOTTING . . . 36
Important Differences between that of Plotting and of Narrating the Story.
VIII.— THE PROGRESSIVE STAGES IN PLOTTING 40
The Plot Germ; the Plot Skeleton; the Plot Scenario; Examples.
IX.— ARRANGEMENTS OF EVENTS ... 46
Chronological and Logical Orders; Natural Sequence; Story Interest.
X.— PLOT DEVELOPMENT 58
The Laws of Movement and Action ; Supreme Moment; Climax; Conclusion;
Denouement; Necessity for Complete Action; the End; the Effect.
XI.— THE TEN POSSIBLE PLOT MANIFESTATIONS 69
Each Illustrated by an Example.
XII.— PLOT GENEALOGY 74
God's Plot in the Book of Creation, showing the Resemblance of All Plots
Since; the Basic Plot for All Stories; the Five Elemental Plots Deduced
there from; Man's Relationships.
XII— CLASSIFICATIONS AND VARIATIONS OF PLOT . . 79
A Categorical Classification and Comprehensive Catalog of Plot Material.
XIV.— PRACTICAL PLOT SOURCES ... 92
Employment of Facts ; the Daily Newspaper ; Pregnant Paragraphs; Fertile
Phrases; Use of Fiction; General Reading; Observation; Dangers;
Propriety; Originality.
XV.— A STORE-HOUSE FULL OF PLOTS . . 108
A Novel Method of Storing a Practically Inexhaustible Supply of Plots;
the Importance of Taking Notes; How to Take Notes; How to Keep them
Systematically.
XVI.— A PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION IN PLOT BUILDING 112
How a Plot is Conceived and Carried thru every Process.
XVII.— THE PLOT-BUILT STORY .... 120
Administrating the Relationship of Plot and Finished Story; "Arden— The Village of Despair."
XVIII.— RECAPITULATION AND REVIEW . 148
A Syllabus Designed for
the Use of Teachers and Students in the Study of the Plot of the Short
Story; 207 Vital Questions Taken from the Text Itself and Covering the
Whole Subject.
Download the PDF >> The Plot of the Short Story
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Thursday, April 27, 2023
The Elements of the Short Story by Edward Everett Hale and Fredrick Thomas Dawson, (1915) (PDF)
.jpg "The Elements of the Short Story by Edward Everett Hale and Fredrick Thomas Dawson")
The Elements of the Short Story
by Edward Everett Hale and Fredrick Thomas Dawson
(1915)
INTRODUCTION
The method of studying the short story here presented is
based upon two ideas. The first is that the well-equipped student of the short
story should have in mind a number of standard examples which exhibit in
concrete form the chief elements and principles of importance. The second is
that the best way to see in those examples the elements and principles in
question is by some very definite and systematic method of analysis.
The study of the short story has developed of late into diverse
lines. There have been excellent studies of the history of the matter, which
have exhibited the development of the form from very early times. There have
been critical analyses which have taken their illustrations of principles or
qualities from whatever examples might be found in the broad field. There have
been guides to the writing of the short story which have given such practical and
theoretical help as was possible to those who wished to write short stories
themselves.
We have followed none of these methods. Any treatment of the
short story will include a good deal of general material, and much within our
pages will be familiar to all who have followed the development of the study.
But our particular course is different from those just mentioned.
We have presented a limited number of well-known standard
stories. In the study of any phase or form of art, the student should have well
in mind a few classic examples. Then he can pursue with intelligence a broad reading
which will present to him all the possibilities of the art in which he is
interested. We have selected our chief examples from American literature,
partly because it was in America that the modern short story was first developed
and partly because in a limited field we can indicate something of the actual
development, which we do not treat in detail.
In the study of these examples we have followed a very definite
method, because it seems the case that in the study of fiction, at least, a student's
attention is especially likely to become diffused over a broad field, so that
he often neglects the very thing that would be useful to him at the time, while
gaining perhaps something that would be better at another time. We have made
these exercises very specific, not because all literary study should be of this
specific sort, but because at the beginning of a study like this, one wants to
get correct ideas to measure by. We by no means feel that we are pointing out
ways in which one should always study the short story. We are pointing out ways
which will train the mind to look at short stories so as to perceive
instinctively certain things. After such study the mind should work naturally
in certain ways, as we may say. The student will know the main things that have
been done with the short story, and he will turn to the current short story
with the ability to compare and enjoy.
One or two minor points may be noted. We have put the work
in such form as will make the student think things out for himself. That, of
course, calls for no comment. We have laid stress on the importance of getting the
author's own standpoint. That may be a little original, but everybody will
agree that if we can see a story as the author saw it, we shall certainly have
one sort of appreciation. (We have tried to make it clear that in literary
study, there is not only opinion but fact. This is something that everybody
knows, but present methods have rather tended to put the facts in the
background. Some facts, however, may be more important than some opinions.
Poe's own opinion of one or another of his works is probably more valuable to
the student than the opinion of one or another of his critics, which may be
better in itself. But Poe's opinion is a matter of historic fact to be determined
by the methods of history, if we know them, or if we do not, by whatever way we
can.
We have, however, gone beyond the limits of our particular
method in offering with every exercise suggestions for further reading and
study. Any method of study, however excellent, should give some opportunity for
the student to read and think on his own account.
Any teacher may find in the suggestions for work offered in
these exercises more than can be included in such a course as he wishes to give.
We have thought it worthwhile to provide material for a variety of interests.
It will be easy to make a selection from the suggestions for further work which
shall suit any particular class. The main thing of importance is to keep in
mind the definite and systematic kind of work to be done. Then, whether much
ground be covered or little, the student will have in mind a method of work, a way
of looking at his subject, which is the principal end to be attained.
CONTENTS
EXERCISE PAGE
I. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. . .Washington Irving
II. Rip Van Winkle. . .Washington Irving
III. Irving as a Story Writer
IV. The Great Stone Face. . .Nathaniel Hawthorne
V. Ethan Brand. . .Nathaniel Hawthorne
VI. Hawthorne as a Story Writer
VII. The Fall of the House of Usher. . .Edgar Allan Poe
VIII. The Murders in the Rue Morgue. . .Edgar Allan Poe
IX. Poe as a Story Writer
X. The Diamond Lens. . .Fitz-James O'Brien
XI. The Man Without A Country. . .Edward Everett Hale
XII. The Outcasts of Poker Flat. . .Francis Bret Harte.
XIII. Some Recent Stories
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Wednesday, April 26, 2023
The Elements of Surprise by Randy Ingermanson | Advanced Fiction Writing
The Elements of Surprise
by Randy Ingermanson
Advanced Fiction Writing
Picture this scene from the movie STAR WARS:
Luke Skywalker is approaching the thermal exhaust port of the Death Star. He's got a proton torpedo ready to go, and the only problem is that Darth Vader is right behind him in a Tie Fighter, locked on his tail and almost close enough to take a shot.
Luke can't fire yet. He's not close enough. Darth Vader is gaining on him rapidly. Luke is going to lose this race. Darth Vader is ready to fire. He's closer. Closer ...
Wham! Darth Vader's ship is hit by a blast from Harry Potter's wand. Vader spins away crazily out of control. Luke is free to launch his proton torpedo. And the Death Star goes up in smoke.
Does that sound about right? Great surprise, wasn't it?
No and no.
Sure, this plot twist is a surprise, but it's a stupid one. Harry Potter came out of nowhere. He's not part of the movie. We've got no foundation for Harry entering this movie.
In a word, Harry's appearance at the crucial moment is IMPLAUSIBLE.
Injecting him into the story to save Luke is a terrible, ridiculous surprise.
Okay, fine, so let's backtrack a bit and try that again.
We still see Luke zooming toward his target, armed with the proton torpedo. And we still see Vader on his tail, ready to knock him out. And this time we also see Han Solo on Vader's tail, closing in on Vader even faster than Vader is converging on Luke.
We watch as Solo closes in and fires his laser cannons.
Wham! Darth Vader's ship is hit by a blast. Vader spins away crazily out of control. Luke is free to launch his proton torpedo. And the Death Star goes up in smoke.
Better this time? A somewhat more plausible surprise, right?
No and no.
Sure, this plot twist is more plausible. But there's no surprise at all. We saw it coming. We watched Han Solo all the way in. When the WHAM came, we were expecting it.
Surprises are good in your fiction, but a surprise needs to be two things to be a true surprise:
- Plausible
- Unforeseen
When you fail to provide any sort of foundation in your story for a surprise, then it's implausible.
When you telegraph what's going to happen, then when it actually does happen, it's foreseen.
Here's how the surprise actually plays out in the movie:
Before the final battle, Han Solo and his trusty Wookiee friend Chewbacca leave with enough money to pay off Jabba the Hutt. Han has a price on his head, and he won't rest easy until his debt is paid. Luke calls him a coward, but Han just laughs him off and leaves. Because he values his life, and he knows he won't live long if he doesn't pay off Jabba.
But we also know that Han Solo is no coward. He thinks of himself as a cowboy. He does crazy things for his friends. We've seen him do so the whole movie. So if he were to come back and join Luke for the battle, that would be plausible.
We just don't expect him to do that, because we saw the man leave. Then we saw a long, brutal battle, in which several of Luke's comrades are blown to bits. We've seen Darth Vader arm for battle. We've seen Luke make his first attempt with the proton torpedo and fail. We've seen Vader close in on him.
It's a long battle scene, an exciting one. It's long enough that we've forgotten about Han Solo.
And the story focus now zooms in tightly on Luke and Vader. It's a race to the death. One of them will win and one will lose. These two fill our entire attention. Nobody else exists.
So when the WHAM! hits Vader's ship, we've forgotten
about Han Solo. But an instant later, we realize that we should have
seen it coming.
Solo's reentry into the fight is plausible, AND it's unforeseen.
It's a surprise.
Surprise is good in fiction, but it's like perfume. A little goes a long way. A few great surprises in your story are probably better than a thousand small ones that become so regular that your reader starts expecting them.
Now let's look at the current story you're working on right now. Is there a major surprise somewhere in your novel? How well is it working for you? Is it both plausible and unforeseen?
If it's not plausible or if it’s too foreseeable, then you have a problem.
How do you fix it?
You make your plot twists more plausible by putting in all the key facts earlier in the story. Preferably, a LOT earlier.
J.K. Rowling is a master at seeding in the key facts for her big surprises very early in her stories. In her novel HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, she gives you all the crucial facts about Sirius Black, Severus Snape, and Peter Pettigrew early in the story. Yet at the end, she gives you a massive surprise by combining all those facts in a way you don't foresee.
That's quite a trick, because readers are smart and if you highlight those facts too much, some readers are going to put things together and see exactly where you're going.
So you make your surprise unforeseen by using misdirection. You throw in a ton of other facts. You focus your reader's attention on those. You don't lie to your reader, but you give her facts that she will put together to make a wrong prediction about what's going to happen next.
If you cheat here, then your reader gets angry. Cheating means that you hide crucial information. Or you give wrong information.
When you put all the information in plain sight but misdirect the reader's attention and then hit her with your surprise, she likes that. Because you fooled her. And when you do that in a way the reader can respect, she thinks you're a genius.
And maybe you are.
About The Author
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Creative Writing For Advanced College Classes by George G. Williams (PDF)
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Creative Writing For Advanced College Classes
by
George G. Williams
(1935)
Preface to the First Edition
One can think of a dozen helpful and beautifully written books on English style by masters of the English language; but unfortunately none of them is suitable in method or in purpose for use in the average college classroom. On the other hand, one can think of a hundred excellent and really indispensable handbooks of English grammar, English usage, and English rhetoric; but unfortunately none of them is of much value to people aspiring to literary levels higher than those of mere clarity and correctness. The first kind must always be the study and delight of mature writers; the second kind, the study if not the delight of immature writers. But one can hardly recall a textbook of composition written exclusively for people in the intermediate stage between immaturity and maturity.
This book is intended to supply the lack; it is written for people who know most of what is to be learned from the handbooks, but who do not yet know how to create literature.
The book consists of three parts. Part I is a discussion of certain principles which apply to creative writing of any sort. Part II is a discussion of principles which apply to exposition; and Part III, of principles which apply to fiction. This work is, therefore, both a generalized study of the methods of creative writing, and a particularized study of the most important types of creative writing.
It has been in the author's mind that Part I and the first three chapters of Part II should fill the needs of the first semester in a full year-course in advanced writing, and that the rest of the book should fill the needs of the second semester. Yet all the parts are so independent of one another that any part could serve as a text for a course lasting only one term; and at the same time, other parts could serve as private study for individuals interested in writing for other purposes than the attainment of a college credit.
All but two or three of the sets of Exercises in the volume are creative rather than critical. That is, they demand that the student produce something from his own mind or imagination, instead of merely examining and appreciating what others have written. Many more Exercises are included than can possibly be completed in a year. But it was thought that a superfluity which would allow both the instructor and the student wide liberty of choice would be preferable to a paucity which would force both the instructor and the student into deadening formalism.
And now about the point of view from which the book is written. Though the author believes that no important point discussed in the average correspondence course for professional fiction writers has been omitted from this book, the author's purpose has not been to discuss writing from the professional viewpoint. On the other hand, everything said in this book may be of real value to the student who intends to become a professional. The only difference, consequently, between this book and the books for professionals is in the spirit of approach.
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Monday, April 24, 2023
Creative Writing for College Students by Babcock, R. W. (Robert Witbeck), 1895-1965; Horn, Robert Dewey, author; English, Thomas H. (Thomas Hopkins), 1895-1992, author. (PDF)
Creative Writing for College Students
by
Babcock, R. W. (Robert Witbeck), 1895-1965; Horn, Robert Dewey, author;
English, Thomas H. (Thomas Hopkins), 1895-1992, author.
Many years of facing students in several universities have indelibly impressed on us that the main thing a college writing course should do is to teach students how to write. By teaching them how to write, we mean simply to place the main emphasis on the more important forms, chiefly the expository and narrative, and thus stimulate young undergraduates to think in terms of whole creations, not of unrelated fragments, such as relative pronouns, attributive adjectives, finite verbs, correlative constructions, and topic sentences. In general, then, the point of view of this book is that most writing is essentially creative in intent, as is evidenced by the effort of mind it demands. This is true of bad writing as well as good since the former is only creative failure.
The purpose of this book is to discuss the types of discourse as directly and suggestively as possible and to set forth as attractively as possible what may be done with them. In order to accomplish these aims, we present, along with the discussion, first, student themes as illustrations of what other students have actually done with the types. Then, for comparison, we add examples from recognized writers, including both classical and modern masters. The primary purpose in printing the themes is to stimulate creative rivalry, for it has been our experience that most students do far better work if you put before them papers written by other students — papers which represent positive achievement in certain forms — and ask them if they can do anything like that. Then you are inviting them to attempt something clearly within the range of their own possibilities, and you will find them rising immediately to meet the challenge.
We do not mean to imply, though, that classical illustrations and handbooks should be thrown overboard. We have, as we have said, paralleled the student papers with professional illustrations and we assume, throughout, the use of a handbook of grammar and rhetoric. What we do want, however, is to see both classics and handbook subordinated to the main purpose of releasing the impulses and powers of these young students to write! “Writing out” is of supreme importance; to encourage it is our main objective in this book.
A word should be spoken about the narrative chapters. They are not intended to teach students to turn out marketable short stories, nor are they particularly concerned with the rhetorical features of narration. We have always thought that there is a middle ground between these extremes, and in these chapters we try to point it out. The student is told frankly that the ability to put people down on paper plastically cannot be taught by any instructor; it is a specific talent, which the most gifted novelist cannot quite explain. But it is possible to teach undergraduates the structural aspects of story writing and so lay a foundation for the play of imagination. Thus the chapters on narration develop the mechanical basis of plot by means of exercises on chronological plotting, climactic plotting, plotting a single characteristic, and
plotting the effect of a given setting. By the time the embryonic writer reaches the end of this section, his attention has been focused separately on the three main elements of any story. The last chapter then suggests how plot, character, and setting may be put together; the student is not told to write an actual short story, combining all three elements, till the very end of his study of narration. We believe that this gradual progress toward a definite, artistic form provides a practicable writing program even for the student who has no special talent for narrative.
We have tried to keep constantly in mind the fact that this book is written for young college students. We have tried to remember the limitations of their experience. Our precepts and exercises are intended to be suggestive, to open avenues of possibility. This book aims mainly, therefore, to encourage college students to teach themselves to write by writing.
R. W. B.
R. D. H.
T. H. E.
Table of Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
PART I
Formal Exposition and Informal Argument i
I
Types of Formal Exposition 3
II
Exposition of a Process 10
III
The Classified Summary 28
IV
The Summarizing Resume 47
V
Definition of the Abstract Term or
Idea 67
VI
Generalized Description 98
VII
The Character Sketch 117
VIII
Expository Biography 139
IX
Criticism i 63
X
Short, Informal Written
Argument 196
XI
The Term Paper 227
PART II
The Informal Essay, Narration, and Description 275
XII The Informal Essay 277
XIII Linear Narration 320
XIV The Plot Story 347
XV Expansion of the Plot Story 421
, XVI Description 459
XVII The Three Elements Together — The Short Story
XVIII The Fully Developed Form 540
Index 587
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Sunday, April 23, 2023
The Writing of the Short Story by Lewis Worthington Smith
THE WRITING OF THE
SHORT STORY
BY
LEWIS WORTHINGTON SMITH, A.M.
DRAKE UNIVERSITY, DES MOINES, IOWA
D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO
Copyright, 1902,
By D. C. Heath & Co.
It is a pleasure
to be permitted to associate
with this little book
the name of my friend
Professor L. A. Sherman
of the University of Nebraska.
FOREWORD
The Writing of the Short Story by Lewis Worthington Smith is a captivating exploration into the art and craft of creating compelling narratives in a condensed form. This book serves as a comprehensive guide, offering aspiring writers and enthusiasts a treasure trove of knowledge, insights, and practical advice on mastering the complexities of the short story.
Lewis Worthington Smith, a seasoned author and distinguished writing instructor, brings his wealth of experience and passion for storytelling to the forefront of this remarkable work. With each chapter, he unveils the intricacies of crafting memorable characters, establishing evocative settings, and constructing powerful plots within the constraints of brevity. Smith's expertise shines through his articulate prose as he escorts readers through the labyrinth of short story writing, shedding light on the techniques, nuances, and subtleties necessary for success.
One of the greatest strengths of this book lies in Smith's ability to demystify the creative process. As readers delve into the pages, they will discover a treasure trove of practical exercises, writing prompts, and engaging examples that elucidate the principles discussed. Smith's approachable style and genuine desire to nurture talent make this book an invaluable resource for both beginners and seasoned writers alike.
Moreover, Smith's thorough exploration of various literary techniques encourages readers to experiment and expand their creative boundaries. He adeptly delves into the significance of plot structure, character development, dialogue, and point of view, empowering writers to harness these elements to craft compelling narratives that resonate with readers.
The Writing of the Short Story is not merely a theoretical treatise; it is a roadmap to success for writers seeking to make their mark in the world of short fiction. Through its pages, Smith emphasizes the importance of honing one's storytelling skills, fostering an authentic voice, and embracing the art of revision. He guides readers toward navigating the challenges that arise in the writing process and instills the confidence necessary to overcome these obstacles.
As a reader, you are about to embark on a journey that will not only transform your understanding of short story writing but will also inspire you to embrace the medium's unique potential. Whether you are an aspiring writer looking to refine your skills, a reader curious about the creative process, or a teacher seeking to impart knowledge to your students, The Writing of the Short Story will undoubtedly be an indispensable companion on your literary odyssey.
In closing, I am honored to introduce you to Lewis Worthington Smith's The Writing of the Short Story. Within these pages, you will find a wellspring of wisdom, guidance, and inspiration that will undoubtedly ignite your passion for storytelling and propel your journey towards becoming a master of the short story form. Embrace the knowledge presented here, let your imagination run wild, and set forth on the exhilarating path of crafting captivating tales.
Happy writing!
Olivia Salter
04/23/2023
SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS
In the author's classes the three stories in the volume entitled "Three Hundred Dollars" are first studied because of their simplicity, and these are followed by parts of "The Bonnie Brier Bush," and then by the stories from Bret Harte. Mrs. Phelps Ward's "Loveliness" is especially valuable for illustrating methods and devices for making a simple theme dramatically interesting. Students are required to mark stories with the symbols and discuss them with reference to the principles of which this little book is an exposition, but no recitation on the book itself is required. Perhaps one-third of the time in the class-room is spent in discussion of the short themes written by the class, and when convenient these are placed on the board before the class for that purpose. In the theme work following the suggested subjects the effort is made to confine instruction and practice to one thing at a time, but at the conclusion of the work of the term each member of the class is required to hand in a complete original story.
WRITING OF THE SHORT STORY
Narrative Forms
1. Elements of the Story.—This little volume is meant to be a discussion of but one of the various forms that literature takes, and it will be first in order to see what are the elements that go to the making of a narrative having literary quality. A story may be true or false, but we shall here be concerned primarily with fiction, and with fiction of no great length. In writing of this sort the first essential is that something shall happen; a story without a succession of incidents of some kind is inconceivable. We may then settle upon incident as a first element. As a mere matter of possibility a story may be written without any interest other than that of incident, but a story dealing with men will not have much interest for thoughtful readers unless it also includes some showing of character. Further, as the lives of all men and women are more or less conditioned by their surroundings and circumstance, any story will require more or less description. Incidents are of but little moment, character showing may have but slight interest, description is purposeless, unless the happenings of the story develop in the characters feelings toward which we assume some attitude of sympathy or opposition. Including this fourth element of the story, we shall then have incident, description, character, mood, as the first elements of the narrative form.
2. A Succession of Incidents Required.—A series of unconnected happenings may be interesting merely from the unexpectedness—or the hurry and movement of the events, but ordinarily a story gains greatly in its appeal to the reader through having its separate incidents developed in some sort of organic unity. The handling of incidents for a definite effect gives what we call plot. A plot should work steadily forward to the end or dénouement, and should yet conceal that end in order that interest may be maintained to the close. Evidently a writer who from the first has in mind the outcome of his story will subordinate the separate incidents to that main purpose and so in that controlling motive give unity to the whole plot. Further, the interest in the plot will be put on a higher plane, if in the transition from incident to incident there is seen, not chance simply, but some relation of cause and effect. When the unfolding of the plot is thus orderly in its development, the reader feels his kindling interest going forward to the outcome with a keener relish because of the quickening of thought, as well as of emotion, in piecing together the details that arouse a glow of satisfaction.
3. The Character Interest.—We can hardly have any vital interest in a story apart from an interest in the characters. It is because things happen to them, because we are glad of their good fortune or apprehensive of evil for them, that the incidents in their succession gain importance in our emotions. We are concerned with things that affect our lives, and secondarily with things that affect the lives of others, since what touches the fortunes of others is but a part of that complex web of destiny and environment in which our own lives are enmeshed. In the story it is not so true as in the drama that, for the going out of our sympathies toward the hero or the heroine, there should be other contrasting characters; but a story gains color and movement from having a variety of individualities. Especially if the story is one of action, definite sympathies are heightened when they are accompanied by emotional antagonisms. In "The Master of Ballantrae," we come to take sides with Henry Durrie almost wholly through having found his rival, the Master, so black a monster. Such establishment of a common bond of interest between us and the character with whom our sympathies are to be engaged is a most effective means of holding us to a personal involvement in the development of the plot. There must not be too many characters shown, the relations between them must not be too various or too complexly conflicting, but where the interplay of feeling and clashing motives is not too hard to grasp, a variety of characters gives life and warmth of human interest to a story.
4. Uses of Description.—Inasmuch as there are other interests in our lives than those which are established by our relations with our fellows, interests connected with the material world about us, any narrative will probably have occasion to include some description. It may be necessary merely as an aid to our understanding of some of the details upon which the plot turns, it may help us to realize the personalities of the characters, and it is often useful in creating background and atmosphere, giving us some of the feelings of those with whom the story deals as they look upon the beauty, or the gray dullness, of the changing panorama of their lives. Stevenson's description of the "old sea-dog" in "Treasure Island" is an excellent illustration of the effectiveness of a few lines of description in making us know something very definite in the man.
"I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a handbarrow, a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man; his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the saber cut across one cheek, a lurid white."
5. Rossetti in "The Bride's Prelude," a story in verse, after merely glancing at the opening of the tale, devotes eight stanzas to description introduced for the purpose of background and atmosphere. Two of them are given here.
"Within the window's heaped recess
The light was counterchanged
In blent reflexes manifold
From perfume caskets of wrought gold
And gems the bride's hair could not hold
"All thrust together: and with these
A slim-curved lute, which now,
At Amelotte's sudden passing there,
Was swept in some wise unaware,
And shook to music the close air."
This helps us to enter into the life and spirit of the time and place, to conceive imaginatively the likings, the desires, the passions, the purposes, and the powers that shall be potent in the story.
6. Kinds of Description.—Description is primarily of two kinds, that which is to give accurate information, and that which is to produce a definite impression not necessarily involving exactness of imagery. The first of these forms is useful simply in the way of explanation, serving the first purpose indicated in paragraph four. The second is useful for other purposes than that of exposition, often appealing incidentally to our sense of the beautiful, and requiring always nice literary skill in its management. It should be borne in mind always that literary description must not usurp the office of representations of the material in the plastic arts. It should not be employed as an end in itself, but only as subsidiary to other ends.
7. Various Moods as Incidents.—The moods in the characters of a story and their changes are connected with the incidents of the story, since they are in part happenings, and with the characters, since they reveal character. Apart from direct statement of them, we understand the moods of the actors in the little drama which we are made to imagine is being played before us from the things they say, from the things they do, and from gestures, attitudes, movements, which the author visualizes for us. If these moods are not made clear to us or we cannot see that they are natural, definite reactions from previous happenings in accord with character, we do not have a sense of organic unity in the narrative. We become confused in trying to establish the dependence of incident and feeling upon something preceding, and our interest flags. Everything that happens in a well-told story gives us feelings which we look to find in those whom the happenings affect in the tale, feelings which should call forth some sort of responsive action for our satisfaction. Clearly, if the characters are cold, if we cannot find in them moods of the kind and intensity that to us seem warranted, the story will be a disappointment.
Literary Divisions and General Principles
8. The Conceptual and Emotional.—Theoretically all writing is divided easily into two classes, conceptual and emotional, the literature of thought and the literature of feeling. In the actual attempt to classify written composition on this basis, however, no sharp distinction can be maintained. Even matters of fact, certainly such matters of fact as we care to write about, are of more or less moment to us; we cannot deal with them in a wholly unemotional way. In our daily lives we are continually reaching conclusions that differ from the conclusions reached by others about the same matters of fact, and are trying to make these matters of fact have the same value for others that they have for us. This is true of our business life as well as of our social and home life. It always will be so. It is doubtless true that if our knowledge of matters of fact embraced a knowledge of the universe, and if the experience of each of us were just like that of his fellow and included all possible experience, we might reach identical conclusions. This is not true and never can be true. It is in effect true of a small portion of the things about which we think,—the addition of one to two makes three for every one,—but outside of these things, writing need not be and seldom is purely conceptual.
9. Subject-matter.—Various as are the things about which we write and manifold as are our interests in them, they may be classified for our purposes under four heads: Matters of Fact, Experience, Beauty, Truth. Again, we shall find difficulty in separating each of these from each of the others. Some of our experiences have certainly been revelations of matters of fact; without our experiences, we should hardly have acquired any real sense of the beautiful; save for them we could not have known anything of truth. No accurate definition of these things carefully distinguishing between them can be attempted here. It may be assumed that what is meant by matters of fact will be understood without definition. As we read the story in great measure for the purpose of enlarging our experience, this part of our possible literary material is worth considering further. In the child we are able to detect very early a growing curiosity. That curiosity does not disappear when the child has grown from boy to man; he is still asking questions of the universe, still trying to piece the fragments of his knowledge into a law-ordered and will-ordered whole. What he knows has been the product of experience, what he may yet know further must be the product of experience. This experience may not all be personal, but even that which he gets at second hand is so far useful in helping him toward that understanding of the universe for which he hopes. He never will reach that understanding, all his experience will make but a fraction of things to be known matters of fact to him; and yet a deathless interest in the scarcely recognized belief that the facts and forces of which he has known have some unifying principle makes his emotions quicken at every new experience that may have possible significance.
10. Appeal of Experience, Beauty, and Truth.—It will be evident, then, that experience which somehow makes the impression of superior importance may be presented inorganically and yet gain an interested hearing. The method of creating this impression, whether through the appearance of conviction in the writer or by various literary[8] devices, need not detain us here. We shall be concerned merely with noting that the possible relation of the particular to the general, of this experience to the whole of experience, makes it a thing of moment. In just what way experience develops in us the sense of the beautiful, just what it is in anything that makes us distinguish beauty in it, cannot now be determined. It will be enough for us to know that literature makes a large appeal to a sense of the beautiful in us, a sense not fortuitous and irrational, though varying, but normal and almost universal, dependent upon natural laws of development. Truth is also difficult of definition, but we may understand that when out of experience, as through a process of reasoning, we have reached a conclusion that is something more than a matter of fact, a conclusion touching our emotions and having vital spiritual interest to us, the experience, whether our own directly or at second hand, has brought us to a truth. Truth is, perhaps, that matter of fact of universal intelligence that transcends the matter of fact of the finite mind.
11. Literary Principles and Qualities.—There are some fundamental principles of literary presentation which we may briefly review here. All our study of science, and in a less obvious fashion, of all the physical, social, and artistic world about us, is more or less an attempt to classify, simplify, and unify facts whose relations we do not see at a glance. We must observe and learn the facts first, but they will be of no great utility to us as unrelated items of knowledge. The need of establishing some sort of law and order in our understanding of the mass of phenomena of which we must take cognizance is so insistent that we early acquire the habit of attempting to hold in mind any new fact through its relation to some[9] other fact or facts. In other words, we can retain the knowledge we acquire only by making one fact do duty for a great many other facts included in it. Our writing must not violate what is at once a necessity and a pleasure of the mind. Unity, simplicity, coherence, harmony, or congruity, must all be sought as essential qualities of any writing. We must also indicate our sense of the relative values of the things with which we deal by a proper selection of details for presentation, a careful subordination of the less important to the more important through the proportion of space and attention given to each, and through other devices for securing emphasis. Let us keep in mind value, selection, subordination, proportion, emphasis, as a second group of terms for principles involved in writing. We may also wish to give our subject further elements of appeal through what may be suggested beyond the telling, through the melody and rhythm of the words, or through a quickening of the sense of the beautiful. Suggestion, melody, rhythm, beauty, are to be included, then, in a third group of qualities that may contribute to the effectiveness of what we write.
12. Conceptual Writing.—Of the literary qualities that have just been discussed, only the first group is perhaps essential to what has been designated as conceptual writing. Here we may place expository writing on subjects wholly matter of fact, mathematical discussions, scientific treatises largely, though not necessarily, and other writing of like character. As unity is the quality of importance here, we may well consider the units of discourse. Our first unit is that of the whole composition, the second that of the paragraph, and the third that of the sentence. Which of these is the prime unit, as the dollar is the prime unit of our[10] medium of exchange, may not be evident at once; but if we examine the writing of clear thinkers carefully, without attempting to settle the matter in any doctrinaire fashion, we shall find that the paragraph, and not the sentence, is the more unified whole. I turn to Cardinal Newman, and in the middle of a paragraph find the sentence, "This should be carefully observed," a sentence meaningless when taken from the context. As a part of the paragraph it has a function, but it is certainly as a unit of detail and not as a prime unit. A writer like Carlyle makes these lesser units more important, but they are still subordinate to their use in the paragraph. In all our writing we shall do much for the unity, simplicity, and coherence of our work by seeing to it that our paragraphs are properly arranged and that each fulfills this function of a prime unit in the composition.
13. The Sense of Value.—When, in addition to statement of mere matters of fact, an author wishes to impress his readers with his own sense of the importance and the value of what he has to say, or of some special phase of his subject, he will employ the principles of the second group spoken of in a preceding paragraph. They cannot be ignored, indeed, in explanation of the simplest matters of fact, but a writer who means to convince and persuade will make more use of them. His personality will express itself in the selection of details and in the emphasis he places upon one detail or another. Among the literary forms which, besides being conceptual, are also concerned with persuasion, we find the oration, the essay, a great deal of business correspondence, and much of what we read in magazines and newspapers.
14. Writing having Artistic Quality.—When in addition to expressing matters of fact or truth, appealing perhaps to experience, we wish to arouse some sense of the beautiful and the artistic, we shall give our writing some or all of the qualities of the third group. Evidently, writing of this sort is in many respects the most difficult, since the writer must have regard for unity and the related principles, as well as for the qualities which peculiarly distinguish it. Experience, beauty, and truth are all available as subject-matter, and all the principles governing literary composition are concerned. Here we shall find the poem, the drama, the oration in some of its forms, most essays of the better sort, the greater part of good critical writing, literary description, and all narrative forms except the matter-of-fact historical writing of unliterary scholars.
15. Two Things Requisite in Writing.—It is to be borne in mind that the foregoing classifications are by no means absolute. Gardiner in his "Forms of Prose Literature" says very truly that the "essential elements, not only of literature, but of all the fine arts, are: first, an organic unity of conception; and second, the pervasive personality of the artist." It is true that much of our writing does not aspire to literary character, but in very little of our writing of any sort can we afford to neglect the first of these elements, and in very little of it do we care to leave the second out of account. Even in exposition of the simpler sort we may give to our writing the distinction of a more luminous style and the stronger appeal of a warmer personal interest, if we shape it into organic unity and make evident in it "the pervasive personality of the artist."
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