The Contemporary Short Story, a Practical Manual by Harry Torsey Baker, ( 1916). A distinguished British
critic, Professor Hugh Walker, remarks: "There is no other form of
literature in which America is so eminent as in the writing of short
stories." This dictum alone is sufficient justification for introducing a
course in this subject into every college in the land. Not only is a
better understanding and appreciation of the finest short stories
fostered by such a course, but not a few students find themselves able
to write tales that are accepted by reputable American periodicals — if
not during their undergraduate years, at any rate shortly afterward.
Writing fiction for the magazines is both an art and a business. This
volume accordingly aims to teach promising young authors, whether in or
out of college, how to write stories that shall be marketable as well as
artistic. It attempts to state succinctly, and as clearly as may be,
some fundamental principles of short-story writing. These principles are
based upon somewhat extensive reading of short fiction in English, both
classic and contemporary; of a pretty large number of manuscripts
submitted to important periodicals; and of most of the critical works on
the short story. Many of the pages are written from the editorial
standpoint. I have not attempted to set up an impracticable ideal on the
one hand, nor to concede too much to the lower range of popular taste
on the other.
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