Litchfield enquirer., 1869-01-21
HowsHALI | LEARN TO WRITE ?
BY MRS. H. B. STOWE.

We have presupposeq, III our former ar e ficle, that there is a great deal Of abili- ,. ,. ty for good writing lying dormant in the ,l l. l.community.asT This is particularly the case ,t It isJour opinion that certain gifts of ex- f prcssion, and certain graces and facilities of sty1e,q belong more naturally to women c than to men. As far as the two sexes study c together iri our normal and high schools, is 1t not a fact that the very best composi tions come from the female pupils? Why is it, then, that the best writing is done by men? This is the reason: The education of the woman stops short at the point where the boys education really begins. At the age the boy enters college for an ar duous and mature course, the girl comes home and addresses herself to going into company; and the five or six years follow ing, that her brother spends ln severe ln- tellectuai drinS she fritters away in what IS called society. ., s.f rsl .es.lst asFF 2 The result of all this is that women are } deficient in the very first requisite of good writer--namely, something to say which is worth saying. A man who is educated to any purpose goes around certain circle of human knowledge. and if he improves his advan- tages, gets thus solid basis of ideas and opinions on which he can proftably and instructively build in after life; while the woman is spending the same four or five years ill forgetting all that she has learned during her school education.
 But 1t is fact that the experiences of woman in real life, in all that comes to her in her domestic capacity as mistress of a family, sister, daughter, wife, and mother, do furnish a class of subjects wherein q woman, trained to think wisely and justly, may find a great deal to say that is worth saving. She may have subject matter of peculiar weight and mportance-subject matter which woman, and only woman, could possibly be able to present.
 Let us suppose, then, woman with somethingSto say, about which she is really and truly in earnest. How IS she to get the gift of expression?
 The manner of saying things to make them vivid, clear and interesting, is fine art. It is thing that may be studied; It is thing that mast be practiced.
 The difference between a natural writer . and person who is not, is not so great as people often imagine. It amounts simply to this: the natural writer has a passion for writing which leads him in youth and immaturity, to go through deal of prac- tice-and practice in this, as ill everything else, makes perfect.
 Now, the kind of writing for which there is call in our paper, Hearth and Home, is writing about domestic and rural subjects, and subjects of practical nature, such as lie more fully within the sphere of woman's s knowledge and observation than in that of ordinary men.
 Some of the most celebrated and most admired writing in the world has been be- slowed on the dullest and most unpromis- ing subjects. Washington Irving's descrip- tion Of the barn yard of country inn on rainy day is case exactly in point.
 There is a great deal of writing. very charming. very acceptable, and much in demand, which consists simply in painting by means of words the simple and homely scenes of every day life.
 The most commonplace object, well rep sesented in painting, often commands an artists price, In the same manner, the most commonplace object or scene, vel painted by words of artistic value,
 tr The greatest artist of this sort that we have ever had in America is Hawthorne. To every young writer who wishes to study how to learn to use language so as to make everyday scenes and things picturesque and charming, we recommend thorough and diligent study of his writings.
 The sketch called ''The Old Apple Deal CT" is a specimen of what can be done by thoughtful and careful study of apparentl, the most unlnteresting subject in the world A poor, stupid, commonplace old man is made the theme of one of the most won derful pieces of writing,
 2, Many have supposed that writing comes by fits and starts, and by dashes-by bursts and inspirations. But there is no good writing that has eyer come without great labor, great study, and incessant practice
 The publication of Passages from Me Amefican Note Books of Naihaniel Ha,o Mosme mas done q great service to all who wish to learn to write, in opening before their view ali the processes by which the greatest American writer formed that in. imitable style, whose sheeny gloss and ex. quisite word-painting are so astonishing. We can see ln these books that he stud jed nature day by day; going out to study. as painter goes ont with pallet and brush es, only that instead of pallet and brushes he used the words of the English language
 The young writer can see in these note books how i'll this daily process of walking, studying, and writing he accumulated that wonderful store of imagery which Is re- fected in all he says.
 v It also illustrates what We say, that he ex- celled in writing because his love for it led p him to practice 1t constantly.
 These notebooks are but small speci- ~ men of volumes after volumes filled with minute descriptions of all that he did. Jus, s as gymnast becomes graceful by con. 8 stant use of hls muscles, so Hawthorne, by q a aconstantsdealing with words and con. i stant daily habit of writing, acquired fexi S bility and versatility of style.
 aQti Many young writers imagine that the vivid dreams and romantic visions and conceptions that come to them are evi- dence of a talent for writing. Alas! my dear young friend your vision and your dream has got to be translated into the English language, and it is only by seeing that your words and phrases will re- produce the same vision and the same en- thusiasm in other minds that you are to feel that you have succeeded. fa
 The greatest modern French novelist, , De Balzac, says:
 rI ..."To imagine is easy enough. It is mere ly to smoke enchanted cigarettes, which, after all, may. dissolve in air. The real work consists in the bringing out into lan- guage these airy conceptions. ''
 I shall now recommend to our young students some special pages of Hawthorne's $ 5Ansssican Note Book, as specimens of how