Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-07-16
Compositions.

Did you ever have your picture taken.
| Then YOU will never forget how the ope
rator patted you down, and shook you VI
-enjoined you to raise your chin a trifie
/, then to drop it a hairs breadth-to turn
the least bit to the right, until at last with
one hand on the awful mystery in from
| of you, and the other holding the watch
| that licked off the dreadful seconds he
blandly observed,
"NoW look perfectly natural, and wink
all you please"
How did the man expect you to look
natural, when he had done his best to
make you feel unnatural, until you
couldn't even laugh at the absurdity OF
his remark, and every eyelash was toe
stiff to wink. No wonder the picture was
| so unlike your merry, laughing self, and
the stony eyes had not a CLEAN of the
brightness that comes into them when
| you sit flushed and happy to chat with a
friend. If the artist could only catch you
unawares, and not let you know you were
sitting for your picture, that would be
something worth seeing
Do you wonder what all this has to do
with compositions? A great deal, [ as
sure you. There is the same difference
between the lively, sensible talk of real
boy or girl and the dull, stupid stuff they
put into compositions, that there is be-
tween the living person sitting az ease,
without a thought of how he is looking,
and the miserable being in the artists
chair. fyou want a good picture you
must forget all about YOURSELF; if you
would write good composition, you
must forget that there is such a thing
as a composition. How shall you
do this? Well, in the first place, remem-
Der that the whole object of your writing
is to improve yourself, and not to interest
other people. 1t is not OF the least con-
sequence that you interest any one else !;
you are to learn to express your ideas in
writing. What if you have no ideas?
That is not possible; the only trouble is
you try to express the ideas of some one
| else, and you can no more do it than you
can sit for his picture Write about real
things; objects that lie about you; facts
IN your own history; things you have
learned by personal observation. It will
do you great deal more good to tell in
plain, straightforward way how many
tradesmen were needed to make a
horseshoe, from the time the ore lay in
the earth until it was nailed upon the
horses foot; how the canary went to
sleep; what different games are played
| with balls; what you did on a rainy day
what you saw in the woods; how YOU
went fishing; how to make kite, or a
sled, or work-basket; in short almost any
thing that you really know, than to get off
any number Of fine sentences about faith,
and hope, and patience, and selfdenial.
Lay up your facts first, and build your
theories afterwards. Write for your own
improvement now-by and by you may
try to edify other people A good way to
start composition is to talk it. Sit down,
| two of you boys and girls, and have free
and-easy talk about something Say all
the funny things you please, and all the
over it. Then sum up your talk something
in this fashion:
"SNAKEs. is afraid of 'em I had
one buttoned up in my jacket once; green
! one. Snakes like milk. I read that in book.
| There are no snakes in Ireland. Bridget says
so, and she says st. Patrick turned 'em all out
Mary wishes he would go to Uncle Toms farm
and turn the snakes out, because she dares nj
go after blackberries on account of snakes
I've seen a picture of a man swallowing
! snake, but don't believe it. Some snakes Cal
swallow man. Will says there's a story il
his book that people used to believe about {
woman named Medusa, that told so many lies
her hair turned to snakes Snakes sleep al
winter, curled up in knots, somewhere, ant
crawl out of their skins in the spring."
Now, [ will venture to say any two
young folks Of ten or twelve would 81
down by themselves, and talk up doze1
different subjects in half an hour. TIL,
only thing to learn is first to note dowI
the facts, then arrange them little, anC
you have real conaposataon.-L5tt5e Cor
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