Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-12-16
Literary Construction.

Literary COnStfucif0n.
Bret Harte writes only when he feels
in tho mood, but with most painstaking
care, sometimes inditing very quickly,
sometimes slowly, and often, after all, re-
morselessly destroying what he has writ
ten. Wilkie Collins produces slowly
and reyises constantly, inventing his
plots as rapidly. He will go over a pas
sage again and again, bestowing equal
share on the sound and meaning, and re-
duces his incidents mercilessly.
Victor Hugo is never interrupted
when writing, and will sit completely
absorbed for hours, keeping steadily on,
while he is in the humor. Miss Brad
don writes only for few hours daily,
but devotes her life to acquiring the
technical knowledge necessary for 80
voluminous writer, and her subject is
clearl y thought out before pen il put to
! paper. She writes with her blotting-
J pad on her knee, comfortably ensconsed
i'll the chair she loves, her copy very
clear and free from corrections, and has
always good store of skeleton plots on
hand Miss Edgeworth's plan was to
write rough skeleton, which she placed
before her father, and then wrote and
re-wrote it until both were satisfied.
Mrs Opie wrote slowly, but with great
mental effort, and invariably read her
! compositions to friends before commit
| ting them TO print. Charlotte Bronte's
manuscripts were first written in small
book and then carefully copied, accord
ing to the poet Rogers plan, who ad-
vised TO write little and seldom, re-read-
ing it from time to time and re-copying
often. French writer's, AS a rule, devote
each morning TO their labOrs, and take a
holiday the rest of the day, sometimes
resuming their work in the evening, and
many of our English writer's have a
strong prediction for the midnight oil.
! Jowctt recommends daily labors Of short
| duration; and attention 10 diet and rules
! of health have, there is little doubt, a
controlling power even over the inspira-
ton Of the pen. jules Simon, Carlyle,
| Gladstone, Ruskin and hosts OF others
are early risers, and show by practice
their belief that the morning hours, in
which they are freshest and strongest,
both in mIi and body, should be de-
voted to work. But the condition under
which writers can produce their work
most largely depends on constitution
and personal feeling. While Victor
/ Hugo could not be disturbed, Paul de
Cassagnac will send forth sheet after
sheet in the midst of the ohattering of
friends with the same power Of mental
concentration az Sir Walter Scott, who
appears to have written some Of the most
| vivid scenes in his novels, not only in
the midst Of overburdened anxicties, but
amid distracting Interruptions. While
Gambetta writes with only q sheet Of pa
per before him, no litter of pamphlets,
and no apparent work of reference,
Theirs used to sit surrounded by
books and Dumas keeps about him on
a writing table, with many pigeon-holes,
a store of all kind of tempting paper
deeming nothing 20 appetizing as fine
paper. Sardou sits at large fiat table
as does Carlyle, with reading easel
near at hand and Wilkie Collins uses
the same massive table whence Dickens
sent so many of his works into the
world.