The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-11-16
snoRr STORIES.
The Writers Who Indlto Sentimental
Nonsense for the Paper.

NOnhcHbo lOr ehc spct'
The unreasonable miss who dotes on
flimsy love tales often imagines the con-
coctOrs of the sentimental nonsense to
be- hero, and feels that one of life's
longinSs would be satisfied if she might
claim acquaintance with him. 1t is safe
to assume that very few persons actu
ally know what manner of beings spoil
Ink and paper in building sensational
stories for cheap publications. In this
country there are no publicatio $ ex-
actly corresponding to the English
penny numbers" which dish up love
romRnces of so many yards in length;
but there is q somewhat more expensive
variety of half-dimo libraries that an
suer the purpose admirably
The writer's of cheap sensational stO
RES in the weekly papers and in bound
volumes are, for the most part, journal
lists who take this method OF padding
out their incomes. They generally get
into it by accidect, and, finding 10 remu-
nurative, stay there. 1t requires liter
ary ability of some order to be q SUI
cesstul writer of cheap stories. The au-
thor must write with the utmost rapid
ity, composing the lines and weaving
tho plot as he proceeds. Tho pay for the
composition ola romance of from $1,000
or 40, 900 words Is about 500, and prac-
tical writer of fair ability in this line
will finish a story in ten days, if he does
nothing else. Ordinarily these stories
are written in from three weeks 10 a
month, and serve to occupy odd hours.
The men who do the work arc anything
! but sentimental. They are usually
good fellows who have the heartiest con-
tempt for the stuff they are producing,
their only motive being money. All
the metropolitan papers have one or two
men addicted to the imposition of flash
| literature upon the public. They are
more usually in the editorial rooms than
| in the reportorial department, for i'm the
| latter place there is precious little time
to devote to dalliance with romance
however well paid. The men who
writes stories and nothing else are few
among them are brokon.down news
paper mon, who compose their trash in
u garnet.
Ii is difficult to get recognition a. 1
writer of cheap literature, for each pub
Usher has favorites and accepts theil
work before that of strangers. Conse
Iquently many aspiring boarding schoo
girls, who compile agonizing love stO
ries, wholly or mainly filched from thei
favorite authors, have their hope
crushed and their pride wounded wheI
they submit tho fruits of their labors (,
the stony-hearted publisher.
There is another kind Of talo in tn,
many story papers that runs through
eight or dozen numbers, and ends eacl
installment with the aggravating "r
! be continued in our next The writer
: of these productions are mainly women
and usually hailing from Boston or tn
far south. Women will work NOR
cheaply than mon, and they are NOR
persistent in petitioning publishers
! These stories usually pay their writer
from 500 to $3.50 apiece, but the deman
is limited. A still higher paid class d
stories are worth from $500 to Sl,0O,
The writer's whose names are Offences
. seen are salaried, one man on the LedC
er being paid $4,000. This, however,
! an exceptional case, and the writer
r paid for his name.
3 The short column and two-colum
7 stories, some OF which are very cleve
! are paid for at from IS to $40 each, bl
= this next to impossible 10 got them n,
= copied, as all periodicals. have stacks
( stories on hand. Tho writer WI
reaches out into tho flash literatuI
: business, has certain thumb-rules I
! learn, which once being mastered rel
h der his work mentally easy and physiC
o ally laboriOus. IL is like turning II
: crank or showing the plano all day
b These stories will be seen To be hui
n like New York houses, upon one plal
II They have lurid beginning, each cha
q ter ends with q more or less illogic
l. tableau, and the whole winds up with
" flash and bang. The varying en-
Z tons of love, hate, revenge, sympatl
II and seltishness are rung upon, the mo
/ unreal they are the better. All the h
Q roes are handsome. manly, noble, wea
II thy, or about TO bo wealthy; all the her
ines are lovely, accomplished aud aiie
Tomato; all tho villains are stamped |
T. the same die.
Tho plot generally develops "a Il
writer proceeds. The opening chapt
commences with dark, gloomy ar rail-
night; mystery shrouds everything;
y a murder is brought to the readers a
tention in the first paragraph. In NJ
is event tho requisite thing is u elevate Il
=, readers hair, and chill his blood at q
id start. This accomplished, he or she
q good for the whole story, and will bl
S' every number to the end. One poi
Il must be attended to, namely, that Writ
y shall be triumphant and the villa
fOiled. At least one murder to Il
lg chapter is the regular allowance, urle
the scene in laid IN the west, when blo
~ may How on every page. a polygl
20 dictionary of oxpletives IL handy, [
o. every foreigner should loo made
al swear politely In his mother tongue.
n these points 6e attended to, lit:lo pra
70 tice will enable the amateur 10 wrl
y flash romances.-L Now York Cemm,
iy cial Advertiser.