, 1885-04-03
MISS N. E. BRADDON.
THE NOVELIST MRs. JOHN MAX
WE'LL AT HER HOME.
How the Popular Author of Lady Aud
Iey's Secret" and other Works Fer
forms Her Labor-At LichneId
House. Richmond.


NAAAA 80 $3.50 W. - @A1 - tA1 aA1N
hoor, my hostess and myself, traversing m
old wainscoted staircase and landing, AMI
sitting down in a large, square room with an
out~lookShpon a long, rim George l. garden.
"This is my workshop she says; athe
usual sort Of thing, l suppose; lots OF books
Of reference, a somewhat disorlerly desk.
This block OF shelves is full of French works.
thought. by tho way, almost tho whole OF
Tom Taylor's French library. Hers is an
American edition of Dickens, with the green
covers Of tho original monthly parts OF Pick
wick. Here are Scott, George Eliot, Lamb,
Stnel, and Il host Of old comedies, the Gus
tomary dict onaries, and so on.n
We walk about the room as she talks, and
/ note the thorough, business-lke character
OF the ~plnce-plain, solid book-shelves, u desk
that might have been made for a merchants
office, chairs for ease and chairs for WORK,
no piano, no guitar-a workshop, and at the
same time II comfortable room, and with a
bright, cheerful fire burning on a bright,
cheerful hearth
"Theae are very commonplace books, says
my hastess, taking from a shelf one OF Sow
eral mall volumes. Il don't do anything in
this way US Systematically as our friend
Sala, nor on the elaborate plan Of poor
Charles Reade."
She handed mo a VOLUME. 1t was full OF
carefully written extracts from books and
newspapers.
Anything that strikes me very much dur
ing my reading | preserve in this way
Nov tell me, L say, rs we sit down by
the fire, something about your working
day"
MY idea of II perfect and pleasant day
she says, "is TO devote the whole of it 10
writing and reading; when l say the whole
of it | mean from breakfast ct 10 say until
dinner at z, with intervals Of strong tea, and
sometimes a little luncheon. L can do this
four days during the week and enjoy IL, and
get through a lot Of work, il l have the other
two for riding, and more especially for hunt
ing
"Now,7 said l, "let us talk about the
method OF storytelling. / remember many
years ago discussing this subject with Mrs
Henry Wood. She told me her system OF
beginning and working out a story was Of
the most niethodicnl character. First she
sketchod her plot, thcn she elaborated il and
set forth her characters, then she divided II
into three parts for three volumes: then she
divided up her volumes into chapters and
allotted each chapter its incidents; 50 that
finally she sat down to work knowing ex-
actly what she had to do, how much for
each chapter, and 30 on, without any par
iicular mental strain. 1 think Trollope
worked very much in the same way. Now,
how do you begin and how do you fnishl-
tell me as il / were that same interviewer
unler editorial instructions we talked Of at
the outset.r
Very well, them she said, clasping her
hands and looking into the lire. Il nm not
as systematic as Mrs. Wood, nor car l write
exactly to measure as Trollope did, Some
times when 1 get a special order. as l do now
and then from the newspapers or n maya
zine, 1 find my self literally without an ilea
in my head. My mind is u blank; quito
empty. rs uns may say. Then, all OF u sud
den and unexpectedly, an idea comos, the
germ Of a story. For example, Henry
Dunbara-I thought OF that story asI was
driving into the city on day to mset my
husband-thought OF 1t i'll tbs street in
II cab; Lut the germ OF it had
been probably already in my mind,
suggested by a police case had
read in the memoirs Of a French
detective Have you read Carpenters
physiology Well, he explains how the
brain works on its own account; how it has
a sort OF double action, and will, as it we're,
debate and work out a theme while we are
unconscious, SO t. speak, Of it, operations. 1
am sure l nave had many experiences Of tho
truth of this theory. Whom l have got my
germ, and it has developed into anything
like shape, l may mako a skeleton plot, de-
scribe the characters. note the incidents, and
hhcbch ouN Az buucffh lacu- luht 0ont 4
begin my copy for the printer, and work at
it straight to the finish. OF course new do
v%olopments occur as l go along, changes
sometimes OF incident and motives, but SO
long as ! adhere 10 the general plan accept
these changes, and find that the whole
scheme works out correctly"
"Wil you show me u skeletonfr
She goes to her desk aud hands me a small
memorandum book.
There is 'Ishmael,i my last novel; tine
skeleton occupies seven pages"
They were closely written pages and had
been marked through, bit by bit, as a re-
porter marks his notebook after transcript
ton.
MAY / copy half of the first pager
al you care to take the trouble"
l did care. and here 1t is-the first half
page Of the skeleton of Miss Braddon's
latest, and not the least popular of her nov
els:
iSHMAELs
A man of forty wars in Paris-rfch euI-