Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-10-19
WORKING HABITS or POPULAR
AUTHORS.

WORKING HABITS OF POPULAR
AUTHORS.
New Yors wofld.I
Mr.. w. ID. Ho-ells works from A.
". TO y. NJ. dining at ? y. NJ, and ).
man Of leisure for the re-, Of the day.
lie writes about q half column OF the
World per diem. With this ',in, he can
turn out t~o novels and q great deal OF
miscellaneous matter 10 the eours- Of The
year lie !. no, ssti'hsd ~iihou, great
deal Of revising. and soustimes re-~iite'
. whole chapter. The msnuserip, OF "a
foregons Conclusion" one Of his earlier
books. vas entirely rewritten.
Mr. Henry James. Immediately after a
breakfast Of cutie and rolls in bis own
room, ,in do~n to hi. literary work. gen
orally writing by the ligh, Of two eandls'
the London mornings being 30 dark.
lie compose. slowly and painfully. re-
writing and rs-iouehing bis ~ors eon'in-
uslly. hi. artistic ',y.s bsine attained on
~ At the expense u real toll. Tie ~o's'
until noon. and then go,. to bis club for
lunch. Ny regular application be man
age. to produce god deal OF manu-
script.
Mr. SAMUEL l.. Clsn.n. Marx T~ainl
doe. no, ~ri,e IN b.. library hi. humor.
ou. fanelss are evolved Nth more ease
IN the sclu,ion of hi. private billiard
nom. H. make. Il en- insAriAble rule
10 do certain amount Of literary work
each day. and hi. working hours are
made eoniinuou. by omi,,ins ,h- formal
~ Of lunch IL !. msrcil'.. ,o-srd h..
o-n production. aud often destroy.
whole day. writing without eomPune'
ton. H. tn. ~sy he sometimes does q
piece Of work over and over sgain. bat
a, other ,im,. the fir, dr.i, 10 'ai.isci-
DRY. lie !. very industrious. bat the
mountain sometime. lsbor 20 bnng forth
. mouse.
Mr Edgar fs~ee,i. Who ~ii,ss Tor
fame and 70, for brad. b. b'sn Won,
10 do hi. literary ~ois 10 the fourth story
Of cheap isnsm' n'-tou'e some distance
from hi. residence In the fashionable part
Of the city. he svidsnil, believe. In The
practical application Of Aldiieh' we're.
.bou, the sodd..ss' aud the ssust. lie
!. more pain.,.king sbou, style than
.bou, subject matter.
J. I Ifo~biidge never clmpo.s. biz
poem. ~i,h pen In hand OF hi. pfo'e
-i,houi IL. The former take .hApe 10
hi. mind during stroll. scfo.s some eoun.
ny and along the bank. Of the Hudson
Arlington Lake. Arlington. Mas. OF
spy Pond. the ~rter should have ~ri,-
ten. % ~hile 4 .,ins In his boa, on the
riur l.k,. lie often carrie. fifty o.
ons hundrd hh,. In bis mind IN this
-sy. III. ,ef,ss srs rssi'ed a good deal
In hi. ssrlisr day. be -. L~sy. me-
,hodieal. but Of late years -ors' accord
ins 10 inclination.
Mr.. 0-orge W. Cable j. very .lo-
writer. lie averages psrhsp. 1000 VOID.
per day. .,oat half column Of the World
and some day. he does nothing but r..
wise and pe'f-c, hi. work IL sos. "a
h.. DECK st "a N. and ~riis. until 4
r N, Nth only slight break Tor lish'
lunch
The poet Whittier eonie..'s 10 never
having h.d any literary methods. liz
~rils, when be feel. like u. aud Ia. nei.
ihsr the health nor the patience 10 work
biz copy over afterwards. usually send
INK !, to the publisher as originally cum
pleisd.
Mi.. Elir.be'h Stuart Phelps believe.
In The value II 40 k.hop oui Of the house
and hs. an old barn near her f.ihsr. res.
idenoe At Audoyer. Macs. ~hiiher she
often retire. when In the mood fof ~ri,'
ing. Bling an invalid. ,he 10 unable %
maintain any regular system Of work.
NJ. LOUIS. May Aleo,t never bed =
study: any oo.y oofnsr answer. 10 write
IN. She !. not par'ieulsr =. 10 pens and
par.r. and az old alta. on h'r knee !. ell
tie desk she care. foe. She has the
power 10 cary . dozen plo's in her bead
At time. sl.boraiins them whenever she
i. In the mood Sometime. 'he keep. a
plo, by her In this way for Year. hrfore
Il /. pa, on papet Al time. she lie'
awake a, nigh, and plans whole chapters.
Word for word. and when day lish, come.
he hs. only to write them off As II she
~.re copying Ia her hardest ~orkins
day. she used 10 write fourteen hours Ia
the twenty -four. sitting steadily Al her
work ard scarcely tasting fOod until the
task We. done. Very few Of her sioris.
have teen written 10 Coneord. She gos'
10 Bo.,on. hires q quiet room. shuts her
elf up and waits for an ''sss, Wind Of in
.pir.iiou which never falls In q month
or 20 the book 10 done. She never copies,
and seldom correi'.
Mrs. France. " Burnett writes In =
EDEN" si her Washington house Earl,
in the morning she seat. herself At the
table and writes until noon. The morn
ing .iin, Of pen labor is vigorously insist
ed on. mood and often no, even III health
being consulted. II she 10 in happy
mental frame the hours are no, heeded
aud the sentences hjw freely from her
pen, dusk sometimes coming before her
manuscript IL laid aside. II. ho~evsr.
the ,pir, doe. no, exert iuelf in par
,icul.ily prolific fashion. she devO'e' the
afternoon TO recreation. drives. walks aud
social engagements. THAT Lass o
Lowrie's." Pretty Polly Pemberior,
The Fire at G.ntley Mills" and the
Fortunes Of Philip fairf.i." were all
written in about fifteen months.