Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-04-23

ANCCAs 0CCOAuHeAAA1OA Ny e 5AOtO w u1Cl1
reads as follows: II send this mani
script, with stamps inclesed, in case It
Is rejected. This is my first work Of
the kind. Being out of employment.
I have taken this way of earning an
honest LIVELIHOOD. This is strictly
origanel, and hopeing you will draw a
favorable opinion of it. T. remain,
yours respectfully,
Price $500" a..
There were nine pages of foolscap,
which would be ample for the price, as
far as quantity is concerned, to any pub
LEGATION that buys MS, but, as, might
reasonably be expected in "drst at
Tempt the quality is considerably
lacking The elimination or closing
catastrophe, particularly, is too highly
wrought and sensational. The hero
shoots skunk with a borrowed gun
loaded with dynamite, kills the animal
''deader'n a SMELL the gun bursts
into a thousand pieces, and the shooter
still lives to tell the tale, being but
slightly hurt.
The spelling of the sketch in many
instances is also calculated to depreci-
ate the maet value Of the same as for
instance: "clamouring'' for Chamber
ing; ''lone'' for loan; 'mutch, - ''buisi-
ness" (which" ''ceartanly,' ''sieze-
ing" ''tiard" for tired, etc. These and
other words are strictly original, to be
sure, but would an have to be corrected,
which is a bother. The writer's am
bition to earn an honest livelihood is
praiseworthy, but there are perhaps
other fields wherein he will succeed
better than writing for the press.
Right here is a good opportunity to
give a word of advice to the vast army
OF young people who feel that they are
inspired to become authors. First, find
out if you can spell correctly nearly all
the words in common everyday use in
the English language. If you don't
know whether you can or not, write a
letter to some teacher or good scholar
of your acquaintance and ask to have
misspel]ed words corrected. You may
have splendid ideas and a keen sense
of humor, unlimited pathos, or Stats
tics and "reminiscences galore, and yet
nip everything in the bud by incorrect
spelling. 1t would be we'll also to dis
abuse your mind of the idea that YOU
| have but to write and mail your pro-
duction to some well-known publication,
when wealth will roll in upon you at
seven or eleven dollars per roll. To
put it mildly, the young man or woman
who imagines that first attempt is
worth any considerable quantity of hard
cash, must have good deal of that
commodity known as ''cheek' or
gall and needs only study the his
tory of all prominent authors whose
work now commands good prices, to
find that even their first attempts did
not enrich them to any great extent.
Look at Hugh Conway. He wrote
and wrote, accommodating trunkful of
stories, and, lacking in "cheek," did
not succeed in getting any of them pub
lished until he was middled-aged man,
Then one came out somehow, and it
was discovered that he had all those
years been hiding his great novelistic
light in trunk. Hi ssuccess overpower-
ed him. He died. There is moral
here, but not knowing just how to
state it. we pass on.
1t is not by any means intended in
these remarks to discourage young peo-
pie from writing, but it seems as ii
many Of them use but little judgement
in the matter, and think that "every-
thing goes whether, it is correctly
written or not, or whether, being cor
rectly written. it is adapted for the par
ticular publication to which they send
it.
On the other hand, it occurs some
times, OF course, that writer with true
genius languishes in obscurity from
want of confidence and perseverance in
placing his or her productions before
the public or meets with rebuff because
unknown to fame, while less neritor,
ious authors who have climbed the
steep ladder have but to write nything
and be well rewarded, Such is literary
life, and there seems to be no remedy,
although, it must be confessed, the
chances for success are much better to.
day than formerly. If there only were
some way to choke off the embryo
writer's who are totally untitled for the
business and don't know it, the Others
would have better chancc.-Peck'