Mexico weekly ledger., 1886-04-01
A WRITER'S LIFE.
Some Valuable Instructions from Edward
Everett Hale.

Everett Hale.
The business of health, for u literary
| man, seems to me to depend largely
upon sleep. He should have enough
sleep. and sleep well. He should avoid
whatever Injuries sleep.
| This means that the brain should
| not be excited or even worked hard six
hours before bedtime. Young men
can disregard this rule, and do; but as
one grows older he finds it wiser to
| throw his work upon the morning
hours. If he can spend the afternoon,
or even the evening, in the open air,
/, his chances of sleep are better. The
evening occupation. according to me,
should be light and pleasant--as music,
novel, reading aloud. conversation,
the theater, or watching the stars from
the piazza. OF course. different men
make and need different rules. l take
nine hours sleep in every twenty-four.
End do not object to ten.
As men live, with the telegraph and
telephone interrupting when they
choose, and this fool and that coming
in when they choose, to say: 81 don't
want to interrupt you; / will only take
moment" the great difficulty is to
| hold your three hours without u break.
If a man has broken my mirror do
not thank him for leaving the pieces
next each other; he has spoilt it, and
he may carry them ten miles apart if
he chooses. So, if fool comes in and
breaks my time in two, he may stay if
he wants to. He is none the less a
fool. What want for work is un-
broken time. This is best secured early
in the morning.
dislike early rising as much as any
man; nor do l believe there is any NOR
al merit in it, as the children's books
pretend. But to secure an unbroken
hour, or even less, like to be at my
desk before breakfast; as long before
as possible. have a cup of coffee and
soda biscuit brought to me there;
and in the thirty or sixty minutes
which follow, before breakfast. / like
to start the work of the day. II you
rise at quarter past 6 O'Clock there
will be comparatively few mapped
dlers, or book agents, or secretaries of
charities. or jaii-birds who will call be-
fore s o clock. The hour from $50 to
1850 o'clock is that of which you are
most sure. Even the mother-in-law or
the mother of your wife's sisters hus-
band does not come then to say she
would like some light work with a
large salary as matron in an institution
where there is nothing to do.
believe in breakfast very thorough
ly, and in having good breakfast. /
have lived in Paris month at time,
and detest the French practice of sub
| stituting for breakfast cup of coffee,
with or without an egg. Breakfast is
a meal at which much time may be
! spent with great advantage. People
are not apt to come to it regularly, and
you may profit by the intermission to
read your newspaper and lecture on
its contents. No harm in spending an
hour at the table.
After breakfast do not go to work
for an hour. Walk out in the garden,
lie on your back on a sofa and read; in
| general, '.ioaf' for that hour, and bid
the servant keep everybody out who
rings the bell, and work steadily till
your days stint is done. If you have
had half an hour for breakfast you can
make two and a half now.
1t is just so much help if you have
good amanuensis; none, if you have a
| poor one. The amanuensis should have
enough else to do, but be at liberty to
attend to you when you need. Write
as long rs you feel like writing; the
moment you do not feel like it give
him the pen, and walk up and down
the room debating, There are those
who say they can tell the difference
between dictated work and work writ
ten by the author. / do not believe
them. will give share in the COM
| bination Protoxide silver mine of
Gray's gulch to anybody who will di-
vide this article correctly between the
parts which are dictated and those
which are written with my own red
right hand.
Stick to your stint till it is done. II
Philstines come in. as they will in a
finite world, deduct the time which
they have stolen from you, and 60 on
SO much longer with your work, till
you have done what you set out to do
When you have finished the stint,
stop. Do not be tempted to go on be-
cause you are in good spirits for work.
There is no use in making ready to be
tired tomorrow. You may go out OF
doors now; Won NAV read; you may. in
whatever way. get light and life for the
next day. Indeed. if you will remem-
Der that the first necessity for literary
work is that you have something ready
to say before you begin, you will re-
member something which most authors
have thoroughly forgotten or never
knew.
This business of writing is the most
sxhausting known to men. You should.
therefore, steadily feed the machine
with fuel. find it good habit to
have standing on the stove a cup OF
warm milk, just tinged in color with
coffee. In the days OF my buoyant
youth said, 'of the color of the cheek
of brunette in Seville" / had then
never seen a brunette in Seville, but
have since; and | can testify that the
description was good. Beef tca an-
swers as well; bowl of cnowder quite
AS we'll as either. Indeed, good Clam
chowder is probably the form If nour-
ishmeut which most qui, ky and easily
comes TO the restoration or rcircshment
OF the brain OF man.
If this bowl OF coffee, or chowder, or
soup, is counted as one meal. the work
inpman who wishes 10 keep in order
wilt have tive meals day, besides tie
morning cup OF coffee. or coffee color
ed with milk. which he has before
breakfast. Breakfast is onei this ex-
tended lunch is another; dinner is the
third. say 1T 2:3D; tea is the fourth, al
6 or z; and. what is apt TO be forgot.
ten. sufficient supper just before be'i'
, time is the fifth. ihis last may be al
light as you medical gentlemen please
but let it be sufficient A few oysters,
q slice of hot toast, clam chowdei
, again. or bowl of soup. Never 60 ie
bed in any danger OF being hungry
People are kept awake By hunger Al
, much as by a bad conscience.
Remembering that sleep is the essen
!, tial force which the whole schem'
.. starts, decline tea or coffee within th'
, last six hours before goiEg TO bed. l
, the womaukind insist, you may hay'
your milk and water at the tea-tabl
| coiored with tea. but the less the bot
ter.
Avoid all mathematics or intrlcat
study of any sort in the last six hours
D This is the stuff dreams are made oi
D aud hot heads, and the nuisance G
waking hours
, Keep your conscience clear. ne
! member that because the work OF LII
is infinite you can not do the whole c
: it in any limited period of time, an
l that therefore You may just as We