Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-01-28
MENTAL FOOD FOR BOYS.
A. Expert Tells How Sensational Stories
Are Put Together.

A Expert Tells How Sensational Stories
Are Put Together.
ssThe writer of fiction for the young
has become an important brancl, Of liter
sfure," said an old writer whose chaTui-
ing stories have tickled q generation Of
young people. ut seems simple enough,
DOESN'T it, IN draw a little upon the inn
~agination and spin out q lot Of stuff about
Jimmy the Safe Cracker, or Bob the
BOY Detective but some of the best
newspaper writers in this city have seized
the story writers quill with a sort of holy
nthusiasm-ani have failed. One OF
mem whose heartrending tale was pub
kshed had the happiness of hearing him
self called a 'chump' by a gamin critic
Who had just finished reading the effort.
81 guess this faculty Of writing fiction
must come voluntarily TO a person. l
have tried my hand at other branches OF
literature, and have Immediately and
With great unanimity been pronounced
no good. Shortly after this rebuff a
story, telling of the almost superhuman
deeds of a young hero, appeared, and ever
ince | have not been able to turn out
manuscripts quickly enough for the pub
khers.
.sOn some days l can't, TO save me.
write a single line, while at other times |
may worry through a paragraph, but on
reading il a second time | tear it up in
disgust. Nothing remains but to wait
for an inspiration This does not come
from above, a gift from the gods, as Is
vulgarly supposed, but is brought OH by
. knowledge Of the fact that the pub
Usher is waiting impatiently for the next
chapter of my story. When | once get
started the thoughts come almost too
quickly.
s.Do / ever correct my copy? Well,
not much. / put the story together in
my Uranium and then spin it out. l
sometimes read it q second time and
change a word occasionally, then off she
goes to the printer. We are not very
particular, anyway, since we are work.
ing for Doodle, not for undying fame.
II we were TO follow the advice of Horace
md lock up our manuscript for nine
years and then take it out and revise it, |
an afraid tlat bootblacks, messenger
boys and the Young in general would go
without intellectual food for some time.
That, however, might not prove a serious
kow 10 th community, for messages
would then in all probability be deliv-
cred promptly. Why, | have seen a
messenger boy, on whose fleetness of foot
fortune or probably a life depended,
Standing on a corner for half an hour in
Aoa,al,r .l-.rl.l -, m 80 "a, rpU1pnEt-
tons. Quite flattering TO me, was it
not?
''You think the increasing drain should
exhaust my storehouse Of ideas. do you?
Let me inform you that 1t doubtless
would did | not learn something new
every day. l always make a note OF
everything strange / see or hear, and
books and papers give me any number of
IDEAS which | mold to suit my readers
not my readers exactly, but the publish
e's readers. We write to please but n
person, and he is that all powerful indi-
ndual who can take the story or return
Il with thanks.
''You want to know how we are paid?
Well, none Of us ever become million
autSs YET ~ DeInDu Will blhlliNs Iilt Nv
oan always make a good living at the
business.
II do all my writing in two or three
DAYS of the week. and can make $50 or
$50 without exerting myself. The most
money l ever received for a story was
$500 for a little thing ! finished in four
days. II was for a celebrated comedian
who, with my permission, erased my
name from the title page and inserted his
own. | don't know how much he re-
oeived for his name and my story.
Il think | am doing us much good for
the young as many who make more pre-
tensions. Most Of my stories are founded
ON history, and probably impress truths
on youthful minds more rorcihly than 10
some of the professors who affect to de-
Pise u profession so much. New
York Press.