Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1888-09-29
Does Writing PaYa

many year OF storm and stress. / say
followed, +" because in his wooing, lie
persistently ran after the fair and tickle
dame ere he won her hand and her
dowry. Happily. he is well married
almost long enough to have silver
wedding.
The answerI received may be tersely
summed up thus: Writing pays il
you know how to write and what to
write. . Now. the two propositions
contained in this answer are worthy OF
brief consideration.
First how to write: The Young
writer usually starts out, think, pos
sessed with the one idea to get what he
calls stylel He expects to make
writing pay BIZ the mere elegance of
jeweled words, high-sounding epithets.
and well-balanced periods. Thus,
many a promising writer has found
himself wrecked. at the outset of his
literary venture. on his style. Plainly
speaking. writing for style does not
pay. For. remember that there are
too many literary lapidaries VINO
can cut. set and polish the jewels of
rhetoric with more subtitle skill than
yourself Thousands OF manuscripts
have been returned with thanks,
with whose form and expression the
most exaeting editor could not find
fault Indeed. many an editor has
confessed that it was with deep sigh
that he tossed the beautiful thing into
the waste-paper basket Again, what
boots it to gild ones writing with
pretty colors, if the covering be only
brassp
Take the writers OF fiction who
build up year after year their pretty
Queen Anne cottages of words. Of
course, the disappointment is keen
when we find that after all, their
houses are tenanted only BY ghosts of
ideas. Il could write,r said the witty
Tom Hood. as fine plays as Shake
spheare's, if | only had the mind; but
the worst of il is. / never have the
mind" Ali there's the rub. The
writer who does not know how to
write will rarely have the mind.
Secondly: The writer who expects
10 make writing pay must know what
to write. He should be quick to see
what people are willing and ready to
read. And what editors are ready and
willing to pay for. sometimes think
that many OF our popular writers
have been not unlike the spies sent out
byJoshua to explore the land of the Phil
istines. These writers return and report
strange tales of giants, or give rumors
OF the mysterious queen, She iUho- must
be-obeyed. and the people listen TO
them. Indeed. the Philistines are
raal1tg caN a. h.
call for edition after edition of
'Ouida's'' writings. because they want
TO read about red-hea AIDED Circes who
lure husbands to their ruin. They want
to learn on the other hand, how good
goody" people talk and make love, so
they ask for forty and fifty thousand
each OF the late E. p. Roe's novels.
They all read Howells. because they
want the minute descriptions of my
lady's wardrobe. and of tempests in
teapots. They all take James. because
they want the vivisec.ion of butterflies
and the spicy talk of aristocracy.
They want detective stories from the
newspapers. 10 they ask at the libraries
for Charles Reade; If it is a fifteen puz-
zle they want they ask for the author
of THE ladv or the Tiger?" They
often do not know what they want. so
they take TO some ''osophy, ''ology,"
or else to the woods.
Again. the wr ter who wants to make
his writing paw must take his wares to
the right market Writing. it is said, is,
in the eyes of nearly all editors. q COM
mercial speculation. They only buy
what they think the people will read.
Hence. writers find that what will not
suit one will suit another. What should
we think of the farmer who took his
eggs to the butcher, aud his meat to
the grocerp Is it any wonder. then,
that writers 90 around knocking at the
editorial gates vainly seeking adm s.
sionp OF course there will always be
hundreds of poor Casaubons with their
keys TO all mythologies. which no
body wants. The plain truth is that
there are other requisites beside liter
ary merit essential in making writing
pay. In other words. like philosophy,
writing for the wrong market bakes
no bread.
Now. there are great many |
markets for the right kind of writing. |
Whether as reporter. correspondent |
or as special writer, the reward is in |
proportion to the merit displayed. The |
reporter would think writing did not |
paw if he earns less than twenty-five |
dollars a week. So, too, would the |
correspondent consider himself ill-paid |
at less than double that amount The !
amount offered BY journals and |
magazines varies greatly, according to
the standing and name of the writer. /
and the interest and merit of |
his article As high as $500 has
been given for a special contribution.
while the ordinary price will be from
ten to fifteen dollars a page. The
newspapers pay by the column. which
usually contains 1900 words. Their
price is on the average, from six to
eight dollars column for sspace"
work. The literary "syndicates" can.
of course. afford to pay more than any
one journal, as they retail the writing
out TO dozen different papers, for
which each pays its share. One SYM
dictate when it started paid several
thousand dollars each to leading
writer's of fiction for one story. AT
present the demand for good novels
and novelettes seems TO be Unsuitable,