The Hazel Green herald. [volume] (Hazel Green, Wolfe County, Ky.) 1885-19??, 1892-10-14
CONSCIOUSNESS IN WRITING
eeif-Consciousneas Makes You Poor
writer aud q Had speaker.


f-Consciousness Makes You Poor
writer aud . Had speaker.
As both writing and speaking are The
expression Of thought through Ian.
Suagc the capacity of the one, Joined 90
an incapacity for the other, Is natural.
ly the occasion OF remark, and has,
believe. never been accounted for.
think II will I've found, says Richard
Grant White, that consciousness which
generally causes more or less cmbar-
rassmcnt Of one kind or other, is at the
bottom of this apparent incogruity.
The man who writes In clear and
fluent style, but who, when he under
takes to speak, more than to say YES or
no or what he would like for dinner,
hcsitatcs and uttcrs confusion, does so
because he Is made sclf-conscious 10y the
presence 81 others when he Speaks but
gives himself unconsciously to the cX.
precision OF thought when he looks only
upon the words which he Ii writing.
lie also speaks with ease and grace but
who writes I'm n grabbed, involved style.
forgets himself when he looks at others.
and Is occupied by himself when he is
alone. His consciousness and the effort
that he makes on the one hand To throw
II off and on the other To meet It's de-
mand upon him confuse his thoughts.
which throng, and jostlc, and clash in.
stead OF moving steadily onward with
one consent together.
Mere consciousness has had much 20
do with the charming style Of many
l..
when they write books. Is generally
bad, with all the varieties of had.
ness; but their cpistolnry style is rs
generally excellent in all the ways Of
excellence, A letter written hv u
bright, cultivated womnn--and she need
not bc n highly-cducatcd or much.n.
structcd woman, but merely one whose
intercourse Is with cultivated people
and written merely To tell YOU some.
thing that interests her and that she
wishes you 90 know. with much care
about what says aud no care a. to how
she says Il, will, inatwclyc eases ont of
the bakers dozen, be not only ire.
proachnbly correct IN expressions hut
very charming.
Some literary women, though few.
are able to carry this clear. fluent
idiomntic English style into their books,
Mrs. jameson, Charlotte Brontc, aud
perhaps George Eliot are prominent in
stances in point. Mrs Trollopr's
book, THE Domestic Manners Of
the American" which made her
mans known and caused IL To
he detcstcd, unjustly In this coun.
try, IL written in this delightful style
--casy'flowing and clear, like benuti-
ful stream, rejecting from it, placicd
surface whatever IL passes 10y adding in
the reflection u charm 10 the image
which is not In the objcst, and distort.
ing only when IT is dimplcd 10y gnycty
ar crispcd 10y fow Of satire or a rim
pie Of humur. II is worth reading only
for It's style II may be studied to adj
vantage and cmulatcd but not initiated,
for all about IL that is worthy of emu
lntion Is nimitablc, Mr. Anthony
Trollopes mastery Of our language was
inherited, hut he did not come into
possession Of quite all the maternal cS-
tate
say that Mrs. Trollopc's book had
been unjustly ccnsurcd because all her
descriptions were true 10 life, aud
were evidently taltcn from life. She
described, however, only that which
struck her rs peculiar, and her ne.
quaintancc with the country was made
among the most uncultivatcd people. -
Chicago Tribune.