The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-05-27
WOULD-BE WRITERS.
Bah, the Famous Correspondent,
Offers Sound Advice.

Meeting Editors of Great Dailies.
What Hard, Practical Newspaper
Work Really Means-women Who
Imagine They Can write-why So
Many of Them Miss Fire-''Famil-
farity Breeds Contempt"-Bab Pours
Common Sense Into the Ears of a
Great Army of Dear, Hopeful Girls.
New York, May 25,-I don't think 1
ever saw girl cry harder First, ven
tured to sympathize with her by words
They were of no use Then offered that
infallible consoler-a cup of tea. It was
of no use at ali. At last l lost my temper
and tried what commonsense would do l
said: when you wrote to me last wear
and asked me, an utter stranger to YOU,
to give you my advice about coming to
New York to earn your living with your
pen, told you that you had better stay
at home; that where one woman sue
ceeded there were nine hundred and
ninety-nine who failed and that while
ambition was a very good thing, the
knowledge that you had a roof over your
head and plenty Of bread and butter for
the rest of your life was deal sight
better. You said your father was able to
support you, but that you yearned to be
independent. Now, that was your first
mistake. A good daughter is Independent
when she does her duty in her fathers
household and fits herself to be the head
of another one.
AMATEURIsH WOMEN WRITERS.
But no, you thought you had POSSIBLE
ties like E,mnrsOn Won hot
you would never write anything as silly
as fashion article, and that you were
going to do something to make your people
proud of you. Well, you came and you
were surprised to discover how much
money it took to get even a tiny bit of a
room in a respectable boarding house.
Then you started in to see the different
editors. They were polite to you-they
generally are-but they sounded you in
five minutes, and made you feel in five
more, that they would be obliged to you
if you would leave. After that you came
to see me. l asked you what you had
written, and you showed me the usual
work of the amateur. Newspapers don't
want the opinions of girls of nineteen on
subjects after the style of those discussed
by debating societies; they want either
news or original matter, and by original
matter l mean pictures of life CLEANED
from experience and touching subjects
that are novel. I told you to go home
and write an article describing the little
village from which you came, You did,
and that sold Then. instead of contin-
uing in that line, you carried down some
nonsense about your opinion Of the Ro-
mans as orators. If you had told about
some village orator, and shown up his
queerneSs- of speech and oddities of man
ner, you might have sold that; but no,
you must harp on the things that nobody
wanted In read and with which
are inundated. Now, the best thing for
you to do is to go home. You evidently
won't, or can't, give what the public
wants, consequently there is no place for
you in the newspaper world, Go back
home, be good girl, make yourself use
full where you are, and two years from
now | shall expect an invitation to your
wedding to the dearest fellow in the
world.
SCHOOLGIRL COM POSITIONS NOT WANTED.
don't know whether she went home
or not; she left me feeling very indignant,
but it is just possible that when she was
by herself the small modicum of common
sense which she possessed came to the
surface and she did as she was advised.
There are plenty of women all over the
country who think that l am severe.
There are hundreds of them who write
to me asking my advice about coming to
New York and writing for papers and
magazines, and want this letter to be a
round robin to them. If you can write
anything worth reading, or which has a
market value. it can come Just as well
from where you are now: and if it has
value that will quickly be recognized.
Editors are always looking for something
good and original, but they don't want
schoolgirl compositions, nor their opin-
ions on the great questions of the day
At the beginning of this ! told about
one girl who made a mistake, Here is
the story of another She was bright,
pretty and decidedly attractive She in
PRODUCED herself to me at bazaar, and
asked me in very sweet way if would
mind telling her whatshe had better do
about one special thing. Just at this
moment, however, she excused herself
said she was Obliged to speak to some
of the reporters and that she would be
back in few minutes Later on, saw
her talking to them. They were nice
young fellows, well hammered, well edu-
Gated and good workers, but she wasn't
adding TO her position by being chummy
with them, and she was lowering herself
in their eyes. About month afterward
l saw her again. She had gotten space
work on two or three newspapers, and she
believed that she knew thoroughly the
art of succeeding.
SHE WAS "HAIL-FELLow-wELL-M
with great many men, she spoke in the
most familiar manner of the different
men employed on the papers, and seemed
to think that familiarity bred respect
rather than contempt. l don't believe
that girl thought anything wrong. but
she went to work in the wrong way A
woman can do her work we'll and thor
oughly without having anything moro
than formal acquaintance with the peo-
pie among whom she is thrown, and it
may be taken as truth that while the
popular woman may hold her own
Tor little while, it is the woman
who simply does her work, and isn't
''chummy," who achieves what she
wishes. A woman may be quoted in the
papers as being popular, and she may be
making 5000 year, where another
woman, who, perhaps, never saw a man
who buys her work, whose appearance is 1
unknown, and whose friends are not tho
people in the same line of work, will be
earning her thousands. My dear girl. |
do know what l am talking about: popu-
larlty will not pay your bills, or make
your work good. The day came when |
had to work. and realized that I must do
the work that was offered TO me, aud not
that which | preferred But all this
great army of dear, hopeful girls think
they can do what they like, and they come
here, have their hearts hurt. and unless
they are very strong men tally, TO make