The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-12-30
sTEyENsON's METHODS OF WORK.
Some Habits Which Might Well BE
Followed by Other Writers.

San Francisco Chronicle.
1t was one of Stevenson's Scotch traits
that he was fond of seif-analysls. he told
the world in his essays much OF the labor
which he devoted TO the task of writing
perfect English. In a letter written to
New York friend, last year, Stevenson gave
this picture of his method OF work:
81 am laborious writer. L begin work
every day at 6 o'clock. L have theory
that no one should write more than three
hours day, but often work all day long.
I find, however, that after three hours my
work falls below the mark. write my
chapters over time. after time, and some
times of a whole days work not sentence
will stand. In the first place draw out
skeleton of story. but that is likely to be
changed. / have been threa weeks before
now over a single chapter. Anthony Troll
lope used to write certain fixed amount
every day whether he was in the vein or
art and to his reader. The wonder is that
he so often got hold of such good stuff.
when am making point try to do
think a reader should be expected to plod
through pages Of print to find out what
mean. The great difficulty have is IN com
pressing my matter. / can always tell when
an author does not write over and over
again. The most rapid and fluent writer
cannot arrange the mass of material that
goes to make up book without having 1t
ont Of order here and there. Order is the
basis, the charm and the end of literature.
Literatmre Is an art that takes place IN
certain that you have everything in proper
order That you can never get in the first
shot. That Is my experience"
In regard to style, stevenson, in an inter-
view. once said:
"My special distaste is the use of any
foreign word. Often and often I set one
down asf a memorandum. When come to
go over the work again, although it some
times takes me a long time, think / never
fail to express the idea clearly, in honest
English. What sort of English word use is
a matter of the very slightest moment to
me, SO long as can get the meaning close
and so long as the word is in the key of what
I am writing. This question of key isl am
afraid it is really incommunicable. A good
example OF a key perfectly held. perhaps as
good as can name is the Church of Eng
land prayer book. There does not seem to
me one word in the whole of that which
Is not of near esthetic kin to all the rest.
Now. / take great deal Of trouble about
work, as we'll as in the work of others.
But like everybody else who is at all a
conscientious workman, sometimes go too
far.
For one word in particular have had a
fatal passion The number of plain unvar-
nished unaffected statements that / have
a thing that I cannot explain. / don't see
much in the word now but when / get a
chance to put it in where it doesn't belong,
/ not only never fail to do 1t, but / cannot
strike 1t out again. i should perhaps, never
have noticed this deplorable weakness Of
mine If a critic had not made 1t the subject
of commentator. / had written that Sill
ver's eve lin Treasure IslandO cleaned like
crumb of glass; AN ordinary writer would
have said bead said the critic and, oh,
heavens how / wished 1 had been an or
binary writer and said bead!
"The great instance of the folly Of read
ing to get new words was Gautier, who is
said to have read the dictionary for some
time every morning. / don't know If the
story be strictly true. but yet always
think can see that it was true when /
read his work. 1t Is a fact that whenever
writer comes across a word that is new
to him he should make strong effort TO
come handy But he must take great care to
do so with it's combinations, that it shall
be called up like the harmonic of a note as
soon as his mind comes upon the subject
which 1T really SUITS