The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-02-08

which the ladies Of the haren1 took their
outing. s4Of course this nickname. is not
uttered above a whisper in Constantine
pie. It would not : be. safe. Everyone,
however, has heard the story, and the
features of the sultan add some force to
it.. He looks more like an Armenian
than a Turk 'a =
sIt may be that he wishes to give the
lie to the story by the persecution Of the
IArmenians,,' said ].
81 don't know about that, replied Mr..
Crawford. ts.He would probably Hike to
stand well with his. subjects, He is said
to be much in fear of assassination, and
he seldom goes out Of his palace, except
on his way to the mosque, near by, at
which he prays every Friday. | have
been told that he sometimes gets UP at
night and goes from one guard to anoth-
er, examining their 'rsyolvers to see il
they are properly loaded n. .
Here the conversation turned to
"Paul Patoff, . = and Mr., Crawford sur
prised me.bys saying that its wonderful
descriptions were ,penned from memory
in Italy after he left Constantinople and
not from notes taken on the ground. He
has phenomenal power of carrying the
details Of things in his mind. He photo
graphs them, as it were, on the sensitive
work. I=-as1ed him number OF ques-
tions as to how he wrote his novels, re-
feTing to an interview which L had some
time ago with Frank Stockton, in which
Mr.. Stockton said he thought out story
in his mind from beginning to end, plot,
conversation and all, before he PVT his
pen to paper. Mr.. Crawford replied:
'sMy method of working is somewhat
the same, though do not go as far as the
wording of the novel or the conversa-
ton. I know how the story is to end,
however, before it begins, and the" hard
est work Of a novel is generally done
when begin to write. I first study out
the plot and outline the chapters and
situations, often sitting for a day at my
desk with my pen in hand and accom-
plishing nothing. make the outline as
complete as possible, writing out the
heads OF the chapters, ARRANGING the eli
makes and constructing in short, a skele-
ton of the novel: Then | begin to write
and work along steadily as far as / can,
according to my yschedule, until the book
is completed. OF course, have some
times to change from the first outline,
but not much.'
"Have you regular habits of work?'
asked.
..Not particularly so,'' replied Mr..
Crawford, "save that I work all the time.
/ rise very early, have a cup OF coffee,
and write steadily along until lunch
time. Then, after slight rest, I write
until dinner find that do my best
work when [ write rapidly: and after out
lining the novel push my work us far
as possible until it is completed
"How about the conversations in your
stories, Mr.. Crawford; do you remember
the good things you hear, or does the con-
versation come to you in the natural
development of your characters?'
"The individuality of my characters
is of the greatest Importance to me in
my writing replied Mr.. Crawford. Il
take no notes Of anything, but know my
characters. They are real persons to ME
when / am writing about them. and [ ac-
tually seem to hear them talking i'll my
ears as write. II they were not real to
me l could not tell their story, nor make
them talk naturally, 1t is a. curious
fllinsgs however. .that.sin writing these
conversations sentences occur to me that
will aid me III the development Of the lat
ter. part Of the story. l reserve these
for the advance chapters and put them
down where they naturally come in."
II suppose you think OF your charac-
ters often when you are not writing;
do they live with you?''
"Yes; this is especially so with the
character of my Indian stories, as, for
know just what they would say OR do
under any circumstances, and I often
think of them and with them
.sVo1, houo ,1,ritfpr7 many rpvpJc Mr
Crawford, I should think your work
would grow easier for you as you write?"
'In some respects it does,.' replied
Mr.. Crawford, "In other respects not.
AS far as the mere machinery Of the work
is concerned, it is much easier. and l
can write faster, but as far as my sense
-of proportion is concerned, it is harder.
n find that I am in danger of making
my stories too sensational, and / have to
guard against being too effusive. You
see, have been writing now for a long
time. wrote Mr.. Isaacs' thirteen years
ago, and have written altogether % nov
els" s.
"Still.. Mr.. Crawford, you are only
about ~. You are just in the beginning
of your prime. Some Of the greatest of
our novelists have done their best work
after that age.'
yes" was the reply. "Thackeray
wrote Vanity Fair after he was 40. Wal
ter Scott did not begin the Waverly
novels until he was AZ. But you must re-
member that Scott had written the most
OF his poems before that. and Thackeray
had been dabbling mall kinds of writing
But think what a capital those men had
in their past experiences as a basis for
their stories. This is a great thing for
a novelist at the beginning of his writ
ing. You must not, however, understand
me as trying to pose as great novelist.
I Am not. / have only written few
stories which some Of the people are kind
enough to like"
r when did you first realize you could
write storjes?" ] asked. -.'
g 'It was when wrote Mr.. Isaacs,' my
first novel I mad been writing for. seven
years and had done nearly every kind
of literary work except fiction. did
not think could write fiction. did
not believe that had enough magma
ton 1t was my uncle, Sam Ward, who.
urged me to try it."
How did your success affect you !,f
: tsIt was, of course, a great pleasure
was the reply. Il began at once to feel
the change, and within three months my
life was modelled 0pj a different basis.
After writing MI. Isaacs' and before it.
was published had written DR.. Claud-
ius.. doing it in the intervals Of my other
work. AS soon as Mr.. 1saacs' appeared
f5o -