The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-02-14
TO TE4 cH NOVEL WRITING.
Miss FIoreRce Marryat Tired of Civ
ing InstructfOn for Nothing.
London LetteF in New York Press.

London Letter In New OTk 1TeSS.
Florence Mbrryat is going to start a
school for ndyelists For years past"
she says at the rate of 150 words a min
ute I've betn bored almost to extinc-
ton by about five hundred friends who.
believing that they can write, have brought
their work to the for examination and cor
rection They come in shoals with manu-
script and sayt oh. Miss Marryat. Is this
right?' Does shat end properly? Ought i
hero ought to have whiskers?' How would
you end up thel story? / don't see how it's
ever TO end And so on. Mind you, for
years / have done this, and for the most
part these people have come with a tale of
sorrow about THE return of the manuscript.
Now, / am not going to do ii any more.
In painting sculpture and music there are
schools and academies foi students who are
fitted for the arts. Why, then, should there
be no school forl those who. having the es-
sentials-originality and imagination-have
no means Of leafning the technicalties of
the prcfe ssion. For the young painter there
are examples of the great masters, for the
young literateur y will provide something
similar by making the study Of great writ
ers part of my scheme Half the young
writers of to-day don't read at all, and to
know human nature i'm all its phases you
must read and read deeply.
In the first place, | shall test the fitness
of applicants by setting them to write short
stories on given subjects. If feel assured
of the unfitness of any / shall tell them
plainly that it is useless to continue
Then / shall run a newspaper, just for
circulation among ourselves. The work of
changed. SO that the one who does the pO-
litical article in one issue will deal with
the crops or write "A dramatic criticism in
the next, and so on. Thereby / hope to
cultivate versatility of style and a varied
knowledge of subject. Then I shall give
weekly lectures on the leading authors and
why they became successful. / shall point
to Hall Caine a master of detail to
Hardy for force. and so on. / want my peo-
pie to think.
"One of the most important branches of
literary training Is what may he called the
carpentering of a stOry-the construction,
the piecing together of incident. the work.
ing out of the plot, and the gathering in of
the strings at the finish | shall ask my
pupils TO regard a great play as something
in close sympathy with great book.
'Ah! you have mentioned a branch of
work in which / shall devote special care.
Many young writer's who sorrow over re-
jected manuscripts fail because they lack
the essential art of condensation. The edi-
tor wants d three-volume novel In three
thousand words. and special training in
that respect will form AN important feature
Of my scheme.
The other day an editor wrote to tell me
that was embarking upon hopeless prof.
ect You'll get no thapks for IT. he said
| replied that l didn't want thanks: I
wanted the occupation--and the fees.
don't suppose i could compel successful
| writer's, who have been trained by me to
add to their names Pupils of NJ. Florence
Marryat; but that won't matter much, will
n