The Washington times., 1901-07-07

ations. successful writer of dime nov
els must possess at least superficial
knowledge of a great variety of subjects
he must be able to write a story of life
in the slums of a great city, one of ad-
venture on the Western plains, of war
in Cuba or the Philippines. without max
ing any material error in the descriptive
sections. 1t is a rigid rule that the plot
and incident must be plausible No mat
ter how improbable the deeds of the hero
may be, the author must be careful to
avoid impossiblities and absurdities If
AlkaH Ike scalps an Indian in the Black
Hills in the morning and cleans out
faro bank III Deadwood at night the story
must explain satisfactorily how he made
his journey from one point TO the other
m the time specified.
publisher VINO had created a roman
tic Western adventurer with name that
proved popular with the boys, contracted
with one of its regular writers for
series of twenty stories After sixteen
of the series had been issued, one every
two weeks, and the other four extensive
ly advertised to appear on certain dates
the author fell I'll. The publisher sent
for one of his extra writers, who was en-
ployed on daily newspaper. and ar
ranged with him to take up the work and
carry on the central characters un-
changed. In order to prevent delay in
getting out the stories as advertised, the
extra writer had to read up the career of
the hero from the start and write four
novels Of 10000 words each in twenty
days. The task was successfully accom-
plished, and the writer in question did
not lose an hour from his regular work
as a reporter. Devoting only nights and
Sundays to the stories, he dictated them
to stenographer, working some times
six and seven hours at night at rate of
1000 words per hour
The regular writer's of such stories men
who do not attempt any other work, are
able to produce one story of 1000 to So
900 words week, for six months or a
year, with comparative ease. Under pres
sure. they can readily write two week
but could not long continue that rate of
production without a period of complete
mental and physical rest. The author
who attempts to lay out a schedule of his
story, to work out a plot to the end in
his mind, and name all his characters in
advance, cannot write dime novels. He
must be able to take title. a name, and
an incident suggested by the publisher,
and write a story of a specified length,
letting the plot grow and develop as he
writes. He must invent names as he
forms the letters that spell them and
create a thrilling incident or climax for
each chapter.
Virtue must always triumph, in the
dime novels and vice be overthrown. the
desirable consummation being achieved
invariably in the last chapter, and the
hero must be an example of all the vir-
tues. Nor must the villain be too wicked,
for In certain respects the novelty of the
dime novel is very rigid. 1t may surprise
many persons who denounce such fiction
as wholly bad TO know that the publisher
will not permit line or situation that
might so much as suggest indecency or
vulgarity. The, villains as well as the
heroes all swear under their breath" and
oaths are never used In the Zines of the
story. Four or five large publishing
houses in New York produce tons of such
literature every week and the business is
conducted In systematic way. There is
the sharpest kind Of competition in the
trade, and the writer who can suggest
and work out new and novel plots or
situations will find demand for all the
he can produce.-Savannah