The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-04-27
IN The LITERARY FIELD
FIRST REQUISITE OF THE NOVEL,
lists ART Is TO TELL A STORY.
Day of Enormous Calculations Be-
lievcd to BE Ovcr-Lists of "Best"
BOoks-How to Write Stories.

The best critical judgment seems to
agree. says the New York Times literary
review. that the mass Of fiction that has
been offered to the public i'm the last few
years Will prove to be ephemeral that is,
it will not stand the test OF five years du-
ration which has been proposed as the true
test of the value of such literature. That
il has met at least temporary want the
publishers will doubtless undertake to
prove from their sale books. People do not
buy things that they do not desire unless
they are imposed upon, and as books cir
cuate largely through what is said of
them by people who read them, all this lit
erature has had d popular recommends
ton.
Without going into any analysis of the
reasons of its popular success. it may be
possible to arrive without much difficulty
at the real nature of its defects. Wilkie
Collins one of the most successful novel
lists of the last generation. and one whose
books are still in demand. thus defined his
own view OF the requisites of a good novel:
II have always held the old-fashioned
opinion that the primary object of work
of fiction should be to tell a story; and L
have never believed that the novelist who
properly performed this first condition of
his art was i'm danger on that account, of
neglecting the delineation of character-for
this plain reason. that the effect produced
by any narrative of events is essentially
dependent, not on the events themselves,
but on the human interest which is directly
connected with them. 1t may be possible, in
novel writing, to present characters sue
cessfully without telling a story; but it is
not possible to tell a story successfully
without presenting characters; their exist
ence, recognizable realities, being the
sole condition on which the story can be eff
fectively told. The only narrative which car
hope to lay a strong hold on the attention
of readers is a narrative which interests
them about men and women"
If we test the mass of latter-day fiction
by this rule shall at once discover it's
weak point. 1t does not interest Us in the
men and women which it presents, but
draws our attention, so far as it does at
all, to the things that are happening to
them-their adventures with last-century
pirates, their experiences in the war of the
rebellion or of 1872 the rivalres of French
Canada. or some incidents of earlier French
or English history. We do not recall one
character in the new fiction that has
been talked of by readers except David
Harum. The books are read for their sto-
ries alone. and if Wilkie Collins were re-
viewing them he would show that these
story tellerS had in scme way not prop
erly performed this first condition of their
art
III We run over the list of works of fiction
that have won a permanent place in liter
allure, we shall find proof of the soundness
of Collins position. The story of that ear
~ and permanent success, THE Vicar of
Wakefield" is slight and dneventful but
the characters are as clear as artist
can draw them. Dickens was a master at
story telling, but his books that are best
remembered include those which have Civ
EN- such characters as Pickwick, Micawber,
Captain Cutie and their confreres. Thack-
cray has given US notable example of the
success of what Collins speaks of in pre-
sentng characters successfully without
but he lives in his Becky Sharp, his Colonel
Newcome and his CoStigan. Cooper S
leather stocking iaIeS are Immortal,
and they are stories in the best sense, but
no events which he describes dwarf inter-
est in the central character which he in
PRODUCES. Scott was pre-eminently a story
teller, but his Caleb affords proof enough
of his appreciation of the necessity of Civ
ing life and individuality even to the minor
characters That Collins lived up TO his own
model be shown by glance at his
"Moonstone, in which he tells a story of
undertaking interest but tells ii with the
aid of such real characters as Betteredge.
with his devotion to his Robinson Cru
sOe,' and Miss Clack.
To make good this argument il need not
be contended that the story of work of
fiction may not exceed in interest the char
acters In some instances Stevenson's tales
might be cited TO prove this. and some
readers may declare that IT is the story,
not the characters in kidnapped" and Its
sequel that interests them. But the real ap-
preciatOr of Stevenson will find that, even
in these tales, his interest is bound up in
the persons about whom the stories are
told. and in DR.. JekyH and his double we
have proof beyond cavil of Stevenson s
ability TO picture character by itself
The place assigned to Mrs. Wards
Eleanor is certainly not granted be-
cause Of its plot and Incidents, but because
she has aroused our interest in the char
acters, albeit one of them is conceded to be
a prig. Other new works might be men
toned in which whatever praise is awarded
them as among the better OF their class is
due 10 the characters which they depict
This model which Collins presents is GER
tainlN worthy OF the most careful study by
young writer's of fiction. Novel writing Is
by no means a matter Of inspiration and
genius alone. The file that Horace used
centuries ago has been found Just as use
full by all successful writer's ever since,
/ and IL may not be discarded by those who
draw their imagination alone for ma
| terial. That master craftsman. Dickens,
writing 10 one of his sons as he was about
starting out In life. said: You know how
| hard | work for what | get" And 10 an
| other son he wrote Il eXhort YOU TO per-
severe in thorough determination TO do
whatever YOU have TO do as well as YOU
| can do it," There is no reliance on mere
genius and inspiration in such advice as