The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-06

THE
LITERARY
OUTLOOK
BY HERBERT BREwsTER.

4 average reader Few are immune. 4i4e
| ink fever has many victims And be>
cause this is so. there win always be
many who take seriously the learned
articles which appear from time TO
time on the subject oS How to be a
Novelist" Several English authors
have recently given views on the mat
/ ter, and the diversity of opinion among
them indicates at least the general
value of directions to successful writ
| ing.
| Mr.. William lie Quex believes that
one should write out of a wide expert
ence with life-which experience is 10
be gained only by much travel o. Il.
| ". Mason and E T. Benson. however,
say that there is no need of travel. Mr..
CUTLER Couch also affirms that one can
not become a novelist through follow
ing the rules laid down by Mr.. lie Quex.
Mr. Frankfort Moore recommends the
writing of boys books as a fine training
\ for the novelist, because directness or
narration is thus cultivated, and an
other writer goes on to say that ne
would rather take a boys opinion as TO
| that of any publisher, reader or critic
/ The former statement has the ring OF
truth in it, bat the latter was doubtless
/ written hurriediy and not revised A
boys opinion on a boys book would be
valuable, but for a boy TO judge of the
quality of some books for the adult
| would be as foolish as to expect the
first year Latin student to appreciate
the rytkm and beauty OF Horace
] Mr.. Tom Gallon, who has just pub
lished "The Man Before" puts it down
as qualification that the novelist must
| have studied life at first hand. Neil
Munro says that the novelist is born.
not made. The unfortunate part OF
this opinion is that it is too often
shared by the beginners, each of whom
| in7agines that such was his happy fate
at birth, ana that the world has re-
fused TO see his greatness since.
Max Pemberton insists on having
story to tell. Barry Pain waggishly adj
/ vises the asDirant to write a novel
which shall become popular; Hamlfn
| Garland, Cy Warnaan, Stewart Edward
/ White. Owen Wister and host OF
western and southern writer's of our
| own country believe that one should
first live the life and then tell it truly.
! Booth Harrington eXclaims: You
must see it first, but you NAV see it in
your minds eye" CAUTIOUSLY enough,
Mr.. Harrington pictures all of his
stories out first on PAPER, and then pro-
ceeds TO the writing.
Wasn't it Kipling who said: There
are 10000 ways of indlt:hg tribal lays.
and every single one of them is right"
There is young lawyer about to take
Ex-Governor AItgelds place in a promi-
nent Chicago law firm. named Mr..
Brand Whitlock, who, besides being
capable lawyer, deserves also to be
ranked as one of the best political fic-
ton writers living. The truth of this
statement has doubtless been impressed
upon the minds of many who have read
his short stories in the magazines,
though the fact escaped the notice of
many No one, however, who reads
The Thirteenth District will mistake
the authors standing, for this first book
! is a wonderful picture Of one phase of
politics, and the story which runs
| through the book has all the elements
of actually. Indeed, Mr. Whitlock's
. high standing at a political fictionist
comes from the fact that he writes po-
litieal truth. His characterizations in
1.-THE Thirteenth District are doubtless
pen portraits. Once the author allows
himself an expression of his apprecia-
ton of AItgeld under a thinIy yelled
guise.
Mr.. whftiock was for several years a
newspaper man, working in Chicago
and also in Springfield as legislative
correspondent In his first long story
he has chosen the Thirteenth district OF
] Illinois, and the tale relates the rise,
| progress and downfall of a congress-
man. The book has not been recog-
nized properly as vet, bat it viii be.
and the future work Of the author may
be watched with much expectation.
The only reason for mentioning "a
| Girl of Virginia" by Lucy NJ Thurs
| ton, is to call attention to the tendency
OF young writer's 10 make a novel out
of just enough material for a short
story OF course there is need for
many writers to save their energies to
keep as many plots ahead as possible,
but the result Ia most cases IS very
bad In the present instance one feels
that the author has libeled the girls
of Virginia by calling her heroine one
of them.
Webster Davis, formerly OF South
Africa in the consular service, and later
fuli-hedged Boer lecturer in this
country, is said 10 claim that the roy
| alties on his Boer war book have
netted him $1So.000 If his royalty was
10 per cent. this would mean 1,2O0, 900
copies. Perhaps. however, Mr.. Davis
received 20 per cent on his work. in
which case 600. 900 copies of his first
work were purchased.
Evidently, remarks a sympathetic
one, there was some conspiracy against
Mr.. Davis, for at no time has his book
been hailed as first seller by the deal
SaSs cAAidpS MI. DAVIS Was merely
/ misquoted. What he probably meant
was that he had received $3.50 in royal
| ties.
Aprepos of the recent publication OF
life of William Black, the novelist,
the British Medical Journal gives some
| interesting comment on the writer's
habit of consulting medical specialists
regarding the diseases OF his charac-
tiers.
He had horror of carelessness and
scamVed work; he never srb-
jected one OF his characters to any
abnormal conditions without satisfying
nlmself that his description of those
conditions was scientifically accurate
Accordingly We do rot find in Blacks
novel such absurdities as the use Of
the stomach pump in the treatment of
poisoning by the hypodermic injection
or morphine, as described the other day
| Dy the author Of story appearing in
a recent magazine; or 'pyemia' cIassed
! with the pleura, the thorax and the
elaTicle as parts Of the human anat-
! omy, as is done in Mr.. George w Ca
ble's latest novel. The Cavalier 1t
Is not every novelist. of course, who
can in any difficulty appeal TO one of
the shining lights OF medical science.
But all can use reasonable care not to
go wildly wrong. Gustave sFIaubert
who had himself studied medicine. took
extraordinary pains TO get medical de-
tails accurate, and III. Zola, as might
be expected, 1aboriousIy gets up his
facts. Thus, when he wishes TO de-