The Saint Paul globe., 1902-03-20

Copyright, 1902 by Daily Story Pub. Co.
1t is an intensely annoying and most
tantalizing experience to grope blindly for
a word that obstinately evades and eludes
you, that for an infinitesimal fraction
of a second reveals q section of itself to
your Straining mind, then mOckingly fades
away. You believe. you actually feel
there must be such a word, and you even
have a distinct impression Of the number
of letters and syllables it contains, a sort
of a shadowy idea of it's material shape,
and more, your memory supplies you with
it's initial letter; but in vain; you are
halted, baked, utterly and absolutely un-
able to grasp and fasten on to the evan
escent entirety.
| had the experience for three months
[ went hunting for a word; a word 1
knew by instinct and intuition must ex-
iSt.
The trouble originated in an attempt of
mine to write a novel.
Before L started this novel l had an
idea, a rather superficial idea-that nov
els in general were easy to write and that
this novel in particular would prove the
correctness of my theory The disiIlu-
sion reached me with an abrupt sudden
ness that completely carried me off my
feet, and almost out of my mind, and 1
believe I'm gasping yet.
For one, thing, the simplest kind of a
novel, with the simplest kind of a pIor.
requires the brain of a mathematician
In It's handling; or else you're liable to
call the heroine Emma in eone place and
Susan in the next. If you haven't firm
architectural grasp of the subject you are
act to incarcerate the villain in one chap
ter, kill him in another and resurrect him
triumphant, in a third If the compon-
ent parts are not all prearranged with
construcuonal precision, and provision,
you may overlook the very aim and cen
tral idea of your theme and fly off on
wild goose chase after extraneous and ir-
relevant will O. Wisps of thought
Now, mathematics and l are strangers.
or at least if We were not strangers it
IS only by elongating the word to its
utmost we could be called acquaintances.
we've been introduced, that's all. we
never took to each other; never seemed
to gee; we occasionally bow in passing.
but neither one feels offended if either
one omits the bow. Figures always did
bother me, except the figures of pretty
butts that's something else again
Though realizing my prior imperfect
conception of the magnitude of the at
tempt, and appalled,, dismayed; yet l
did not quit, but bought a dictionary
engaged a stenographer and stuck type-
writerfully to the task
In the writing of my novel I came TO
| the ending of one paragraph and the be-
| ginning of new one. 1 approached it
blithely, gayly, gladly, and started in on
! it. The words evolved themselves from
| by brain smoothly, harmoniously, con-
nectingly. 1 felt no fear, the novel was
drawing sight drafts on my mind, which
were being promptly honored; everything
| was lovely. The words seemed tongue
and grooved together; there was nothing
| missing, nothing lacking. Word on word,
| verb, adverb and adjective, sentence on
sentence-the paragraph piled up and ap-
| preached completion. 1t recorded a eli
| max in the novel, and every word fitted
| nicely. snugly, illuminatingly, until final