The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-12-27
HAS ACHIEVED SUCCESS
BY VERY HARD WORK
Miss Annie Stegcr Winston At.
tributes Her Success to Pcrsc-6
verancc in Resembling Man
uscripts That Had Been
Returncd-Writcs Only
When She Has Idea.

q, W lHstOH NIoT years iIiuOI bco Wy tilc Oos't
periodicals In the country, aud recently
Introduced to scientific circles through
her psychological study, Memoirs OF
Chlld'), declares herself distinctly not or
the class OF authors which has never had
contribution returned. az
"On the contrary" Miss Winston says
"nny SUCCESS which I have achieved is quo
to logged perseverance, IN sending out
Is manuscripts. In ono Instance. n story
came back to mo eight times, 70 pc
retained the ninth. Occasionally, too. mat
ter rejected by minor magazines has been
\ accepted by prominent ones, and am
s CT nvinced that II fs an easy. indeed cas-
&ier, for writer Of any taste, and culture
TO succeed with the latter than with the
former. There Is quality which appeals
to the clientele OF Inferior periodicals not
producible by the refined mind. Were
this not the case. however. should pre-
fer to retain high standard working
md waiting, X necessary for nothing.
think, 4is 30 permanently Injurious to the
style as writing down to q apublica tlon.
Like Miss Molie Elliott Seawcll, Miss
Winston is believer In the doctrine of
hard work. 84i
my first draft Of a subject" she says,
) ''s cumbrous and involved. The more In 4
Dor T bestoW upon thing the better II
Is, and the more 1t sounds as X I had be-
slowed almost no labor upon It at all.
think manuscript. like jewel Is sl1s-
equitable of8indefinte polish and Improve
ment4 Ny friends accuse me, indeed. OF
+ having a mania for revision, but the re-
sui. justifies the means.
transactions with the Century Maya
zine demonstrate this theory. On two
coca sions manuscripts returned to her by
the editor were worked over, and being
again submitted. with statement OF
what she had DONE. were retained Rob-;
crt Louis Stevensons ex3cricnce8 with the
Hrme periodical Is more illustrative still
one OF his stories having been three times
refused and az often rewritten, before
meeting with acceptance
Unlike tho average professional Miss
winston does not write resularly-a fact
81 parent to the unreasonable reader IN
3 her work, too spontaneous to be accom-
'rlshed by spurred Pegusns.
Only When She Has an ldca,
OF herself she laughnly says II only
write when ! have an idea. and conse-
uuently write seldom"
When tho germ OF q subject forms IN
her mind however. It unfolds rapidly. At
such times she describes herself rs being
seized with sort OF hunger for writ
Ing. going to her desk, Immediately after
breakfast. and again after lunch and re-
aiming until dark. The work being nm
ished, Hhe energies. thin and haggard.
IL.
advent Of another Idea"
X Never robust she Is just now only
partially recovered from severe illness.
and her physician advises her giving UP
y.crk and leading an outdoor life.
,.At present" she SAYS Ideas come to
mo lang1,idly; not striking with the bul
let.lIke force ascribed TO them by Oliver
Wendell Holmes"
Miss Winston Is daughter Of DR..
Charles Henry Winston, professor OF
physics and astronomy Mt the Richmond
& College. and liz OF the same stock rs Pat
rick Henry, said to have inherited his
r4 MUS from his maternal ancestors OF
her name. Through her mother, Miss
Annie Stegar&n daughter OF the late Ma
1or John Stegnr OF Amelia county, Vlr-
Ginia, she Is OF German descent. her great
grandfather have emigrated to America
from that country.
" Amelia was her own birthplace. hut
her infancy. rs well as her childhood and
subsequent life, was spent In Richmond.
She attended the public schools Of that
city: but school. she tells us. bored ller.
and she "earv developed a fatal facility
for mental abstraction from ita irksome
routine" studying only ''suffciently to
avoid accidents, /" The most that she renl-
tied from this experience was the ability
70 read. giving her the key to the great
world Of books
early Literary inoIInatIons
Through this world she wandered ne
VIII. absorbing omnivorously what oppor-
trinity offered. and only recalling In the
case OF Gil Blas) single prohibitions It
wns DR.. Johnson's opinion that one should
read as inclination prompts What IS
road as a task does little good md to
this wise license Miss Wnston feels that
afe OWES much, IE summing zip tho for
Il native Influences about her. however,
one cannot omit that OF a cultured home
circle or the stimulating outer atmosphere
\ OF college life,
At The time Of her leaving school, At
being the fashion for young Indies TO
da,ib a. little" she took lessons from Mr..
Valentine. the Richmond Boulntor md
from the late Mr.. Elder and Mr., shcp-
rard. well-known artists OF that place,
specimens OF her achievements In water
colors being still preserved. From n
child" she says, " had written mpos-
sbIe things" but q poem accented by
tho Century and a story by T1nrper's Mag
azine, fully aroused the literary Impulse
inducing me to adopt literature as pro pro
session,"
Since then, with continued cncourge-
ment from these periodicals., she Inns won
the indorsal Of Ecribner's MngRzine, tho
{Atlant'c Morthlv Tiippincott's the Ont
lools, tho Independent, tho chautauqunn
and othres.
-atA The pTOQuCllOU Nlllct tttiHCtcu Hi'oN
attention. however was dialect story,
itMelindn's Encumbrnnce," which appear-
ed In tho sunday-sohoel Times, Of Phil
adelphla-
It was widely copied. bringing her COM
plimentary letters with requests for COR, :
tributions, from some Of the most prorni-
nent publications In the country, the edl'
Tor OF the Ladies' Home Journal In par
tloulnr, having characterized II es "a
masterpieces statuette In bronke.n Tho
story turns upon negro woman, who
burdened with u child, goes, from house
tn house yninly seeking enploynenti and
so ytrongly-through the authors drama,
Tic preeentation-dd the sltuation appeal
IL, a Richmond lady that she Inns since
made the disduallfylng encumbrance
requisite In n cook,
Although her work has been mainly IN
tho line OF fiction, Miss Winston thinks
i1er forte ia as an eHRaY'st.
Il Il Knowledge Of Child Mature.
The germ OF her recent and frst book,
"siremoirs Of a Child" was contained y y
Two contributions Of that character TO
Linpincott's Magazine. entitled the Fam
tnStio ,Tarrors of Childhood" and 1.-THE