The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-01-13
MR. HUNSEY ON JOURNALISM ADDRES
Continued from First Paee.)

The typewriting machine likewise is
not conducive to careful work For one
thing. it is more rapid. and then. too.
1t does not readily admit OF changes.
the substitution OF one word for an
other. and the recasting Of sentences
that can be done easily with the pen.
1t has a mechanical quality about it
from which the pen is free. It has no
vibrancy. The shadings, the feelings.
the atmosphere. are not the same And
Lie thought is not the same.
Dictation and the machine are neces-
sites in business, but they do not lend
themselves to the making of the best
literature or the best journalism
Many writer's dictate d story OF an ar
tjcle and then smooth il up with the
pen Experience and observation show
that this method is faiIacicus and an
saJisfactoT-
such writing IS never so concrete and
so free from repetition of ideas and
words as the pen product. Like a field
oyerrun with weeds. it can never be
thoroughly cleared, The process Of
pruning and elimination is never com
plete
Cling to The pen. then, if you would
do The best there is in you, Moreover,
there is a certain charm that possesses
The writer when he becomes lost in his
theme that does not come from machine
methods.
Fiction the Most Fertile Field.
The great field today for writer's is
fiction There is not half enough to 50
around.
Publishers ali over the world are
reaching out for both short aud long
stories. Good ones are extremely diff
cult 10 ind. Prices have gone up and
up and up, but the supply does not be
gin TO equal the demand.
Our people are voracious readers Of
fictioE. Nothing appeals TO so wide
class or gives so much pleasure. Love,
romance. mystery. adventure, viii never
lose their charm. They are as fresh to-
day with the human heart as they were
in old Pompeii and countless ages be-
fore
To an editor there IS nothing more
ominous OF rubbish than the announce
ment that the plot Of story is not in
the beaten track. There are no stories
out of the beaten track. All that stirs
the human soul lies along this we'll
Travelled trail. The only new thing is
the new application of ole things.
Mr Howe1Is would diHer with me here.
He has told me that he does not con
slider plot necessary or even desirable
But 1 do not believe that story is d
story without il.
The scheme, the sntithesis Of inter
ests. the warning factors. are the veTte-
brae of a story There is little virility
without backbone.
Weakness of Dialect Stories.
a few years ago. when the dialect
story was the rage. ! issued an order
10 our editors forbidding the acceptance
of any such manuscript unless it had q
story in 1T And this was rarely the
case. as dialect, for the most part, was
made TO serve IN lieu Of action.
I viii quote something that I wrote
some time ago bearing on this question
of fiction. It was called forth by the
miserable lot of truck" labeled as
stories, that came TO rs in every mail.
Here is what 1 said:
we want stories; not dialect sketch
IS. not washed out studies of effete hu-
man nature. not weak tales OF sickly
sentimentality, not pretty writing. We
want fiction in which there is a story
action, force. complications.
Good writing is as common as clam
shells; good stories are as rare as
.statesmanshiD.
owe get thousands Of manuscripts. I
alleged stories, in which the story is not
worth the telling. meaningless. fat, in /
ane: and yet many OF these stories are /
eIeverIy told, Trey lack merely one
thing. and that is the story itself"
I wonder that more writer's do rot /
take up fiction as a life work. There can (
be no more attractive occupation In /
deed. there are few so fascinating. and /
there is no training that so well fits q /
man for strictly literary work as that 4
OF Journalism. a few years Of news /
paper reporting and experience in the +
editorial room are invaluable assets 10 /
The novelist
If you fix upon literature as a profes- /
sion, would advise you Lot to 90 ia /
for poetry. Poetry is a luxury for the rich (
OF for the ethereal spirit who has few
earthly wants. There is little or no de-
msnd for IT, Witty jugles and light
verse of sunny. sentiment have a cousid-
cradle market
Present Needs Of Journalism
What we most need in cur American
Journalism TODAY. it seems 10 me. IS a
new school Of newspaper men }Fe nave
reached condition where one cannot
safely accept a piece Of news rs true
until 1t Is verified The man who does
50 is an easy thing
We need 10 get back TO fundamental
simplicity and straightforward non
esty.
would no more consider the pres
ent-day reporter as dishonest n his
work than / would hold that the edi-
tor CT a generation ago was dishonest
in his extreme partisan bias.
The latter lived up 10 his conception
Of good journalism. and so are the men
Of today living up 10 their con -eD+iou