The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-07-19
in THE LITERARY FIELD
OFFENsE OF WRITING MEx WHO DO
NOT GIVE THEIR BEST.
4 Publishers Reader Comments on
Authors Pecuiiarities-TheL Late
Mr.. Henley.

Genius has been said by some wise man
10 be an infinite capacity for taking pains.
The aphorism, says the Kansas City Jour-
nal, is one which most contemporary Amer
lean writer's could study TO their own and
their readers profit. The most perfunct-
DRY reader can hardly glance through most
late books without detecting in them evil
dences OF slipshod investigating and think
Ing and hasty writing. Such defects are
more excusable in newspaper articles. The
newspaper dea1s with timely" topics and
must treat of them right off the bat"
Ihey are in less degree excusable in
periodical publications. They are not ex-
cusable at all In books. When a man gives
his story. or his poems. or his religious or
political views to the world between the
stiff, pretentious covers of book he there
by virtually announces that il contains the
best products of his thinking and his art.
If 1t does not contain them his announce
ment is false and he is an impostor. The
man who does a thing poorly. but who evil
IDENTIFY is doing his best, merits commits
Grafton more than criticism. The man who
can write we'll, investigate accurately and
think logically and yet puts forth a book
badly written, badly reasoned and contain
ing glaring inaccuracies deserves to be rid
lculed as mercilessly as Macaulay ridi-
cuIed Robert Montgomery, or scored as
Byron scored the Scotch reviewers
One does not have TO seek far for the rea-
sons why so many contemporary books are
Ill written A principal one is, that almost
everybody Is writing, and of course every
body cannot write well any than
everybody can speak in public or fry an
oyster or ride broncho we'll But this
does not explain why many men and women
ha itC Of
writing and produce books that are be
meath contempt. The true explanation ;of
this is the avarice of publishers and the
hunger of authors. Let writer make
hit, especially If ii be with novel; and
half the publishers of the country are
straightway after him with requests for the
products of his pen. Now, imagine a man
who has for years been working almost
without result, suddenly confronted with an
offer OF large sum for a book If he will
write IL In time for publication while his
new found popularity is at it's height.
What will he do? In most cases he will
accept the offer. He knows he cannot pro-
duce as good book if he hurries if
he takes his time" But unless he has an
uncommon amount of backbone, he will
take the check and write that book and
as many others as he can get pay for, hop
ing against his judgment and the knowledge
of others experience that his work will be
better than he has reason to expect. But
generally it won't be Speed and perfection
seldom go together In this world. The
authors readers discover he is "degenerat-
ing" The publishers find it out too They
always find Vt out when the sales of
writer's books fall off. If the writer does
not recover his old strength he is thrown
aside like a lemon that has been squeezed.
This has been Rudyard Kipling's fate. A
few years ago he was the most popular
and highest paid author who wrote the
English tongue. Comparatively few read
him now. and people are talking of the
death of his cult. He and the publishers,
in their insane desire a once TO get out of
his brain and pen all the profits there were
in them, killed the goose with the golden
eggs.
Plato wrote the first page of 1.-The Re-
public" thirteen times before he let 1t stand.
Kant excogitated his metaphysical system
twelve years before he began to write the
"Critique of Pure Reason" Darwin was
twenty-five years collecting the materials
Origin of Species Gibbon spent almost
the whole of his mature life in getting ma
terial for and writing his Rome" Macau-
lay performed almost incredible amount
of labor in gathering matter for and writ
ing his History of England" This is the
way great and epoch-making works are
written. Their authors think little of the
time to be spent, little of the money to be
realized, much of the good to be accom-
plished and the fame to be won by a great
artistic achievement. 1t is not necessary,
perhaps. to put much labor into works of fic-
ton, but nobody who knows the enormous
pains that Thackeray, the greatest of the
artists of fiction, took with everything he
wrote will question that in this field, as in
others, genius is simply a capacity for TAX
ing pains. 1t is more necessary that I'M
firing attention be given to form in poetry
and fiction than in writings of any other
kinds. They are either we'll written or are
drivel. They are like statuary-may be of
the best material, and yet, from lack of
being perfectly chiseled, may be but mass
of shapeless or miSshapen stone.