Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-01
LATTER DAY FICTION


Iishers," said q member of a prominent
New York publishing firm who was recently
in Washington. 1.-THE worst that can be said
about the great mass of this material Is
that 1t Is mediocre or initiative. Hardly any
Of it Is ridiculous. Poverty Of expression is
not 50 noticeable In It as poverty OF ac-
ton, movement, situation. forwardness 60,
the ability to make the people Of the story
do q few things instead Of saying every
thing. That's the trouble with most Of
then-taik. talk, faIk. The people In them
seem.to talk every minute of their time, ex-
cept when they are sleeping-falk without
motive. sense or reason. They don't get
anywhere or return. They don't move. They
are talking machines, pure and simple.
Surely in this complex world there II
plenty OF action upon which ambitious
writer's Of fiction could build real stories
hardly ever pick up a newspaper that T
don't come across some account OF an
actual happening that strikes me as being
well worth development for fiction purposes
time talking. There's something doing on
this earth with every swing of the PEN
dulum.
"A little while ago picked up an old
bundle of dime novels, some of them
quarter of century DID, and read dozen
OF them with the greatest imaginable en-
joyment. They were splendid reading-far
and away ahead of a vast amount of So
orally stuffed and crammed with action.
The people in them were doing something
or other. and something interesting, too, on
every page.
as much action. and legitimate. quite obvi-
ously necessary action, too, in four pages
as the average present day western novel
contains throughout. I would seriously rec
ommend that some of these western
writers, people who have the color and at
mosphere of the west. but who apparently
don't know how to get any movement into
their stories, obtain a bunch of these old
time western dime novels and get q few
points from them.
Rafting detective stories, too, could be
built upon the framework of any number
of the dime novel detective stories that
used to be published in such unlimited
quantities. While on this subject should
like to observe that I could never under
stand why these dime novels should have
been considered demoralizing literature
for the young. Most of them that I used to
read as boy were heroic, fine and gen.
timely improving. Virtue is always re-
warded in them and villainy invariably
punished. I don't know anything about the
dime NOVELS Of today, but il they're as good
as they used to be I'd never have the least
objection to my boys reading all of them
they wanted to read.
ITO get back to consideration-of some
Of the things that initiate against the sue
cess Of the ambitious writer's of fiction:
The foolish desire to gain reputation as
stylists holds many Of them back and rem
ders 1t all but impossible for them to get
their stylish effusions published. Some
Of them vainly believe that they have the
Kipling twist; others that they possess the
elusive raillery and mosaic daintiness of
Stevenson; others that they have caught
the Maurice Hewlett secret Of archaic
English made understandable for moderns;
still others that they have the George
Meredith or the Henry James or the
Thomas Hardy method down pat. Publish
arc 6crh nf ofU1 CT fhary
writers Of considerable reputation, for the
works of stylists are never fnordinately
popular. But unknown would-be stylists!
They are simply out Of the question and
fiction these days don't want the stylfst
stuff. They want stories of things happen
ing, and the simpler the English the bet
ter. Women. particularly. abhor the stylist
kind of fiction. They simply won't read it,;
When you reflect that women comprise
about nineteen-twentieths of all the read
ers of fiction, you will understand how
necessary it is for publishers to study their
likes and dislikes as to the kind Of books
they're going to be asked to buy and
read.
Il find. for example, that few average
women consumers Of fiction care for Robert
Louis Stevenson, pronounced master of a
well-nigh perfect style of his own. Women
are not enthusiastic, as a rule, over Kip
ling. one Of the chiefs of the stylists. This
Is not saying that women don't know a
straighter the story is put the better they
like it. and they hate to be compelled to
puzzle their heads over what are called the
inner meanings of the f1ction-makers ad-
dicted to the stylist business.
THE truth is that most of the would-be
novelists are too young. They attempt to
describe things with which they have had
no personal experience and about which
they have heard and read. 1 often wish
that older and more seasoned men and
women would try their hands at fiction. I
am acquainted with plenty of smart chaps
OF forty or so who, l am assured, would
turn out some mighty interesting fiction If
they'd but make the attempt. They are
and experienced men who have
had try at almost everything. who have
come through their experiences without
any injury worth mentioning. Thackeray
1t should be remembered, was pretty close
to forty before his first big success, Van
ity Fair appeared, although, Of course he
had been writing for a long time before
that. Du Maurier was not writer, but a
maker of humorous pictures, before he
turned his hand to fiction writing when
past middle age. And so on. The same
ductfon of fiction by young women in their
twenties who scarcely know the world at
all. I am surprised that more brainy
women Of forty and fifty don't make the
stab at writing novels They could cer-
tain1y outclass the girls at the work. II
have suggested to plenty of bright men
and women OF ripe experience and DOS
sessed of the sense of humor and excellent
analytical powers that they utilize their
leisure by attempting something in the fic-
tion line. but they generally laugh at the
make some remark about the
difficulty ofteaching old dogs new tricks,
and let IT go at that. Yet I am confident
that some of these very persons to whom
have made the suggestion could write
novels that would actually make big popu-
lar hits.
What publishers want, then, I repeat, |
IS novels, original in theme and treatment |
though plain in style. 1t doesn't make any
difference how long they are IL they're
good limitations OF other folks works are |
barred. If men and women capable Of pro-
1ucng the kind of novels publishers want
could be made to see how tremendous are !
the rewards for successful pieces of fiction.
am very sure that the standard Of books
Of this description would be vastly elevated |
within q few years."
Quaker Reflections.
From the Philadelphia Record.
I'LL