The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1908-09-30

PAINFUL PART OF The STORY
Jones Has an ldea-.The Thing Is,
How Is Re 10 Gel II on Paper?
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OF IL, the going on with IT, ana the
finishing of it; and even when these
facts have been accomplished to the
satisfaction of the writer he still has
an arduous task to perform, which
is to sell it. There have been cases
on record in which the last feat has
never been accomplished at ALL
To the young writer, like Jones,
for instance, the beginning of his
story appears the most painful.
Jones has his idea, his story skele-
ton, dapcing in his brain. but he can't
get q holt on any of its limbs and
lay it fiat 1t eludes him and laughs
him to scorn as he tries to put pa
per and ink flesh on its bones.
Jones thinks of the various OPEN
ings of stories he has read. The ro-
mantle style, as adopted by Scott,
Dumas and G.. p. r. James, comes to
his mind.
Two solitary horsemen were trav-
ersing a lonely wood at the end of
hot July day. The steeds picked
their way carefully as they passed
or two the animals footballs were
the only sounds heard. At length
Eyes OF course) the elder horseman
was the first to break the silence.
(The elder horseman always is the
first to break the silence)
But there aren't any horsemen in
Jones story, and it's a matter of in
difference to him who breaks the ST.
lence first.
The New England style next oc-
ours to him;
Louisa called hard, sharp
voice from the rear kitchen, you
come right in this minnit! Louisa!
Loo-ee-zer! Drat that gal, where is
she? Gallivantin' araound them
Hicks medders, l reckon. Fer the
lan's sake. here she is naow."
Jones realizes that this kind of
opening attracts attention from the
start and gives promise of interest
ing domestic trouble for Louisa. The
spelling Of 'minnit," though unnec-
essary, has strong local color, and
if Jones has a young girl and a
cross stepmother in Concord, N H.,
for his principal characters he will
do we'll to ponder this opening. But
he hasn't.
He thinks and thinks. All, here
is the society novel style:
Helen Van Mustard came down
the steps of Mrs. Gallashin's house
in the Seventies, near the park. with
b compressed lips but cloudy eyes.
Z. Home. Julius" she said, as she
stepped into her limousine, and as
the well appointed machine flew
along the avenue, barely within the
limits of the law, she wondered
dumbly how she was going to right
. herself with her recent hostess.
Helen felt convinced that the Count
ess Szlgzkzowski had cheated, but
how to prove it?
No, that won't do. There are no
ovsNmoneyed people in Jones work,
spending twice as much as they've
got.
Once upon time there was
Ridiculous. 1t sounds too much
. like fairy story. Going to the 9TH
er extreme suddenly, Jones conceive S
this start:
The thousands and thousands OF
coincidents which occur in the daily
lives of the present century toiler
infallibly lead to the conclusion that
what we term accident or chance is
r really only
Hang it, That leads nowhere. By
this time Jones has almost forgot
ten what his story is about.
Well. he must concentrate his
mind. Let him think. There's 9
man and woman who marry anG
who separate Immediately afterward
Why? Now. why? Oh, yes, because
they must meet again twenty year:
, later in order to threaten ruin to the
lives of the hero and heroine, one
of whom is the child of the woman b,
subsequent marriage and the othel
the child of the man by subsequent
and bigamous marriage And tn,
point is-the point is-well, what i.
shc pOiut
The point might be several things
but Jones hasn't got that far yet
All Jones wants to do is to begin hi
story, but he can't decide whetbc
to begin with the marriage CT tn,
parents or the lovemaking of tn,
youngsters and go backward whei
he's in the middle of the narrative
He might start this way:
Esther yawned and threw dowl
her book. The hammock felt uncom
Portable to her shoulders and sh
wished life held more novelty TO
her. Oh for the medieval days o
glory when knights came riding u
from the East and threw down gaunt
let's. Oh for the