Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1909-03-18
How Hail Caine Wrote His First
Naval

/ hov. Hall Game Wrote Ais First
Novel.
! Hall Game tells OF his early liter
AIRY struggles In the March Appleton 8
and especially OF the composition OF
his FIRST novel The Shadow OF u
Crime.
When | began to think Of o theme,
he says. found four or five subjects
clam0ring for acceptance. There was
The story Of the PrOdigal Son, which
afterwards became CHE DCemster:
the story OF Jacob and ESau. which
In the same way turned into The
Bondman": the story of Samuel ana
Ell. which after u fashion nodded
itself finally into THE ScapesOat.
AS we'll as half IA dozen other stories.
chiefly biblical. which hav" since
been written. or are still on the fore
head vi the time to come. hit my
Hrst favorile at that moment was u
Cumberland legend.
Shall | ever forget the agony OF
the first effort. There was the
ground 10 clear with necessary ex-
plantations. This l did In the way OF
Scott In long predatory chapter
Having written the chapter,I read It
aloud and fo"",. " unutterably slow
and dead Twenty pages wer"
gone. and the interest was not
touched. Throwing the chapter
aside ! began with an ale-house
scene. intendin to work back
to the history in a piece OF re-
Irrespective writing The ale house
was better. but to try its quality |
read II aloud, after the Rainbow scene
aside In despair. A third time be-
gan. and when the ale house looked
tolerable the retrospective chapter
tina, followed IL seemed fat and poor.
How to begin BY gripping the interest,
how TO tell all and yet never stop 'he
action these were agonizing dlfhcul-
ties
| II took me- nearly fortnight to
start that novel sweating drops OF
blood at every fresh attempt. | must
have written the first hall volume
four times al the least. After that
I saw the way clearer. and. got on
faster. At the end OF three months
u had written nearly two volumes.
and then. in good spirits. went
mp to London.
Nv first visit was to the editor OF
| The Academy. His rapid mind saw
a new opportunity that was just the
thing I wanted for my hero. and
was in reptmre. But was also IN
despair. To work this fresh interest
into my theme. half Of what had
;, written would need to be destroyed!
It was destroyed. and for two
months more labored over 1t. Then
took nv work to Liverpool. and
showed 1t to my friend. John Lowell.
! After he had read It. he said:
/ II suppose you want my candid
opinion?"
We'll, yes" I said.
It's crude" he said. But it ONLY
wants snbediting."
! I took 1t back to London. began
again at the first line. and wrote
leverv mage over again. At the END
Of another month the story had been
reconstructed, anu was shorter ov
some fifty pages OF manuscript. IL
: had drawn my hearts flood to cut
i ont nv best passages. but thev were
gone and knew the book was better:
After that I went on to the end ana
finished with a tragedy. Then the
story was sent back to Lowell. ana
III waited for his verdict.
n. offered one unfavorable criti'
cism
The death Of your hero will never
do" he said. If you kill that man
Ralph. you'll kill your book. What $
tine good, Take no more than the
puhlic will give you to begin with.
and bv and BY they'll take what you
give them. l..
i It was practical advice. but II
uen, sorely against the grain. the
death Of the hero was the natural Sc
ouel to the story: the only end tha1
gave meaning and intention and logic
TO its motif. | had strong predispo-
sition toward a tragic climax 10
esrious story But al argument wen,
l down before nv friends practical
assurance. XIII that man. and you
kill vour hOok."
| with much diHidenceI altered the
catastroohe and made my hero hap
Nv. hTen. thinking nv work co"'
!; cIete I seked Watts-Duntou (the
friend TO whose wise counsel owed
so much in those days, to read some
l"ea,,erv" slips of II. He thought the
rustic scenes good. but advised me 70
moderate the dtaiect. and he pro
poupded to me his wellknown views
on the use of patois in fiction.
1T xiyes a sense of reality. ne
said and also has the effect of VII
!, rat /, must not stand in the wav.
The advice was sound. A man NAV
lLnov oyermuch Of his subject to
write on it properly. SO once aga"
In ran over my story. taking out some
Of the "nobbuts' and the dis'as
aud the villas"
Nv first novel was now wrHten. ""'
. had still to get il pubiished