The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-11

| there.
 "Tve heard" explained the visitor that Mrs Worse belongs to that rar, Iierary genius that possesses secretar ies, so I'd like to meet her"
 Mrs. Worse when met pleads a le gitimate excuse.
 'Its not because I'm lazy" she says nor because l think I can talk my stories out better than any other way nor because I have so much money tc spend that I'm glad to make use of g | secretary to get, rid of some of 1t. commenced dictation after a long ill ness had made writing impossible.
 Then l found a secretary indispen- sable in getting off the orders had on hand and the stories I had in my head statement which sounds plausible enough considering that the writer once in three weeks time produced 55.00O words of short stories, including mate rial for Ainslee's, Harpers. the Wom- ans Home Companion, the Atlantic Monthly and Success.
 So the secretary became an irremov- able part of the household and whether in the "Kibbe Cooks House" on the Cape or Italy or elsewhere the daily portion of dictation- composition was work ed in, for Mrs. Worse. despite the volume of her work, maintains that it has always been a side issue. She also maintains that the dictation process is perfectly natural to her.
 Her System Perfect
 The writer exhibits with pride two battered mottled covered books such as are used for keeping accounts. She values them not less than the logb ooks of Capt Kibble Cook himself, whose logs are hers, as we'll as his house
 When lot comes to me-" she says, q write down a title and that tags the story. Of course, after 1t is written I may change the title but if I don't write it for months or even years the label keeps me from forgetting that it's yet up there in my head
 After I write a story I check it, like this, so that won't forget and write 1t over. call this The Think Book; this other is the Travel Book'-its motto, You Never Can Tell
 Here are the spaces for the names of the magazines l send the stories to; through each that returns certain story I draw a line so that I'll never send the same thing twice to the same place.
 q am believer In going the rounds, though as a rule I'm fortunate enough to sell first off. But I purpose to keep things cleaned up-nothing left on hand. There are 20 or more places to send things, and It's Illuminating to see how things go in here that won't go in there and it may be the twentieth trial that | brings success. Send them around until | they find their destination.
 "I think My Travel Book has per | feet system of bookkeeping. Here's the | index to show what page to turn to tc l see particulars when thing comes home Then, when story is sold I write down | here after 1t the name of the magazine and the price it brought.
 Its all right here-past, present and | future. Such books are indispensable to one who keeps many stories in all stages of completion going at the same time" A Small Retaining
 Perhaps the most surprising thing about these books, which are at the same time book of literary autobiography, the complete history of Mrs. Vorses literary career is. considering their length, their age: for Mrs Worse has been writing for only five or six years. Her initial operations were not on such a whole sale scale.
 That first summer I wrote only two stories," she says, T worked and worked and worked at them; I changed, polished and repolished. And the fruit of that summers hard toll was two thin, mea- | gre little yarns, one the diary of a l clubwoman and the other a child story But after that many plots came troop | ing down my street, and those that did | not demand to be written at once l re- | membered by the titles in my book. The feeling of plot has always been my weak | point and thing l have developed very slowly.
 T have always been curious about peo- pie. First I saw only characters and scraps of conversation; only after great | deal of hard work did the stories in which I could use the characters and the scraps of conversation emerge out of the fog. My apparent facility has also been ar acquired trait. It has always seemed to me that unless you were writing witf a, definite eye to an everlasting reputa- ton 1t was rather putting on airs tc make a laborious thing out of his story writing and that the ordinary writer like myself, should be able to say hi: | little say without going through all th' contortions of an individual who feel lthat his words are to be written in bronze An Author By ChnDce q like to portray the little pictures | have seen-not always complete ant rounded, perhaps, but pleasant and sat | isfylng and true, like the portion O | landscape you see when looking out O | the window. I'm tired of those neat littl' | literary bow knot designs tied up in nea | little parcels. Every once in a whil | I blow myself to a sad story or prob | lem story that I know is going to o hard to sell. may need the money, bu I can't resist the temptation to sit dow and please myself; so I'm content to liv on buns for time. I blew myself t
 The Day of a Man. and I never en joyed anything more.
 "Im very anxious to write out a nove | I've had in my head for some time. IT | st art it as soon as I can afford to talk time.
 l ssIll always think that environment am | surrounding conditions have the greates influence on writer. I don't think | should ever have written had 1t not bee
 for my husband. He wrote and I wa
 a copy cat.
 For a while I bothered around tryin
 m-, hand at book reviewing; Jeanett
 Glider let me do some work for her O
 the Critic Then my husband let me ao
 as assistant editor of the Criterion fo
 while. kept playing at things lils
 this, because it was in the home atmos
 phere. Then came the summer that
 was i'll abroad.
 'Tm active, and here I was laid UT | T- s'inr aho'" for -enethin 70 da
 fastened on story writing. Even the l oub wheti'er shoul ewe~ have mn
 much of 1t had not been for my hus
 band. He said he liked my stuff, tha
 could make it go, and he encourage
 me and advised me until I did begin t
 put real thought to it.
 'So here you see product of circun
 stances: no classic education, a neve
 satiated curiosity, love of going abou 1 nuar tha aa rfh and fhfa adua ntn ora q