Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-05-06
Getting On In
Life
NO. AWRITlNG ENGLISH.
By THOMAS TAPER.

The popular custom of keeping d.
airy is a useful one, even if the book
when filled is never to be printed. It's
usefulness consists in this: That the
habit of writing something every day,
even if it is not more than report
about the weather, leads to exactness.
And if the writer has any pride, it will
lead not only to exactness. but to neat
ness. and certainly to regularity of ac-
ton
Practice writing is not foolish, par
ticuarly if your aim is to improve your
use of English Few people know how
hard it is for well known authors to
produce a page of writing that reads
easily. Charles Dickens went over every
sentence he wrote time and time gain,
and his manuscript was full of erasures
and additions. Button, the French
naturalist, wrote one of his books tlf-
teen times not by means of a typewrit-
| ing machine. but with his own hand
Some authors have made ii custom to
carry a note book and jot down any
! thought they care to consider again.
From the note book they found matter
for their writing.
The fact is, few great writer's have
written easily. They have had to grasp
| the thought whenever il came. to jot 1t
| down in the rough and then to polish
and perfect it afterward They work
exactly as a man does who is carving a
figure from piece of marble. He sue
! ceeds because he keeps on chipping the
marble with his hands, and watching
! the model in his mind all the while.
You may never be obliged to do much
writing, but if you want to be a clear
! thinker YOU can at least do this: Write
out from memory what you remember
| about chapter you have been reading.
Or take a newspaper article you like,
read it two or three times, put it aside,
and then try to write it out in the
| shortest form you can.
Benjamin Franklin, born in February.
los was master hand al this kind Of
! writing. He tells us in his autobiogra-
| ply exactly how ne did it:
| met with an odd volume Of the
SPECTATOR 1t was the third I had
never before seen any of them. I
| bought it, read it over and over and
was much delighted with it. I thought
the writing excellent, and wished, if
possible, to initiate it. With this view
! took some of the papers, and making
| short hints of the sentiment in eacn
sentence, laid Them by few DAYS, and
! then, without looking ut the book tried
to complete the papers again. by ex-
| pressing each hinted sentiment at
! length, and as fully as it had been ex-
pressed before in any suitable words
that should cone to hand. Then I com
| pared my SPECTATOR with the origi-
nal discovered some of my faults, and
! corrected them. But I found I wanted
stock of words, or a readiness in rec
ollecting and using them, which I
thought l should have acquired before
that time if l had gone on marking
verses; since the continual occasion for
words of the same import, but Of diff
| ferent length, to suit the measure. or if
different sound for tne rhyme. would
| have laid me under a constant necessity
of searching for variety. and also have
! tended to fix that variety in my mind.
and make me master of it, Therefore.
took some of the tales and turned
them into verse, and, after a time.
when l had pretty we'll forgotten the
prose. turned them back again. also
sometimes jumbled my collection of
hints into confusion, and after some
weeks endeavored to reduce them into
the best order, before l began to form
the full sentences and complete the pa
per This was to teach me method in
the arrangement of thoughts