The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-11-21
QUALIFICATION
 FOR AUTHORSHIP
By MRS. AEx M. CAREER

One word of tremendous import is echoing round the world today in no un- certain accents. In every achievement, every success, great or small, that one word stands as it's very corner stone. That word is preparedness.
 There was a tine-anG II Is not far in the past-when the doors of opportunity opened wide to talent-senius in any line. Today they open wider still, but to trained talent, trained genius. Such only will the world accept as full measure for our every ready term-efficiency.
 In this presence there is little need to say that to the writer this applies an hundredfold. Surely there can be no other art or field of work which demands preparedness, if you will, and finally eff ficiency.
 We must not-cannot-underestim native talent or genius. These are, the gifts of the gods to the writer, as well as the painter and the master of music. Jean Inglelow said of these: ''They are the presents which are made to some of us at our birth, but they can never become what they were meant to be with out study, thought and time" Balsac, Stevenson, Poe and Hawthorne believed in study of the technique of writing even as in music and painting. Renan declared that Good training of the mind is the only school of good style. Oliver Wendall Holmes, Anthony Trol- lope, Edward Everett Hale Wilkie Col lins and many others acknowledge a great debt to systematic training for au- thorship.
 On the other hand many eminent writ CTS do not recognize a need of any spe- cfic training for authorship and find all rules to be only letters. Lowell said that a mans style is born with him, Hall Caine refers to the natural ear for prose- Miss Mulock thought that writ ing was "a gift-not an art to be culti- vated,'' and George W. Cable declares that no one is competent to teach the art of literary composition. De Maupansant protests in these words: Where are the famous rules? Where did they come from? Who established them? In virtue of what principle what authority. what course of reasoning, do they exist?' And he answers his own questions with this These rules are established by the crit ics of certain school who, nonproducers themselves, reject all that is executed outside their code of ethics.' And he pleads for intelligent critics who vii seek for everything as different as pos sible from what has already been writ ten, and who will encourage the young | author to strike out new paths. Let us leave him free.' he urges, Ito under. stand, to observe, to convince as he
 
 Great artists are those who i'm pose upon mankind their particular il. | lusionS
 1 Victor Hugo and Zola have each per | sistently claimed the absolute, indis l putable right of composing, according | to his personal conception. Miss Viols l Roseboro says to her pupils: Get sucI command of English as gives yol
 power to use your tools, and then ii | you feel the attractions, or horror, ol your subject, write so as to make oth
 CTS feel what you feel and you hay, style"
 l Let us not then contend for any l theory since each one is merely tho 1 generalized conception of some indi vidua1 temperament. The course on, must pursue in preparation for writing
 is, after all, d problem for each in | dividual to solve for himself according | to his needs and temperament. 1 But there is one thing upon which
 all agree-that there can be no excel