The Washington herald., 1916-02-04
Learning to Write.
BY JOHN ID. DARRy.

! meant Dy saying that writer ought to master
his trade. He wants to know how to go to work
One way would be to go to public library and
to look up books on the subject OF English COM
position. There are many. Those that ! happen
to know are written by A. S. Hill and George R.
Carpenter. One trouble with nearly all such
books is that they teach backwards. They give the
rule first and then they give Illustrations The
Illustrations. it seems to me, ought to come first
They reveal practice good practice and bad
1t is, of course, from practice, not from any
laws recorded in the Skies that We form our
theories. .- .....
Other books that might be helpful to students
Genung Pasteal o Rhei
oric" and Working Principles of Rhetoric" Arlo
Bates, Talks on Writing English" Gould's
Ssdrv TSod Engssh Hills nt;, "oqr m English" and the
including essays by Herbert Spencer, George Hen
ry Lewes, Robert Louis Stevenson, Walter Pater
and Frederick Harrison.
No matter how much teaching writer may
receive, either from books or from schools his
best teaching, perhaps the only real teaching, must
come from himself. He Cannot apply the laws
from outside without becoming artificial. He must
sec the meaning Of the laws, and he must care
AT the start the most important consideration is to
realize the purpose OF writing. 1t is obviously, to
convey thought in way both convenient and
clear. 1t is means of directing speech, not to
the the fs eaI out m & to the eye Its laws are essentially
have the same goal, the mind just as we are ali
practiced speakers, so we all practiced writer's.
Each day every one OF us does an immense amount
they practice. When people say that they can't
write, they contradict themselves. Every time
they speak they write If stenographer hap
pencd to be present and took down their words
the words would be writing.
AS matter OF fact, all writer's good
clear writers, too In our everyday relations we
nave no dithculty in expressing ourselves. Some
OF the people who think they can't write have an
Extraordinary volubility. When we meet any one
who stammers or halts in speaking, we know that
something is wrong 1t is form Of self-con scious
ness. 1t is nervousness. MANY people develop
this sickness the instant they begin TO write In
some cases their sclf-consciousness creates a
| or they make faces, they walk up and down
Much OF the writing considered good is express
sion of sickness. Much OF it, too is an imitation
of sickness. Many writer's think that the sick
described in my article the other day as following
false ideals.
few years ago had an experience in rela-
ton to false ideals OF writing that caused me some
amusement An athlete OF my acquaintance went
to the Olympic games in England: He came
back bursting with interesting details. | urged
him to put them into writing. He said: I'D
like to do it, if ! could, but | can't write" Then
he asked me if | would give him some help VIC
made an appointment for meeting When we sat
down together at table, | took paper and
pencil and asked him to begin Instantly there
was change IN his appearance. He sat up straight.
The veins in his neck began to swell His face
grew red, and his eyes stared. Then he made a
long and difficult statement 1t sounded as if he
were reading aloud. shook my head and began
to laugh. "Don't do that, | said. Just tell
me some OF those stories as you told them to me
the other day" He relaxed and looked at nc with
disappointment is that the way to do it?" he
| asked blankly. For several minutes he showed
that he was still suspicious He wanted to speak
like print Then he became interested in what
jhe was saying. He almost forgot that I was
taking notes. He went on eagerly Now we
were getting just the right material, the human
expression OF a human beings observation.
Most writers like that athlete They try
to follow the hard way. They initiate bad fashions,
which is only another expression for false ideals
incidentally they make their writing hard to read
Some of them go so far as to say that the hard
way is the only proper way In natural language
expressed through the convenience of print they
find weakness or affecaton. And yet it is the very
times they say: ANY can write like that"
True, any one can when he is off his guard. When
those critics are writing letters to relatives and
friends, they write like that too And, as a rule
they write like that when they are bursting with
some subject that absorbs them. 1t makes them
forget about themselves. 1t takes possession of
them and keeps them in control. The writing that
writes itself is almost certain to be human. 1t
enthusiastically attends to its own business 1t
sounds, not like print, but like speech.
, iaay OF my acquaintance recently told me
that she wished to go into newspaper work.
knew that she had received an elaborate college
training and that she was, besides, gifted with
brains and with common sense So | told her that
all she needed was to find her chance "But don't
know what to do she said "lf | got the chance
| should be all at sea. shouldn't know how to
begin. suppose | ought to study the news
papers and see how the newspaper writer's do their
work | assured her that | thought this way
would be a mistake; it would lead her into con
ventlonal habits. "Why not write like vourself?"
| asked. You have had many advantages denied
| to large number OF newspaper writers. You
have been trained to observe and to report" She
looked at me with puzzled expression in her
eyes How have | been trained to reporto" she
asked replied that she reported every day of
The best you can offer newspaper" said as
not your imitation Of the conventional way but
the best Of yourself, expressed in your own way"
| don't think that | convinced her. 81 believe
will spend few weeks" she said, "in going about
| observing and making notcs Of what See and