The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1921-12-05
FOR WRITER'S AND READERS
by JOE moss

A great deal has been said from
time to time about style in writing.
Considerable more will be said before
the subject is closed. And in the end
there Will be several thousand more
different opinions than there were in
the beginning
There are those who like the par
tlcular style of one writer and shud-
aer at the manner in which another
places his story on paper. When
thls crowd convinces one that the
hrst writer is the most expert manip-
uiator of woods in the world. and
that the second Is an excellent cotton
PICKER, along comes another bunch OF
critics who establish beyond the
shadow OF all doubt that the second
writer should long ago have been
crowned king of the literary world,
and that the first should have been
fed to the Mississippi catfish at the
tender age of years.
There are those who like the short,
crisp sentence. Others are satisfied
with nothing less than sentences of
several lines in length, ali dressed
UP with high sounding words, start
ing from nowhere and ending at the
same place. Still others insist on
reading after only those writer's
whose one idea appears to be that the
work must, above all things, show
the mark of the superior mind; that
no story Is worth while unless the
reader sazes upon It with bated
breath, pop-eyes and twitching ears
and swears that this is the greatest
writer of all time
The writer, however, who finds and
holds place in the hearts of his
readers Is the writer who gives but
seant thought to literary style and
100 per cent attention to the story he
has to tell.
Such writer's work runs along
smoothly, naturally. And fortunately
for everyone the majority of people
like that which Is natural.
writer who gives all his atten-
ton to literary style isn't as a rul,
a good storyteller, for at least one
IL for no other reason. No person
whose brain power Is consumed In
the effort to make a good impress
sion on the so-called highbrows has
anything left with which to tell a
story, II, indeed, he had story to
tell in the beginning.
Short, crisp sentences are good--n
their place. Long sentences are good
lin their place. Practically every
style of phrasing Is good--ln its
place.
But all of these things are bad
when they are obtained at the cost of
the story.
There isn't popular writer in the
country today who hasn't peculiar
style of his own. And there isn't a
popular writer who doesn't make the
telling of his story the first consid
Grafton, telling 1t naturally and cas-
lily. leaving the style to take care
of itself, which 1T always does.
But there are a number of writer's
in this country who have style and
but scant popularity. And the reason
for this is that unlike such writer's
as Irwin S. Cobb. Octavus Roy Cohen,
Mary Roberts Rinehart, Cora Harris
and others, they either have no story
to tell in the beginning or lose it in
the mad effort to establish them
selves as stylists
Everyone of the writer's mentioned
above is known far and wide, for
each ones own peculiar style OF writ
ing. But the statement can be made
without fear of contradiction that
the reading public was aware OF each
ones style before the writer was
himself No one else on earth could
take one of Cohen's stories and tell
1t in Cohen's delightful manner. Any
other man in the world would make
a mess OF one of Cobb's yarns. There
is no other writer who could take
her material and do one OF Mary
Roberts Rinehart's stories MS we'll as
she can do it. But nonS OF these
people would ever have becomef
known as the writer's of readable
stories. or as people OF charming lit
erary style had they started out in
the beginning with the single thought
OF style in their minds. Each one
knew that II they put their efforts
into the telling of the story that the
style would, in time, take care of
itself.
And the writer who realizes this
has gone far along the road to sue
cess.
And now. Mitylene Owen McDavid.
Birmingham writer, whose books,
short stories and articles are widely
read. is one OF those whose work has
ga ned her a large circle OF admirers
for the reason that she realized in
the very beginning OF her writing
career that the thing to do was to
have something to tell, and then tell
it naturally.
And by following out this plan,
Mitylene owen McDavid has, just as
have other well known writer's, es
tablished a reputation not only as
writer OF interesting stories, but as
writer who tells them in delight
full manner, writer whose literary
style is as familiar to her readers as
TT cir own telephone numbers.
For this writer has a style. just
as has any other writer who has sue
ceeded, but just like tibet other sue
cessful writer's this style was not
gained at the expense OF those things
which she had to tell. Mitylene
owen McDavid-Mrs. Ned Richardson
McDavid--is. in the beginning,
story-teller. She has the true writ
er's sense OF story value. And she
knows that the thing to do is to tell
the story, tell it easily. naturally,
and therefore she tells it In the most
attractive manner. And has long
since acquired truly delightful lit
erary tsyle.
But Mrs McDavid could not, nor
could any other real writer. explain
that style. Mrs. McDavid would
laugh IL anyone were tie tell her that
she had that style. She would laugh
because 1t came to her easily, grad
ually, naturally. 1t came to her be-
liked Donald, and was interested In
hfs hride-to-be