The Columbia evening Missourian., 1921-04-28
THE NEW BOOKS
The Writer'S Art

| lax hEfNtE Art.
81 ari de bicn dir Is lui draair.
room accomplishment unlcss Il b, press
I'd is'o service of ,h- t-utd. The diff
Guilty Of literature is not 10 viiir. bn
to write what yoa mean; not te afir-
you. reader, but 80 affect him p-ccirei
as Yer wish says Stevenson in r..
Truth Ct Intercourse This iIra. cv
pressed in different ways. but equally q.
veil, is The gisi Of what most Of the
authors who are represented in the book
m The Writers Ant, which R1llo Wal
ter B-own has cdj!cL haze 10 say abou;
writing.
Simplicity is another keynote Of T.,
extracts included in This vc-y worth
while edition. In fact. Professor Browns
book Is The Kind Of book ono wants t,
have on his desk al the time. and The
type one believe should be- used in Eng
!ish classcs. Is a foundation upon which
the resi- Of the teachers guidance world
resi-. Il IS a splendid collection. an}
aside from the information that each
author gives the reader, is the siylc in
which each composition itself Is written.
Thus. for example, Edgar Allen Poe. in
iis Philosophy Of Composition. MOI
,nly gives the reader his opinions OF
writing, but presents to that reader. an
example, and a splendid one too. Of the
very thing that he is discussing.
Writing, unfortunately. is misunder-
stood by a greater majority Of people
,haa any other ART. As 4 rule a mas
knows when he is a miserable smgc,
and when he draws ? house that bear
10 resemblance 20 the object in front
# him, he seldom fails to realize he Is
no artist. lie seldom accuses himself Of
iyaling PadcrewsG when he cannot play
note. or even when he plays well hut
not perfectly, nor does he think he is
remarkable dancer unless he has taken
a great many lessons But with w,iting,
that is another story. Alas, too many
ave the persons Who swell Themselves
with the thought Of their great ability
as writer's If they can DO even little
more than sign their names, and wriie
letter that relates to the correspond
snts what they have in mind And ye,.
how few can really write good letters.
Enumeraiing happenings as no sign oi
an ability Ia write a letter, for some of
the best letters contain no Information Of
happenings. and some Of the worst aIe
full from beginning 70 end Of relation
Of incidents occurring round about To
write really good letter is an art, and
50 few are the really good letters that We
preserve them when We find them. and
read them oyr and over. Good letters
are a rarity.
To wIite well means to tell the truth.
and to tell il we'll. IncxaciueSs is some
time. clever, and apt, but il is more
Likely iirczpme, and sometimes disgust
ing. To icll the whole truth is a re-
markable thing, to tell part Of the truth
an easier thing; but it carries with il
possibility Of misunderstanding. Nothing
in the world is 50 frequently misundcr-
stood. so often the cause Of trouble, a.
the written word. hence 10 write well,
is an ambition that 80 should seek. for
in everyone, lie there comes sooner or
later the necessity Of saving on paper
something Of ihp1rtanca@ Praciicing IS
one way 10 accomplish that end. and If,
a, the end Of years. one finds he still has
made no progress, re might as well give
up the idea. unless hr writes f1r his own
amusement. If he writes for publication.
and as a bad writer he gets something
into print he may Sc more sorry for hi-
mistaken idea Of his own ability Than il
he had written nothing at all.
Once. someone said that when a young
lady was in love and her love, was far
away from her. and she had to wriie
instead Of talk 10 him in The more salts
factory way. that she should write a le..
ter TO him that spoke her every thought
about him. She should hide nothing
say it all. and do il as she would like,
Then she should let that letter rest q
day or two, and read it. and throw il
away. Not only should she. but she
would undoubtedly want to destroy il.
Tor she would be disguised with herself
Furthermore all the chances are that
she would never write another foolish
letter. Would not that be splendid ad