Pueblo chieftain., 1922-03-18
Nv Erederic 1. Haskin.

1 is begun has at last peeH uiNuisS
authoritatively. One hundred anu
League Of America, writers VINO have
arrived, have immortalized In pook
form the story OF My Maiden Effort.
| Here surely is an illuminating docu-
ment for the young geniuses VINO reai-
ize that destiny calls them TO write'
but who sit with reluctant pen woh-
! dering how one should begin. Inc
1875 chapters out of the past history
of 1876 successful writers tell Just now
it has been done successfully. Ihe
only difficulty in drawing conclusiohs
| is that different conclusion, anu
moral, may be drawn from every
| chapter.
Thus, some writers began welding
a pen at n comparatively mature age
and struggled from there on. others
many OF them-began their careers
young and gathered experience all
| through the years OF youth.
| One of the former type is Ray
| Stannard Baker. He began TO be an
author at % when he sold his first
story to short story magazine. He
was informed that the magazine paid
on publication. and therefore he
| eagerly watched for his literary debut
which was to be followed by his en-
| trance into the plutocratic class
Every month for two years and half,
Baker fastened to buy the new issue
of tho magazine and went home
anxiously reading the table of con-
tents. At the end OF that long period
the young authors name appeared on
the cover in the distinguished COM
pany OF Anthony Hope and Robert
Louis stevenson.
! The promised remuneration eventu-
ally came. 1t was n check for IS.
Young Baker dropped to earth and
sat down to calculate his profit. I'm
| fortunately the So gain was over
copies OF the magazine. But" he
says. at was a real experience"
COBB GOT EARLY START
In tho class of those who heard the
call of tho muse early in life. Irwin
s. Cobb Is shining example. He
may surely claim the record for get
I ting tho earliest start in tho game. Hc
says:
| MY earliest known Photograph
shows me. nt tho tender age of 20
months. lying flat upon my stomach
/ could lie fiat upon my stomach then
-scribbling upon sheet Of paper
with n stub OF pencil"
Booth Harrington. Arthur Cutter
man. Theodosia Garrison, and many
others tell OF suffering In verses In
their earliest years. A love lyric or
a tragic ode written at the age of six
is as good way as any TO burst into
the profession of being an author.
/ their experience seems to say. We
hasten to add that few of these In fan
tile effusions are reported as sold.
They wcrc merely maiden efforts. but
eventually they led TO bigger things.
Some of tho celebrities struck gold
tho first time they seriously tried to
did anything out OF an editorial Of
| of selling her first poem to the Allan
tic Monthly while she was still In
school. and her next three attempts
and essay, story and poem. to that
magazine and the Century.
| Ellis Parker Butler also describes
early success. His first story. writ
ten when no wns a small boy. he sold
to juvenile publication and received
| in payment SO one-ccnt postal cards
Other latent geniuses struggled. In
fact the majority served a discouras-
ing apprenticeship to art
For instance. Fanny Hurs,
describes how her first short story
was refused by IL publications and
was finally printed In n college jour
nal. Looking back on this first at
. tempt, Miss Hurst now regards 1; as
"a supreme example OF Anfractuosiiy
Banality. Compact Incomprchcnsibii-
ity. Descipicncy. E.ffusivcncss. Fiacci.
dity. Garrulity. Hypcrbolism. Imbcci.
lily. Juvcncsccncc. and 80 on to
Omega"
FANNY HURST LABELS HERSELF
Fanny Hurst's first published snort
story brought in $500 with which she
purchased n morocco bound note book
which she largely and Eiitly inscrib.
ed, 'Fany Hurs;-Author' II there
is anything in tho power of suggcs-
tIon. this notc book label might be re-
eardcd as determining factor IN
Miss Hurstn later success.
Bon Amcs Williams found the first
hundred stories the hardest 20 dispose
of. In fact. he enys that he lombard.
cd editors for four years without
preaching their Qualifications. Ths
hundred and first story sold. and Mr.
Williams has lived, VIC infer. famous.
ly ever after.
| Another author who believes in per.
| sistcnce. William Hamilton Osborne
tells OF sending n story TO i25 maya.
ing II to Lippincotts Magazine. which
ho had somehow previously overlook.
cd.
Gelott Burgess. also found that it {.
apt TO take time to adjust oneself IN
tune with EDITORIAL minds. He soon saw
the unlikciihood of being specially In
vitcd 10 Join the congregation of tho
iiitcra', so. as ne says. nc broke III
as ono breaks into n house.
a Boston newspaper had page o.
literary queries which readers pro.
pounded and other readers answered
Burgess wrote TO tho editor:
WHO .s tho author OF the poeru cont
nencinE Tho dismal day with drcarY
pace and can you givo the verses? +
T.. G."
This was printed. and Burgess nj
once sent in the answer that tho au-
thor of tho poem in question was
Frank Gelctt Burgess, and that he was
sending the words. Burgess recom-
mcnds this as ono sure way to get a
manuscript printed.
Kathleen Morris first story had q
long and honorable career II went to
a fcw magazines and then into q
trunk. Seven year. later she had ac-
puired a journalistic husband who un-
derstood the unronsntic business nj
L.. H. a