The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1922-09-28

Naturally we retain memories of what we
have seen. Pause moment, and let your
mind wander back in retrospect. Can you
not recall one event or experience around
which story might be constructed? Give
it few embellishments, and see what hap
pens. And remember that the other fellow
is handicapped where we are not.
All textbooks on writing, advise the
literary tenderfoot to write about that with
which he is familiar. That is sound adj
vice, but why subject your imagination 10
a limited scope? Jules Verne never made
the grade by relating CLOSED over facts;
nor was he addicted to hashish on the
needle. H. c. Witer attempted TO write
society stories, but he failed. He originated
new style, and what is he today? His
stories appear in the best magazines and
you may be sure that there are no wolf
tracks On his front porch Like o. Henry,
his style is inimitable. Of course he has
many imitators writers, who, if not guilty
of deliberate theft, are literary klepto-
maniacs, to let them down lightly, even if
they wont cop plea. Can you name one
writer of boxing stories who employs the
slang of the squared circle throughout his
work? I'll venture that you cannot.
tanned the pinnacle of success because he
was not afraid to get away from the
beaten path and the prescribed formulas,
laid down by other humorous writer's No
doubt you are familiar with the Wildcat
and his odoriferous mascot, Lily, the two
devotees at the shrine of Lady Luck. The
Wildcat series of negro stories appeared
in The Saturday Evening Post. Hugh
Wiley, the man who created the Wildcat
is native of Savannah, Ga, and Wildcat
is character down there. Wiley had
never conceived the idea of working this
ebon-hued character into story until after
he had returned from France. While
across he had been around negro labor
battalion and had picked up some good
material. AS a result we have enjoyed the
antics of this dusk child of fortune and
his tin-can-loving companion. The author
cashed in on what he had seen-things
that probably would never have interested
casual observer, but Wiley was a writer,
and he made the most of what were APP
parently and really everyday events along
the docks at the French seaports.
Octavos Roy Cohen, another delineator
of negro life, wrote 143 stories before he
sold one now he is said to receive $1,000
for every story. A man with such an
abiding faith as that deserves to win.
Personally l think would turn to "coun-
ter jumping" in a five and dime before 1
wore out as many pencils as he must have
consumed. Courtney Ryley Cooper, pro-
life commercial writer, was with circus
since the age of five as everything from
roustabout to general manager. Perhaps
he played the fageolet or extolled the at
tractiveness of the delectable bits of
femininity from the land of the Sultan or
the Haba Haba Isles. A discourse on
grafters appeared recently under his name
so ! suspect that he knows how the
squeeze play" and the elusive pea are
manipulated to deceive the yokel, and sim
liar gentry, at any rate his animal stories
are authoritative and they bring top price.
Simply another case of know it-then
write it.
When reporter is broken in on the job
he learns that the prime requisite of news
paper reporting is accuracy. By the same
token, an essential of successful fiction is
accuracy. Bear in mind that a writer
caters to a vast audience and that any
story may be and probably will be read
by someone who knows more about the
subject than the writer. Quite recently
read story in which "booman" opened
a modern bank safe with no tools other
than sensitized finger tips, and the author