Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-03-18
ROCKY ROADS TO WRITING FAME
wa.hinxton. March 1s.--How a .suc-
BY Frederic J. Haskin

has at last been divulged authorita-
lively, One hundred and twenty fiVe
members Of tho Authors League of
, America, writer's who have arrived,
have immortallzed In book form the
: story OF my Maiden Effort"
t Here surely is an Illuminating docu-
! ment for the young geniuses who real
. lie that destiny calls them TO write, but
! who sit with reluctant pen wondering
how one should begin. The f2J chap
ters out Of the past history Of 126
succesgful writer's tell just how IL has
, been done successfully. The only DIFF
e fleulty in drawing conclusions Is that
, a different conclusion. and moral may
y be drawn from every chapter.
D Thus. some writer's began welding
n pen at a comparatively mature age
, and struggled from there on. Others
r many Of them--began their careers
' young and gathered experience al
through the years of youth.
2 One OF the former type is Ray stan
nard Baker. He began 10 be an author
! AT ~ when ne gold his first story 70 a
3 short story magazine. He was Informed
{ that the magazine paid on publication,
( and therefore he eagerly watched Tor
] his literary debut which was 10 be
J. followed by HIS entrance into the piu-
b tocratic class Every month for two
!. years and n half Baker fastened 70
3 buy tho new issue OF the magazine
a and went home anxiousiy reading the
( tabio of contents. At the end Of that
n long period the young authors name
o appeared on the cover in the distin-
o gtishnd company Of Anthony Hope
y and Robert Louis Stevenson.
Tho promised remuneration eventu-
9 ally came 70 was a check for 50.
T. Young Baker dropped to earth and
J. sat down 90 calculate his profit I'm
Il fortunately. the IS gain was over
& shndowod by the $3.50 spent for copies
n Of the magazine. But" Sc says, ut
&C was a real experience"
Cobb Got Eahy Start
= In the class Of those who heard the
call of the muse early in life. Irwin s.
= Cobb is a shining example. He may
=, surely claim the record for getting the
- earliest start In the game. He says:
=. My earliest known photograph
shows me, at the tender age OF 20
months, lying fiat upon my stomach
- could lie fiat upon my stomacr
- then--scribbling upon a sheet of papei
:. with stub OF pencil"
. Booth Harrington, Arthur Gutter
~ man, Theodosia Garrison, and man,
others tell OF suffering in verses II
- their earliest years. A love lyric o
- a tragic ode written at the age of si
is as good way as any to burst in
TO the profession OF being an author
:, their experience seems 10 say. w
hasten TO add that few Of these infan
-, tile effusions are reported az sold. The
-, we're merely maiden efforts. but event
- ually they led to bigger things.
- Some of the celebrities struck gol
:, the first time they seriously tried
a. dig anything out OF an editorial offc
= Josephine Daskam Bacon tells
- selling her first poem 20 tho Atlant
80 90 Monthly while she was still in schoo
g. and her next three attempts, an essa
- story. and poem, TO that magazine an
a. the Century.
ga Ellis Parker Butler also describe
early SUCCESS. His first story. write
TS when he was r. small boy. ne sold
juvenile publication and receive
- IN payment 80 one-cent postal card
a Other latent geniuses struggled
-. fact, the majority served discoul
aging apprenticeship to art
ter H'' 90. - -. 70. 80.
a. by II publications and was final
- printed in a college journal. Lookir
back on this first attempt, MISC Hur
now regards 1t as "a supreme examp
OF Anfractuosity. Banality, Compa
Incomprehensibility, Descipiency, E
fusiveness. Flaccidity. Garrulity, II
perbolism. Imbecility, Juvenescen'
and SO on to Omega"
Fanny Hurst Labels Herself.
all Fanny Hurst's first published she
story brought IN So with which 8
ap- purchased a morocco bound note bo
ers which she largely and gltny
scribed, Fanny Hurst-Author.
hat there is anything in the power
ssia suggestion, this note book label mig
be regarded as a determining IA
tor IN Miss Hurst's later success.
Ben Ames Williams found the fl
n "a hundred stories the hardest TO dispc
ome OF. IN iact' ne says tnar ne Ooiiipei
a. editors for four years without breac
ing their Notifications. The hundr
and first story sold, and Mr.. Willial
.o~ has lived, We infer, famously e'
1rat after.
Another author who believes
persistence, William Hamilton
,-,,,, borne, tells OF sending a story 20
magazines and newspapers and
TT. last selling It TO Lippincotts MAJ
-. zine, which he had somehow p
viously overlooked.
Gelett Burgess also found that (,
apt TO take time to adjust oneself
ID IL M
stay .,,I.H,,,,oH, - ,,oir,e, s,r.,>,,o
invited 70 join the congregation OF
literau, so. as he says. he broke
- as one breaks into a house.
y Boston newspaper had a page
literary queries which readers p
pounded and other readers answer
! Burgess wrote to the editor:
who is the author of the po
commencing The dismal day W
ring dreary pace and can you give t
", verses? +. L. c."
This was printed, and Burgess
once sent in the answer that
y. author OF the poem in question "
end. Frank Gelett Burgess. and that
y was sending the words. Burgess n
ommends this as one sure way
get a manuscript printed.
kathleen Norris first story had
q, long and honorable career. 1t we
10 a few magazines and then into
me; trunk. Seven years later she h
acquired a journalistic husband W
understood the unromantic business
marketing manuscripts. He made
IS. alphabetical list Of 2S fiction mas
\