Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1931-01-29
The Writing
Game
Dy RING LARDNER
To the Editor:

The follin letter reed. from 1 of m,
admirers In Brazil, Ind, exclaims II
self.
Dear Sir, | been reading your let
ters In these coils. for a good many
mos, and find them very interesting
a specially the letters advertising
that you was to start a school OF
photo play writelng and In those let
tiers you give your readers q good
many hints In regards to how photo
plays should be wrote as well as a
sample Of q 5 reel photo drama. Now
no doubt they's a great many peo-
pie that considered thereself capable
OF writeing photo plays but couldn't
afford to take lone Of the high price
correspondents coarses In same and
would OF always remained a drug In
their office or somewheres had you
not Of came to bat with your low
price school
Now what l ask Is why won't you
be as thoughtful Of the people that
wants to write short stories like you
was to the ones that wanted to write
for pictures. l have always feel like
l had a gift for writeing short tic-
lions but don't know nothing about
technics, length Of stories and etc
and couldn't dig up the price witch
Is demanded by the correspondents
schools for tuition and etc. 1t SEEM
to me like you are well qualified to
learn people the art Of story write
ing even better than other kinds &
writeing because / once read q story
OF yours In a magazine witch you
must Of been the editors brother m
law but still and all 1t was printe[
and you probably got payed for sansS
witch Is more than you can say In
regards to your efforts at photo plays.
So will you be so kind and open up
a coarse In short story writeing and
give US a idear In these coils. what
the secrets and principals is that
makes a successful short story hc-
ton writer and l am only ! of thou
sands that will be interested and may
be subscribe to your school,"
The writer to the above is not the
only party that has come to me witk
requests along the same lines, and 1t
begins to look like / would be do
ing a public service was l to comply
with their requests along these lines
In the first place the average party
has got q magazine editor all wrong
witch they usually are. They think
he is a man that will give every
body a square deal where as the most
Of them let's their personal feelings
and tempermunt get the best Of them.
The best rue for q new beginner
to follow is to LIST get a idear for a
story and then forget the idear and 60
ahead and write the story out or die !
tate 1t to somebody that has got a
good hand writeing or better yet one
of these new fangle machines called
a typewriter that makes 1t look all
most like print
Then put a good suggestive title
on the story like for inst. "Clara's
Calves" and then give it to your
family to read, and II they say II
reads good why 1t must be good,
and the next question is how to get
1t before a magazine editor and get
square deal.
But l Of the biggest mistakes a
new beginner makes is to send re-
turn stamps along with their manu-
script as most of the editors Is air
and the minute they see stamps
somebody else has boughten why
can't wait a minute till they
use them, and whist, back comes your
manuscript. l remember once before
| become a wise cracker that I sent
stamped self address envelope along
with a good story l wrote and the
Did skin flint shot 1t back at me pro
.em all because he couldn't do nothing
Else with a addressed envelope with
he stamps stuck to it and couldn't
bear to see 1t wasted. Both my sisters
'ead the story / speak of and said 1t
vas a pip, and | wished the old Shy
ock could Of heard what they said
about him for sending 1t back.
Well then the only way to get a
square deal from a editor is to scrap
lp a acquaintance with somebody that
$ all ready in the writeing game and
he editor knows who he is and got
aspects for him and then you have
his bird write a letter for you to
end along with the manuscript and
AVE him say In the letter that your
tory is 0. K. and the editor is o sap
( he don't accept because you have
,ot a lot of friends that will stop
heir subscription If that story comes
ack.
SO much for how to get q square
leal after your story is wrote, AS for
he writeing itself a good many new
beginners falls down because they
~ and Write their story without the
light atmosphere to work In. l can't
i've no advise on this subject as diff
authors demands different
conditions. For inst. they say
rupert FL. Hughes can't write a line
nlest the water is running In the
and Fannie Hurst won't at
empt to work without the room Is
all Of sardine cans where as when