The writing of fiction

The Writing of Fiction
By Edith Wharton
Order the beauty even of Beauty is. —Thomas Traherne.
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS NEW YORK LONDON 1925
Copyright, 1924, 1925, by CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
Copyright, 1925, BY THE YALE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
TO GAILLARD LAPSLEY
THE WRITING OF FICTION
The Writing of Fiction
I IN GENERAL
To treat of the practice of fiction is to deal with the newest, most fluid and least formulated of the arts. The exploration of origins is always fascinating; but the attempt to relate the modern novel to the tale of Joseph and his Brethren is of purely historic interest.