Short story writing

by Charles Raymond Barrett

• Padding, [156];
• • in conclusion, [184];
  • defined, [202].
• Parable of the Times, [35].
• Parts, [149].
• Phrases: stereotyped, [192];
• • foreign, [196].
• Plausibility: in use of facts, [89];
• • in "Ambitious Guest," [92].
• Plot: necessity of, [17];
• • defined, [45];
  • implies action, [45];
  • simple and complete, [47];
  • observes Greek unities, [47];
  • importance of, [48];
  • in Character Study, [48];
  • in Detective Story, [48];
  • plot-germ, [49];
  • test of, [50];
  • derivation of, [51];
  • freshness of, [52], [57];
  • phases of [52]-[56];
  • hackneyed, [57];
  • "elemental" or "true," [58];
  • "theme," [58];
  • in "Ambitious Guest," [58]-[61];
  • "skeleton" or "working," [59]-[61];
  • relation to title, [66], [67], [68];
  • effects surprise, [165];
  • effects climax, [166], [179].
• Poe, Edgar Allan: first recognized short story, [11];
• • influence on short story, [11];
  • originated Story of Ingenuity, [36].
• Poetry, quoted, [194].
• Preliminary Climax, [177]-[179].
• Premonition, stories of, [169].
• Price of short stories, [227], [229].
• Punctuation, [200], [220].

• Quotations, [194].

• Realism, [21].
• Religion: not literature, [159];
• • influence of, [160].
• Revision, [216]-[221].
• Rhetoric: disregard of, [204];
• • faults of, [219].
• Romanticism, [21].

• Scene: location of, [143], [145];
• • importance of, [144];
  • presentation of, [144].
• Sensationalism: in title, [72]-[74];
• • in style, [190], [192].
• Sentences, [199].
• Short Story: first recognized, [11];
• • history of, [11];
  • masters of, [11], [12];
  • an American product, [12];
  • epoch of, [12];
  • school for novelist, [12];
  • defined, [15]-[17];
  • plot of, [17], [47]-[63];
  • length of, [17];
  • love element in, [18];
  • ingenuity and originality in, [19];
  • "touch of fantasy" in, [19];
  • tends to comedy, [20], [46];
  • realism and romanticism in, [21];
  • technique of, [22];
  • artificiality of, [22];
  • compared with novel, [23];
  • best twelve American, [24];
  • classification of, [26]-[44];
  • collections of, [41]-[44];
  • unity in, [47], [149]-[155];
  • title of, [64]-[77];
  • facts in, [78]-[93];
  • characters in, [94]-[118];
  • methods of telling, [119]-[131];
  • beginning of, [132]-[148];
  • body of, [149]-[170];
  • parts and chapters in, [149];
  • influenced by novel, [150], [155], [175];
  • padding in, [156];
  • local color in, [156];
  • didacticism in, [157]-[160];
  • proportions of, [160];
  • climax of, [161]-[182];
  • suspense in, [161]-[164];
  • surprise in, [162], [165];
  • conclusion of, [182]-[188];
  • style of, [189]-[208];
  • labor in writing, [209]-[221];
  • marketing of, [222]-[233];
  • criticism on, [222], [231];
  • timeliness of, [225]-[227].
• Skeleton Plot: defined, [59];
• • in "Ambitious Guest," [59]-[61];
  • use of, [62].
• Slang, [197].
• Spelling, errors in, [220].
• Stereotyped phrases, [192].
• Story of Ingenuity: compared with Imaginative Tale, [27];
• • defined, [36];
  • Humorous Story related to, [38].
• Story of To-day, [36].
• Story of Wonder, [37].
• Story with a Moral, [29].
• Study in Horror, [31].
• Style: importance of, [189];
• • a matter of individuality, [189];
  • appropriate, [189];
  • qualities of, [190];
  • commonplace, [191];
  • stereotyped phrasing, [192];
  • "fine writing," [193];
  • quotations, [194];
  • figures of speech, [195];
  • foreign words and phrases, [196];
  • good English, [197];
  • slang, [197];
  • flowing, [198];
  • ease of expression, [199];
  • compression indispensable, [201];
  • padding, [202];
  • not exhaustive, [203];
  • acquisition of, [204]-[208].
• Suppression: of unimportant facts, [89];
• • of unimportant dialogue, [115];
  • of irrelevant matter, [155].
• Surprise: [see Element of].
• Suspense: [see Element of].

• Tale, [27].
• Technical Climax, [179]-[182], [183].
• Test of good story: title, [64];
• • beginning, [132], [146]-[148];
  • conclusion, [171].
• Theme: defined, [58];
• • in "Ambitious Guest," [58].
• Timeliness: seasonal, [225];
• • fashionable, [226].
• Title: test of story, [64];
• • influences sale, [64]-[66];
  • "text," [66], [76];
  • relation to plot, [66];
  • apt, [67];
  • specific, [68]-[70];
  • attractive, [71];
  • name of character as, [72], [76];
  • sensational, [72]-[74];
  • new, [75];
  • short, [75];
  • from principal object, [77].
• Tone Color, [199].
• "Touch of Fantasy," [19].
• True Plot: defined, [58];
• • in "Ambitious Guest," [59].
• True Story, [27].
• Typewritten MSS., [228].

• Unity, [149]-[155].

• Weird Story, [30].
• Wilkins, Mary E.: her moral stories, [160].
• Words: foreign, [196];
• • misuse of, [197];
  • choice of, [199].
• Working Plot: defined, [59];
• • in "Ambitious Guest," [59]-[61];
  • use of, [62].

Transcriber's Notes
Page
• Sceptre changed to Spectre	[30]
• Rappocini's changed to Rappaccini's	[30]
• practise changed to practice	[40]
• Girard changed to Gerard	[42]
• centres changed to centers	[48]
• accident, changed to accident.	[54]
• Rickshaw changed to 'Rickshaw	[77]
• egregriously changed to egregiously	[96]
• supernumeries changed to supernumeraries	[103]
• Higinbotham changed to Higginbotham	[178]
The use of hyphens, and "practised" onPage [89] and "unpractised" on Page [129] have been retained as in the original despite some inconsistencies.