INDEX
A
Abbreviations to be avoided in verse, [247]
Abstract qualities to be gauged, [25]
Alexander, Mrs., Burial of Moses, [75]
Allen, James Lane, and local colour, [176]
Allingham, Wm., poem by, [170]
Allusions, hackneyed, [155]
Amateurs, what they need to cultivate and avoid, [47]
Amateurs, two classes of, [139]
Amateurs copying unawares, [203]
Amateurs and marriage offers in stories, [209]
Amateurs' lack of first-hand knowledge, [198]
Ambiguity, avoid, [157]
American writers and local colour, [174], [175]
Ancient facts undesirable except in text-book, [149]
Angel Court, Austin Dobson, [290]
Anthologies, verse, [75], [76]
Antiquated expressions, [52]
Arnold, Matthew, [75]
Article, settle object in writing it, [147]
Articles that are not wanted, [151];
big subjects to be avoided, [155];
"How to ——," editors overdone with, [154];
which fail, [138];
useful divisions, [136];
ruled by form, [136];
on subjects already dealt with, [153];
study type of, in magazine you are writing for, [152];
must be sent to editors in time, [150];
must be topical, [150];
starting in the middle, [147]
Artist and detail, [100]
Artist's fragments, an, [167]
Artistic atmosphere, [178]
Artistic training and literary first attempts, [4], [98-100]
"Atmosphere," healthy and otherwise, [181];
as a time saver, [180]
Atmospheric purpose of story writer, [89]
Audience, settle on your, [126]
Austen's, Jane, old-world "atmosphere," [184]
Author's aim to help readers God-ward, [293]
Authors must have something in their heads to write down, [11]
Authorship compared with dressmaking, [5], [7]
B
Baby prattle in amateur verse, [239]
Barclay, Mrs., White Ladies of Worcester, [41];
The Rosary, [210]
Barrie, Sir J., and dialect, [195]
Barrie, Sir J., short stories, [91];
Window in Thrums, [224]
Beautiful thoughts do not guarantee beautiful writing, [98]
Begin in the middle, [147]
Be natural, [48], [106]
Benson, Dr. A. C., [65]
Big subjects to be avoided, [154]
Birrell, Augustine, [65]
Blackmore and local colour, [174]
Blue pencil to be used by writer rather than editor, [252]
"Body," needed in writing, [123]
Bolshevism in literature, [291]
Booksellers as readers, [118]
Books that shriek, [38]
Books which survive. Why? [29]
Boothby, Guy, and proof corrections, [223]
Boudoir stories, [206]
Brain misuse, nature's revenge for, [36]
British Weekly, for style, [56]
Broad Highway, The, "atmosphere" of, [184]
Browning, Mrs. and Christina Rossetti, [76]
Browning, Mrs., "Sonnets from the Portuguese," [244]
Browning's Paracelsus, [71];
"rough-hewn" method, [70]
Bryant and Longfellow, [76], [77]
Bullock, Shan F., and local colour, [174]
By-gone models of amateurs, [209]
C
Cable, George, [176]
Cabmen, article on, [113]
Callers on editors, [274]
Canton, William, [42]
Caricature is not characterisation, [142]
Carlyle's "rough-hewn" method, [70]
Cataloguing instead of art, [140]
Causes of actions to be studied, [27]
Central idea, necessary to story, [79]
Character delineation needed in love-stories, [215]
Characterisation is not caricature, [142]
Characters in story, values of, [84];
should not be multiplied unduly, [220];
should explain themselves, [216], [219];
to be introduced early, [219]
Chatterton, [269]
Cheap books, the flood of, [38]
Chesterton, G. K., paradoxes of, [165]
Children, mistakes of writers for, [127]
Chimney-pot, evolution of the, [43]
Chimney-pots, Ruskin's chapter on, [44]
Choate, Joseph H., on Dickens, [231]
Choose topic from your own environment, [200]
Clarity, aim for, [161]
Classics, our purpose on reading them, [111], [112]
Clarke, Charles Heber, [293]
Cleanness should be made attractive, [295]
Cleverness must not be obtrusive, [109]
Climax, do not anticipate, [228]
Climax in article, [147]
Climax, never lose sight of, [89]
Coleridge's Kubla Khan, [75], [170]
Colloquialisms, avoid, [195]
Condensation, need of, [106]
Condensation never spoils beginner's work, [257]
Contrasts, incidents inserted in stories as, [86]
Copy, universal tendency to, [202]
Copying unrecognised by amateurs, [203]
Country of the Pointed Firs, The, [224]
Craddock, Chas. Egbert, and local colour, [176]
Cranford, [184], [201]
Creating an "atmosphere," [185]
Creation and copying, [203]
Criticise your own work, [129]
Criticism, editors have no time for, [9]
Crockett, S. R., and dialect, [195]
Curtailment of sentences may be carried to excess, [50]
"Curtains" are sound business, [229]
"Curtains," Dickens', [231]
"Curtains" necessary for serial publication, [231]
Cut down your MSS., [253]
Cynic really gets nowhere, [30]
D
Dante, why we read, [111], [112]
David and Jonathan, [155]
Defects overlooked by fame, [124]
Delay in editorial decision on MSS., [276]
Delete superfluities in your MS., [254]
Dénouement as a surprise, [213], [225]
Detail, knowledge of, imperative, [21];
study of, [100];
too much, [92], [140]
Devices to reach editors, [283]
Dialect an extra mental strain on reader, [194];
requires exceptional skill, [195]
Diary form of story, [191]
Dickens, Charles, an adept at "curtains," [231]
Dickens, central ideas of, [79]
Diffusiveness, [106]
Divine discontent, [197]
Dobson, Austin, Angel Court, [290]
Does the public want it? The publisher's question, [267]
Dog, the real, [19]
Doll heroines, [26]
Dombey and Son in U. S. A., [231]
Dream Days, Kenneth Graham, [224]
Dreams of youth valuable, [235]
Dressmaking and authorship, [5], [7]
Dull book not wanted by anyone, [295]
Dulness not necessary to goodness, [294]
E
Earle, Mabel, Valley Song, [248]
Eccentricity will not secure permanent interest, [122]
Editorial routine, [283]
Editors do not purchase MS. because first attempt, [263];
have no time to criticise and advise, [280];
only buy what pays to publish, [264];
take time to read MSS., [276];
unmoved by irrelevant appeals, [261]
Emotionalism, [184]
Emotions of author not always interesting, [220]
Ending, a happy one best, [226]
Entertaining, every book should be, [128]
Environment and circumstances to be studied, [19]
Environment, your own, as your subject, [200]
Every generation allows special characteristics of speech, [49]
Exclusive information necessary, [45]
Extracts, lavish use undesirable, [161]
Expressions, antiquated, [52]
F
Facts, ancient, to be omitted, [150]
Facts needed, [21]
Fame overlooking defects, [124]
Farnol, Jeffrey, and old-world "atmosphere," [184]
Feeding the brain with snippets, [37]
Fiction, monotonous character of MSS., [80]
Fiction, "strong," [287]
Field, Eugene, Limitations of Youth, [249]
"Fiona Macleod," [171]
First attempts rarely acceptable, [102]
First attempts in literature compared with art and music, [4]
First-hand knowledge, need of, [198]
First-person limitations, [188]
Forest of Wild Thyme, Alfred Noyes, [250]
Form as applied to articles, [136]
Formless fragments, [167]
Fragments, [166]
Framework of story, [82]
Freak writings cannot be forecasted, [268]
G
Garden of Verses, a Child's, R. L. Stevenson, [250]
Genius, mistaken ideas of, [4]
Genius scarce, [13]
Gloom manufacture is wrong, [227]
Glow-worms as a hat-trimming, [153]
God-ward help in literature, [293]
Golden Age, Kenneth Graham, [224]
Goodness does not excuse dulness, [295]
Gosse, Dr. Edmund, [65]
Graham, Kenneth, Golden Age and Dream Days, [224]
Grandmothers in amateur fiction, [210]
Gray's Elegy, [67]
Green, Dr. S. G., and Pickwick Papers, [232]
"Grip" needed for selling, [117]
"Grit" necessary in a novel, [122]
H
Hackneyed phrases, [155]
Healthiness, authors should aim at, [292]
Healthiness should be made desirable, [295]
Hearn, Lafcadio, and local colour, [174]
Heroine, the rose-petal, [209]
Hiawatha's appeal to children, [250]
"How to ——" articles overdone, [154]
Human characteristics to be studied, [18]
Human heart, pivot of great stories, [28]
Hysterical "atmosphere," [184]
I
Idea, original, lost, [160];
ornate language cannot cover lack of, [160];
starting, forgotten by amateurs, [126];
the central, [79], [81]
Ideas and words, [59];
as varied as human nature, [81];
more important than rhapsodies, [236]
"Imaginative writing," [162]
Immoral fiction, [288]
Improbabilities, [162]
Inaccuracy in detail fatal to success, [23]
Incidents should not be crowded, [220]
Income expected without training, [4]
Indefinite style to be avoided, [150]
Ingelow, Jean, [75]
Inner workings of mind and heart to be studied, [26]
Interest readers, the need to, [116]
Interviews with editors undesirable, [272]
Introductions to editors useless, [270]
Invisible Playmate, [42]
Involved sentences, [159]
Isolation foolish for an author, [31]
J
Jacobs, W. W., and local colour, [173]
James, Henry, long sentences of, [165]
Jewett, Sarah Orne, [176];
Country of Pointed Firs, [224]
Journalists as models for the amateur, [57]
K
Kernahan, Coulson, [65]
Keynote of story, [79]
Kipling, Rudyard, and local colour, [174];
short stories, [91];
"The Recessional," [75]
Kipling's "Cat that walked by itself," [142];
varied styles, [104]
Know your characters, [29]
"Kubla Khan," [75], [170]
L
Lady of the Decoration, [194]
Lady of the Lake, [173]
Landscape painting, [178]
Language, pleasing, [71]
Learning must not be obtrusive, [108]
Leave off when finished, [147]
Length of story must be considered, [134]
Letters, story in the form of, [193]
Life ever offering new discoveries, [29]
Literary student at disadvantage compared with students of arithmetic, [6]
Literature, an elusive business, [7];
good, what constitutes it, [7];
intangible, [8]
Little, Frances, Lady of the Decoration, [194]
Little Women, [201]
Local colour and American authors, [174]
Local colour subordinate to personality, [28]
Locality should be known to story writer, [220]
Longfellow, Bryant and Swinburne, [76], [77]
Lovers' outpourings in amateur verse, [239]
Love-story difficult for amateur, [211], [224]
Love-story, need for character delineation, [215]
Love-stories outlets for girls' emotions, [221]
M
Magazine is a business proposition, [264]
Main theme should make universal appeal, [27]
Major, Charles, [184]
Mannerisms not tolerated, [164]
"Mark Twain" and preacher, [251]
Marriage offers in amateur stories, [207]
"Max Adder's" humour helpful, [293]
Men and women as they really are, [29]
Mental "atmosphere," conveying our own, [187]
Mental food needed, [12]
Mental indigestion, [37]
Metrical composition, laws to be studied, [235]
Meynell, Alice, "Song," [238]
Minor details in stories, two purposes of, [86]
Mitford, Miss, Our Village, [185]
Modern English seldom used by amateur, [48]
Modern style gained by reading modern stuff, [54]
Modernity of style desirable, [50]
Money-making should not alone be object in writing, [148]
Monotony fatal to success, [120]
Moral books should be as well-written as nasty ones, [295]
Morley, Viscount, and prize poem, [73]
Motif important, [81]
Motives that prompt actions, [26], [27]
MSS., proportion of accepted, [3]
MSS. rejected, reasons why, [10], [148], [197]
MSS. should be typed, [278]
Music and art compared with literature, [4], [5], [6], [132]
N
Nature dissertations in amateur verse, [239]
Nature and mind, effects of nutriment, [11]
Nature's revenge for misuse of brain, [36]
Negatives, double, [159]
New reliable matter will find acceptance, [46]
Newspaper leading articles for style, [54]
Notes of observations, [17], [20], [21]
Novel, "grit" necessary for, [122]
Novel, three-volume, [132]
Novel, wedding need not be chief aim of, [80]
Novelty desirable, [120]
Novice must train himself, [6]
Noyes, Alfred, [75], [250]
O
Object, be sure of your, [127]
Observation saves from pitfalls, [22]
Observation to begin just where you are now, [32]
Obvious not the whole of the story, the, [26]
Old-fashioned style not wanted to-day, [52]
Old-world "atmosphere," [183]
Omar Khayyám, pessimistic "atmosphere" of, [184]
One-sided view of life due to isolation, [31]
Other people's brain-work not acceptable, [46]
Originality necessary, [46]
Originality not peculiarity, [164]
Original work is rare, [202]
Our Admirable Betty, "atmosphere" of, [184]
Our Village, Miss Mitford, [185]
Out-doory "atmosphere," [185]
P
Padding stories, [85]
Painting, three-part basis of, [132]
Peculiarity not originality, [164]
Peculiarity will not secure permanent interest, [122]
Pedantic style, avoid, [161]
People, study of, needed, [30]
"Personal" marking does not carry to editor, [283]
Personal outlook of readers, [119]
Pessimism manufacture is criminal, [292]
Pessimistic "atmosphere," [184]
Pett Ridge and local colour, [173]
Phil May's methods, [255]
Pickwick Papers and school holiday, [232]
Picture palaces versus reading, [39]
Pigeons in war, amateur article on, [146], [149]
Plato, why we read, [111], [112]
Plausible imp, the, [257]
Plots, making, [108]
Plots, well-worn, [204]
Poems for comparison, [76]
Poems should have some definite thought, [236]
Poetic idea in every poem, [237]
Poetry anthologies, [75], [76]
Poetry leads to good prose, [72]
Poetry, reading aloud, [74]
Poetry, the so-called "new," [244]
Point, necessary to a story, [214]
Polish, [222]
Preliminary studies for perfect work, [101]
Press dates are long before publication, [150]
Proposals in fiction and real life, [212]
Psychological bearings to be noted, [24]
Publisher better judge than author, [267];
not a philanthropic agent, [265]
Publisher's requirements must be conformed to, [282]
Publishers specialise in fixed directions, [269]
"Pull together" your MS., [255]
Punch and a "curtain," [233]
Punch, influence of, [286]
Purpose, all writing should have a, [128]
Q
Quiller-Couch, Sir A., [65]
Quotation marks, [161]
R
Reader's choice, rather than yours, for the reader, [151], [152]
Reading, aloud, [55], [74];
helps you to judge the worth of information, [43];
loss of the power of, [39];
and nibbling, [40];
necessary for historical stories, [41]
Read only what you can read thoroughly, [40]
"Realism" in fiction, [290]
Reliability essential, [46]
Return of MSS., [277]
Reviewers, [118]
Rhapsodies do not constitute poetry, [236]
"Rich sonority," [54]
Righteousness, authors should aim at, [293]
Rives, Amélie, and local colour, [176]
Rosary, The, heroine of, [210]
Rossetti, Christina, [75];
and Mrs. Browning, and Tennyson, [76], [77]
"Rough-hewn" method, [70]
Routine in editors' offices, [283]
Rubáiyát, pessimistic "atmosphere" of the, [184]
Rules, established, save our wasting time, [130]
Ruskin's "Chapter on Chimney-Pots," [44];
defects overlooked, [124];
Poetry of Architecture, Queen of the Air, Preterita, [65];
Sesame and Lilies, [65], [183];
tangents, [137]
S
Schools for literature needed, [5]
Scott's Lady of the Lake, [173]
Secondary matter in story, [85]
Seeing yourself in print should not be alone the object in writing, [148]
Selection, instinct for, [139], [146]
Self-expression, craving for, [9]
Selling, the essential of book production, [119]
Sensational, the demand for, [38]
Sentences should be short, [221]
Serial publication necessitates "curtains," [231]
Sesame and Lilies, [183]
Settle your chronological starting point, [145]
Shakespeare language not necessary to amateur, [50]
Shakespeare and spiritual values, [28], [29];
why we read, [111], [112]
Sharp, Wm., [171]
Shaw, Bernard, cynical scintillations of, [165]
Shelley's Cloud, [75]
Short sentences an advantage, [221]
Short stories need same rules as long ones, [90]
Shrieking books, [38]
Skimming, danger of, [36]
Slang indicates ignorance, [62]
Slang, monotony of, [61]
Slangy style, avoid, [161]
Smile, making people, [293]
Snippets of reading, [37]
Sonnets from the Portuguese, Mrs. Browning, [244]
Sound, refined and otherwise, [69]
Spectator articles for style, [55]
Speeding up our sentences, [49]
Spiritual values to be noted, [24]
Spiritual values and Shakespeare, [28], [29]
Stale material, [45]
Start where you are, [224]
Starting-point, chronological, to be settled, [145]
Steel, Mrs. F. A., [91], [174]
Stevenson, R. L., Essays, [64];
Garden of Verses, [250]
Story, "atmospheric" purpose of author, [89];
balance of, [135];
assessing values of characters, [85];
climax never to be lost sight of, [89];
contrasts, examples of, [87];
cut out irrelevant particulars, [136];
dovetailing incidents, [89];
framework of, [82];
get well under way early in, [134];
historical reading necessary for, [41];
keynote of, [79];
length of, [134];
the minor details, [86];
the three-part basis, [132];
incidents, select those that matter, [142];
in form of diary, [192];
in form of letters, [193];
over-crowding with detail, [92];
"slap dash" method of writing, [92];
told in clear manner most popular, [196];
written in first person, limitations of, [188];
written in third person usually best, [188];
secondary matter in, [85]
Stories by masters, nothing merely a "fill-up," [86]
Stories, short, need same rules as long ones, [90]
Strauss' sound monstrosities, [68]
"Strong" fiction, [287]
Style, avoid indefinite, [156]
Style of writing should vary, [104]
Subjects must be of interest to readers, [119];
not repeated by editors, [153];
unable to be studied should be avoided, [19]
Successful books must be well-written, [294]
Swinburne and Longfellow, [76]
Sympathy needed to write convincingly, [29], [30]
T
Tact necessary to contributors, [284]
Taylor, Ann and Jane, [124]
Tennyson and Christina Rossetti, [77]
Tennyson's "Break, break, break," [171];
"Flower in a Crannied Wall," [171]
Tennyson's poems for reading aloud, [74]
Thinking, formless, [171]
Third-person narrative usually best, [188]
Thought transference, [59]
Thought, beware of labouring a, [160]
Thoughts, difficulty of writing them down, [98]
Three-part basis of story, [132]
Timothy's Quest, [224]
Topicality, keep an eye on, [150]
Training for authorship imperative, [5]
Training yourself, [140]
Travellers, publishers', as readers, [118]
Typed MSS. most likely to be read, [278]
U
Ugliness is not art, [291]
Uncle Tom's Cabin, central idea of, [79]
Unpleasant topics, [288]
Unseen that counts, the, [24]
Using two words where one will suffice, [50]
V
Valley Song, by Mabel Earle, [248]
Verse, abbreviations to be avoided in, [247]
Verse, amateur, [239]
Verse anthologies, [75], [76]
Verse-making, laws of, to be studied, [235]
Verse must voice world-wide need, [243]
Verse, worth reading, amateur, [239]
Verse-writing a useful exercise, [234];
leads to good prose, [72]
Vocabulary of average person, [60]
W
Wax-Figure characters, [26]
Wedding need not be chief aim of novel, [80]
Well-worn plots, [204]
When Knighthood was in Flower, "atmosphere" of, [184]
Wholesome literature preferred by public, [295]
Why, every, hath a wherefore, [160]
Why some books survive, [28], [29]
Wiggin, Kate Douglas, [224]
Wilkins, Mary E., and local colour, [175], [176]
Wilson, President, 171-word sentence, [221]
Window in Thrums, A, [224]
Wister, Owen, and local colour, [176]
Woman's Magazine offered unsuitable subjects, [153]
Woman's Magazine at press some weeks before publication, [150]
Wooden-horse heroes, [26]
Word, value of a, [66]
Word-picture, fragmentary, [169]
Word-picture study, [104]
Word-pictures, need to select incidents for, [141]
Words, greatest writers had no more than we, [251]
Words, subject should regulate choice, [158]
Words, use simple, [67]
Words, using two when one will suffice, [50]
Write as you actually speak, [48]
Writing difficult to reduce to set of rules, [8]
Writing is hard work, [204]
Writer's influence greater than preacher's, [287]
Writing a serious responsibility, [287]
Writing that lasts, [25]
Transcriber's Note: Obvious misprints and punctuation errors have been corrected silently.