"FIRST NOVEL" BOOM.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 52, 25 November 1907, Page 5

"FIRST NOVEL" BOOM.

,;.„■'•;. INDUCEMENT TO AUTHORS. .■;■ •.;:■:■ First-novel writing; seems- likely to : becoraoT' 1 ' as popular as cliaboio. Two publishers' are"-'-.at present imeniig siibstantiul money prizes ' for. first novels. Jir. I'isher. Umvin ullei's.' •;UilO, whilu another publisher ■ announces >■ : ' through tlie Literary Agency of London the handsome sum or ijl) guineas lor a "iirsfcV■.:. book. , '"''' '' • , , ..■'-. .:..••; Headers who are thinking ."of competing for tlie'prizes will bo inu'i.us,teci iii. tue fol- . ■'. lowing iules ,oil' "lloiv to> write a novel, , ' ~ which were laul down by p. wcil-k'nowu au- ' thor recently. .'.'... '••There are few tilings ca,s:cr . than,' thte-.,, writing 'of a iiou'l/ , ii'o ' saiii. •'Ail. the' ' ' sto'ck-in-t-railc you require is a suHicieney of paper and ink, and :i eanncity for absorbing iniil-reprodiicidg. l''irst, Chink out your t - I'ormula; it will gi'iiuialiy' preseiit itself oo .you'as'a triangle. At one corijer. put your ... man; at each of the otlier corners put a' . woman. Then let them pull.' '' '' "Tl'.e only perinissililo variation is 1 to put a - woman, at tlicmiu.coriutr inula man at' .each .of, the others; the |iuliing is invaiiiablct. •'■' This is what is called drama, if you know :" : enough you can put an abstiiietion— coal- .'• lininiiig, a war, the wlieat miiikct, or com.nwrce—at one..of the corners. But ■ tho pull is, the steady I'notor. ' . .■'.•:■■'■.•..•.,'•. • "Your story will develop, from the .char--,,, defers, and when you havo finished, stop.. The great fault} of many writers is that they do not know when to stop. •' :f ; AN IJIPOUTANT,"I)!oX : T.'/ , , : . "Don't go,past tho climax. Take your Icavoiof. the reader just when ho" or she is ■ most keenly interested in what vim are going to tell. If you leave a -few of the ei'ida. loose it docs not matter so mucli. . Tlio main thing is Wvtie \m those wind) really constitute , 'the pulrof which I have spoken, ' ■ , ''Keep you' , principal figures—those which ; "'; maku up the triangle—well down near tho ■:> • footlights, and do nut make your main in-"- ; torest depend on someone v. lio' rarely ap- '■" pears on the stage. "" " • ."The background must : be adequately filled, and if it is done with inU-ivstiug persons you arc a creator, or at least a delineator of character. Aiidy'.r'emi'mlier., to one who gets character down .on paper very 'much may be forgiven. . "Don't bo funny without reason, or drag in funny episodes that have'no bearing on tho dovolopinent of your story. That willl7 bore your , readers. :, "Be interesting.. People want to read' ' of men and women who have blood in their,. - veins. The bulk of them, have enough ... dulness in their own lives. -,■:.•■ . ■„• ''■'Don't be high-falutin'—bo, natural. Ise cautious with your adjectives. If ynu seo a' thing clearly in your mind tl'.e right ad-' jeetives \yill come. ; ■ . ..-•••: • . "Lastly, • write about something you know —lbok-on;your:own life; and try to makn- -. s . your, story out of it. Some of the greatest v.: novels havo been disguised.autobiographies.".- .