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Southland Times, Issue 23332, 16 October 1937, Page 19

I cannot help thinking that professional literature, especially for the young and self-conscious, is a mistake, writes Margaret Leigh in her book “Harvest of the Moor,” reviewed recently on this page. The writer by trade, like any other specialist, is doomed to run in a groove, all the narrower because to him it seems as wide as the universe . . . He is often hopelessly out of touch with ordinary life, which, after all, is the raw material of all great literature. Also, unless he has private means, he must write to sell, and though it is just as silly to sniff at best sellers as to hoot at highbrows, the man who must sell 40,000 copies quickly or starve is not in a strong position. He will always find it difficult to maintain the quality. On the other hand, authorship is an exacting craft, and to come to it tired by a long day’s work on other jobs is not the best way to success. Once fairly embarked on literature, it will demand the lion’s share of your time and energy. But there is much to be said for not embarking on it too early . . . The days of our youth should be given to strenuous and practical activities . . . The longer you wait before writing the more you will have to write about, and what is mainly wrong with modern literature is that nearly all decently educated young people know how to say things -with point and elegance, but hardly one of them has anything to say.