HOW FAMOUS AUTHORS WORK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7231, 18 October 1901, Page 2

HOW FAMOUS AUTHORS WORK.

HABITS AND PECULIARITIES. Everybody is interested in the lives of famous authors, yet, as a rule, very little is known of their actual methods of work. Mr Rudyard Kipling is one of the most regular writers, and for many years he never missed two hours' work in the morning, from nine o'clock to eleven, and wherever he might be, in the train, on board ship, or even on horseback, he contrived tu write during this part of the day. Mr Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) writes while sitting in a rocking-chair, and his favourite time is the morning. Whenover he is at a loss for a word or phrase, hs begins swaying backwards and forwards, apparently finding the gentle motion helpful. Most of Mr Hall Caine's work is done in the morning. He writes quickly, and fills sheet after sheet of ordinary notepaper with his small handwriting, getting almost aa many words on a single sheet as would fill a piece cf foolscap in most people's writing. His manuscript is wonderfully neat, and contains very few alterations. Mr Marion Crawford prefers the typewriter to the pen, and finds ideas flow more easily in the afternoon than at any other time in the day. He is a remarkably quick worker, and has been known to turn outeight and even ten thousand words a day. He will often work at high pressure for four or five days in succession, and then not put pen to paper again for a week or two. I One of the most painstaking novelists of the day is Mr Thomas Hardy, who will often rewrite whole chapters over and over again,