I have
made little attempt to discuss the general art of using words. For
assistance in studying the art of expression the reader should turn to a
work on rhetoric. The subject is too inclusive for adequate treatment
here. Moreover, it is debatable whether the art of verbal expression can
be studied objectively with any great profit. But the art of putting a
story together can be studied objectively with profit, and its
principles are subject to direct statement.

I desire to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. William R. Kane, of The
Editor Magazine, for much helpful criticism and many valuable
suggestions.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 13

I. The Writer Himself 22

II. The Choice of Matter 30

III. Conceptive Technique: Story Types 37

IV. Conceptive Technique: Plot and Situation 48

V. Constructive Technique of Narration 64

VI. Executive Technique of Narration 80

VII. Executive Technique of Narration
(Continued) 95

VIII. Description 107

IX. Speech 121

X. Portrayal of Character 136

XI. Atmosphere 152

XII. The Short Story 165

XIII. The Novel 182

XIV. Conclusion 197

Appendix 209

INTRODUCTION

"A work of art is first cloudily conceived in the mind; during the
period of gestation it stands more clearly forward from these swaddling
mists, puts on expressive lineaments, and becomes at length that most
faultless, but also, alas! that incommunicable product of the human
mind, a perfected design. On the approach to execution all is changed.
The artist must now step down, don his working clothes, and become the
artisan. He now resolutely commits his airy conception, his delicate
Ariel, to the touch of matter; he must decide, almost in a breath, the
scale, the style, the spirit, and the particularity of execution of his
whole design."

Thus Stevenson, in "A Note on Realism," takes it for granted that the
artist in pigments, stone, or words cannot reproduce