events round shoulders,
and is also better for the lungs. She has forced herself to write at
times, and does not believe in waiting for ideas "to turn up."

E. Vely, one of the best of the female novelists of Germany, however,
believes in inspirations, and does not take a pen in hand unless
disposed to write. Four hours in the forenoon are spent in composition,
while the afternoon and evening are given up to pastime, exercise, and
study. While at work she hates to be interrupted, and insists upon
absolute stillness about her. She always sends her original manuscript
to the printer.

And now we come to one who recently joined the great majority, one who,
although he has gone the way of all mortals, still lives, whose name is
not only found on the long list of the illustrious dead, but is also
graven in golden letters on the record of the age: Dr. Alfred Meissner.
It was his wont to do the imaginative part of his work in the stillness
of the night, either in an easy chair--smoking a cigar--or in bed, in
which he used to pass several hours sleepless almost every day. He used
to sit down to write in the morning and quit at noon. Early in his
literary career this distinguished Austrian novelist discovered that
composition in the night-time, that is, the mechanical part of it, would
not agree with him, that it was too great a strain on his nervous
system, and so wisely concluded to write only by daylight. He was
unable to comprehend how anybody could write a novel--a very intricate
work--without making alterations and erasures subsequently in the
original manuscripts. It appeared to him as if an artist would not make
a sketch of his projected picture first, but would begin immediately to
paint in oil and make no changes afterward. He cited the example of
Raphael and Titian, who, although they were talented artists, made
numerous sketches before they began a painting. Dr. Meissner first made
a detailed outline of his work, which he elaborated with great care.
While copying this second manuscript he was enabled to make a great many
alterations, and to strike out everything that was unsuitable.
Practically every production of his pen was written three times.

Sometimes Meissner would work with great ease, sometimes with
difficulty. The composition of chapters that were full of stirring
incidents, violent passions, or perilous situations used to excite him
intensely, and progressed by degrees; whereas other chapters were
writt