d to say because her head and pen would not keep still. She always
wished for more leisure to write, but was obliged to do something that
insured an immediate return in money,--in fact, she had always to "work
for a living." So, it was her habit to take a book or a portfolio in her
lap, and write when and where she could. She did not write at night,
because, she said, she had learned that she must sleep. She often forced
herself to write, sometimes through an entire day, although the result
was not usually so satisfactory to herself. She used to keep writing,
even if she felt a little ill and tired, because of the imperative
"must," and because she could forget her bad feelings in her subject.
She began to write as a little child,--verses chiefly,--and always
preferred writing to doing anything else. Most of the things she wrote
seemed to her to come of themselves, poems especially.

To the large number of those who prefer the daytime to the artificial
light of the evening or the night must be added Rudolf von Gottschall,
German historian, novelist, and essayist. While at work he is in the
habit--that is at times--of chewing paper. He writes with ease and
great speed. He often composes when disinclined to work, compelled by
his occupation as a critic and journalist. Only when he is writing
poetry he must be in good spirits. He devotes about five hours a day to
literary work, exclusive of letter-writing and the discharge of his
editorial duties.

Before committing her manuscripts to the press, the novelist, Marian
Tenger (a pseudonym which stands for the name of a lady of the highest
German aristocracy), reads them over repeatedly, and makes many
alterations. It seems incredible to her that any author, who is attached
to his profession, should write fair copy at once, making no skeleton of
his work whatever. She invents dialogues most easily when she is
perambulating the room. When disinclined to write, she refrains from
touching a pen. Sometimes weeks elapse before she resumes her usual
occupation--writing; but when she does so, it is with delight. She never
writes for more than five hours daily.

Oliver Wendell Holmes prefers the morning from nine o'clock until noon
for work. He used to write evenings, but of late he has not done so. He
sometimes plans his work beforehand, but is apt to deviate more or less
from the outline he has laid down. He uses no stimulants at his work,
unless his cup of coffee is so considered