and then
copies it; for while slowly transcribing he can most easily detect
mistakes. While at work in the morning he smokes a mild cigar, which is,
however, sometimes omitted. When writing, he likes to have as much light
and silence about him as he can possibly attain. While the manuscript
lies on the writing table, and the author is meditating on the subject
in hand, he is in the habit of pacing up and down the room. At first he
repeats the words aloud to test their euphonism and smoothness; he then
commits the spoken words to paper. He can boast of himself that he has
never written a line "_invita Musa_," without being fully inclined to
composition. Sometimes he does not write for months, but when the proper
mood takes possession of him, he is very industrious. Even then,
however, he does most of his work before midday, and, exceptionally,
from five till eight in the afternoon. As he is a bachelor and given up
altogether to authorship, he is governed entirely by his moods.

Paul Burani, the brilliant Parisian journalist and dramatist, is forty
years of age, married and father of one daughter,--Michelette,--owner
of the house he lives in, and, altogether, the perfect type of a
successful literarian. Before writing a play, he makes a very elaborate
outline, which is developed afterward. Ordinarily he rewrites a play
three times, but being both a ready and a rapid writer, the task is
quickly accomplished. When compelled to stop writing in consequence of
fatigue or a lack of interest, he takes up something else, promenades in
his garden, or smokes a cigar. He is indifferent to noise, and can
compose almost anywhere. The great number of books which he has written
has given him the reputation of being one of the most productive authors
of the times, but he does not write for more than five or six hours a
day.

Ludwig Habicht, a German novelist, loves to write by the light of the
sun, and invariably works in the daytime, never at night. When his
manuscript is finished and corrected, he has it copied by a professional
copyist, whereupon it goes to the compositor. Habicht prefers to write
in the open air, and does not use a writing-desk. The duration of his
working hours depends entirely upon his health and moods, but he never
writes for more than four or five hours a day; and sometimes does not
pen a line for months.

Formerly, when the world--that is to say, the German world--used to
know Karl Stelter, the poet, as a me