long as
his contract allows, so many incidents and combinations suggest
themselves as he goes on. He never works under the influence of
stimulants. Verse he never composes with a pen in his hand. It is seldom
that he can compose any that is in the least satisfactory to himself;
when he can, he walks in pleasant places, if the weather is favorable,
or lounges on rocks or banks, or in the woods; or he lies on a sofa in a
dimly-lighted room at night; or in bed, where he elaborates his lines,
which he retains in his memory, to be written down at the first
convenient season. He rarely puts pen to paper at night. When fairly
launched in a prose composition, he writes from two to four hours a day,
seldom five. The mere act of writing is a sad drudgery to him, and he
often has to force himself to begin. Then he usually forgets the
drudgery in the interest excited by the development of his thoughts. But
he never thinks it wise to continue writing when he cannot do so with
pleasure and ease. In his younger days he used to think he must do a
certain amount of work each day, whether he felt like it or not. But now
he is of the opinion that it might have been better for his readers and
himself if he had been governed more by his moods.

Robert Hamerling, the Austrian novelist, loved to compose in bed in the
early hours of morning. He was an expert stenographer, and, therefore,
made use of stenography when committing his thoughts to paper, thereby
saving much time, which, of course, facilitated the mental labor. For
this reason, he could also correct and improve the manuscript, as well
as make additions to the same, with the least waste of time. He did not
require refreshments at work, and wrote with remarkable facility. The
duration of the time which he spent at the writing-desk depended upon
the state of his health and the temper of his mind.

Frederick Friedrich, well known in Germany as a novelist, prefers the
evening for literary work, although he conceives the plots of his
stories in the course of the day. He asserts that the nerves are more
stimulated and that the imagination is more lively in the evening. His
novels are sent to the printer as they were written; he hardly ever
makes corrections. While at work Friedrich fills the air with cigar
smoke and drinks several glasses of Rhine-wine. He must be alone, and
the writing-table must be in the customary order; any new arrangement of
the things on the table makes the author f