Chapter XIX: Appendix: C

TO WRITE A STORY

CONCEPTIVE TECHNIQUE

(1) Find your story, a fiction exhibiting personality in
conflict with its environment, with another personality, or with
itself.

(2) Realize precisely what constitutes the plot--what opposition
between what forces of personality or nature is the influence
which gives fictional significance to the sequence of incidents
or events that have first come to mind as the story.

(3) Realize the characters, major and minor; that is, discover
just what attributes of theirs must be developed by direct
statement or by inference from action in order to give the plot
an adequate, concrete, specific presentment.

(4) Having grasped the plot, the essence of the story, and all
its implications, and having realized the individual people who
alone can present it convincingly, scrutinize closely the events
of the story, as they first were conceived, to discover whether
their rearrangement or entire change may not result in a
combination presenting the plot more adequately and more
forcefully than the combination that first suggested the plot.

(5) Having blocked out the fiction thus, consider and determine
from whose viewpoint it may best be told.

CONSTRUCTIVE TECHNIQUE

(1) Arrange the significant events of the story in sequence with
a due but not forced regard to the necessities of climax, that
is, increasing tensity of the plot-struggle.

(2) Consider how best to link together the major happenings, and
endeavor to devise and manipulate the minor events so that they
may serve a double purpose, first, to lead from major event to
major event, second, to develop the characters; remember that a
story is a physical presentment of a spiritual thing, the
plot-struggle, and that personality should function in the small
as well as in the great events.

(3) Determine precisely the ending toward which to work, and let
it coincide with the termination of the plot-struggle.

(4) Apportion the length of the story among its several
happenings, those main events which give physical presentment to
the plot and so incidentally develop or exhibit character, and
those minor events which only develop character or merely aid
the physical progress of the story.

EXECUTIVE TECHNIQUE

(1) Determine the style or manner of writing for which the story
calls, and maintain it when once pitched upon.

(2) Write vividly only where emphasis is called for by the
event; do not be afraid to narrate in general terms where the
story does not call for detail; and think less of the word than
of the thing you visualize. Let the story flow before your eye
and sound in your ear as to an actual observer or listener;
transcribe only what he would see, hear, smell or think under
the influence of the particular circumstances.

(3) Avoid all artificialities, in description, in the speech of
characters, even in their names and in the undue repetition of
verbs of utterance--"he said," "she said."

(4) Re-write, or touch up in manuscript.

(5) After a week or more, when other matters have shaken the
mind from the ruts it has worn for itself in planning and
writing the story, re-read it critically to discover whether it
is worth-while and whether it cannot be improved.

INDEX

Action, 105, 139, 146, 148.

Action, in novel and short story, 190.

Adventure, 32.

Alice in Wonderland, 203.

Almayer's Folly, 161, 163.

Anna Karenina, 192, 195.

Artificiality, 85.

Artistry, 99, 187, 188, 206.

Atmosphere
Definition, 152.
Atmospheric value, 154.
Tone of story, 156.
Preparation for climax, 156.
Examples, 158, 159.
Story of atmosphere, 160.
Short story, 161.
Setting, 161.
Dramatic value, 164.

Atmosphere, short story of, 166, 168.

Atmosphere, story of, 45.

Atmosphere, style of story of, 93.

Anglo-Saxon, 130.

Austen, Jane, 94, 182, 189.

Balzac, Honore de, 54, 88, 98, 114.

Best Short Stories of 1915, The, 76.

Brevity, of short story, 178, 179.

Bronte, Emily, 94.

Brown, Alice, 154.

Burnett, Frances H., 152.

Call of the Wild, The, 198.

Carroll, Lewis, 203.

Cask of Amontillado, The, 168.

Cervantes, 208.

Character, 35, 36.

Characterization, 74, 128.
Three modes, 136.
Dialogue, 136.
Action, 136.
Description or direct statement, 136.
Aims of characterization, 138.
To show nature of person, 138.
To show appearance, 138.
Character and plot, 139.
Characterization by speech, 140.
Characterization by statement, 144.
Characterization by action, 147.

Characterization in novel, 190.

Characterization in short story, 172, 173.

Character sketch, 39.

Character story, 40.

Character, style of story of, 93.

Classes, speech of, 143.

Clearness, in description, 119.

Climax, 50, 57, 157.

Cloister and the Hearth, The, 191.

Coherence, of novel, 190.

Coherence, of short story, 179.

Color, 119.

Commonplace, story of, 97.

Complication, as element of plot, 51.

Complication, story of, 42.

Compression, 44, 169, 181.

Condescension, 30.

Conrad, Joseph, 161, 162.

Conservatism, portrayal of, 26.

Construction, 16, 64.

Conte, 43.

Contrast, 123, 157.

Copperfield, David, 117, 191, 192.

Cousin Pons, 54, 55.

Creative process, order, 37.

Crime and Punishment, 32.

Critical faculty, 23.

Criticism, 34.

Culture, 35.

Current Questions, 25.

Dawn of a Tomorrow, The, 152.

Defoe, Daniel, 98, 208.

Descent into the Maelstrom, A, 84.

Description, 105.
Interest, 107.
Secondary function, 108.
Distribution, 108.
Story of atmosphere, 109.
Effectiveness, 109.
Description of persons, 110.
Example, 111.
Analysis, 112.
Accuracy, 114.
Mechanical limitations, 116.
Use of all senses, 117.
Description of setting, 118.
Two objects, 119.
Use of all senses, 120.
Order of details, 122.
Contrast, 123.

Design, importance of, 13.

Dialect, 127, 128.

Dialogue (see Speech), 105, 136.

Dialogue, in relation to characterization, 140.

Dickens, Charles, 28, 92, 117, 141, 142, 191, 192, 193.

Diction, 102, 130, 131.

Don Quixote, 208.

Dostoievsky, Fyodor, 32, 203, 208.

Douglas, George, 58, 94.

Doyle, Sir A. Conan, 83, 204.

Drama, conventions of, 170.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 56, 182, 200.

Dumas, Alexandre, 31, 92.

Dunn, Finley Peter (Mr. Dooley), 134.

Ebb-Tide, The, 82, 89, 91, 145, 149, 188, 191, 192.

Elements, blending of, 105, 106.

Eliot, George, 31, 88.

Emotion, 25.

Emphasis, 39, 40, 77, 101, 110.

End of story, 72.

Events, order of, 65.

Events, secondary, 103.

Exposition, 85.

Fall of the House of Usher, The, 44, 161, 162, 167, 207.

Fantasy, influence on style, 92, 93.

Fiction, theory of, 197.

Fielding, Henry, 28, 192.

Figures of speech, 100, 114, 115.

Flaubert, Gustave, 27.

Frankenstein, 189.

Freeman, Mary E. Wilkins, 154.

Galsworthy, John, 88.

Genius, cultivation of, 23.

Greek, 130.

Hardy, Thomas, 88, 161.

Harrison, Henry Sydnor, 133.

Harte, Bret, 53, 59.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 29, 32, 58, 92, 93, 182, 203, 204.

Henry, O., 82.

House of the Dead, The, 58, 203.

House with the Green Shutters, The, 58, 94.

Hurst, Fannie, 76.

Hugo, Victor, 28, 52, 109, 192, 204.

Idiot, The, 208.

Il Penseroso, 94.

Imagination, 29.

Imagination and dialogue, 129.

Imitation, 33.

Information, 24.

Interest, 34, 35, 107, 108, 176, 185, 203.

Introduction, 67, 81, 82.

James, Henry, 56.

Jean Christophe, 28, 192.

Journal of the Plague Year, A, 98.

Kidnapped, 53, 96.

Kipling, Rudyard, 44, 68, 82, 99, 120, 198.

L'Allegro, 94.

La Peau de Chagrin, 98.

Latin, 130.

Legeia, 167.

Length, 86.

Les Miserables, 28, 192, 204.

Literalness, in dialogue, 126, 127.

Lodging for the Night, A, 110, 137, 174, 175.

London, Jack, 71, 75, 198.

Lost World, The, 204.

Macbeth, 157.

Mannerisms in dialogue, 143, 144.

Markheim, 44, 55, 56, 159, 169, 179.

Master of Ballantrae, The, 91.

Material, accessibility of, 22.

Matter, choice of
Selection, 30.
Sincerity, 31.
Adventure, 32.
Common problems, 32.
Originality, 33.
Novelty and worth, 33.
Elements of literature, 34.
Interest, 34.
Elements of interest, 35.

Matter, significance of, 205.

Maupassant, Guy de, 44, 105, 168.

Meredith, George, 92.

Merry Men, The, 153, 155, 161, 162.

Milton, John, 94.

Monsieur Beaucaire, 71.

Narration, 105, 106, 107, 136, 147.

Narration, constructive technique of
Importance, 64.
Plot and situation, 65.
Spiritual values, 66.
Order of events, 67.
Introduction, 67.
Primary and secondary events, 68.
Climax, 70.
Naturalness, 70.
Preparation, 70, 73.
End of story, 72.
Proportion, 76.
General Considerations, 78.

Narration, executive technique of
Mode of narration, 80.
First person narration, 81.
Variation, 81.
Advantages of mode, 81.
Disadvantages, 82.
Plausibility, 84.
Third person narration, 84.
Advantages, 84.
Avoidance of artificiality, 85.
Length, 86.
Viewpoint, 86.
Attitude of author, 88.
Style, 90.
Congruity of manner, 92.
Story of action, 92.
Story of character, 93.
Method of narration, 97.
Story of commonplace, 97.
Story of bizarre, 98.
Vividness, 98.
Suspense, 100.
Emphasis and suppression, 101.
Expansion and vividness, 101.
Primary and secondary events, 102.
Transition, 104.
Blending of elements, 105.

Naturalness, 143.

Naturalness of dialogue, 126.

Nature, conflict with as plot, 52.

Necklace, The, 105, 168.

New Arabian Nights, The, 91, 93.

New England, 154, 155.

Note on Realism, A, 13, 90, 91.

Notre Dame de Paris, 109.

Novel, 38, 54, 87.
Novel and romance, 182.
Romanticism and realism, 183.
Technique of forms, 185.
Incoherence of novel, 186.
Novel as medium for self-expression, 186.
Interpolation of comment, 187.
Simplicity, 188.
Inclusiveness of novel, 190.
Personality, 190.
Action, 191.
Length, 191.
Initial idea, 192.
Singleness of story, 193.
Social emphasis, 196.

Novelty, 33.

Observation, 24.

Our Mutual Friend, 192, 193.

Outcasts of Poker Flat, The, 53, 59.

Personality, 198.

Persons, description of, 110.

Philosophy of Composition, The, 167.

Philosophy of fiction, 202.

Pickwick Papers, The, 92, 193.

Plausibility, 68, 69, 103.

Plot, 139, 148, 189, 197, 207, 208.
Definition, 48, 50.
Character and plot, 49.
Dramatic value, 50.
Complication, 51.
Interest, 51.
Plot as problem, 52.
Three basic themes, 52.
Conflict between man and nature, 52.
Conflict between man and man, 54.
Conflict within the man, 55.
Arrangement, 56.
Climax, 57.
Major situations, 60.
Climax and plot, 61.
Situation, 61.

Plot for short story, 168, 169.

Poe, Edgar Allan, 44, 51, 84, 93, 161, 162, 167, 168, 169, 170,
180, 207.

Point of view, 86, 116.

Polti, Georges, 62.

Practice, 96.

Prejudice, 26.

Preparation, 73.

Preparation of reader for climax, 156.

Pride and Prejudice, 189.

Problem in fiction, 52.

Problem novel, 187.

Problem, story or plot as, 50.

Proportion, 76, 102.

Provincialism, 26.

Psychological story, 55.

Reade, Charles, 191.

Reading, 26.

Realism, 182, 189, 199.

Reporting and literature, 45.

Return of the Native, The, 161.

Rhetoric, 95, 109, 110.

Richardson, Samuel, 86.

Robinson Crusoe, 98, 208.

Rolland, Romain, 28, 192.

Romance, 182.

Romanticism, 182, 199.

Scarlet Letter, The, 29, 32, 92, 182, 203, 204.

Scott, Sir Walter, 52, 88.

Sea-Wolf, The, 71, 75, 76.

Selection, 22.

Self-culture, 24.

Sense and Sensibility, 182.

Senses, employment in description, 117, 120, 121.

Seriousness, 31.

Setting, 152.

Setting, description of, 118.

Sex, 33.

Shakespeare, William, 157.

Ship That Found Herself, The, 198.

Short story, 18, 38, 43, 87, 193.
Definition, 165.
Two types, 166.
Dramatic short story, 166.
Atmospheric short story, 166.
Origins, 167.
Unity and singleness of effect, 168.
General technique, 172.
Characterization, 172.
Interest and simplicity, 176.
Complexity, 177.
Coherence, 179.
Compression, 181.

Significance of matter, 205.

Simplicity, 188.

Simplicity of plot for short story, 176.

Sincerity, 31.

Situation (see Plot).

Situation and dialogue, 128.

Social question, 26.

Speech, 105.
Potency, 124.
Mechanical distribution, 125.
Naturalness, 126.
Direction, 126.
Dialect, 127.
Situation, 128.
Resources to meet demands of situation, 130.
Style, 132.
Verbs of utterance, 133.
Speech for its own sake, 134.
Creative process, 135.

Spelling in dialogue, 143.

Stage, conventions of, 170.

Stevenson, Robert Louis, 13, 39, 44, 52, 53, 55, 56, 82, 89, 90, 93,
96, 99, 110, 137, 139, 144, 145, 149, 153,
155, 158, 161, 162, 169, 174, 179, 182, 188,
191, 192, 200.

Story types, 165, 166.
Conception and execution, 37.
Utility to know types, 38.
Novel and romance, 38.
Short story, 38.
The three types, 39.
Emphasis, 39.
Three elements of story, 39.
Character, 40.
Incident, 42.
Atmosphere, 45.
Other types, 46.
Short Story and compression, 44.

Story, distinguished from tale, 49.

Story, ways to create, 39.

Style, 82, 90, 97, 137.

Suppression, 101.

Suspense, 100, 101.

Sympathy, 88, 148, 149.

Tale, 39, 43, 49, 165, 207.

Tanglewood Tales, 93.

Tarkington, Booth, 71.

T. B., 76.

Technique, natural approach to, 16.

Technique, object of, 51.

Thackeray, William Makepeace, 28, 54, 58, 187, 191, 192.

Thematic story, 40.

Theory of fiction
Story and tale, 197.
Realism the method, 199.
Realism the artistic dogma, 199.
Short story, 200.
Interest, 201.
Power of real problems of life, 203.
Test of merit, 204.
Aim of executive artistry, 206.
Verisimilitude, 207.
Significance of plot, 208.

Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations, The, 62.

Thrawn Janet, 158.

Toilers of the Sea, The, 52.

Tolstoi, Leo, 192, 195.

Tom Jones, 28, 192.

Tone, 82, 132.

Tragedy, 157.

Transition, 103, 104, 105.

Trollope, Anthony, 182.

Turgenieff, Ivan, 146.

Ugliness, 89.

Unities, dramatic, 168.

Unity of short story, 201.

Vanity Fair, 54, 58, 187.

Verisimilitude, 84, 92, 106, 107, 115, 118, 119, 120, 123, 143, 207.

Verne, Jules, 204.

Victorian novelists, 191.

Viewpoint, 86, 116.

Virginians, The, 191, 192.

Vividness, 98, 101, 110, 114, 119.

V. V.'s Eyes, 134.

War and Peace, 192.

Warden, The, 182.

Weir of Hermiston, 91.

Wells, H. G., 204.

Wit, in dialogue, 127.

Without Benefit of Clergy, 44, 68, 120.

Worth of matter, 33.

Writer of fiction.
Critical faculty, 22.
Cultivation of genius, 23.
Observation and information, 24.
Open-mindedness, 25.
Attitude toward life, 25.
Prejudice and provincialism, 26.
Social question, 26.
Reading, 26.
Imagination, 29.

Wuthering Heights, 94.

Transcriber's Note:

Spelling and punctuation have been preserved as in the original publication except for the following changes:

Page 24

less obvious, but, curiously enough, is is _changed to_
less obvious, but, curiously enough, is

Page 25

familiartiy with life, which cannot be brushed up _changed to_
familiarity with life, which cannot be brushed up

Page 28

Christrophe," "War and Peace," much of Thackeray's _changed to_
Christophe," "War and Peace," much of Thackeray's

Page 33

and deficiences before writing is necessary to make _changed to_
and deficiencies before writing is necessary to make

Page 37

Incident--Archtypal Character--Short Story and _changed to_
Incident--Archetypal Character--Short Story and

Page 43

archtype of all stories. An historical analysis _changed to_
archetype of all stories. An historical analysis

which stresses the bare incident, is archtypal of _changed to_
which stresses the bare incident, is archetypal of

Page 54

distincly social in nature. The possibilities for the _changed to_
distinctly social in nature. The possibilities for the

Balzac and and Thackeray are supreme masters in _changed to_
Balzac and Thackeray are supreme masters in

Page 62

Polti, in "The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations, _changed to_
Polti, in "The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations,"

is a word so abused that it even might be advisible _changed to_
is a word so abused that it even might be advisable

Page 65

hapenings; a plot is some human struggle _changed to_
happenings; a plot is some human struggle

Page 67

writers--one may indulge in a little philisophical _changed to_
writers--one may indulge in a little philosophical

Page 72

selection and ordering of its secendary events _changed to_
selection and ordering of its secondary events

Page 82

lost derelicts of people move. Their speach is _changed to_
lost derelicts of people move. Their speech is

Page 84

analytical of more than one charactcer the writer _changed to_
analytical of more than one character the writer

lays bare the souls of all charactcers instead of _changed to_
lays bare the souls of all characters instead of

Page 85

virture of each type may be utilized _changed to_
virtue of each type may be utilized

Page 86

omniscent viewpoint may carry the story _changed to_
omniscient viewpoint may carry the story

idiosyncracies, and to make _changed to_
idiosyncrasies, and to make

Page 89

will be a be a glorified and persecuted _changed to_
will be a glorified and persecuted

Page 102

alloting the space of a story before writing, as has been _changed to_
allotting the space of a story before writing, as has been

Page 111

half fallen back, and made a strange excresence on either _changed to_
half fallen back, and made a strange excrescence on either

Page 117

strict if unconcious regard for the laws of _changed to_
strict if unconscious regard for the laws of

Page 127

a story involves a charactcer from such a district _changed to_
a story involves a character from such a district

Page 132

feeling and appreciation that any reader. _changed to_
feeling and appreciation than any reader.

Page 133

"'A lady stepped on her Junebug,'" _changed to_
"'A lady stepped on her Junebug.'"

Page 138

influencial in numerous directions in a story. _changed to_
influential in numerous directions in a story.

Page 140

it may be difficult to do so unobstrusively _changed to_
it may be difficult to do so unobtrusively

Page 143

"Yuh" for "you" is in instance. We all "yuh" _changed to_
"Yuh" for "you" is an instance. We all "yuh"

Page 153

will have some totality of emontional _changed to_
will have some totality of emotional

Page 167

Poe produced such stories as "Legeia" _changed to_
Poe produced such stories as "Ligeia"

Page 170

connotations of the state _changed to_
connotations of the stage

Page 175

the writter's resources--again of course _changed to_
the writer's resources--again of course

Page 180

thou and words, though it begin in a _changed to_
thousand words, though it begin in a

Page 182

and the metomorphosis of Dr. Jekyll _changed to_
and the metamorphosis of Dr. Jekyll

Page 191

laying a false emphasis on its pormissible scope _changed to_
laying a false emphasis on its permissible scope

Page 211

Your, first, second, tenth, or _changed to_
Your first, second, tenth, or

Page 214

obvious reasons your laboratory anaylsis of _changed to_
obvious reasons your laboratory analysis of

Page 218

connoiseur rather than the humble practitioner _changed to_
connoisseur rather than the humble practitioner

Page 219

but writing with an definite aim _changed to_
but writing with a definite aim

state its chief values as succintly as _changed to_
state its chief values as succinctly as