PAGM TWELVE THE MICHIGAN DAILY %U r)AT, APRT T, , 1 ?t5 +* +A+L a * Books and Writers + + +* In Quest of the School of Journalism, believes that specialization is the chief characteris- tic of the new journalism. Editor and Golden Fleece jPublisher quotes him as saying that the tendency now is for men "to sink their roots down into some one sub- ject in which they can become an He wants to speak and write with authority. Authoritativeness is what By Ward Allan Howel No census has ever been taken ofs that vast and ever growing companya of eager spirits who feel an unquench- able urge to create, to write, to pro- duce perchance the long-looked-for great American novel or play. But from the bungalow courts of Califor- nia to the hall bedrooms of New York it is certain that their number is, legion, their quest a common one- the Golden Fleece of Successful Authorship. To some of them an Editor is a malignant person utterly devoid of literary discrimination or taste; to others more fortunate in avoiding the receipt of those slips which are al- ways so careful to state that rejec- tiondoes not necessarily imply a lack of merit, he is apt to appear as a good fairy, a keen intelligent man who holds the key to the treasury. What is the royal road to his favor? Where should the Golden Fleece be sought? In the college class room? F. O. B. Scranton? Or in the School of Hard Knocks? The writer of this article askeddseveral prominent authors and. editors their ideas on suitable preparation. Their replies follow: Hamlin Garland: "A college edu- cation is not essential to a writer but a knowledge of history, literature, psychology and aesthetics is and must be acouired somehow by any writer who expects to be anything more than a hick reporter for the daily press. A college education is a good start." Heywood Broun: "It is a bromide but a true one that an excellent pre- liminary to the career of a writer is newspaper work-if the writer doesn't ,tay in it more than five or six years. College, I should say, is not essetial, w ut it'smost useful courses which do seem to me very useful are probably History and English. I know this hardly breaks the ice but as a matter of fact, to go any further in would be beyond me!" Karl E. Harriman, Editor, Red Book Magazine: "It seems to me that any sort of education; the more comprehensive the better, or any course of reading, must inevitably be b~eneficial to one who contemplates a literary career. There Is nothing one can learn, no impressions he can re ceive, no information he can secure, which will not benefit him as a writer." Zona Gale: "I should say that edu- cation for one who wishes to write is the same background of education which everyone should have before he begins to specialize-that which will draw out from him the highest pos- sible response to life, to its 'wonders of human "relationship, human re- search and the whole history of human aspiration. This may or may not mean a collerge education. Like every other study of value this is a case study and depends largely on the In- dividual. Then as to his preparation for his specialty, which should be only a branch of his general preparation, I should say that those are of greatest value which give him the greatest sense of contact with living human being and their problems. Ethics, philosophy, sociology are just as im- portant to him as English-are even more important than English. He does not need to be told to study the great writers any more than he needs to be told to stay in the open-he will do both because he cannot help him- self. This sounds didactic-in every case I mean of course 'I think'!" It seems to be the general consen- sus of professional opinion 'therefore that a quite thorough course of study is highly desirable. But probably most college rhetoric instructors will agree with the Boston Herald that the col- lege student no longer has the patience to tread the paths his fathers trod. He is in quest of the royal road. dash and brilliancy on a vocabulary of a few hundred words. And so with many of the brethern outside the college halls. Hence we have one reason for they rapid spread of the Teach-You-How- To-Write-By-Mail-Schools. For some thing like ten dollars down and two dollars and seventy-five cents per month for eight months thereafter these concerns endeavor to provide the magic wand which will push forth the budding genius to its full fruit. All too frequently however the flower- ing process suffers a frost. Mr. Mencken is of the opinion that such methods may produce favorite contri- butors to Silly Stories or True Orgies but that no aspirant of genuine talentj is ever helped-rather many a one is greatly damaged.I Robert Louis Stevenson always{ maintained that imitation was the onlyI way to learn to write. Imitate authors4 if3 holds down a job." In other words if for example one aspires to be a foreign correspondent, then study, and study hard while in college, such subjects as international politics, economics and history. With the back- ground and with the facts at hand, the writing of them is quite apt to be the least of the problem. Before concluding this article it might not be amiss to refer to those two besetting sins of modern writing so illuminatingly described by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch in his discourse, "On The Art Of Writing," as "Jour- nalese" and "Jargon." One who is addicted to Journalese is according I to Sir Arthur "like the Babu trying all the while to embellish our poor language, to make it more floriferious, more poetical-like the Babu for example, who, reporting his mother's death, wrote, 'Regret to inform you, the hand that rocked the cradle has Dial Press) Bernhardt describes a One of the most important autobio- book will be based on this address farewell performance in New York: graphies announced for the year will which will, however, be considerably "I was twenty-five minutes getting to be Hilaire Belloc's "The Cruise of the enlarged. This and That the stage-door. Hundreds of people Nona," for publication by Houghton * * * shook my hand, begging me to return. Mifflin Company in May. "The Nona A new novel by Iai Hay Beith, One lady removed her broach and is the name of my boat in which I "Paid in Fuull" will be published next - __--- fastened it to my mantle. At each have done a great deal of sailing dur- month by Houghton Mifflin Company. "The Spanish Farm" by R. H. step I took I was detained. One lady ing the last twenty years," he writes. Major Beith is now on the continent had the idea of producing her pocket- "The book will consist mainly in following the successful appearance book and asking me to write my name. reminiscences, judgments, stories, and of the dramatized version of "Paid in thornden Prize for 1924, is in its third The idea spread like lightning. Very all the rest which comes into a man's Full," "The Happy Ending" now play- printing in America, and its fourth in 4 young people made me write my name mind when he is thinking upon the ing in London. England. In awarding the prize, the on their cuffs. I was completely ex- past and upon his own acquired .* * * well known novelist A. E. W. Mason, hausted. My arms were loaded with knowledge." "The Amazing Guest" by Gilbert said he had read a lot of books which small bouquets. I felt some one be- _*Watson which Houghton Mifflin Gom- were merely "analysis upon analysis hind me pulling my hat. I turned published last fall has recently and nothing more." A lot of peopleAt around quickly. A lady with a air AH ttle book of national firiportance, panyaublishelandalharectly were content with thrusting the analy-' of scissors in aher hand was trying to Henry Cabot Lodge: A Biographical ared in England Ceitay sis at the reader's head and saying, cut a lock of my hair, but she only Sketch" by William Lawrence, Bishopb- "It's a book." "But, it is not a book" succeeded in cutting my feather. of Massachusetts will be published he declared-"It is merely a certain Detectives had to liberate me." by Houghton Mifflin Company in A second edition of "Observations" nuumber of grammatical phrases April. Bishop Lawrence has been by Marianne Moore, which received printed upon a certain number of * * * selected to deliver the address before'the Dial Prize award in 1924, will be pages of more or less paper. I of Rafael Sabatini whose first novel of the Massachuetts State Legislature in issued early in April by Lincoln haers o ore orespae. tI man America, "The Carolinian" was pub- Commemoration of Senator Lodge. The MacVeagh: The Dial Press. characters to be representedl to me in ihd nFerayb Hogtn . . lished in February by Houghton--- their proper environment and acting Mifflin Company is considering writ- true to type. The truth is, that a ing a novel about John Smith. Saba- book lives because it is a joy to read, tini recently went to Birmingham, c 'England, to attend the first perform- . * * * ance of his play, "The Tyrant" which! In her last book "The Art of the will open later in London. "Author- Bo bs / ( ater Theatre" (Lincoln MacVeagh: The ship," he writes, "has its burdens. with various styles and eventually he kicked the bucket'." Jargon on the believed you would evolve from the other hand is marked by no such melting pot so to speak, your own gusto or zeal but "like respectability personal and individual style. "Be- in Chicago, Jargon stalks unchecked fore he can tell what cadences he in our midst." Circumlocution and the truly prefers the student should have use of abstract nouns rather than tried all that are possible; bdfore he concrete ones are its vices. The writ- can choose and preserve a fitting key ing of "the coffin of John Jenkins, of words, he should long have prac-I deceased" rather than merely "John ticed the literary scales." a- Jenkin's coffin" and "the answer to the Benjamin Franklin's plan of study- question is in' the negative" instead ing the Spectator essays closely was 1cf a plain "no" are horrible examples somewhat similar but the, distinction of jargon that are cited. lies in that Franklin strove to be emu- Such are the pitfalls that await lative rather than imitative-not like unwary feet. But why continue the Addison but as well or better was his distressing enumeration? The great theory. Both theories or a combina- quest for the Golden Fleece goes on tion of both are useful but their rela- I and will continue to go on apace. tive merits will depend largely on the Once inoculated with its virus the individual himself. victim knows no peace. Many start As regards writing in the purely but few reach the shining heights journalistic field Dean Walter Wil- I where rests the golden prize. liams of the University of Missouri, But nevertheless we can all try! '!It1t11 111111tlti11 t11 t11 U1 [Iltitt111111 1 t| litlllllill lII Ulll tlllll tt11t61tllll i "At he Drugstore Beantiful" c What - for an Easter Greeting - would deight her more than a box of We keep them on ice. A rc a d e P h am a c "PETTY" No. 7 NICKELS ARCADE PHONE 1038-.J Iillllll flilllll ll ll illill tlltll ll tlllltllllltl l l lllllll1 t1111Ii11110111li ll ti _ n A COMPLETE EASTER From Our Large Stock of Easter Cards, Decorations and Appropriate Novelties 1 I 1 S. UNIVERSITY AVE. PHONE 160-R II Join the Easter 6K Parade!! Spring Clothes h Easter is an occasion that marks the dress-up season for all men. A. C. 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