DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Fanomena, March 1948

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Fanomena, March 1948

Page 10

2. Cat main character, told in third person.
3. Told by mouse in first person.
4. Mouse main character, told in third person.
5. Story about cat and mouse as biological characters.
6. Contest between cat and mouse as allegorical of human conflict.
7. Story as fantasy, folklore, comedy, tragedy, science fiction.
8. Finally a sermon could be written about this idea.
Having decided on the mode of narrative there are four important details that should be considered before a single like or eve a word of the story is written.
1. The NAME of the story. The tale must be boiled down to a word or a very few words, and these must give the main idea of the story and arouse sufficient interest to cause the person reading it to wish to continue the story. Sometimes this is not as easy as it sounds.
2. The BEGINNING sentence or paragraph. This is very important; it must hold the attention and excited the curiosity of the reader. The beginning of THE GOLDEN BOUGH is an excellent example: "Last night," she said, "I had a dream---" and the reader at once wants to know what that dream was and its connection with the title.
3. The ENDING. This should be positively determined during the first thinking out of the story. Many writers come to the end but do not know how to finish and therefore ramble on and on till they come to the final period leaving the reader exhausted and irritated.
4. The MIDDLE. This is the body of the story. The important is NOT to include any material that does not have a DIRECT bearing on the main idea of the story. Many of the great authors have made this mistake. Tolstoi, Zola, Dickens, France. They insert thousands of words into a novel which add pages and detract from the force of the narrative.
Now the story is ready to be written. The creator has the entire tale in his mind; all he has to do is type it. In doing this he must keep in mind the following desidera:
1. Use simple language, short sentences, well known words.
2. Avoid lengthy descriptions, no matter how beautiful they may be.
3. Avoid complicated situations. The audience is reading for pleasure and not for intellectual gymnastics.
4. Secure increasing suspense leading up tot he final paragraph or even ssentence.
5. If back tracking is done it must be used very skillfully or it becomes irritating, as is often the case in moving pictures.
6. Write the story as rapidly as possible. Half finished and then allowed to grow cold, it oftne loses its charm and value.
7. Write the story only when you feel you positively HAVE TO.
Now the story is written. Put it away without reading it and after a few months take it out of the file and read it. Ask yourself if it is satisfactory in every way to yourself; for after all that is the only thing that really matters. There may be some changes required; perhaps the entire story will have to be rewritten; or in rare instances the first writing is the only one needed.
This question of personal satisfaction is most important. Only recently I have reread one of my published novels, THE FIGHTING WOMAN, with the idea of rewriting it. I wrote this story twenty years ago and read it last fifteen years ago. It was with a certain pleasure that I found it exactly as I wanted it to be. The 256 pages may never be printed---but if they are, it will be with practically no changes.
Now finally we have a story that pleases the writer. The next stepis to sell it. Perhaps not the most important part, but if writing is to be a vocation instead of an avocation, a very necessary one. A new person comes on the stage-- the editor. He is influenced in his decision somewhat by whether he likes the story; but far more important to him is the question as to whether the average reader of his magazine will like it. He is editing the magazine for only one
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2. Cat main character, told in third person. 3. Told by mouse in first person. 4. Mouse main character, told in third person. 5. Story about cat and mouse as biological characters. 6. Contest between cat and mouse as allegorical of human conflict. 7. Story as fantasy, folklore, comedy, tragedy, science fiction. 8. Finally a sermon could be written about this idea. Having decided on the mode of narrative there are four important details that should be considered before a single like or eve a word of the story is written. 1. The NAME of the story. The tale must be boiled down to a word or a very few words, and these must give the main idea of the story and arouse sufficient interest to cause the person reading it to wish to continue the story. Sometimes this is not as easy as it sounds. 2. The BEGINNING sentence or paragraph. This is very important; it must hold the attention and excited the curiosity of the reader. The beginning of THE GOLDEN BOUGH is an excellent example: "Last night," she said, "I had a dream---" and the reader at once wants to know what that dream was and its connection with the title. 3. The ENDING. This should be positively determined during the first thinking out of the story. Many writers come to the end but do not know how to finish and therefore ramble on and on till they come to the final period leaving the reader exhausted and irritated. 4. The MIDDLE. This is the body of the story. The important is NOT to include any material that does not have a DIRECT bearing on the main idea of the story. Many of the great authors have made this mistake. Tolstoi, Zola, Dickens, France. They insert thousands of words into a novel which add pages and detract from the force of the narrative. Now the story is ready to be written. The creator has the entire tale in his mind; all he has to do is type it. In doing this he must keep in mind the following desidera: 1. Use simple language, short sentences, well known words. 2. Avoid lengthy descriptions, no matter how beautiful they may be. 3. Avoid complicated situations. The audience is reading for pleasure and not for intellectual gymnastics. 4. Secure increasing suspense leading up tot he final paragraph or even ssentence. 5. If back tracking is done it must be used very skillfully or it becomes irritating, as is often the case in moving pictures. 6. Write the story as rapidly as possible. Half finished and then allowed to grow cold, it oftne loses its charm and value. 7. Write the story only when you feel you positively HAVE TO. Now the story is written. Put it away without reading it and after a few months take it out of the file and read it. Ask yourself if it is satisfactory in every way to yourself; for after all that is the only thing that really matters. There may be some changes required; perhaps the entire story will have to be rewritten; or in rare instances the first writing is the only one needed. This question of personal satisfaction is most important. Only recently I have reread one of my published novels, THE FIGHTING WOMAN, with the idea of rewriting it. I wrote this story twenty years ago and read it last fifteen years ago. It was with a certain pleasure that I found it exactly as I wanted it to be. The 256 pages may never be printed---but if they are, it will be with practically no changes. Now finally we have a story that pleases the writer. The next stepis to sell it. Perhaps not the most important part, but if writing is to be a vocation instead of an avocation, a very necessary one. A new person comes on the stage-- the editor. He is influenced in his decision somewhat by whether he likes the story; but far more important to him is the question as to whether the average reader of his magazine will like it. He is editing the magazine for only one 10