Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

Can You Answer?

1. What do the thousand leading editors of the country wish to buy from free-lance writers? (Answered on Pages 249-395)

2. What magazines are most hospitable to the work of new writers? (See Pages 32-36)

3. What is the value of correspondence schools, literary bureaus, manuscript critics, etc.? (See Pages 3-14)

4. How can a playwright get his play on Broadway? (See Pages 129-133)

5. How does Mary Roberts Rinehart construct a detective story? (See Pages 67-70)

6. Will a literary agent help you sell your work? (See Pages 214-222)

7. How can you make contacts with editors? (See Pages 14-22)

8. What does the modern American reader want in a short-story? (See Pages 40-61)

9. What sort of a note-book should a writer keep? (Pages 229-235)

10. How to write: Book Reviews? (Pages 169-189); Juvenile Stories? (Pages 89-96); Greeting Card Verses? (Pages 165-169); Novels? (Pages 36-40); Poems? (Pages 157-169); Radio Plays? (Pages 138-144); Plays for the Amateur Stage? (Pages 133-138); Adventure Stories? (Pages 75-81) etc.

Answers To These-And Countless Other Questions Are In

THE FREE LANCE WRITER'S
HANDBOOK

THE EXPERTS SAY

The Bookman: "I do not know of any question with which a young writer - or an old oneplagues the editor that it does not answer satisfactorily. Here the great esoteric world of writing is thoroughly revealed."

The Saturday Review of Literature: "With the great increase in advertising, the business of publishing - magazines, newspapers, books has become one of enormous extent, and as a result more and more people are turning to writing as a means of livelihood. This book is a successful attempt to aid such people by showing them how to write salable matter and how to place such matter successfully when written."

The New York Times: "The candid, sometimes brutal, and always well-written counsel of such writers as Ben Ames Williams, Henry Seidel Canby, Katharine Fullerton Gerould, and Augustus Thomas. The force of example counts for as much as the sound suggestion."

$5.00 at Your Bookseller. Free Descriptive Material from

WRITER PUBLISHING CO., Harvard Sq., Cambridge, Mass.

[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]

THE WRITER'S DIRECTORY OF PERIODICALS

THE fourth printing of this Directory which is constantly being revised and enlarged began in THE WRITER for July, 1922. The information for it, showing the manuscript market and the manuscript requirements of the various publications listed, is gathered directly from the editors of the periodicals. Great pains are taken to make the information accurate and the Directory complete.

Before submitting manuscripts to any publication, it is advisable to secure a sample copy.

(Continued from May WRITER)

U. S. NAVY MAGAZINE (M), 764 State st., San Diego, Calif. $2.50; 25c. Frederick W. Fish, editor.

Uses short stories, general articles, poetry, plays, humorous verse, and jokes, all on naval subjects; but no novelettes, and no serials. Sets length limit at 5,000 words, buys naval and travel photographs, and pays on publication.

VANITY FAIR (M), Condé Nast Publications, Graybar Building, 43d st. and Lexington ave., New York. $3.50; 35c. Donald Freeman, managing editor.

Uses general articles of limited range, short, satirical, and humorous, short one-act plays, and poetry, but no fiction, and no jokes. Buys photographs, and pays on acceptance. VARIETY GOODS MAGAZINE (M), 812 Huron road, Cleveland, Ohio. Harry E. Martin, editor.

Circulates among dealers in popular-priced merchandise, needs practical, detailed articles covering all phases of buying, selling, display, and handling of such merchandise, as well as descriptions of methods whereby small-town, variety, and chain-store managers cut cost, give better service, and successfully meet the problems of competition. Names of stores should be given, and wherever possible the name of the manager or some other executive who supplies the data. The same publishers issue Store Operation, the magazine of store management, service supplies, equipment, and maintenance, and will pay a cent a word for authoritative articles on these subjects, on publication.

VIOLIN WORLD (B-M), 125 West 42d st., New York. $1.00; 15c. August M. Gemunder, editor.

An educational journal, published in the interest of the stringed instrument family and their players. Uses short musical stories, and prints anything of interest to violinists. Sets length limit at one page of two columns, does not buy photographs, and pays, at the rate of two dollars a page, on acceptance.

VIRGINIA QUARTERLY REVIEW (Q), University, Virginia. $3.00; 75c. James Southall Wilson, editor.

Uses articles on economic, social, or any theme interesting to "thoughtful people," that is new in content and well written, some poetry, and perhaps an occasional short story or play of

imaginative beauty, or a finely presented idea that is "outstanding." Does not buy photographs, and usually pays five dollars a page.

VOGUE (S-M), Condé Nast Publications, Graybar Building, 43d st. and Lexington ave., New York. $5.00; 35c. Edna Woolman Chase, editor. WALLACE'S FARMER (W), Des Moines, Iowa. $1.00; 5c. Henry A. Wallace, editor; Donald R. Murphy, managing editor.

Uses only agricultural matter, with illustrations. Articles should not exceed 1,000 words, and should be of particular interest to the farmers of the corn belt region. Buys farm photographs for cover pictures. Very little contributed material is being used just now.

WAR STORIES (M), Dell Publishing Co., 97 Fifth ave., New York. $2.00; 20c. Eugene A Clancy, editor.

Interested in fiction stories of the big war, but uses stories dealing with any modern war. Stirring entertainment is wanted, as well as rough soldier humor, but the magazine wants no propaganda of any kind, no hymns of hate, and no stories depicting the horors of war. Uses short stories and novelettes, but no serials, general articles, poetry, or jokes. Sets length limit for short stories at from 5,000 to 8,000 words, and for novelettes at 30,000 words, does not buy photographs, and pays, at a minimum rate of two cents a word, on acceptance.

WATCHMAN-EXAMINER (W), 23 East 26th st., New York; 525 Tremont Temple, Boston. $2.50; 5c. Curtis Lee Laws and Austen K. deBlois, coeditors.

Uses matter pertaining to religious life and thinking, denominational (Baptist) concerns, literature, and family life. Fiction must have a religious or a moral meaning, or convey a lesson, direct or indirect. Sets length limit at from 1,500 to 2,000 words, and does not buy photographs. Uses few articles for which remuneration is made, as most of the paper is filled with contributed matter.

WATCHMAN MAGAZINE (M), 2119 Twenty-fourth ave., N., Nashville, Tenn. $1.75; 25c. Robert B. Thurber, editor

A religious publication rarely publishing articles written by others than its own denominational writers, sent on request. Uses general articles, doctrinal articles, and health articles, but no fiction, and no poetry, Sets length limit at 2,400 words, buys photographs, and pays at the rate of two dollars, on publication.

CONTINUED ON INSIDE BACK COVER

CAN AUTHORS' MONTHLY FORUM

Volume 39

BOSTON, June, 1927

Lindbergh's Flight

BY THE EDITOR

LESSONS For Creative Writers in a Great News Story
Where Fact Surpasses Fiction in the Building Up of
Dramatic Values.

HUNDREDS of thousands of newspaper

pages have been given over to the story of the attempts to win the Orteig prize, offered for the first non-stop flight between New York and Paris. Almost every editorial writer in the country has tried his hand at pointing out the effects on international relations and the future of aviation, of the series of events which lead up to the landing of Charles Lindbergh in Paris on May 21. And every experienced fiction writer and dramatist has marvelled at the dramatic unrolling of the events leading up to this climax, as interest and suspense have been steadily driven up to higher levels. It has been often proved that truth is stranger than fiction, but never in modern history has it been so clearly revealed that accident or chance may write a connected story beyond the powers of the imagination of the greatest artist.

Most curious, in this extraordinary news story, are the order and tempo of events, which have wrung from it every last drop of possible dramatic interest, intoxicating the imagination of the world as only once before in the memories of living men: in the World

Number 6

War. In the latter case, it must be remembered that there were millions of actors in the drama, that almost every human being had some definite reason for being personally interested in the outcome. But in this only a few knew personally any of the actors. Our interest is that of spectators as much as if we had bought seats in a theatre to see some production of the human imagination. For this reason, the Lindbergh Saga stands alone as the supreme news story of modern times. Aside from the strangely perfect sequence and timing of events, it is notable that characterization, contrast, suspense, surprise, and restraint are so combined to produce an artistic whole, which would be the despair of any story-teller.

The story begins with the offering of a prize of twenty-five thousand dollars for a non-stop trip from New York to Paris. A desultory public interest develops in the plans of various individuals to make the attempt. The difficulties of the flight are suggested in the discussion of experts. Interest begins to rise slightly. Captain Fonck's plane is wrecked and burned at the take-off. Two men

die. Two American aviators perish on the test flight in a plane which they were to use in an attempt to make the flight. Then two of the world's greatest aviators take off from Paris. They are lost. Up to this time, the real hero has not made his entrance. We are not yet in the body of the story, but the situation is being driven home to the reader slowly, laboriously, painstakingly, and impressively. He is being made to see two things: first, the worth-whileness of the thing that is to be accomplished; and second, the difficulties which must be overcome to accomplish it.

Why is the flight worth making? The winner will receive twenty-five thousand dollars, but that is only a symbol, as it were, of the real accomplishment of him who succeeds in making the flight. Before the public can be intensely interested, it must be persuaded that there is something far more than money involved. Yet the larger objective is almost indefinable. The Journal des Debats of Paris attempts it: "What is the value of this flight?' may be asked by certain obstinate minds."

tagonistic to accomplishment are forcefully portrayed as vast and menacing. They are clearly illustrated in the fate of Nungesser and Coli. Difficulties of the take-off, the hazards of weather, possible mechanical weakness of the plane, and that greatest of all dangers, arising from human frailty, sleep. Anyone who has read the newspapers has now a perfect background for a complete understanding of the action which is to follow.

Now the minor characters of the drama are shown. A spirit of rivalry develops. Two planes are ready for the hop, one commanded by a man who has been much in the public eye for his flight over the North Pole. Then the hero enters. It is a superb entrance. No one could have planned it better because it could not have been a more complete surprise. He literally drops from the skies, unheralded and unknown, after spanning the continent in two long jumps. The real story begins. But he does not take flight at onceweather interferes. It raises a hindrance to the action. This delay, for curious reasons, heightens rather than lowers the suspense. If he had hopped off the next day, the interest in the outcome would not have been one-tenth as keen. If he had waited too long it would have flagged. Higher and higher it mounts as the search for the lost Frenchmen emphasizes the power of the opposing forces. During the delay, swiftly, definitely, the hero is characterized. We see his mother, a school teacher in Detroit. We hear of his past exploits. Four times he has had to jump with a parachute from burning planes. He finds a kitten asleep in his cockpit and adopts it as a mascot, but he will not take it with him because he fears it may freeze to death. We see his picture and we like his face. His little actions reveal him as silent, modest, independent, and brave. In bold contrast to squabbling and wrangling in a rival camp, he works quietly and alone, saying little as he prepares his plane. There is a beautiful restraint in the action which saves it from melodrama and makes it purely heroic. His mother comes to say goodbye and departs quietly, refusing to kiss him for the →→→194 -

"Firstly, noble gestures, even seemingly without utility, must always be honored because they are equivalent to works of high art, making for man the finest qualities and aspirations of the race. Lindbergh's feat, in a certain sense, is comparable to a great monument or a great book. It is a masterpiece, deserving admiration. And besides, from the viewpoint of athletics or sport, it is a magnificent record."

The worth-whileness of the objective, since it is in the higher realms of imagination, cannot be absolutely defined. That gives it its great power over the imagination. Six men have died in futile attempts to accomplish it. We are convinced of the nobility of the objective even though perhaps because -it transcends any literal, commonplace view of the comparative values of life and death.

[ocr errors]

Not only is the nobility of the objective brought home to us in the preliminary exposition to the real story, but the forces an

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »