T IS a fairly generally held opin-
ion that anyone, with an odd
hour or so to spare, can turn out a short story. The best evidence of this is that almost everyone is at- tempting it. It is this sublime faith that clutters up an editor's desk with an overflowing mail, that repre- sents time and labor, and hopes and aspirations, and oftentimes, a large element of promise, most of it gone to waste, because there was more faith than there was knowledge of the difficult and complicated busi- ness of fiction writing.
For, be it understood, story writ- ing is a business as well as anything else, and the elements of that busi- ness have to be mastered, before there is any reasonable hope of suc- cess. Speaking generally, story tell- ers are made and not born. The writer who is to succeed must, of course, have certain qualities and abilities that are not the common property of everyone. They must have a love of words, and a knowl- edge of their use. They must be sensitive to their various shades of meaning. They must have an al- most instinctive knowledge of the construction of sentences. These things are elementary, the raw ma- terials of the business. But beyond that the writer must have ready sympathies, an eye that is quick to see, and that can focus what it sees into an impression so definite that it can be crystallized into words,
I and a quick appreciation of the nec-
essary ingredients of a story. If he has those things he has, possibly the only gifts that are essential to a successful story writer.
But it is possible to have all this and yet fail of the effects that are essential to the successful story, be- cause of an imperfect understanding of how these qualities should be used.
ONE of the hardest things to dis- cover is a complete story idea. But, what is almost as hard, for the untrained writer, is to know it when it appea-rs. Yet it is this story idea that is essential. It must have an arresting theme, a definite develop- ment, and an interest-sustaining sus- pense, and a satisfying denouement. It isn't an easy task, yet, once the rudiments are mastered, it is simple enough —— not easy —- but simple. It depends on a sound story idea plus a very clear understand- ing of how a few qualities must be made to work together to give that bare skeleton the breath of life. Here _are a few fundamental \quali- ties of a story, perhaps the only
MacLean’s Magazine //N f“\ / '/
ln ihe Edi1o1"'S Cb
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MAC LEAN ‘S
PUBLISHED SEMI-MONTHLY On the First and Fifteenth of Each Month.
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.IonN BAYNE MACLEAN. President H. T. HUNTER, Vice-President
H. V. TYRRELL. Gencffil M3"‘9g9"
CONTENTS
JUNE 15‘, 1925 VOLUME xxxvnr NUMBER
CANADA SCORES AGAIN AT WEMBLEY (article). . . .. John Nelson
THE CASE OF THE FORGED LETTER (short story). ._. . —Illustrated by F. R. Gruger. Harvey 0’H1gg1ns A TWENTY-FIVE CENT START IN LIFE (article). . . .. Ashley Austin WHEAT CHAMPION OWE-S MUCH TO WIFE (article) .. Douglas Mackay JACKPOTS (short story) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..George Pearson ———IIlus(ra(L'd by Elizabeth Gruger. HAND-PICKING OUR FUTURE CANADIANS (-article). . Norman Reilly Raine ALL’S FAIR IN WAR (short story) . . . . . . . . ..Benge Atlee —-Illuslratztrl by Dudley Gioync Sumnucrs. WORLD’S WHEAT KINGS ARE CANADIANS (article). . Joseph Vallery THE KILLER OF SALMON BROOK (short story) . . . . . .. ——I(lustrated by H. Weston Taylor. Guy Morton CREATING A BUSINESS WITHOUT CAPITAL (article) Byron Burton
ANIMALS I REMEMBER (article) . . . . . . . A. Fraser ~IIlus!rutcrl by I"crgus Kyle. PANDOLFO (serial) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..W. J. Locke
—1lIustru.I1:d by Henry Raleigh. JOHNNY CANUCK SUMS UP HIS HERITAGE (article). J. Herbert Hodgins
Special Departments
IN THE EDITOR’S CONFIDENCE . . . . . . . ..J. L. Rutledge BUSINESS AND INVESTMENTS—
John Bull’s Return as Johnny Canuck’s Banker . . . . . ..
J. Herbert Hodgins
Writing Life Insurance in Canada's Pioneer Days. . . ..
A. M. Allan
Financial Queries and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
REVIEW or REVIEWS ............................. .. WIT, WISDOM AND WHIMISICALITY ............... ..
12 13
19
20 22
2
4
8 42 44
TWEEKLIE AND UNCLE HOPALONG. .George W. Dav'ey 27
(MacLean’s New Feature for Children) ART AND DECORATION——Charming Canadian Homes;
No. 2. A Small Georgian Home. .Anne Elizabeth Wilson 101 MAYBE ADAM LAUGHED AT THESE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 104
Women and Their Work CANADA IS REAL “PROMISED LAND” FOR BRITISH
WOMEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..Kathleen Redman Strange 92 CANADA'S WOMAN CABINET MINISTER. .Amy J. Rec 94
MACLEAN’S QUESTION BOX . . . . . . . . . . . .
Edwina Seton 99
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fundamental qualities—outlined by one who -has had a very wide experience.
THE successful story must have as a motive some fundamental human emotion. Love, hate, fear. something anyone can appreciate. It must produce a sympathetic hu- man interest in its characters. If there is no interest in the characters of a story, how is it possible to be- lieve that anyone will care what they" do. The truth of this is evidenced by the fact that you are more interested in a story about a friend or ac- quaintance than you could possibly‘ be about a stranger. And if you do not cultivate this attitude of in-» terested friendliness towards your characters, it is hardly likely that your readers will take the trouble to follow their fortunes.
The fault of many stories that come to any editor’s desk is that they move to a conclusion that is obvious, almost from the first para- graph. They are straight narrative rather than stories, the thing that makes up the bulk of the material in our daily papers. The well-told story holds t-he reader in suspense. They do not know what will hap- pen and consequently they follow the possibilities with interest.
And last of all, according to our authority. the story should have charm. What is that? Who knows? The something that gives it its appeal, the method of its tell- ing, the beauty and simplicity of the actual words, the sense of sin- cerity in its humor and pathos, the truth of its characters to their pro- totypes, as we know them, in actual life. All those qualities that make you lay down the finished story with a sense of regret that it is finished.
It is simple enough to outline these things, and difficult enough to accomplish them. Some stories may not have all these qualities, but they must have some of them if they are to succeed.
It is not quite as easy as many young writers believe to be a suc- cessful writer. It needs more than a vagrant effort. But there is no trick in it anywhere. Anyone with a few minor gifts, and a will to do it, and most of all the courage to stand long, grilling work, and disappointments, often repeated, can be a story writer, but it isn't a busi- ness that anyone can learn over night.