The Literary Manual, or, a Complete Guide to Authorship by Percy Russell (1886)

  The Literary Manual, Or, a Complete Guide to Authorship. by: Percy Russell. Publication date: 1886. Publisher: London Literary Society.

 

CONTENTS

I.— Initial. Literary Technics ... • • 3

II.— Poetry. All National Literature originally Poetic — Meaning of the word — The different Classes of Poetry— The Epic, the Drama, the Lyric, the Hymn, the Ode, the Elegy, the Sonnet — The Structure and Nature of the Sonnet, metre, rhythm, and rhyme, the technics of verse, double and triple rhymes — Examples — Verse making as an Art — Intellectual v. Sensuous Poetry, errors ' to be avoided by young verse-writers, imitating the faults of standard poets- Byron, Example of rhetorical rubbish. Poetic Statistics — Longfellow — Observations on his genius, closing words . 1 1

III — Fiction. Its Functions and Utility— Importance of Literary Technics to the Novelist — Crude Work — A Glance at the History of Story Telling as an Art — The Contemporary Novel — How to Work — The Way to Success in Fiction — Examples — New Openings — Charles Reade — Statistics of Fiction — Novel Writing reduced to an Art . . 31

IV.— The Drama. The Drama, the earliest of literary forms, its ancient phases "Property" pieces — How to acquire Dramatic Technics — A promising outlook' — Schlegel's ad- vice to young writers for the Stage 50

 

V.— The Imaginative or Creative Faculty. Special advice to young Writers— The Continual Raising of the Standard of Literary Excellence — Sir Walter Scott and Miss Jane Porter— The Poets of the Eighteenth Century— The Imitative Faculty— Examples from Wordsworth — Young Writers and Verse-making — The Nature of Imagination — Its Application to Fiction — Fancy — What it Is — Literary Photography — Charles Dickens and his Method — The Distinction between the Literature of Knowledge and that of Power — Closing Advice . . . 55

 

VI.— How to Prepare MS. Practical Hints—Legible Writing a Great Advantage — The Sizes of Books — Remarks on Titles — Arrangement with a Publisher — Rates of Remuneration —Difficulties in the Way — Earnings of Eminent Writers 64

 

VII. — Fiction as an Art. A New Idea — Reference to Painting and Sculpture — Crude Realities — Victor Hugo — Some Examples ... ....... 77

 

VIII.— On the Choice of Books 82

 

IX. — On the Constructing of Plots 85


X. — Literature for Children 90

XI. — The Art of Reading. A Writer's Bibliography; Chronology, History, Renaissance Literature, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Russian, Swiss, and Spanish Literature — Suggestions for Acquiring Special Forms of Literary Knowledge — Pouring out and pouring in— Reading rapidly — Appropriating and Assimilating — Importance of facts to the Novelist — The late Lord Lytton —How to ensure success ....... 92

 

XII. — Copyright 101

 

Appendix 106

 

Start it.

I. — Initial . . 113

 

II — The Newspaper Press. Its Historic Aspects. . . 115

 

III. — The Printing Office. Early Books — Transcript Making

in Ancient Rome — Etymology of " Book "—The Contemporary Printing Office Described 124

 -How to Write. How to write an Ordinary Article — Hints — How to become Invaluable as a Contributor — The

Art of Writing at Will— Reference to Dr. Johnson— Words and their Use — Slang — Authors to be Studied . . . 1 33

 

V. — Ordinary Reporting. What Reporting Really Is —

Phonography — Practical Advice — Effect of Habitual Reporting on the Mind — What is to be Avoided — The late

Lord Lytton — The Lefroy Case — Reporting Crime — A Great Evil — Anonymous Writing — The Foreign Correspondent 144

 

VL — Leader Writers. Leader Writers on the Daily Papers

— Their Virtual Irresponsibility — Examples of Levity —

Writing down to the Reader's Level — The Effect Thereof . 159

 

VII. — Reviewing. Reviewing — How to Review — The Necessity for General Information — Honesty in Reviewers — A

word on Prefaces 170

 

VIII. — The Working Journalist. His Qualifications — How

and What to Read— The Sub-Editor— A Real Day's Work on a Weekly Newspaper — "Making Up" . . . 177

 

IX. — Newspaper Proprietors. Newspaper Proprietors —

Sketches of some — Their Characteristics — What Journalists

have to contend with — A Striking Example. . . .191

 

X. — The Comic and Illustrated Press. Ancient origin of Comic Literature — Jesters and Court Fools — The Charivari and Punch — The Colonial Comic and Illustrated Press — Evil tendencies of some Illustrated Journals — Bills and Posters 195


XI — Trade Journals. Their Great Utility— Their Staple Contents — How they are Managed — Advertisements Advertisement Notices or Trade " Puffs " — Meanness of some Firms — An Anecdote — The Increasing Need for the Trade Journal — Class Literature — The Ideal Newspaper — Mr. Goschen on Reading and Thinking . . . . . 200

XII. — Advertisements. Advertisements — Their Interest — The World of " Wants " — Candour of Advertisers — Baits and Traps for the Unwary — Abuse of Advertising Columns . 207 

The PDF might take a minute to load. Or, click to download PDF.

If your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. No worries, just click here to download the PDF file.

The Literary Manual, or, a Complete Guide to Authorship by Percy Russell.