FLORENCE BARCLAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1639, 4 January 1913, Page 13

FLORENCE BARCLAY.

/: WHITER OF THE EOSARY. Florence Barclay, tho writer of tho famous "Koeary," was recently interviewed at her home in England by tho representative of an Australian paper. With regard to her methods of work sho said:— "To begin with, I always decide upon my plot before I write a story, and I never have two plots going at the same timo, for I think-if tokes-too muoh out of one. You see. a writer lives ' two lives—one the ordinary life of "domestic affaire, tho other a kind of inner life, tho life of ono'e book. My first copy is alwaya 'written in penoil, and generally very quickly; and it is done, in all mrts of places—in my writing-room at home, in the train, or anywhere that I happen to be. At this 6tago''interruptions do not trouble' mo in tho least, and I do hot find it necessary to shut myself up from the world. My last book, 'The Postern Gate,' for instance, was written on tho Atlantic during the voyago to and from Amorica. I 6at up in my deck chair in the lovely air, and worked at it for eight hours a day. The story is divided into seven days, instead of seven chapters, and it was' actually written. •in seven days. <'0f course, the first copy does not represent the real work of the booki That comes afterwards, when I preparo it for the "printer.".; A)l my novels have been written jn my own script, never typewritten; ' and, although some ■ people argue with mo that it is a waste' of time, I prefer to c}o it that During this part of the work I do retire from the world,' generally to iny garden Vritingrbom, and often, work many hours at a stretch.-. All pruning, adding, and correcting generally are' done then, and the story written 'straight W without a break in fhe'first copy,: is divided.into chapters. I never deliberately manufacture my chapters as I write, for' I think a story naturally falls into scenes, and the end of a chapter should bo. like tbo falling of,the curtain in a play, the place' where one would like one's reader tq leave off—if he must leave off at all.. .-•■■' "This fair oopy, which I moke with the greatest care; .takes far longer than the other." A'book that'hns' taken mp six weeks to write may take: twelve to copy, but the work is a pleasure, and recreation 'to me, and I never .tire of it. Then there are the proofs, of ,which I always insist upon having three 'copies.' They havoj to, corao and go all,the way frpni America, hut my publishers' are .very good, and let nie have' my ' ivay', about' it.' pfhcryFise. there'might be. mistakes in punctuation and other things like .'that; and I do not think.-it,is fair to one's readers, to'be slipshod in snch 'matters. It may interest you to know, too, that nowadays riiy books are never submitted to a\'reader.' They go straight.to the -printer, and : my publisher -himself did not read .iny last DOOk until it was already, in print.''