WOMEN IN FLEET STREET

New Zealand Listener, Volume 9, Issue 233, 10 December 1943, Page 20

WOMEN IN FLEET STREET

% a % HAT is how Who’s Who describes Sir Neville Pearson, who has been visiting New Zealand in the Press delegation. So I thought, as a woman journalist, that I should somehow or other get a personal interview with him. I did, and it was, of course, inevitable that conversation should turn on "shop" and things literary. I said to myself: Here is a priceless opportunity to do a little spade-work on behalf of aspiring women writers all over the Dominion. Sir Neville agreed that nearly everyone aspired at some time to write, but-and it was a very big But-there was one essential point that, in his opinion, left no argument. It was impossible to write to order, Anyone who thought she could take a fly at serious writing from an experimental viewpoint, or just as an addition to some other job, was headed for a certain tumble. You must be born with the gift, he insisted; and if you are not, all the pummelling and; shaping and effort will not make you one. First: essential thot be dowered at birth; second éssential, training. The two taken together have a fighting chance of adding up to a good writer. On the definition of. training, Sir Neville said that naturally a newspaper apprenticeship was the logical and most satisfactory medium, but with such jobs strictly limited, opportunities for this type of training were not numerous, As an alternative, there was the thorny ‘ (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) and heartbreaking road of "rejection slips." That called for iron courage and determination. "Many well-known authors," said Sir Neville, "have followed this road. Michael Arlen wrote 100 stories before he had his first contribution accepted. And his experience is by no means uncommon," Hard Work Without Frills Young writers, added Sir Neville, should not overlook or despise correspondence schools or courses in journalism and short-story writing. These offer useful signposts to the budding writer, and sometimes show him a short-cut to the top. 2 I spoke my piece. "Supposing, Sir Neville, I, as an aspiring writer, walked into Fleet Street, what chance would I have of landing a job? And is it really the romantic place. we read of?" He answered my last question first. "About as romantic as Lombard Street. Solid, hard work, without any frills. As for your chances of landing a job there, that would depend on one or two things -your own personality and the nature of the thing you had to sell. If it was a specialised line that attracted an editor’s eye, then, of course, you might establish —

an entree. Or, if your personality is of the type to fit some specialised job, such as interviewing political and social lions, then again your chance would be good. Outside that, your chances of breaking into Fleet Street singlehanded would be pretty slim." "England, I would say, is the best literary shop to-day," he added. "If you’ve got something worthwhile to sell -the market is ready and waiting. America would not be so easy. They have their own technique of writing over there that makes it difficult for%an outsider to break in. An American would have a far better chance of crashing the English market." \ Dearth of New Writers Commenting on the thousands -of manuscripts that pour. yearly into his own publishing firm, Sir Neville’ said that only about three in one thousand were found acceptable. He also remarked on the dearth of new writers and new ideas during this present war. "Not a single new author of any note has appeared over the past four years. There must be a reason for this somewhere. The same applies to other fields. Take music; unlike the last war, that produced memorable marching songs that are still being sung to-day. Only one song has appeared out of this war . -and that at the beginning: ‘Hang Out oiletles

Your Washing on the Siegfried Line’ And even that fell far short of the 1914-18 songs." "Perhaps," I said, "people are too occupied with their own little dramas and tragedies to have any urge left for the creative instinct." "Maybe that is the answer. The last war didn’t even touch many of the people. This is an all-in effort." Sir Neville also remarked on the failure of authors to-day to create a central character in théir work who would achieve permanence. Sherlock Holmes, for example. Had he a presentday prototype? "This is a significant fact," he added. "Previous to 1925, when the Strand magazine came out with a short story of Conan Doyle’s, the circulation would invariably take a jump of 50,000. No writer since then has been able to lift the circulation by more than 10,000." So much for writing and authors, Oh, except a parting word for New Zealand! "TI wish we could get some good New Zealand writers. You have Ngaio Marsh, of course. We think a lot of her in England. But we.can do with more." So I hope writers of my own sex will get busy with paper and pencils. Fame may be waiting for them just round the corner.

P.

M.