HABITS OF AUTHORS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 188, 3 November 1876, Page 8

HABITS OF AUTHORS.

We are told that Charlotte Bronte used to sit patiently and I laboriously writing, day after day, with a lead pencil in little paper I books made by herself, which she held close to her eyes — for she j ■was near-sighted — all absorbed in her own imaginations, a,s if her characters were real men and women, whose minute history she was putting on record. And the language stood in the j>encilled j manuscript almost as it afterward did on the printed page, for she j thought no time was so favorable for fastening upon the right | word as the moment of composition; and if it did not come naturally with the idea, as in her case it usually did, she waited for it, and it suggested itself and fell into its place. Such was the fidelity of this woman, who never put her hand to a book until she was sure that she had something to say. Edgar A. Poe used to think over his subject \mt\\ it was complete in his own mind before he took a pen to write, and his manuscript was exceedingly neat and eloquent; while, on the other hand, N. P. Willis, who was to appearance the most off-hand of journalists, was in the constant practice of changing the phraseology of his articles, over and over again, even after they had gone into the hands of the printer, and the sheets were disfigured with many erasures and alterations, showing that the paragraphs, which j show as if dashed off on the spur of the moment, were in reality constructed with the utmost pains. Another of the fastidious was Lamb. He wrote very slowly, and every word was subjected to the severest criticism, and the one which expressed the nearest shade of meaning was fixed upon. Macaulay made a general plan on large sheets of paper, with lines far apart; then filled in, crowding sentence upon sentence, until i the whole was a marvel to see, and when change for the better, or I illustration or amplification seemed impossible, copied in a fair hand for the printer. Sir Walter Scott said that when he began " Waverly" he had : no idea what would come of it ; he had no plot at all. In the morning he would think it over awhile, then rash on, and the characters took care of themselves, and it all came out right in the end. While he was engaged on his novels, he became subject to attacks of cramp in the stomach, and he lay on a sofa and dictated nearly all the "Bride of Lamuiermoor," and the whole of the " Legend of Montrose." When a paroxysm of pain again seized him he would stop with a groan, and then begin where he left off. He used to arrange in his own mind the portion for the day before his amanuensis came, which was ten o'clock, when he would commence and go right on, sustaining all the characters, and detailing the conversation without confusion or mistake, and so interested that sometimes he would spring to his feet and act it all out. The same thing as to want of plan is said to have been true of " Pickwick" and some of the novels of Thackeray. The author of " Pendennis" and " Vanity Fair," was wont to dally with his subject before he set himself to work, starting with half a quire of paper, on a part of -which he made comic pictures, a part he tore up, and on the remainder, after walking about in the most doleful manner, he began in earnest. Dickens, in his earlier days of authorship, wrote only when he felt in the mood, but afterward became thoroughly systematic, and when the hour came he was at his table, allotting a certain part of the day for work, and from this rule nothing could tempt him to depart; for it was upon persevering industry, not special inspiration, that he depended. Southey was another of the methodical writers. His days -were indeed all busy ; for, as he said, speaking of supporting his large family, his means lay " in an inkstand." Surroundings, circumstances and the hour have all been potential in their influences. Christopher North chose the night, and sat in his shirt sleeves, in a small study, at a table littered with papers, books and pictures around, writing rapidly with a quill pen, his thoughts kindling more and more as the hours went on . Campbell rose early and did his work before breakfast. Carlyle

takes a good vigorous English walk of several miles, far enough to get himself into a glow, and then is ready for his pen.