Franklin and Stevenson knew no rules for writing other than to practice incessantly on some form they wished to imitate. Hard work is the first lesson that boys and girls must learn in the art of writing, and a systematic gradation of assignments is what the teacher must provide for his students. Walter Besant gave the following rules for novel writers. Some of them may be suggestive to writers of the high school age, so the list is given in its complete form. "(1) Practice writing something original every day. (2) Cultivate the habit of observation. (3) Work regularly at certain hours. (4) Read no rubbish. (5) Aim at the formation of style. (6) Endeavor to be dramatic. (7) A great element of dramatic skill is selection. (8) Avoid the sin of writing about a character. (9) Never attempt to describe any kind of life except that with which you are familiar. (10) Learn as much as you can about men and women. (11) For the sake of forming a good natural style, and acquiring command of language, write poetry." SHORT-STORY LIBRARY _BOOKS FOR REFERENCE_: _American Short-Stories_, Charles Baldwin, Longmans, Green, & Co. _A Study of Prose Fiction_, Chapter XII, Bliss Perry, Houghton, Mifflin Co. _Composition Rhetoric_, T.C. Blaisdell, American Book Co. _Forms of Prose Literature_, J.H. Gardiner, Charles Scribner's Sons. _Materials and Methods of Fiction_, Clayton Hamilton, The Baker and Taylor Co. _Principles of Literary Criticism_, C.T. Winchester, The Macmillan Co. _Short-Story Writing_, C.R. Barrett. The Baker and Taylor Co. _Specimens of the Short-Story_, G.H. Nettleton, H. Holt & Co. _Story-Writing and Journalism_, Sherwin Cody, Funk & Wagnalls Co. _Talks on Writing English_, Arlo Bates, Houghton Mifflin Co. _The Writing of the Short-Story_, L.W. Smith, D.C. Heath & Co. _The Philosophy of the Short-Story_, Brander Matthews, Longmans, Green, & Co. _The World's Greatest Short-Stories_, Sherwin Cody, A.C. McClurg & Co. _The Short-Story_, Henry Canby, Henry Holt & Co. _The Short-Story_, Evelyn May Albright, The Macmillan Co. _The Book of the Short-Story_, Jessup and Canby, D. Appleton & Co. _Modern Masterpieces of Short Prose Fiction_, Waite and Taylor, D. Appleton & Co. _The Short-Story_, Brander Matthews, American Book Co. _Writing the Short-Story_, Esenwein, Hinds, Noble & Eldredge. _A Study of the Short-Story in English_, Henry Seidel Canby, Henry Holt & Co. COLLECTIONS OF SHORT-STORIES: _American Short-Stories_, Charles S. Baldwin, Longmans, Green, & Co. _Great Short-Stories_, 3 vols., William Patten, P.F. Collier & Son. _Little French Masterpieces_, 6 vols. Alexander Jessup, G.P. Putnam's Sons. _Short-Story Classics_ (American), 5 vols., William Patten, P.F. Collier & Son. _Short-Story Classics_ (Foreign), 5 vols., William Patten, P.F. Collier & Son. _Stories by American Authors_, 10 vols., Charles Scribner's Sons. _Stories by English Authors_, 10 vols., Charles Scribner's Sons.