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Opening the text

The Fiction Factory: Being the experience of a writer who, for twenty-two years, has kept a story-mill grinding successfullyCook, William Wallace

Philosophy

The Fiction Factory: Being the experience of a writer who, for twenty-two years, has kept a story-mill grinding successfully

Name: The Fiction Factory: Being the experience of a writer who, for twenty-two years, has kept a story-mill grinding successfully
Author: Cook, William Wallace

Cook, William Wallace

Authorship; Fiction

The writer who loves his work is not of a sordid nature. The check an
editor sends him for his story is the smallest part of his reward. His
has been the joy to create, to see a thought take form and amplify
under the spell of his inspiration. A joy which is scarcely less is to
know that his work has been appreciated by others.

A letter like the one below, for instance, not only gives pleasure to
the recipient but at the same time fires a writer with determination
never to let his work fall short of a previous performance. This
reader's good will he _must_ keep, at all hazards.

                                "Wayland, N. Y., March 22nd, 1905.

  Mr. John Milton Edwards,
    Care The F. A. Munsey Co., New York.

  My dear Sir:

  I read the story in this last _Argosy_, entitled 'Fate and the Figure
  Seven,' and was in a way considering if it were possible that a man
  could act in the subconscious state you picture. Deem my surprise,
  last night, when I read of a similar case in the report of the
  Brockton accident.

  In case you should have failed to notice this item, I send you a
  clipping from a Buffalo paper.

  I WISH INCIDENTALLY TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR SHARE IN MAKING LIFE
  PLEASANT FOR ME. I have enjoyed your works immensely from time to
  time on account of their decidedly original ideas. They are always
  refreshingly out of the ordinary rut.

                                                Yours truly,
                                                     A. F. V----."

There is one sentence in this letter which Edwards has put in capitals.
If possible, he would have written it in letters of gold. In this
little world, so crowded with sorrow and tragedy, what is it worth to
have had a share in making life pleasant for a stranger? To Edwards
it has been worth infinitely more than he received for "Fate and the
Figure Seven."

Another letter carries an equally pleasant message:

                             "Livingstone, Montana, Sep. 16, 1903.

  Mr. John Milton Edwards,
    Care The Argosy, New York City.

  Dear Sir:

  Having read your former stories in _The Argosy_ on Arizona, and last
  night having commenced 'The Grains of Gold,' I trust you will pardon
  my expression of appreciation of said stories. I lived ten years in
  Arizona as private secretary to several of the Federal Judges, and
  also lived in Mexico, and am still familiar with conditions in that
  section.

  I have enjoyed most keenly your handling of thrilling scenes on
  Arizona soil. It is an exasperation that they appear in serial form,
  as I dislike the month's interval.

  My only purpose in writing is to express my admiration of your plots
  and local color, and I remain,

                                           Sincerely yours,
                                                Richard S. S----."

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The Fiction Factory: Being the experience of a writer who, for twenty-two years, has kept a story-mill grinding successfullyCook, William Wallace

Philosophy

The Fiction Factory: Being the experience of a writer who, for twenty-two years, has kept a story-mill grinding successfully

Cook, William Wallace

Authorship; Fiction

The writer who loves his work is not of a sordid nature. The check an
editor sends him for his story is the smallest part of his reward. His
has been the joy to create, to see a thought take form and amplify
under the spell of his inspiration. A joy which is scarcely less is to
know that his work has been appreciated by others.

A letter like the one below, for instance, not only gives pleasure to
the recipient but at the same time fires a writer with determination
never to let his work fall short of a previous performance. This
reader's good will he _must_ keep, at all hazards.

                                "Wayland, N. Y., March 22nd, 1905.

  Mr. John Milton Edwards,
    Care The F. A. Munsey Co., New York.

  My dear Sir:

  I read the story in this last _Argosy_, entitled 'Fate and the Figure
  Seven,' and was in a way considering if it were possible that a man
  could act in the subconscious state you picture. Deem my surprise,
  last night, when I read of a similar case in the report of the
  Brockton accident.

  In case you should have failed to notice this item, I send you a
  clipping from a Buffalo paper.

  I WISH INCIDENTALLY TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR SHARE IN MAKING LIFE
  PLEASANT FOR ME. I have enjoyed your works immensely from time to
  time on account of their decidedly original ideas. They are always
  refreshingly out of the ordinary rut.

                                                Yours truly,
                                                     A. F. V----."

There is one sentence in this letter which Edwards has put in capitals.
If possible, he would have written it in letters of gold. In this
little world, so crowded with sorrow and tragedy, what is it worth to
have had a share in making life pleasant for a stranger? To Edwards
it has been worth infinitely more than he received for "Fate and the
Figure Seven."

Another letter carries an equally pleasant message:

                             "Livingstone, Montana, Sep. 16, 1903.

  Mr. John Milton Edwards,
    Care The Argosy, New York City.

  Dear Sir:

  Having read your former stories in _The Argosy_ on Arizona, and last
  night having commenced 'The Grains of Gold,' I trust you will pardon
  my expression of appreciation of said stories. I lived ten years in
  Arizona as private secretary to several of the Federal Judges, and
  also lived in Mexico, and am still familiar with conditions in that
  section.

  I have enjoyed most keenly your handling of thrilling scenes on
  Arizona soil. It is an exasperation that they appear in serial form,
  as I dislike the month's interval.

  My only purpose in writing is to express my admiration of your plots
  and local color, and I remain,

                                           Sincerely yours,
                                                Richard S. S----."

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Fiction Factory: Being the experience of a writer who, for twenty-two years, has kept a story-mill grinding successfully

The Fiction Factory: Being the experience of a writer who, for twenty-two years, has kept a story-mill grinding successfully

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