When we contemplate the writing of a novel we indulge in aspiration of the highest order. The fact that not one novel in a thousand is likely to measure up to a masterpiece should not halt one’s determination to put over a winner if possible. But novel writing is _big game hunting_, requiring ammunition of considerable power--and the _aim must be perfect_.
One should try for small game first, being careful to make a bonfire out of every effort that will not stand the test of several months in cold storage. Real fiction can wait. It needn’t be served to order. Any novel that is going to live through one generation of applauding readers will keep a few months while its author uses the pruning hook. His judgment will be all the keener each time he goes over it.
When I write my novel I shall allow no close friend to read it in advance of its legitimate publication, after having been duly passed upon by a calm and candid professional critic _with a beady eye_. When one of these zest-worn individuals wades through my effort from first to last page and comes up smiling it will be time enough to indulge in a faint hope. It is always best for success to _ooze in_ rather than to come as a deluge. It gives us time to consider ways and means of taking care of the output. Also it serves to ward off an aggravated case of disappointment if it doesn’t turn out to be a _genuine gusher_. We never know the real verdict until we hear from the multitude. No multitude, no verdict necessary--_the book is dead_.
[Illustration: Where once one equals two]
It isn’t for the reason that I lack for things to do that I propose to try to write a successful novel, nor is my reason mercenary. There is no secret about the matter either. Some years ago I determined _not_ to go through life with a _single track mind_. To obviate this calamity it dawned upon me that I must take an interest in every little and big thing that came my way. Once the resolution took the form of habit, it became a great pleasure to persist in the pursuit of information, but the main benefit derived has been the development of a determination to _do things myself_.
Determination stands in constant need of repair else it deteriorates into mere obsession and falls of its own weight. _The habit of investigation_ builds up self-confidence, without which, determination has no prop with which to sustain itself.