SEEING LIFE - The Author's Craft

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The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Author's Craft, by Arnold Bennett

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THE AUTHOR'S CRAFT

By

ARNOLD BENNETT

WORKS BY ARNOLD BENNETT

NOVELS

A Man from the North
Anna of the Five Towns
Leonora
A Great Man
Sacred and Profane Love
Whom God hath Joined
Buried Alive
The Old Wives' Tale
The Glimpse
Helen with the High Hand
Clayhanger
The Card
Hilda Lessways
The Regent

FANTASIAS

The Grand Babylon Hotel
The Gates of Wrath
Teresa of Watling Street
The Loot of Cities
Hugo
The Ghost
The City of Pleasure

SHORT STORIES

Tales of the Five Towns
The Grim Smile of the Five Towns
The Matador of the Five Towns

BELLES-LETTRES

Journalism for Women
Fame and Fiction
How to become an Author
The Reasonable Life
How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day
The Human Machine
Literary Taste
The Feast of St Friend
Those United States
The Plain Man and His Wife
Paris Nights

DRAMA

Polite Farces
Cupid and Common Sense
What the Public Wants
The Honeymoon
The Great Adventure

* * * * *

(_In Collaboration with EDEN PHILLPOTTS_)
The Sinews of War: A Romance
The Statue: A Romance

(_In Collaboration with EDWARD KNOBLAUCH_)
Milestones: A Play

THE AUTHOR'S CRAFT

By

ARNOLD BENNETT

HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO

Printed in 1914

CONTENTS

PART I.
SEEING LIFE

PART II.
WRITING NOVELS

PART III.
WRITING PLAYS

PART IV.
THE ARTIST AND THE PUBLIC

PART I

SEEING LIFE

I

A young dog, inexperienced, sadly lacking in even primary education, ambles and frisks along the footpath of Fulham Road, near the mysterious gates of a Marist convent. He is a large puppy, on the way to be a dog of much dignity, but at present he has little to recommend him but that gawky elegance, and that bounding gratitude for the gift of life, which distinguish the normal puppy. He is an ignorant fool. He might have entered the convent of nuns and had a fine time, but instead he steps off the pavement into the road, the road being a vast and interesting continent imperfectly explored. His confidence in his nose, in his agility, and in the goodness of God is touching, absolutely painful to witness. He glances casually at a huge, towering vermilion construction that is whizzing towards him on four wheels, preceded by a glint of brass and a wisp of steam; and then with disdain he ignores it as less important than a mere speck of odorous matter in the mud. The next instant he is lying inert in the mud. His confidence in the goodness of God had been misplaced. Since the beginning of time God had ordained him a victim.

		There is one thing alone that stands the brunt of life throughout its course: a quiet conscience. Eur pides