happiest results; and much less often in real life, where the end is
invariably and inevitably painful.

Another way is to buy the sub-editorship of a third-rate paper, by
subscribing towards its capital. By such a transaction one gains
experience, but the cost is commonly too dear.

Another way is to possess friends of high influence in the world of
journalism, who will find for one a seat in a respectable office; an
office where one will be in a position to learn everything without
pecuniary risk, and where one can look forward to earning a salary within
a reasonable time. The sole objection to this method is that it is usually
quite impracticable.

Another way is to learn shorthand and the use of the typewriter, and so
obtain an editorial secretaryship. An editor's secretary has every
opportunity of conning the secrets of the profession, and it is her own
fault if she is not soon herself a journalist.

But the time-honoured, the only proper way of entering upon journalism is
to become what is called an "outside contributor." The outside contributor
sends unsolicited paragraphs and articles to papers, on the chance of
acceptance. By dint of a thousand refusals, she learns to gauge the
public, which is the editorial, taste, and at length, fortified by many
printed specimens of her work and a list as long as your arm of the
various publications for which she writes, she is able to demand with
dignity a position (in the office or out of it, as her tastes lie) on the
staff of some paper of renown. Some journalists are so successful as
outside contributors--writing when, how, and for whom they choose--that
they would scorn the offer of any regular appointment; but such are rare.