of whom than men try their hand at short stories and novels, and who are
generally without that preliminary experience in journalism which most
of the male writers have undergone. It is not enough for a novelist to
"know life"; he must also know the literary aspect of life, must have
the imaginative power to select and adapt actual experiences
artistically. Young women who write are prone to record things "just as
they happened." This is a mistake. Aristotle laid down the fundamental
principle of creative work in his statement that the purpose of art is
to fulfil the incomplete designs of nature--that is, aid nature by using
her speech, yet telling her story the way she ought to have told it but
did not. This is his great doctrine of "poetic justice."

The writing of children's stories is peculiarly the province of the
woman author, and here, because of her knowledge of the mind of the
child, she is apt to be most successful. The best of stories about
children and for children have been written by school-teachers. Of these
authors a notable instance was the late Myra Kelly, whose adaptations in
story form of her experiences as a teacher to the foreign population of
the "East Side" of New York will long remain as models of their kind.

Journalism is a sufficient field in itself for a woman writer in which
to exercise her ability, as well as a preparation for creative literary
work. The natural way to enter it is by becoming the local correspondent
of one of the newspapers of the region. In this work good judgment in
the choice of items of news, variety in the manner of stating them, and
logical order in arranging and connecting them should be cultivated.
The writing of good, plain English, rather than "smart" journalese should
be the aim. Stale, vulgar and incorrect phrases, such as "Sundayed," and
"in our midst," should be avoided. There are two tests in selecting a
news item: (1) Will it interest readers? (2) Ought they to know it?