Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 March 1905 — The Short Story Art. [ARTICLE]

The Short Story Art.

The art of short story writing has not become a widely popular accomplishment in this country, according to the testimony of tlie judges in the Collier prize story contest. There were no less than 12,090 stories sent in for competition, and William Allen White, who was one of the judges, states that each of the first 95 in every 100 could be cast aside with five minutes' reading. Only one in a hundred contained the rudiments necessary to make a good story even a passably good stpiy. The work of the amateur, says Mr. White, may hide itself for ten pages, ami then stick up like a sore thumb In a trite handling of an excellent situation; but the professional writer, the skilled workman, shows his presence in the first sentence, proves himself in the first paragraph, and establishes himself in the reader’s confidence (luring the first 500 words. —Boston Herald.