The Short Story Competition
NEARLY a thousand entries were received for the Short Story Competition. Their consideration entailed some anxious but also much enjoyable work for the staff. On the whole, the quality of the stories received was better than we had anticipated, but we must say frankly that not one of all the entries showed genius or even extraordinary merit. Nearly all the stories were the work of amateurs, amongst whom there certainly exists a fund of latent talent which could be easily developed if writers would take more pains to study the technique of their art..
A long novitiate is required before the amateur of music or painting expects to find his work accepted by the public. He works hard at detail, he practises for long hours, he welcomes criticism. But in writing, for some reason, the beginner is impatient of drudgery : he will not correct, revise, rewrite, as even Dickens did and Mr. Kipling does. Nor will the novice pay due attention to the framework of his story or essay and consider with care the vital opening and closing sentences, which must arrest the reader without startling him and convince without apparent effort. In wit or in whimsy, in origin- ality of thought or in descriptive power, some of the stories we have received are remarkably good, but in nearly every one some fatal defect exists in either manner or matter. It was not difficult, therefore, to choose a possible half-dozen prize-winners, although in point of fact the Editor considered many more than this number before coming to his decision.
The _winning story (by Mr. Geoffrey Bradley, The White House, St. Austell, Cornwall), to which we' award the prize of twenty guineas and which we print on page 151, is a neatly finished piece of work, unexpected in its denouement, as a good short -story should be, and above all entertaining. In ensuing weeks we 'propose to publish a further selection, and would ask those readers who do not receive their stories back immediately to remember that it will be still some time before a final selection can be‘made of the entries we hope to use. Next week we shall publish, a true story, " The Adventure of Dying," by a well-known journalist. In conclusion, the Editor desires to thank the competitors for their spirited response to our offer. Nearly all the stories submitted were composed with such zest and enthusiasm that reading them has been a source of real pleasure to the staff.
Previous page
