I am not thinking, of course, about creative writing. I
am well aware that the poets and the novelists do not, as Aristotle observed, " create what they create by taking thought ; but owing rather to natural temperament and in a mood of ecstasy." I am thinking rather of those who, being gifted with average industry and certain powers of narrative, wish to record in written form either their own experiences or the experiences of others. The creative writers stand in a class apart ; they possess a special gift, such as that which enables a painter to paint or a pianist to play ; they are driven by some inner daemon who afflicts them with strange spasms of intui- tion interspersed with long blanks of discouragement ; their days and nights are disturbed by the conflict between their sense of power and their consciousness of powerlessness ; they " learn in suffering what they teach in song." The ordinary writer, the man who " thinks of writing a book," lives in a more equable climate, and remains un- affected by the typhoons and the doldrums of genius ; he can, with ordinary skill and attention, navigate his little ship through quiet seas. If he has a good story to tell, whether it be first-hand or second-hand, his task is almost mechanical. It is as if he were building a house. He must start with some idea of the size and proportions of the house he wants to build ; he must have some conception of the relation between surfaces and decoration ; he must remain constantly aware of the purposes for which the house is intended ; and thereafter he must assemble his material in the right order and fit it neatly and efficiently into place. If he starts with the intention of building a bungalow and then determines that he will turn it into a hotel the resultant effect is likely to become confused. If he begins in lath and plaster and later decides to try a little brick-work, the ultimate impression will not be orderly. Yet with ordinary sense and prevision he should be able to avoid such discrepancies. And there are, I suppose, certain suggestions which one can make to him which may save undue wastage of energy and time.
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