e literary expression in a limited number of words.

A critical reading of almost any successful short story will disclose
that the manner of its telling is as truly the source of its interest
and appeal as is the novelty or human importance of the naked story
idea. The difference between a recital of facts and a work of fiction is
the difference between mere reporting and true literature. The writer
who strives to compress in expression, instead of carefully selecting
the matter for expression, deliberately rejects his only means to
produce a sufficiently full and rounded presentment of the particular
phase of life he seeks to depict. That means is to write with due
elaboration, lest the phrasing seem stark and flat in comparison with
the softly moulded contours of life itself. There are two elements in
literature, the fact and the form; they are equally important and should
be equally complete. When considering the fitness of a plot to serve as
the skeleton for a short story, remember that in execution the thing
must be written with due verbal elaboration, else it will be angular and
unattractive, and that the idea of many incidents, people, or places
cannot be so written in the space available. In execution, write
adequately, and in conception and construction, select.

The story of atmosphere, which emphasizes the setting in which its
people move, and seeks to bring out the emotional value of the physical
or spiritual environment, is not difficult to recognize, being like the
story of plot in this respect. But it is most difficult to do well. The
story of character deals with concrete people, and the story of plot
deals with concrete events; the story of atmosphere deals with these and
something more, an intangible sensual or emotional impression, as of
beauty or horror, correspondingly more difficult to create. It demands
imaginative powers of the highest order, and perfect technical powers.
Within limits, the unimaginative author may write effectively of
characters and events, for he can see and study them objectively in
daily life, and, again within limits, they may also be presented
effectively by matter of fact phrasing. But atmosphere cannot be
seen--even physical atmosphere must be felt, or there is no emotional
effect--and all the resources of language at times become pitifully
inadequate to precipitate an emotion. It is all a matter of clear
conception and careful design, and the secret cannot be stated, bu