here is no truer
indication of an inexperienced hand than a story beginning with a
description of a landscape which is not necessary to the plot. If the
peculiarities of the scenery must be understood before the idea can be
developed, the briefest possible description is not out of place.
Subjectively, a touch of landscape or weather is allowable, but it
must be purely incidental. Weather is a very common thing and is apt
to be uninteresting.

It is a mistake to tell anything yourself which the people in the
story could inform the reader without your assistance. A conversation
between two people will bring out all the facts necessary as well as
two pages of narration by the author.

There is a way also of telling things from the point of view of the
persons which they concern. Those who have studied Latin will find
the "indirect discourse" of Cicero a useful model.

The people in the story can tell their own peculiarities better than
the author can do it for them. It is not necessary to say that a woman
is a snarling, grumpy person. Bring the old lady in, and let her
snarl, if she is in your story at all.

The choice of words is not lightly to be considered. Never use two
adjectives where one will do, or a weak word where a stronger one is
possible. Fallows' _100,000 Synonyms and Antonyms_ and Roget's
_Thesaurus of Words and Phrases_ will prove invaluable to those who
wish to improve themselves in this respect.

Analysis of sentences which seem to you particularly strong is a good
way to strengthen your vocabulary. Take, for instance, the oft-quoted
expression of George Eliot's: "Inclination snatches argument to make
indulgence seem judicious choice." Substitute "takes" for "snatches"
and read the sentence again. Leave out "seem" and put "appear" in its
place. "Proper" is a synonym for "judicious"; substitute it, and put
"selection" in the place of "choice."

Reading the sentence again we have: "Inclination takes argument to
make indulgence appear proper selection." The strength is wholly gone
although the meaning is unchanged.

Find out what you want to say, and then say it, in the most direct
English at your command. One of the best models of concise expressions
of thought is to be found in the essays of Emerson. He compresses a
whole world into a single sentence, and a system of philosophy into an
epigram.

"Literary impressionism," which is largely the use of onomatopoetic
words, is a valuable factor in t