OCR Text |
Show 1 THE WOMAN WITH A TALENT: 1 T" ON'T you please give a talk ?1 A " y0Ur pfl6 t0 Irls wh j Y Y havo u,ent r t,,ink ti,cr : have? I may or may not bo .. t,,c orly ono to write to you J on the subject, but I do think there are ft piany who would enjoy such a talk, and be helped by it. How can wo tell If wn Ia have real talent? I have always liked , to write compositions and letters, and so C many of my friends and relatives think I I will be a writer, but I am not so optl-l optl-l mlstlc. v ? " Many people think they lmvo a talent I for somolhing and waste time and moncv trying to make something out of ft. and Y think the world cold and unapprcclativc. I I asked ono of my teachers what sho thought of It. and she said It Is too carlv to tell yet If I havc a reil, tftlenl for writing-. though r had plenty of originality i and write well and easily. Now If my ' talent Is not great or I have mistaken it I want to find it. out as soon as possl-t possl-t blc and bend my energies to something J that I can really do. If I really have It I am willing to work hard and wait. IH "Even If I never do write a prcat piece of work. I want to be ablo to wrlto pood stories, not trash, and crude things that so many of our magazines, even ome of the highest priced ones, are flopping over with. I read that a certain editor said he gets floods of manuscripts, but only about one in a thousand Is worth anything. 1 "I am 19 years old. Wishing you a con tinuation of success I am one f your I loyal readers. r. jr. g." I This la an Interesting letter and one of t the b6st of many I have received along J much the same line OnlyR F G seems j to have a root of patience and persistence f In her that Is not displayed by all young1 girls, who are eager to rush Into" print beforo thoy have fitted themselves for their work For be it understood the pos-j pos-j session of talent docu not render you j Immune so far as vigorous effort and al-t al-t most heartbreaking toll are conrorned. ; The highest talent, or genius itself. de-es not do away with tho necessity for tools :t or for learning to use them. On the other 1 hand, in many cases- skill almost takes tho place of a heaven sent gift, and hard Jf work and perso erancc have won out & when "talent, unfortified by elthor, would i have been but a sorry dependence. Let me give a case in Illustration of 4 this and it is a true story. A girl who had received all the advantages of a liberal lib-eral education, but who had never show n i ; any desire to write, married a poor man , ' and found that an Increase of income would be dosirablc. She u as a good housekeeper, house-keeper, and one day on an impulse she wrote the history of a domestic cxperi- 11 ence and sent it to a magazine To her f Joy and. a good deal to her astonishment it was accepted and a minute cheek boll bo-ll stowed in return. Thus encouraged, sho , R'roto more, and little by little worked 1 herself Into the position of sl rcgula- writer on home topics. a Later on family circumstances threw upon her the entire support of tho house-' house-' hold and for years she earned enough to Vtcp the home, to educate her children to give them advantages of society and of travel. Sho never deceived herself into thinking that she had reaj talent or a i particle of the celestial spark of lnspira-''. lnspira-''. tlon. But she had been trained in her schooldays to write well, she had read i" widely and thoughtfully; sho had educated educat-ed her powers of observation and of cx prcEslon, and when the need camo to her ' she was far better prepared to meet it ; : than if she had been an uncultured gen-. gen-. t' Iub. Always sho tried to mako her atylo f the best possible, even when sho was writing of nothing- loftier than the clcans- Slog of pots and pins, and as a result she ntver lacked for work " Tho best of lis kind, but a poor kind," she used to say of her own efforts, but poor or high, they tnablcd her to givo her childron the ben- tflts they would otherwise havo lacked. ' Tins in a good example of what hard f work, backed by efficient training, will do j even when one has no talent; and I could ; give a number of other anecdotes topro ,1 the point. If ono possesses talent and re- inforcos this by drilling and practice the outcome will be ccn better. But how to find out if ono has talent? I ean think of no belter method than to mako the best of oneself In everyway and then put the matter to the test by endeavoring en-deavoring to place one's copy In the magazines mag-azines or papers Perhaps some one will any this Is not an unfailing touchstone of merit, and postlbly there Is (ruth in this Undoubtedly some of the 3torles which have afterwards made a big success hae gone begging from on publisher to another an-other for a long time before they saw the light, and it Is also -unquestionable that, as my correspondent says, many of tho highest priced magazines print trash, and crude stuff. Tet I believe that with tmr excepUons the -writings whldta are really worth while win out In the lone run, and after a while their excellence is recognized, recog-nized, Just as tie. " sloppy stuff " goes ita way by and by into oblivion with, those who produced it. Then the query cornea, "Why do you wish to write? Is it merely to make money a. worthy object, I grant, but not tho beat or to cet the little reputation you may win by havinff your matarlai accepted accept-ed and put Into print, oris it because you feel you really have a messajro to glvfr, something to say that you think will be of help and ought to be heard? Ef thelartls the ctuoe you will find comfort and happiness happi-ness in writing and putting iDto worda the thoughts which All your mind and heart even, if you don't win a bijr success in name or money. Tho last la the way my correspondent eenis to consider the poxitlon. Her de-lre, de-lre, to Judso tnm her letter, to to write well, even if ab never achieves "a Us piece of work." In those conditions I think she Is wise to go on and practice, striving to make the best she can of herself her-self and to develop all she has In hr, with no thought beyond this, so far a he can help it-It it-It Is wonderful and beautiful to havo such a gift as Is held by some of eurSTat writers, whoso utterances have uplifted and strengthened humanity. I do not marvel at the yearnings of any young1 creature to attain to this. But there are other things left, even if one discovers, after much striving, that what one had hoped was a talent is nothing but a little facility with tho pen which volves into nothing big. How many of the Corncritcsknow that poem of Lowell' which seems to fit into this connection? "Twera glorious, no doubt, to be Ono of the ttrony winced hierarchy. ' To bum with 8raph. or to nhlre With cherlibf. dathlsly dlvlpe: Tet I, perhaps poor earthly cjod. Could I rorpet rayeolf In Ood. Could I but And my nature's clue Simply as blrda (tnd blosoma do. And but for one rapt moment know 'TIs heaven mojt come not w must ro. Should win my place at near thethron A the pearl ancel of Its zone, And God would llten mid the throns T"or my ono breath of perfect ionc, That In ita nimple; human way Said all tbe host of heaven could aay. Do I seem to bring celestial things too near the earth when I say that to my mind oven a talent docs not impress mo an the greatest thing in the world? So many young girls aro looking for this and feeling that they cannot fill up the measure meas-ure of their ambitions uafesa they become wonderful or unusual! Yet when weeome down to It, what Is there better or finer in the whole world than to mako the best , 1 1 h of ourelve as we are, and net to wtrd IH against the providence which ha not H granted us talent or genius? j H Only here and there do we find vomeeae , IH thus endowed, and from a 'on rti- t ' H once I feet myself qualified to mttrk H that such are not always the most agrte- IH able to live with. In point ef fact, some- ' IH times they are hard to endure, and white . H their talents may win thm reputation H outsdde of the home it does net brlps ' I H peace to those with whom thay are H thrown into closest contact. H Let this reflection brine connotation to , H those who discover after many trials' that they aro not fitted to shine in lefcUrrsor IflH art or to practice anything elaewhiohrill llH brine them public attention. , IIH " I shall nrrer forjret whale, c!ftid IH to me once when Z had been roAtrled-enly H a little while," a woman told m. "lh4 ' i Bl known hira well and he had helped me in H many things of the mind and tho spirit ; H which had rank into inalgnUtcanas in my j H esteem when I married and became ab- I H serbed in the oarea of my heme and work. H One day I met him asraim and ire talked a i ' little while about trifles, but when he was ' V coing he said, as he told me good -by: fll 'Remember that it is olwy potslble t ' H lire the noble life.' X took thattfcuht , M back with me to my heme ocajatfet. H and I cannot tell yon how it helped and H beautified the round of Autka." H The noble U f e Is as weTl led in VS midst MM of household cares as when wrlti&ar the H great atory or the ctlrrlncpom- Xasfenot, n M sure but what it is of more jctoal usa ' ,M in those clrcurfltanc than when shut away hi the study. Tu do&'t netd to Hifl have a talent to roalce the best and the moat beneficial of the people and things , IH about you, to brirur them up to the level HH you would like to havo occupied by the j l people about whom you lonv to write, to j l hold yourelf upon the plane where your WM imaginary personages live and move and . 1 M have their being. Try this for a while ' , M if you are disappointed and come to thi i M conclusion that after all the talent is j H nothing of what you had hoped it to be. llB At the same time, I do not wish to ells- ilH courage any one who desires to develop lH such gifts as she may possess, and whth- cr these turn out to be a rich vtJnof oro l or a mere " pocket " the oourM to pursue mM is the same. Hake the best of yourself. H Work at all the details which will be tH necessary to you when your talent is ei- H plolUc. If it ever Is. They will be as use- H ful to you in other capacities. A knowl- JH edge of literature, a familiarity with the H best expressions of thought, an ease in ' H putting your own reflections into the right ,H words, a perseverance which enables you ' H to master the managementof a typewritf i H as you do of rules of grammar and spell- ' H Ing will all help you. whether you errolvc i H Into the great short story writer, theoom- ! ing American novelist, or become tho stay H at home housekeeper, wife, and mother. vH H |