"I must say I was
surprised when I read it. I had begun to fear that you would never catch
the trick--for, with most of us writing is only a trick. But now I see that
you are a born writer. Your future is in your own hands."
"You think I can learn to write?"
"That is the sane way to put it. Yes, I know that you can. If you'll only
not be satisfied with the results that come easy, you will make a
reputation. Not a mere Park Row reputation, but the real thing."
Howard got flattery enough in the next few days to turn a stronger head
than was his at twenty-two. But a few partial failures within a fortnight
sobered him and steadied him. His natural good sense made him take himself
in hand. He saw that his success had been to a great extent a happy
accident; that to repeat it, to improve upon it he must study life, study
the art of expression. He must keep his senses open to impression. He must
work at style, enlarge his vocabulary, learn the use of words, the effect
of varying combinations of words both as to sound and as to meaning. "I
must learn to write for the people," he thought, "and that means to write
the most difficult of all styles."
He was, then and always, one of those who like others and are liked by
them, yet never seek company and so are left to themselves.
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