Fiction Writers on Fiction Writing (1923)

    In the early 1920s, Arthur Sullivant Hoffman began writing a guidebook to fiction writing. Hoffman, a veteran editor for a variety of magazines, was attempting to combat the rise of “machine-like” fiction that “poured across” his desk. In the process of building his guidebook, Fundamentals of Fiction Writing (1922), he sent a formal questionnaire to 116 authors, including L.M. Montgomery, in order to build an appendix of helpful, expert advice for authors. Hoffman thought that a few responses from a handful of successful writers would greatly improve the usefulness of his guide. After all, he said, “no one else in the world can bring us so quickly to the real heart of the matter or come so close to speaking the final word” than published authors themselves (2). But the authors’ answers proved “too valuable to be tucked away in the appendix for any book” (4). Instead, he collected all of their responses into this volume, Fiction Writers on Fiction Writing (1923). Hoffman’s questions are detailed: “What is the genesis of a story with you —does it grow from an incident, a character, a trait of character, a situation, setting, a title, or what? That is, what do you mean by an idea for a story?” And the variety of answers offer a wealth of advice (sometimes even contradictory) from a variety of perspectives. Compared to some of the other authors included, Montgomery provided thorough, often practical, answers that illuminate her process and explain her approach to fiction writing. In contrast, a few other authors, Sinclair Lewis for example, offered only short answers. Hoffman asked, “What are two or three of the most valuable suggestions you could give to a beginner? To a practised writer?” Montgomery offered a page of advice, first suggesting that writers shouldn’t write “if they can help it” and only if they can’t. She also recommends finding trusted readers, revising and pruning, and cultivating a “note-book habit” (see pages 355-56). Lewis
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