Literary Composition

By H. P. Lovecraft
In a former article our readers have been shewn the fundamental sources of liter
ary inspiration, and the leading prerequisites to expression. It remains to furn
ish hints concerning expression itself its forms, customs, and technicalities in ord
er that the young writer may lose nothing of force or charm in presenting his id
eas to the public.
Grammar
A review of the elements of English grammar would be foreign to the purpose
of this department. The subject is one taught in all common schools, and may be
presumed to be understood by every aspirant to authorship. It is necessary, how
ever, to caution the beginner to keep a reliable grammar and dictionary always b
eside him, that he may avoid in his compositions the frequent errors which imper
ceptibly corrupt even the purest ordinary speech. As a general rule, it is well
to give close critical scrutiny to all colloquial phrases and expressions of dou
btful parsing, as well as to all words and usages which have a strained or unfam
iliar sound. The human memory is not to be trusted too far, and most minds harbo
ur a considerable number of slight linguistic faults and inelegancies picked up
from random discourse or from the pages of newspapers, magazines, and popular mo
dern books.
Types of Mistakes
Most of the mistakes of young authors, aside from those gross violations of
syntax which ordinary education corrects, may perhaps be enumerated as follows.
(1)
(2)

Erroneous plurals of nouns, as vallies or echos.

Barbarous compound nouns, as viewpoint or upkeep.

(3)
Want of correspondence in number between noun and verb where the two are
widely separated or the construction involved.
(4)

Ambiguous use of pronouns.

(5)
Erroneous case of pronouns, as whom for who, and vice versa, or phrases
like between you and I , or Let we who are loyal, act promptly.
(6)

Erroneous use of shall and will, and of other auxiliary verbs.

(7)
Use of intransitive for transitive verbs, as he was graduated from colleg
e , or vice versa, as he ingratiated with the tyrant .
(8)

Use of nouns for verbs, as he motored to Boston , or

he voiced a protest .

(9)
e , or

Errors in moods and tenses of verbs, as If I was he, I should do otherwis

He said the earth was round.

(10)

The split infinitive, as

(11)
.

The erroneous perfect infinitive, as Last week I expected to have met you

(12)

False verb-forms, as

(13)

Use of like for as, as

to calmly glide .

I pled with him.

I strive to write like Pope wrote.

(14)
Misuse of prepositions, as The gift was bestowed to an unworthy object , or
The gold was divided between the five men.
(15)

The superfluous conjunction, as

I wish for you to do this.

(16)
Use of words in wrong senses, as The book greatly intrigued me ,
ke this , He was obsessed with the idea , or He is a meticulous writer.
(17)
Erroneous use of non-Anglicised foreign forms, as
wo stratas of clouds .
(18)

Leave me ta

a strange phenomena , or

Use of false or unauthorised words, as burglarise or supremest.

(19)
Errors of taste, including vulgarisms, pompousness, repetition, vaguenes
s, ambiguousness, colloquialism, bathos, bombast, pleonasm, tautology, harshness
, mixed metaphor, and every sort of rhetorical awkwardness.
(20)
Errors of spelling and punctuation, and confusion of forms such as that
which leads many to place an apostrophe in the possessive pronoun its.
Of all blunders, there is hardly one which might not be avoided through dil
igent study of simple textbooks on grammar and rhetoric, intelligent perusal of
the best authors, and care and forethought in composition. Almost no excuse exis
ts for their persistent occurrence, since the sources of correction are so numer
ous and so available. Many of the popular manuals of good English are extremely
useful, especially to persons whose reading is not as yet extensive; but such wo
rks sometimes err in being too pedantically precise and formal. For correct writ
ing, the cultivation of patience and mental accuracy is essential. Throughout th
e young author s period of apprenticeship, he must keep reliable dictionaries and
textbooks at his elbow; eschewing as far as possible that hasty extemporaneous m
anner of writing which is the privilege of more advanced students. He must take
no popular usage for granted, nor must he ever hesitate, in case of doubt, to fa
ll back on the authority of his books.
Reading
No aspiring author should content himself with a mere acquisition of techni
cal rules. As Mrs. Renshaw remarked in the preceding article, Impression should e
ver precede and be stronger than expression. All attempts at gaining literary pol
ish must begin with judicious reading, and the learner must never cease to hold
this phase uppermost. In many cases, the usage of good authors will be found a m
ore effective guide than any amount of precept. A page of Addison or of Irving w
ill teach more of style than a whole manual of rules, whilst a story of Poe s will
impress upon the mind a more vivid notion of powerful and correct description a
nd narration than will ten dry chapters of a bulky text-book. Let every student
read unceasingly the best writers, guided by the admirable Reading Table which h
as adorned the United Amateur during the past two years.
It is also important that cheaper types of reading, if hitherto followed, b
e dropped. Popular magazines inculcate a careless and deplorable style which is
hard to unlearn, and which impedes the acquisition of a purer style. If such thi
ngs must be read, let them be skimmed over as lightly as possible. An excellent
habit to cultivate is the analytical study of the King James Bible. For simple y
et rich and forceful English, this masterly production is hard to equal; and eve
n though its Saxon vocabulary and poetic rhythm be unsuited to general compositi
on, it is an invaluable model for writers on quaint or imaginative themes. Lord
Dunsany, perhaps the greatest living prose artist, derived nearly all of his sty
listic tendencies from the Scriptures; and the contemporary critic Boyd points o
ut very acutely the loss sustained by most Catholic Irish writers through their
unfamiliarity with the historic volume and its traditions.
Vocabulary

One superlatively important effect of wide reading is the enlargement of vo

cabulary which always accompanies it. The average student is gravely impeded by
the narrow range of words from which he must choose, and he soon discovers that
in long compositions he cannot avoid monotony. In reading, the novice should not
e the varied mode of expression practiced by good authors, and should keep in hi
s mind for future use the many appropriate synonyms he encounters. Never should
an unfamiliar word be passed over without elucidation; for with a little conscie
ntious research we may each day add to our conquests in the realm of philology,
and become more and more ready for graceful independent expression.
But in enlarging the vocabulary, we must beware lest we misuse our new poss
essions. We must remember that there are fine distinctions betwixt apparently si
milar words, and that language must ever be selected with intelligent care. As t
he learned Dr. Blair points out in his Lectures, Hardly in any language are there
two words that convey precisely the same idea; a person thoroughly conversant i
n the propriety of language will always be able to observe something that distin
guishes them.
Elemental Phases
Before considering the various formal classes of composition, it is well to
note certain elements common to them all. Upon analysis, every piece of writing
will be found to contain one or more of the following basic principles: Descrip
tion, or an account of the appearance of things; Narration, or an account of the
actions of things; Exposition, which defines and explains with precision and lu
cidity; Argument, which discovers truth and rejects error; and Persuasion, which
urges to certain thoughts or acts. The first two are the bases of fiction; the
third didactic, scientific, historical, and editorial writings. The fourth and f
ifth are mostly employed in conjunction with the third, in scientific, philosoph
ical, and partisan literature. All these principles, however, are usually mingle
d with one another. The work of fiction may have its scientific, historical, or
argumentative side; whilst the text-book or treatise may be embellished with des
criptions and anecdotes.
Description
Description, in order to be effective, calls upon two mental qualities: obs
ervation and discrimination. Many descriptions depend for their vividness upon t
he accurate reproduction of details; others upon the judicious selection of sali
ent, typical, or significant points.
One cannot be too careful in the selection of adjectives for descriptions.
Words or compounds which describe precisely, and which convey exactly the right
suggestions to the mind of the reader, are essential. As an example, let us cons
ider the following list of epithets applicable to a fountain, taken from Richard
Green Parker s admirable work on composition.
Crystal, gushing, rustling, silver, gently-gliding, parting, pearly, weepin
g, bubbling, gurgling, chiding, clear, grass-fringed, moss-fringed, pebble-paved
, verdant, sacred, grass-margined, moss-margined, trickling, soft, dew-sprinkled
, fast-flowing, delicate, delicious, clean, straggling, dancing, vaulting, deepembosomed, leaping, murmuring, muttering, whispering, prattling, twaddling, swel
ling, sweet-rolling, gently-flowing, rising, sparkling, flowing, frothy, dew-dis
tilling, dew-born, exhaustless, inexhaustible, never-decreasing, never-falling,
heaven-born, earth-born, deep-divulging, drought-dispelling, thirst-allaying, re
freshing, soul-refreshing, earth-refreshing, laving, lavish, plant-nourishing.
For the purpose of securing epithets at once accurate and felicitous, the y
oung author should familiarise himself thoroughly with the general aspect and ph
enomena of Nature, as well as with the ideas and associations which these things
produce in the human mind.
Descriptions may be of objects, of places, of animals, and of persons. The
complete description of an object may be said to consist of the following elemen
ts:
When, where, and how seen; when made or found; how affected by time.
History and traditional associations.

Substance and manner of origin.

Size, shape, and appearance.
Analogies with similar objects.
Sensations produced by contemplating it.
Its purpose or function.
Its effects the results of its existence.
Descriptions of places must of course vary with the type of the place. Of n
atural scenery, the following elements are notable:
How beheld at dawn, noon, evening, or night; by starlight or moonlight.
Natural features flat or hilly; barren or thickly grown; kind of vegetation; trees
, mountains, and rivers.
Works of man cultivation, edifices, bridges, modifications of scenery produced by
man.
Inhabitants and other forms of animal life.
Local customs and traditions.
Sounds of water; forest; leaves; birds; barnyards; human beings; machinery.
View prospect on every side, and the place itself as seen from afar.
Analogies to other scenes, especially famous scenes.
History and associations.
Sensations produced by contemplating it.
Descriptions of animals may be analyzed thus:
Species and size.
Covering.
Parts.
Abode.
Characteristics and habits.
Food.
Utility or harmfulness.
History and associations.
Descriptions of persons can be infinitely varied. Sometimes a single felici
tous touch brings out the whole type and character, as when the modern author Le
onard Merrick hints at shabby gentility by mentioning the combination of a frock
coat with the trousers of a tweed suit. Suggestion is very powerful in this fie
ld, especially when mental qualities are to be delineated. Treatment should vary
with the author s object; whether to portray a mere personified idea, or to give
a quasi-photographic view, mental and physical, of some vividly living character
. In a general description, the following elements may be found:
Appearance, stature, complexion, proportions, features.
Most conspicuous feature.
Expression.
Grace or ugliness.
Attire nature, taste, quality.
Habits, attainments, graces, or awkwardnesses.
Character moral and intellectual; place in the community.
Notable special qualities.
In considering the preceding synopses, the reader must remember that they a
re only suggestions, and not for literal use. The extent of any description is t
o be determined by its place in the composition; by taste and fitness. It should
be added, that in fiction description must not be carried to excess. A plethora
of it leads to dulness, so that it must ever be balanced by a brisk flow of Nar
ration, which we are about to consider.
Narration
Narration is an account of action, or of successive events, either real or
imagined; and is therefore the basis both of history and of fiction. To be felic
itous and successful, it demands an intelligent exercise of taste and discrimina
tion; salient points must be selected, and the order of time and of circumstance
s must be well maintained. It is deemed wisest in most cases to give narratives
a climactic form; leading from lesser to greater events, and culminating in that
chief incident upon which the story is primarily founded, or which makes the ot

her parts important through its own importance. This principle, of course, canno
t be literally followed in all historical and biographical narratives.
Fictional Narration
The essential point of fictional narration is plot, which may be defined as
a sequence of incidents designed to awaken the reader s interest and curiosity as
to the result. Plots may be simple or complex; but suspense, and climactic prog
ress from one incident to another, are essential. Every incident in a fictional
work should have some bearing on the climax or denouement, and any denouement wh
ich is not the inevitable result of the preceding incidents is awkward and unlit
erary. No formal course in fiction-writing can equal a close and observant perus
al of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe or Ambrose Bierce. In these masterpieces on
e may find that unbroken sequence and linkage of incident and result which mark
the ideal tale. Observe how, in The Fall of the House of Usher , each separate even
t foreshadows and leads up to the tremendous catastrophe and its hideous suggest
ion. Poe was an absolute master of the mechanics of his craft. Observe also how
Bierce can attain the most stirring denouements from a few simple happenings; de
nouements which develop purely from these preceding circumstances.
In fictional narration, verisimilitude is absolutely essential. A story mus
t be consistent and must contain no event glaringly removed from the usual order
of things, unless that event is the main incident, and is approached with the m
ost careful preparation. In real life, odd and erratic things do occasionally ha
ppen; but they are out of place in an ordinary story, since fiction is a sort of
idealisation of the average. Development should be as life-like as possible, an
d a weak, trickling conclusion should be assiduously avoided. The end of a story
must be stronger rather than weaker than the beginning; since it is the end whi
ch contains the denouement or culmination, and which will leave the strongest im
pression upon the reader. It would not be amiss for the novice to write the last
paragraph of his story first, once a synopsis of the plot has been carefully pr
epared as it always should be. In this way he will be able to concentrate his fres
hest mental vigour upon the most important part of his narrative; and if any cha
nges be later found needful, they can easily be made. In no part of a narrative
should a grand or emphatic thought or passage be followed by one of tame or pros
aic quality. This is anticlimax, and exposes a writer to much ridicule. Notice t
he absurd effect of the following couplet which was, however, written by no less a
person than Waller:
Under the tropic is our language spoke,
And part of Flanders hath receiv d our yoke.
Unity, Mass, Coherence
In developing a theme, whether descriptive or narrative, it is necessary th
at three structural qualities be present: Unity, Mass, and Coherence. Unity is t
hat principle whereby every part of a composition must have some bearing on the
central theme. It is the principle which excludes all extraneous matter, and dem
ands that all threads converge toward the climax. Classical violations of Unity
may be found in the episodes of Homer and other epic poets of antiquity, as well
as in the digressions of Fielding and other celebrated novelists; but no beginn
er should venture to emulate such liberties. Unity is the quality we have lately
noted and praised in Poe and Bierce.
Mass is that principle which requires the more important parts of a composi
tion to occupy correspondingly important places in the whole composition, the pa
ragraph, and the sentence. It is that law of taste which insists that emphasis b
e placed where emphasis is due, and is most strikingly embodied in the previousl
y mentioned necessity for an emphatic ending. According to this law, the end of
a composition is its most important part, with the beginning next in importance.
Coherence is that principle which groups related parts together and keeps u
nrelated parts removed from one another. It applies, like Mass, to the whole com
position, the paragraph, or the sentence. It demands that kindred events be narr
ated without interruption, effect following cause in a steady flow.

Forms of Composition
Few writers succeed equally in all the various branches of literature. Each
type of thought has its own particular form of expression, based on natural app
ropriateness; and the average author tends to settle into that form which best f
its his particular personality. Many, however, follow more than one form; and so
me writers change from one form to another as advancing years produce alteration
s in their mental processes or points of view.
It is well, in the interests of breadth and discipline, for the beginner to
exercise himself to some degree in every form of literary art. He may thus disc
over that which best fits his mind, and develop hitherto unsuspected potentialit
ies.
We have so far surveyed only those simpler phases of writing which centre i
n prose fiction and descriptive essays. Hereafter we hope to touch upon didactic
, argumentative, and persuasive writing; to investigate to some extent the sourc
es of rhetorical strength and elegance; and to consider a few major aspects of v
ersification.