THE NOVEL
THE NOVEL
WHAT IT IS
BY
F. MARION CRAWFORD
Author of “Mr. Isaacs,” “Dr. Claudius,” “A Roman
Singer,” etc.
New York
MACMILLAN AND COMPANY
AND LONDON
1893
All rights reserved
Copyright, 1893,
By MACMILLAN AND CO.
Norwood Press:
J. S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith.
Boston, Mass., U.S.A.
WHAT IS A NOVEL?
MY answer can only be a statement of opinion, which I make with muchdeference to the prejudices of my brethren. Whether it will be ofinterest to general readers I do not know; but the question I propose isin itself more or less vital as regards novel-writing. No one will denythat truism. Before going to work it is important to know what one meansto do. I pretend, however, to no special gift for solving problems ingeneral or this one in particular. To give “the result of one’sexperience,” as the common phrase puts it, is by no means so easy as itsounds. An intelligent man mostly knows what he means by his own words,but it does not follow that he can convey that meaning to others. Almostall discussion and much misunderstanding may fairly be said to be basedupon the difference between the definitions of common terms asunderstood by the two parties. In the exact sciences there is no suchthing as discussion; there is the theorem and its demonstration, thereis the problem and its solution, from which solution and demonstrationthere is no appeal. That is because, in mathematics, every word isdefined before it is used and is almost meaningless until it has beendefined.
It has been remarked by a very great authority concerning the affairs ofmen that “of making many books there is no end,” and to judge fromappearances the statement is even more true to-day than when it wasfirst made. Especially of making novels there is no end, in these timesof latter-day literature. No doubt many wise and good persons and manyexcellent critics devoutly wish that there might be; but they are not atpresent strong enough to stand against us, the army of fiction-makers,because we are many, and most of us do not know how to do anything else,and have grown grey in doing this particular kind of work, and aredependent upon it for bread as well as butter; and lastly and chiefly,because we are heavily backed, as a body, by the capital of thepublisher, of which we desire to obtain for ourselves as much aspossible. Therefore novels will continue to be written, perhaps for along time to come. There is a demand for them and there is profit inproducing them. Who shall prevent us, authors and publishers, fromcontinuing the production and supplying the demand?
This brings with it a first a