Apparently the would-be contributor says to himself, or
herself, "well, _I_ can do something almost on the level of this or that
maudlin and invertebrate novel." Then he deliberately sits down to rival
the most tame, dull, and illiterate compositions that get into print. In
this way bad authors become the literary parents of worse authors. Nobody
but a reader of MSS. knows what myriads of fiction are written without
one single new situation, original character, or fresh thought. The most
out-worn ideas: sudden loss of fortune; struggles; faithlessness of First
Lover; noble conduct of Second Lover: frivolity of younger sister;
excellence of mother: naughtiness of one son, virtue of another, these
are habitually served up again and again. On the sprained ankles, the
mad bulls, the fires, and other simple devices for doing without an
introduction between hero and heroine I need not dwell. The very
youngest of us is acquainted with these expedients, which, by this time
of day, will spell failure.
The common novels of Governess life, the daughters and granddaughters of
_Jane Eyre_, still run riot among the rejected manuscripts.
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