Becoming a Writer

If he were able to discover for himself the reasons for his aridity the chances are that he would never be found enrolled in any class at all. But he only vaguely knows how that successful writers have overcome the difficulties which seem almost insuperable to him; he believes that accepted authors have some magic, or at the very lowest, some trade secret, which, if he is alert and attentive, he may surprise. He suspects, further, that the teacher who offers his services knows that magic, and may drop a word about it which will prove an Open Sesame to him. This book, I believe, will be unique; for I think he is right. I think there is such a magic, and that it is teachable. This book is about the writer's magic.-Excerpt from the Introduction.