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I've been taking a look at some of William Walker Atkinson's early work, in particular prefaces and introductions, and found some interesting notes from the start of his writing career. In the preface to his very first book, Thought-Force in Business and Everyday Life, he writes:
So he was very aware he was not going to win any awards for elegant prose. He carries this theme into the preface of his 1902 book, Nuggets of the New Thought, and writes:
In this one, he challenges critics to "polish them up yourself if you prefer them in that shape." I've only looked in these two plus The Law of the New Thought (his first three books) from his early writings, but find it interesting that in two out of the three he felt a need to mention his writing style. This kind of acknowledgement is absent from his later titles. Perhaps by that time he decided his writing style was a known quantity, since he was also writing articles for Sydney Flower's magazine New Thought. (N.B.-From what I've found so far, that Sydney Flower was quite the character. He also copyrighted Atkinson's earliest books in both his name and his publishing house's name. Oh, and the Post Office revoked his mailing privileges more than once for mail fraud.)
I felt that I had a message to deliver, and I endeavored to deliver it promptly, clearly and plainly, without any attempt at “fine writing.” If a homely word seemed to express my thought— I used it. If a slang term or semi-slang phrase seemed to fit in— in it went.
I trust that my critics will spare themselves the trouble of pointing out my many defects of style and composition—I fully realize these things. I have subordinated everything else, in my endeavor to make this work plain and practical. This is an explanation, not an apology.
With the above understanding between us, I submit this little work to your kind consideration. Whilst fully cognizant of its defects, I still feel that it will be helpful to some of the many who are endeavoring to overcome unfavorable environments; that it may serve as a guide-post, pointing out the path to better things.
I trust that my critics will spare themselves the trouble of pointing out my many defects of style and composition—I fully realize these things. I have subordinated everything else, in my endeavor to make this work plain and practical. This is an explanation, not an apology.
With the above understanding between us, I submit this little work to your kind consideration. Whilst fully cognizant of its defects, I still feel that it will be helpful to some of the many who are endeavoring to overcome unfavorable environments; that it may serve as a guide-post, pointing out the path to better things.
So he was very aware he was not going to win any awards for elegant prose. He carries this theme into the preface of his 1902 book, Nuggets of the New Thought, and writes:
I do not like writing a preface-it seems too much like an apology. I have no special apology to tender for offering this collection of New Thought nuggets. They may possess no literary merit, but they have helped men and women. With the exception of "The Secret of the I Am," these essays appeared from month to month in ''New Thought," of which magazine I am associate editor. They were written hastily, principally upon the demand of the printer for "copy," and, for the most part, were printed just as they were written, there being no time for revision or polishing up. You may pick up any one of them and find many sentences needing straightening out-many thoughts which could be better expressed by the change of a few words. Knowing these things, I first thought that I would go over each essay and add a little here, and take away a little there, polishing up and burnishing as I went along. But when I looked over them, my heart failed me. There they were just as they were written-just as they were dug out of my mind-and I hadn't the heart to change them. I remembered the circumstances surrounding the writing of every one of them, and I let them alone. A "nugget" polished up would be no longer a nugget. And these thoughts are nuggets-I dug them myself. I will not say much regarding the quality of the metal-that is for you-but you see them just as they came from the mine-rough, unpolished, mixed with the rock, queerly shaped. If you think that they contain metal of sufficiently good quality, refine them, melt them and fashion them into something useful or ornamental. For myself, I like things with the bark on-with the marks of the hammer-with the original quartz adhering to the metal. But others are of different taste-they like everything to feel smooth to the touch. They will not like these nuggets. Alas, I cannot help it-I cannot produce the beautifully finished article-I have nothing to offer other than the crude product of the mine. Here they are, polish them up yourself if you prefer them in that shape-I will not touch them.
· W. W. A.
Chicago, October 2, 1902.
In this one, he challenges critics to "polish them up yourself if you prefer them in that shape." I've only looked in these two plus The Law of the New Thought (his first three books) from his early writings, but find it interesting that in two out of the three he felt a need to mention his writing style. This kind of acknowledgement is absent from his later titles. Perhaps by that time he decided his writing style was a known quantity, since he was also writing articles for Sydney Flower's magazine New Thought. (N.B.-From what I've found so far, that Sydney Flower was quite the character. He also copyrighted Atkinson's earliest books in both his name and his publishing house's name. Oh, and the Post Office revoked his mailing privileges more than once for mail fraud.)
