Jack London? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: A popular U.S. novelist provided the following advice to aspiring writers:
Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain.
These words have been attributed to Jack London who authored the novels “White Fang” and “The Call of the Wild”. London also crafted the classic short story “To Build a Fire”. Would you please help me to find a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In March 1903 “The Editor: A Journal of Information for Literary Workers” published an article titled “Getting into Print” by Jack London which suggested that authors should maintain a notebook. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain. Cheap paper is less perishable than gray matter, and lead pencil markings endure longer than memory.
And work. Spell it in capital letters, WORK. WORK all the time.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In June 1904 “The Boston Daily Globe” published a profile of Jack London which began with the following paragraph:2
Jack London, the fascinating short-story writer and brilliant war correspondent now at the front, is but 28 years old. Three years ago he was unheard of by the reading world. Today he is read everywhere, is sought by publishers, and the pages of the magazines, from the Century down, are open to him.
The newspaper reprinted some of the guidance provided by Jack London:
Avoid the unhappy ending, the harsh, the brutal, the tragic, the horrible—if you care to see in print the things you write.
Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain.
This valuable advice is appended to the story of his own struggle for recognition. Everyone likes to know how the successful succeed.
In July 1904 “The Black Cat” literary journal of Boston. Massachusetts reprinted the article from “The Boston Daily Globe”. Thus, London’s remarks achieved further distribution.3
In May 1906 “The Writer: A Monthly Magazine to Interest and Help All Literary Workers” published a short piece titled “Good Advice to Authors” while acknowledging Jack London:4
That is, I am confident, the most important rule of all. Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain. Cheap paper is less perishable than gray matter, and lead pencil markings endure longer than memory. And work!
Jack London died in 1916 when he was only 40 years old. His wife, Charmian London, published a biographical book about him in 1921. Charmian mentioned that she repeatedly came across the notebooks he used to record his thoughts:5
Those little note-pads of Jack’s—I find them at every turn.
“Always carry a note-book,” he advised. “Travel with it. Eat with it. Sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain. Cheap paper is less perishable than gray matter, and lead pencil markings endure longer than memory.”
In conclusion, Jack London deserves credit for this quotation. He wrote it in his article titled “Getting into Print” in “The Editor” magazine in March 1903. London’s remark was reprinted in other magazines such as “The Writer” in 1906.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Zane Parker whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
Image Notes: Public domain image of a collection of notebooks.
- 1903 March, The Editor: A Journal of Information for Literary Workers, Volume 17, Number 3, Getting into Print by Jack London, Start Page 78, Quote Page 82, Editor Publishing Company, Franklin, Ohio. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1904 June 8, The Boston Daily Globe, Saw the Genius, Quote Page 6, Column 6, Boston, Massachusetts. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1904 July, The Black Cat, Section: Advertising, How Jack London “Arrived” from Boston Globe, June 8, 1904, Start Page ii, Quote Page ii, Column 1, The Shortstory Publishing Company, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1906 May, The Writer: A Monthly Magazine to Interest and Help All Literary Workers, Volume 18, Number 5, Current Literary Topics, Good Advice to Authors from Jack London in London Opinion, Quote Page 75, Column 1 and 2, The Writer Publishing Company, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1921, Jack London by Charmian London (Mrs Jack London), Volume 2, Chapter 39: 1916, War, Hawaii, Quote Page 334, Mills & Boon, London, England. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎