F. Scott Fitzgerald gives advice to a young author

F. Scott Fitzgerald responds to a story sent to him by a young author:

You’ve got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, not the little minor things that only touch you lightly, the little experiences that you might tell at dinner. This is especially true when you begin to write, when you have not yet developed the tricks of interesting people on paper, when you have none of the technique which it takes time to learn. When, in short, you have only your emotions to sell.

He ends the letter with:

You have talent—which is the equivalent of a soldier having the right physical qualifications for entering West Point.

Read the entire letter.

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