The Philosophy of Composition — Edgar Allan Poe
I prefer commencing with the consideration of an effect. Keeping originality always in view, I say to myself, in the first place: "Of the innumerable effects, or impressions, of which the heart, the i
I prefer commencing with the consideration of an effect. Keeping originality always in view, I say to myself, in the first place: "Of the innumerable effects, or impressions, of which the heart, the intellect, or (more generally) the soul is susceptible, what one shall I, on the present occasion, select?" Having chosen a novel, first, and secondly a vivid effect, I consider whether it can be best wrought by incident or tone. The death, then, of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world—and equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover.