A novel may be made out of a romance, or a romance out of a novel, with the greatest ease, by scratching out a few terms, and inserting others. Take the following, which may, like machinery in factories, accelerate the progress of the divine art.
From any romance to make a novel. Where you find—
A castle,…..put An house
A cavern,…..A bower.
A groan,…..A sigh.
A giant,…..A father.
A blood-stained dagger,…..A fan.
Howling blasts,…..Zephyrs.
A knight,…..A gentleman without whiskers.
A lady who is the heroine,…..Need not be changed, being versatile.
Assassins,…..Killing glances.
A monk,…..An old steward.
Skeletons, skulls, &c…..Compliments, sentiments, &c.
A lamp,…..A candle.
A magic book sprinkled with blood,…..A letter bedewed with tears.
Mysterious voices,…..Abstruse words, (easily found in a dictionary)
A secret oath,…..A tender hint accompanied with naiveté.
A gliding ghost,…..A usurer, or an attorney.
A witch,…..An old housekeeper.
A wound,…..A kiss.
A midnight murder,…..A marriage.
The same table of course answers for transmuting a novel into a romance.
—C.J. Pitt
