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The Passion of a Lifetime
Around the time that Wells failed his geology exam and left the Normal School of Science he was able to sell a short story to a London weekly. It was this first sale that made Wells think that he could become a writer. The next time that Wells began to write seriously was after he had recovered from his shattered kidney. His first attempt at writing was "The Cone" with was a short story about cruelty. Wells then started to write "The Time Machine" which was brought on by his belief in the fourth dimension.
While Wells took a short holiday in Up Park he began to write again and wrote the essay "The Rediscovery of the Unique." This article was published in The Fortnightly Review which brought Wells great joy, showing him that he could use his brain for something other than writing exams.
H. G.'s first printed book was a text on biology that he had written for Mr. Briggs and his students as the University Correspondence College. Due to his recent success Wells wrote another article for the Fortnightly Review which was put on as soon as the editor received it. In his haste the editor, Frank Harris, did not read the article but when he did he could not understand it and had it pulled immediately. Frank Harris called for an interview with Wells to ask him about the article. The interview did not go well for Wells and he ended up fleeing the office. Wells then wrote an article called "Staying by the Seaside" and sent it to the Pall Mall Gazette and it was accepted.
When Catherine and Wells began to live together she gave up her studies and became his copyist, secretary, and critic. Wells' first published story was called The Stolen Bacillus which was published in the Pall Mall Gazette. William Ernest Henley asked Wells to write for the National Observer and Wells agreed. Wells wanted to put his best work in the periodical so he revised "The Chronic Argonauts" which was his first version of "The Time Machine." The National Observer failed but William Ernest Henley moved to the New Review and brought "The Chronic Argonauts" with him. In the New Review "The Chronic Argonauts" was published under its new title "The Time Machine." Wells was paid 100 pounds for the publication rights for "The Time Machine" which brought Wells much success and thrust him out of poverty. In 1894 Wells earned £ 583.17s.7d, in 1895 he earned £ 792.2s.5d, and in 1896 he earned £ 1056.7s.9d.
W. T. Stead, who was an eminent critic of the day, declared that "H. G. Wells is a man of genius." One of the reasons why H. G.'s work was so "genius" was that he drew heavily on personal experience and used people he knew as bases for characters. After Wells met with success, he continued to write steadily until his death on August 13, 1946. In his time Wells published more than 100 books and stories.
Copyright 2000 Roman Allemann