Tarzan of the Apes | Techniques

Tarzan of the Apes Techniques

As the characters recur, so do the plots. Burroughs wrote quickly, with a firm knowledge of what his readers wanted. In 1913, his peak year, he wrote over 400,000 words; he usually spent from one to three months on a novel, rarely rewriting except to accede to an editor's request. According to Lupoff, "His speed record for a full novel was set on Carson of Venus (1939), produced in twenty-six days," while the good Warlord of Mars (1919) took thirty days. Writing at such speed meant the use of episodic plots in which coincidences abound and logic usually disappears. Mutinies, shipwrecks, menacing beasts, sojourns in lost cities (usually paired and at war), kidnappings, rescues, chases, and wars provide all the incidents needed to keep Tarzan (and John Carter, Carson Napier, and David Innes) extremely busy. Burroughs also became adept at the cliffhanger ending — as evidenced by the conclusion of...
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