Anne’s First Literary Disappointments

This flow traces Anne’s early writing ambitions through rejection, unwanted success, and a later sign that her work can find readers.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

Inventing Averil

Inventing Averil A story takes shape Anne Shirley tells Diana Barry that she wants to write a publishable short story and begins building one around the heroine Averil Lester. She invests in character names, plot, and an ending that will feel romantic. Diana’s enthusiasm encourages Anne, while Mr. Harrison urges her to reduce elaborate description and make the characters sound more like real people. Anne finds criticism painful but revises the manuscript. The first attempt Anne sends the story to a major magazine with the confidence of youth. Her ambition is directed toward literary recognition, not yet toward a practical understanding of publication.

Rejection and Doubt

Rejection and Doubt A blunt refusal The magazine returns Anne’s story with only a printed rejection slip. Diana Barry blames the editor, but Anne has to absorb the setback as a judgment on the work she loves. She revises the story again and submits it elsewhere, cutting the sunset passage that Mr. Harrison had criticized. The second rejection deepens her discouragement. Ambition interrupted Anne declares that she will never write another story. Mr. Harrison advises her not to abandon writing, but to draw more closely on people and places she knows.

A Compromised Prize

A Compromised Prize A surprise acceptance Diana Barry reveals that she entered Anne’s story in an advertising contest and added references to a baking powder. The altered version wins a prize, bringing Anne money and public attention. Anne is grateful for Diana’s intention but feels that the story has been degraded. She worries that a commercial purpose has compromised the ideal she had attached to writing. The cost of publicity The prize brings pamphlets, gossip, and teasing in Avonlea. Anne uses the money, but cannot take uncomplicated pride in the success.

An Old Sketch Resurfaces

An Old Sketch Resurfaces Returning to early work While discouraged by study and bad weather, Anne rereads old pieces from the Story Club. A small sketch she wrote as a girl catches her attention in a way her elaborate early stories do not. She decides to revise the sketch and send it out. This choice reflects Mr. Harrison’s advice to write from observed life rather than impose a grand romantic design. A different wager Anne submits the piece without expecting a success. The attempt matters because she is willing to write again after declaring her ambition finished.

A First Accepted Sketch

A First Accepted Sketch Recognition at last The Youth’s Friend accepts Anne’s sketch and sends a payment. Its editor asks to see more of her work, giving Anne a modest but meaningful sign that her writing can reach readers. Unlike the baking-powder contest, this success comes from a piece she chose and revised herself. The distinction lets her welcome the achievement without feeling that her ideals have been used against her. A vocation begins Anne celebrates the acceptance and considers how to spend the money. The event does not make her a finished writer, but it reopens a future she had closed after rejection.

Anne’s second summer in Avonlea

About a week after Anne mails her story

The final week of Anne’s summer vacation

A rainy evening during Anne’s final Redmond year

Two weeks after Anne submits the sketch