What I've Learned

What I've learned from The Last of the Mohicans:

1. I can't read the word "wigwam" in a story and take it seriously. Same goes for "squaw."

2. If James Fenimore Cooper were trying to publish his Leatherstocking tales today, he'd be flat-out rejected by every publisher he contacted.

3. Dialogue tags are important, which is why they shouldn't say things like "said the now really anxious girl." (And yes, that is a direct quote).

4. For the sake of clarity for you reader, when you give a character a name, consistently refer to them by that name (and ONLY that name--with the exception of an easily discernable nickname). Having a half dozen epithets for each character is not endearing.

5. Mark Twain was right--see his list of literary offenses made by James Fenimore Cooper.

Update 6. Whenever I see the phrase "without arms" in The Last of the Mohicans, I first think first of a man without literal arms and then remember about a paragraph later that Cooper probably meant without weapons.