Question

Why couldn't john hallock give his whole time to writing

Answer 1

John Hallock was not a professional writer. His writing skills had not reached a level where he could earn his livelihood through writing. He wrote just to augment his income to meet the extra expenses of his extravagant and fad-loving wife. His primary profession was book keeping. He worked as a bookkeeper for a lumber company. So whenever, Jenkins, the editor of a magazine asked him to write a story, he wrote.