Disappointed in his hope that I would give him the fictional equivalent of “One Hundred Ways of Cooking Eggs” or the “Carnet de la Ménagère, ” he began to cross-examine me about my methods of “collecting material.” Did I keep a notebook or a daily journal? Did I jot down thoughts and phrases in a cardindex? Did I systematically frequent the drawing-rooms of the rich and fashionable? Or did I, on the contrary, inhabit the Sussex downs? or spend my evenings looking for “copy” in East End gin-palaces? Did I think it was wise to frequent the company of intellectuals? Was it a good thing for a writer of novels to try to be well educated, or should he confine his reading exclusively to other novels? And so on. I did my best to reply to these questions – as non-committally, of course, as I could. And as the young man still looked rather disappointed, I volunteered a final piece of advice, gratuitously. “My young friend, ” I said, “if you want to be a psychological novelist and write about human beings, the best thing you can do is to keep a pair of cats.” And with that I left him. I hope, for his own sake, that he took my advice. Aldous Huxley
About This Quote

“I hope, for his own sake, that he took my advice.” In this quote, the speaker is advising a young man on how to become a successful writer. He suggests that the best way for him to do so is to keep a pair of cats, and states that it would be helpful for him to keep a notebook and write down ideas and thoughts. Many writers keep journals and notebooks in order to write down ideas and thoughts and then go back and look at them.

Source: Collected Essays

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