Tuesday, November 21, 2017
How to Become a Novelist
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), "Sermons in Cats," Music at Night and Other Essays (London: Chatto & Windus, 1949; rpt. 1957), pp. 258-269 (at 258):
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I met, not long ago, a young man who aspired to become a novelist. Knowing that I was in the profession, he asked me to tell him how he should set to work to realize his ambition. I did my best to explain. 'The first thing,' I said, 'is to buy quite a lot of paper, a bottle of ink, and a pen. After that you merely have to write.'Jules Renard, Journal (November 17, 1900; tr. Louise Bogan and Elizabeth Roget):
Writing. The most difficult part is to take hold of the pen, dip it in the ink, and hold it firm over the paper.
Ecrire. Le plus difficile, c'est de prendre la plume, de la tremper dans l'encre et de la tenir ferme au-dessus du papier.
