Henry Miller’s 11 Commandments of Writing & Daily Creative Routine

COMMANDMENTS

1. Work on one thing at a time until finished.
2. Start no more new books, add no more new material to ‘Black Spring.’
3. Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.
4. Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!
5. When you can’t create you can work.
6. Cement a little every day, rather than add new fertilizers.
7. Keep human! See people, go places, drink if you feel like it.
8. Don’t be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only.
9. Discard the Program when you feel like it—but go back to it next day. Concentrate. Narrow down. Exclude.
10. Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.
11. Write first and always. Painting, music, friends, cinema, all these come afterwards.

MORNINGS:

1. If groggy, type notes and allocate, as stimulus.
2. If in fine fettle, write.

AFTERNOONS:

1. Work of section in hand, following plan of section scrupulously. No intrusions, no diversions. Write to finish one section at a time, for good and all.

EVENINGS:

1. See friends. Read in cafés.
2. Explore unfamiliar sections — on foot if wet, on bicycle if dry.
3. Write, if in mood, but only on Minor program.
4. Paint if empty or tired.
5. Make Notes. Make Charts, Plans. Make corrections of MS. 

Note: Allow sufficient time during daylight to make an occasional visit to museums or an occasional sketch or an occasional bike ride. Sketch in cafés and trains and streets. Cut the movies! Library for references once a week.

Source

Introduction part II

My name is Molly, and I'm a queer 20-something student at a Canadian university in German studies.

I've struggled with mental illness for most of my post-highschool years, and have been in treatment since 2010. I was diagnosed with Panic disorder and Generalised Anxiety disorder in 2009, participated in a GAD group therapy program in the summer of 2010 that focused mostly on meditation and mindfulness and was supplemented with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, January of 2011 I began one on one counseling with a doctor in Richmond, and in fall of 2011 I switched doctors to focus more on CBT. I have been on Paxil since September of 2011. In March of this year I was diagnosed with Major Depressive disorder and features of Bipolar II.

This is a record and account of my attempts to function and live successfully with my mood disorders.

Introduction part I

Hello there!

In an effort to make improving my mental health my number one priority in my life, I've decided to start this blog to record my progress and the ups and downs that will inevitably occur. I'm not sure what form the content will take at this point, and it will probably evolve over time anyway.