Idée Fixe by poppet with a camera

Flavorwire posted these today.  I remember once reading a line from Henry Miller, something along the lines of “I always found the writer I needed just when I needed him.”  For me, it’s like that with Miller himself.  He’s my favorite writer, but I always seem to find a piece of wisdom from him just when I need it.  Here, the idea of writing first, putting other things second is a lesson that should be hard-learned by now.  I work late on a number of different things and often run out of time for writing.  This should never happen.

The full list of 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.