Posts tagged Advice
Henry Miller’s Commandments
Feb 15th
photo by ken
Henry Miller’s 11 writing commandments, as taken from Henry Miller Miscellanea.
COMMANDMENTS
- Work on one thing at a time until finished.
- Start no more new books, add no more new material to “Black Spring.” (The project he was working on at the time)
- Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.
- Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!
- When you can’t create you can work.
- Cement a little every day, rather than add new fertilizers.
- Keep human! See people, go places, drink if you feel like it.
- Don’t be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only.
- Discard the Program when you feel like it—but go back to it next day. Concentrate. Narrow down. Exclude.
- Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.
- Write first and always. Painting, music, friends, cinema, all these come afterwards.
Meta Monday 13: A Foundation of Air
Jan 11th
illustration by jeloid
Fantasy writing must be grounded in both truth and life experience if it is to work. It can be as inventive and creative as the writer can make it, a whirlwind of images and plot twists, but it cannot be built on a foundation of air.
- Terry Brooks in The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing
Let us strive this week to find foundations in all that which is solid: our characters, plots, magics, worlds, and lives. Take hold of what you know can hold your weight and jump.
Meta Monday 12: The Ending of Things
Jan 4th
photo by via
He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder.
Bear this in mind, my friends who are fond of railroads and outlines.