Creation vs Work

Henry Miller wrote his 11 rules for his working day in 1933, the year in Paris when he was writing what would be the collection Black Spring and Tropic of Cancer.

One of the points I come back to is – “When you can’t create, you can work.”

Despite the Hollywood version of an artist, writing a book manuscript, a screenplay, or a series of blog articles isn’t done in one flurry of inspiration and creativity. It’s a process. It’s work. Some days the work involved in writing is about inspiration and cultivating new ideas. Other days it’s about honing, whittling, editing and finalising what you have already written.

This also ties in with the next point on Miller’s list – “Cement a little every day, rather than adding new fertilisers.”

Great works of infrastructure weren’t made in day. The highways were laid inch by inch. The Golden Gate bridge took four years to build. The Hoover Dam was built over five years.

All of this was done by cementing a little every day, not looking for new ideas in the design.