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If you are a paid member (either through FASO or BoldBrush Circle here on Substack), come see the latest ideas from us and our community in the BoldBrush Circle of Marketing community here: https://marketing.faso.com. We encourage you to join us and become a paid member today here. Henry Miller On Writingby Henry Miller
We are sharing this excerpt from Henry Miller’s book, Henry Miller on Writing, because, though it applies primarily to writers, the underlying idea and experience applies to all artists. His most well known works are Tropic of Cancer, Black Spring, Tropic of Capricorn, and the trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion. We know his ideas will resonate with many of you. Please enjoy. FASO Loves Poppy Balser’s oil paintings!See More of Poppy Balser’s art by clicking here. Wouldn’t You Love to work with a website hosting company that actually promotes their artists?As you can see, at FASO, we actually do, and, Click the button below to start working Get Started with FASO for Free On Writing by Henry MillerI was driven to write because it proved to be the only outlet open to me, the only task worthy of my powers. I had honestly tried all the other roads to freedom. I was a self-willed failure in the so-called world of reality, not a failure because of lack of ability. Writing was not an “escape,” a means of evading the everyday reality: on the contrary, it meant a still deeper plunge into the brackish pool—a plunge to the source where the waters were constantly being renewed, where there was perpetual movement and stir. Looking back upon my career, I see myself as a person capable of undertaking almost any task, any vocation. It was the monotony and sterility of the other outlets which drove me to desperation. I demanded a realm in which I should be both master and slave at the same time: the world of art is the only such realm. I entered it without any apparent talent, a thorough novice, incapable, awkward, tongue-tied, almost paralyzed by fear and apprehensiveness. I had to lay one brick on another, set millions of words to paper before writing one real, authentic word dragged up from my own guts. The facility of speech which I possessed was a handicap; I had all the vices of the educated man. I had to learn to think, feel and see in a totally new fashion, in an uneducated way, in my own way, which is the hardest thing in the world. I had to throw myself into the current, knowing that I would probably sink. The great majority of artists are throwing themselves in with life-preservers around their necks, and more often than not it is the life-preserver which sinks them. Nobody can drown in the ocean of reality who voluntarily gives himself up to the experience. Whatever there be of progress in life comes not through adaptation but through daring, through obeying the blind urge. “No daring is fatal,” said René Crevel, a phrase which I shall never forget. The whole logic of the universe is contained in daring, i.e., in creating from the flimsiest, slenderest support. — Henry Miller, Henry Miller on Writing “If you are an artist, that means that you are denuding yourself more and more, that by the time you die you are stark naked and your bowels turned inside out.” — Henry Miller Save Money on a Squarespace Site for your ArtARTFUL SQUARESPACE by FASO Loves Christopher Remmer’s paintings! See More of Christopher Remmer’s art by clicking here. Wouldn’t You Love to work with a Squarespace website hosting company that actually promotes their artists?As you can see, at Artful Squarespace (by FASO), we actually do, and, Click the button below to start working If you already have a Squarespace site, you can move it to Artful Squarespace with no changes, you’ll likely save money and you can see your art promoted in our newsletters just like Christopher Remmers. If you want a new Squarespace site optimized for art, we can help you with that too! Get Started With Artful Squarespace You're currently a free subscriber to BoldBrush. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
© 2025 Clint Watson |
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