Rules for (one) Catholic Writer

• 1. Daily Communion if possible. At least weekly Confession if possible.
• 2. Read nothing that gives you indigestion.
• 3. Accept no advice on what you should write about or how you should write it. If they try to give it, it’s a clear sign they don’t know what writing is.
• 4. Avoid religious subjects unless they force themselves on your imagination.
• 5. Ditch the Church’s chart when you take up the pen. God gave you a compass to function on such occasions. Pick up the chart again when you put the pen down.
• 6. Look for what Hopkins called ‘inscape’ – the unique hieroglyphicpage 429 patterns God has planted for your eye and heart in His visible creation. A whole good poem can be made by reporting these inscapes only.
• 7. You are Adam, and you have the job of naming the creation. Invent your own names and avoid other people’s.
• 8. Don’t be afraid of mistakes. The work itself will teach you where you’re wrong.
• 9. Avoid all drugs: e.g. bigotry, hashish, booze, soft-soaping, praising pretty girls. Suffer life and write it down.
• 10. Accept your self-disgust. It is a sign of growth. If you can’t write a line, plunge into one or other of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy; or wash the dishes.

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