The only way for the islands to attract visitors is for them to speak first in the visitors’ tongues.

The islands and the Continent work together through the stages of creation, vying with one another for voice and articulation. Writing is the conscious ordering of unconscious material, with the Continent of Reason applying its logic to the intuitive logic of the islands so that their alternative visions of the world can be expressed in a language

In a productive, well-ordered life two elements must be managed: time and work. Poor time managers fail to recognize the difference between the two elements: Work is infinite; time is finite. Therefore you must manage your time, not your work. Work expands to fill whatever time is allotted to it. If your work is successful, it generates more work;

Remember that there’s a distinction between “public” and “private” voice. You may be interested in your private voices (as Joan of Arc was); but unless you find a way of allowing us to hear them, you’re probably too caught up in the voices from your “islands” and you’re in for trouble as a writer. Your Continent controls the medium of communication

The Managing Editor, who balances analytical consciousness with intuitive vision, is in charge of the revision process. The Managing Editor’s job is to make sure that in the final draft nothing remains that isn’t comprehensible to the Continental audience; and to see that nothing of the islands’ vision remains unexpressed. The Continental audience,

• Stop doing things no one needs to do. • Stop doing things someone else will do if you stop doing them. • Stop doing things that aren’t the kind only you can do.

The following principles will help you to find the time you’re losing—and to begin shaping your own life. You must wake up your Managing Editor and ask him to make a deal with your Continent of Reason: “I’m going to spend one hour—no more, no less—every day working on my writing and you can take a break during that hour.” Your deal with the

Even thinking takes time. Some people spend much of their active lives daydreaming, without living to see their dreams come true. Examine the attitude you have toward your own thinking. Even a person who can think of twelve things at a time can still only think of twelve things at a time. Which means that thinking about the negative things, the

When the islands start shouting, if you write down their first suggestions you’ll have a wide selection of, at worst, nonsensical gibberish; at best, you’ll have a supply of relatively weak suggestions. And you’ll be left making your final selection solely on the basis of the Continent of Reason. But by initially denying the islands, you end up