Writer

In the 1940s a wealthy American businessman, known simply as “Collector,” commissioned Anïs Nin, Henry Miller, and other famous writers to produce erotic fiction for his private consumption, at a rate of one dollar per page.

“This started an epidemic of erotic journals. Everyone was writing up their sexual experiences. Invented, overheard, researched from Krafft-Ebing and medical books. We had comical conversations. We told a story and the rest of us had to decide whether it was true or false. Or plausible. Was this plausible? Robert Duncan would offer to experiment, to test our inventions, to confirm or negate our fantasies.”

Nin never met the collector herself. But occasionally she received a phone call.

“Less poetry,” said the voice over the telephone. “Be specific.”

Writing horoscopes is a little like writing erotica. You must write about your own life and everyone you have ever known. You must look directly at the most uncomfortable bits of life: our perversions, shadows, embarrassing insecurities, and describe them as plainly as possible, with generosity and care for our tender hearts and fragile dreams. Doing it well is arduous but can also be pleasurable. A practice for all the other types of writing you will do.