Bill W. writes the 12 Steps

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Bill W. writes the 12 Steps



From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous:"

"I [Bill W.] was in this anything-but-spiritual
mood on the night [in December 1938] when the Twelve
Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous were written. I was
sore and tired clear through. I lay in bed at
182 Clinton Street with pencil in hand and with a
tablet of scratch paper on my knee. I could not get
my mind on the job, much less put my heart in it. But
here was one of those things that had to be done.
"Finally I started to write. I set out to draft more
than six steps [used by Oxford Groups]; how many
more I did not know. I relaxed and asked for guidance.
With a speed that was astonishing, considering my
jangling emotions, I completed the first draft. It
took perhaps half an hour. The words kept right on
coming. When I reached a stopping point, I numbered
the new steps. They added up to twelve."

c. 1957, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age,
pages 160-161