Where to Start in the Twelve and Twelve

Key takeaway

The book in your hands is Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, a separate book of essays. The short Steps are outlined in the Big Book. Tonight, open to one Step, listen to the audio on aa.org, or sit in a meeting while the group reads a short passage. You can stop before the last page.

Last updated: Tue Oct 06 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

The book is on the table. Someone handed it to you after a meeting, or you bought it because the title sounded like instructions, and now you are afraid to open it in the wrong place. You are tired. You do not want a tour of the literature. You want to know which page is allowed to be first.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions is its own book. It is a book of essays. The Steps, as the short list people sometimes hear read aloud, are outlined in the book Alcoholics Anonymous, at the beginning of the chapter "How It Works." That is the book the rooms call the Big Book. The essays that walk with the Steps are the book in your hands. The Steps page on aa.org says the essays are there, and it points to audio, a PDF, and an ASL version, so you can listen if the print is too much tonight. The Traditions page sends you to this same book when you want to read about the Steps. Those audio, PDF, and ASL versions live on aa.org too.

The books guide names the other titles when you want them. Tonight you already have this one.

If you only have a few minutes

Open to one Step. If you are new and scared, Step One is an honest place: admitted powerless over alcohol, and life had become unmanageable. You can read that short form on the steps page and stop. The essay in the book is the longer walk through the same Step. Read until your attention quits. That is a full night's work. You are not behind if the back cover is still a long way off when you fall asleep.

If the book fell open in the middle, you do not have to start an inventory because the pages landed on Step Four. Step Four is a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. The essay will keep until you are steadier. Tonight you can turn back to the Step that matches the fear you walked in with. Step Five, admitting the exact nature of your wrongs to another person, scares people who are reading alone in a kitchen. You do not have to find that person before morning. Close the book if your hands are shaking from the idea of it.

If what confused you was the group, the Traditions are the other half of the title. People sometimes hear them as a stack of rules aimed at the newcomer. The short list was published in the AA Grapevine in April 1946 under the title "Twelve Points to Assure Our Future." A long form exists too. You can read one line and quit. The line that covers the door is this: the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. The long form adds that membership ought never depend upon money or conformity. The traditions page keeps the short list. The essays are the book you are holding.

What a meeting does with it

Some groups study the Steps in rotation, sometimes two or three at a time. Other groups do that with the Traditions, or with the Big Book. Many of those meetings read a short passage at the start. Then people talk about what drinking did to them and to the people around them, what they did to stop, and how they are living now. A discussion meeting often takes its topic from A.A. literature. This book is one of those sources, along with the Big Book, As Bill Sees It, Daily Reflections, and the AA Grapevine.

The members conduct the meeting, and they determine the format. You might walk in on a night when they are reading Step Four and you have barely looked at Step One. Sit down anyway. Each group is autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole, so the reading schedule belongs to that room. You can follow in your copy, or you can just listen. When the chair asks if anyone new wants to introduce themselves, that invitation is not a requirement. It might help. It is your call.

You do not have to pay to be in the room. There are no dues or fees. Groups are supported by voluntary contributions from their own members. Nobody is going to check whether you bought this book. After the meeting there is usually a little time when people talk. Some may introduce themselves and offer help. Staying for that is up to you.

Tonight the book can sit in the chair beside you

If you want other people in the room, search meetings and confirm the listing before you count on the time. The meetings search here is not a verified directory. aa.org does not contain a meeting finder. It points you toward local A.A. resources. The Meeting Guide app is free on iOS and Android. It lists in-person and online meetings, and the detail view can show the format and notes the group provided. That note is how you spot a Step meeting.

Meetings are in person, online, or on the telephone, at the hours the group chose. Online, some people have cameras on, some have them off, and some meetings are a dial-in call. You can sit and listen. Whether you share is completely up to you. Anyone with a desire to stop drinking is welcome. A.A. has been helping alcoholics recover for more than 80 years, one person talking with another. You do not need to have read ahead to be one of the people in the room.

A chapter is not detox. If you have been drinking heavily and you stop suddenly, NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening. Get medical help. The withdrawal guide is there for that fear. NIDA describes mutual-help groups such as A.A. as peer-led, not led by healthcare professionals, and not a substitute for treatment.

If you need a treatment program, call (800) 653-9376. The call is free to you. Treatment providers pay for the referral. That line is not an A.A. office, and it is not SMART Recovery. SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), is a treatment referral line too, free and confidential, all day and night, in English and Spanish. You can also search FindTreatment.gov.

If someone is in danger, call 911. If the night turns into a crisis you cannot sit with, call or text 988. The book will still be on the table in the morning.

Additional Resources

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Common Questions

Do I have to finish this book before I go to a meeting?

No. You can go tonight and let the group read whatever short passage they chose. The short form of the Steps is on aa.org, outlined in the book Alcoholics Anonymous at the start of the chapter How It Works. The essays live in Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Plenty of people hear one paragraph in the room before they ever get through a chapter. You can sit and listen. You do not pay to attend, and there are no dues or fees.

Is the Twelve and Twelve the same book as the Big Book?

No. Alcoholics Anonymous, the Big Book, is where the Steps are outlined as a short list, at the beginning of How It Works. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions is a separate book of essays on those Steps and on the Traditions. The Steps page on aa.org says the essays are in that book, and it points to audio, a PDF, and an ASL version. The Traditions page points you to the same book when you want to read about the Steps. The shelf guide names both books.

What if I cannot stand to read tonight?

Close the book. The Steps page on aa.org has audio, a PDF, and an ASL version, so your eyes do not have to do the work. A Step or Tradition meeting often reads a short passage out loud and then people talk. You can follow in your copy or you can just listen. Introducing yourself is not mandatory. If the print is making you feel worse, a meeting where someone else holds the book is a fair way to spend the hour.

Which Step do I open to if I am brand new?

Open to the Step that matches the fear you actually have. If that is the beginning, Step One is the admission of being powerless over alcohol and of life having become unmanageable. You can read the short form on the steps page and stop. The essay is the longer piece in the book you are holding. You do not owe the group a book report in the morning. If they happen to be studying a later Step, you can still sit there.

What if I am sick from drinking and the book is all I have?

A chapter cannot manage withdrawal. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who has been drinking heavily over time stops suddenly. Get medical help before you try to read your way through the shakes. A meeting is peer support. NIDA describes mutual-help groups such as A.A. as peer-led, not led by healthcare professionals, and not a substitute for treatment. Call 911 if you are in danger. Call or text 988 if the fear turns into a crisis.