The Creative Habit - by Twyla Tharp (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

All it takes to make creativity a part of your life is the willingness to make it a habit. It is the product of preparation and effort, and it is within reach of everyone. Whether you are a painter, musician, businessperson, or simply an individual yearning to put your creativity to use, The Creative Habit provides you with thirty-two practical exercises based on the lessons Twyla Tharp has learned in her remarkable thirty-five-year career.

In "Where's Your Pencil?" Tharp reminds you to observe the world--and get it down on paper. In "Coins and Chaos," she gives you an easy way to restore order and peace. In "Do a Verb," she turns your mind and body into coworkers. In "Build a Bridge to the Next Day," she shows you how to clean the clutter from your mind overnight.

Tharp leads you through the painful first steps of scratching for ideas, finding the spine of your work, and getting out of ruts and into productive grooves. The wide-open realm of possibilities can be energizing, and Twyla Tharp explains how to take a deep breath and begin.

Review Quotes

-- C. Carr, O: The Oprah Magazine

"[An] exuberant, philosophically ambitious self-help book for the creatively challenged."

-- The New York Times Book Review

"[A]s accessible, smart and eye-opening as her dance."

-- Linda Winer, Newsday

"An entertaining 'how to' guide, The Creative Habit isn't about getting the lightning bolt of inspiration, but rather the artistic necessity of old-fashioned virtues such as discipline, preparation and routine."

-- Cathleen McGuigan, Newsweek

"Though its context is a choreographer's world, its principles are universally applicable and sound....It could change your life."

-- Elizabeth Zimmer, The Village Voice

"Twyla Tharp's amazingly plain-spoken treatise...is a frank, honest, and tough-love testament essentially arguing that art and creativity are matters of hard, old-fashioned work."

-- Sid Smith, The Chicago Tribune