My project was to build a website devoted to highlighting creative resources for people who are looking to explore creativity for the first time. Or if they were a mature artist, these books would be a review of the skills they may have already mastered. Like anyone who might leave a family bible for their decedents, I want to leave a creativity bible for my granddaughter, feature the creative texts that are important for preparing live a creative life. I want to have a place that dispel the myths about creativity, that one must have the creative gene or to have talent. No, everyone has the creative genes … creativity take a practice, a willingness to explore materials, resources, develop new skills… play and be curious to what shows up without holding any judgment to whether what was produced as good or bad. Creativity is a master problem solving skill which has not been encouraged to progress. These authors have shared the basics of what I consider the beginning — from Julia Cameron’s book, "The Artist Way" to Twyla Tharp’s, "The Creativity Habit" - all of the books I reviewed have prescribed skills to practice. Overall, this project has increased my dedication to sharing these summaries to help others begin their own creative discovery.
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When a person wants something to change, one has to be willing to take some action for change to take place. Otherwise, they stay stuck in doing the same thing over and over, expecting something different to happen. It won’t. Why I like this book is as a call to building the creative habits to sustain one’s personal growth. We all need creativity. For some this is a struggle as they may have never been exposed to any creative methods. Twyla Tharp reinforces throughout her book her belief to have this change happen, one must build the skills to support these changes. Having a supportive community of friends, mentors, and other creatives are also just as important as building the skills. The author provided some daily exercises for reflection to broaden their understanding of where one might be holding onto old beliefs about creativity. Using the analogy of religions, most religious rituals are built around habits; rituals to open one’s connection to a higher consciousness. These habits are not skills, but more of a connectedness to a higher meaning. To build a creative practice through these exercises, doing the work takes time, energy. It also takes a purpose. What’s your purpose and are you willing to build a creative habit to help achieve those goals? I encourage you to buy a copy of The Creativity Habit for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Some creatives find their curiosity diminishing as they age, either they have made enough money with their art, or they not longer having the energy to keep creating. As one ages they learn more about their art and master their craft. Those that continue to find the wisdom in their ideas, continue to create. Tharp shares the example of The Beatles in how they have the "clearest developmental form” within their work, and how their work foreshadows their future work. Everything in their life fed into their work. The author reminds the reader that we all have resources, yet at times our obligations to family, school or work may impede one’s desires to create. She encourages the reader, that even distracted, to continue to work on the habit of building a creative life through learning how to "manage one’s time, resources, expectations and the demands from others.” More than anything, she reiterates, to stay optimistic about doing one’s own work.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The Creativity Habit for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
This short chapter is a reminder for the reader to review failure as a part of the creative process. Each perceived failure allows one to know what works and what does not. And not all failures are the same. The author offers a way to see failures. Failures most often are due to:
Tharp strongly suggests one to “build your own validation squad,” of people who support one's creative process. These may be friends or family, or a mentor. These are people who care about the person, and the best are those who are willing to suspend their own agendas to support another person's growth. Above all, failures are another form of tool for a creative, to see what works and what does not. Failures are not to be used to critique a person’s worth, but only their work. I encourage you to buy a copy of The Creativity Habit for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Tharp’s next two chapters focus on building one’s skills and recognizing the ruts/grooves as part of the creative process. For some, building skill may begin earlier than for some. Others may require a stronger, more structured foundation of building skills. No matter the way, the skills are necessary to sustain a creative endeavor. With that, skill requires practice and a can-do attitude. All of any practice requires hard work, but also for it to become sustaining, it requires a purpose. The author offers a self-assessment of one’s skills to review how these may assist with building a creative practice. Her next exercise is 20 questions to assist with being in the present moment for any topic. Her last two exercises review how time has contributed to one building skills, to be aware of the time absorbers or distractions. She poses the question if there was one skill one would not have at their disposal, would they still be able to create, to review how these have an impact on one’s ability to do their work. The author defines a rut as the inability to begin, and a groove as one is moving forward without effort. One cannot make any transitions until they know what is needed, and being able to identify they are in a rut. She gives a working method of helping the reader identify what is not working, and being able to write or make a list of the assumptions they might have about what is not working. With each assumption she suggests to challenge them, and then act up on the challenge. In other words, do the verb. Take some action. Each day is a new day to practice reviewing what worked and what did not. She ends the chapter with an exercises devoted to “know when to stop tinkering” and turning the ruts into productive action.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The Creativity Habit for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Tharp starts off chapter seven with a reminder about planning these creative tasks. But not too much planning as then the plan becomes the focus and not the verb, the creating. Having a plan becomes an assurance that one has structure when often chaos may enter in the preparations. She warns her reader to be alert to deterrents such as other people’s agendas, perfectionism, or having the wrong structure or materials to proceed. Each of these delay the process. Her exercises are designed to review the old patterns and old beliefs, especially around perfectionism. Above all, she encourages her reader to be generous with time and their exploration. Chapter Eight focuses on the Spine, the strong idea one may have. The spine is the underlying theme of what is being created. Or the motive that launched someone into action to take these creative steps. For the author, the spine keeps the meaning or purpose in the creative process as well as a focus on the task to be completed when off course. One of her exercises directs the reader to begin with a picture and look for the words that tells the story.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The Creativity Habit for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Tharp discussing her process of how she researches ideas through her method called “scratching.” Scratching is the collection of the ideas all around one, the ideas one might find walking into a rock quarry. Ideas are everywhere. It is the focus of one’s attention to looking for them. Ideas take on many forms. There are good and bad ideas, as well as ideas that are large and small. And the growth of the idea depends upon the person who propagates. Big ideas seems to be self-contained and self-defining adventures, taking the reader hopefully toward something sustaining and enduring. Scratching is improvising with the data one is given, and can sometime expand into knowing the direction of the idea is taking. She shares the story of Robert Pirsig with his student’s frustration of writing a 500 word essay on the United States. Unable to find a start she returned several times with nothing to turn in. He gave her a small suggestion of “narrow it down,” to the brick on a building in the town she was from. Easily she returned with her assignment complete. Through improvising, one may not know the direction, yet to follow the flow of where the idea may lead one. Tharp shares other ideas for scratching, such as reading, having conversations with others, review other people’s work, or reflection on one’s mentor or hero for some ideas. Mostly, nature is a good start. Just as Pirsig did with sitting across from the building she described, scratching allows the identification to become clearer. Scratching is not a linear process. And it may take more time than one believed it would. Stay alert to new places to look for ideas, and as the author shares, “never scratch the same place twice,” as one may end up with the same ideas as the first time. Above all, keep going to be available to ideas that bouncy into one’s path. She has several exercises that support and develop her method of scratching. One is to take a field trip to some place you might not ever go. Maybe on a walk in nature, or to a museum. Observe the people, the architecture, look for information you may need. Have a clear purpose in mind.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The Creativity Habit for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
As the author begins a project she starts with a box, a container to hold the documents of her research. Tharp states that a box helps her feel organize. She begins a simple commitment, starting with a visual way to begin a project. She knows where things go, and when she wants to find something about her project, she knows that she will find it in her box. Metaphorically, these support her beginning way to develop her ideas organized. She suggests that it does not have to be a physical box, it could be a computer, or a notebook. Some place to store one’s ideas so they do not lose them. No matter when the ideas show up, she suggests - BEGIN.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The Creativity Habit for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Tharp shares with her reader her belief that everyone has creativity built within them. This chapter focuses on discovering how one’s "creative DNA” works for each individual. She begins with an exercise on developing one’s creative autobiography, with a process of prompting questions about how creativity shows up within one’s life. Other exercises include observing others, making lists of these observed details. Through the use of these details, one could use imagination to develop the characters. She suggests repeating this exercise to further develop awareness of the patterns of life that shows up. Often one filters out the details of life. Here she’s encouraging one to pay attention to these details, building a self awareness of how one becomes selective in what is noticed. Another exercise is picking a new name for one’s self. With this exercise, the author shows the reader how one begins an identity with a name. Each life contains a story. She shares about how Mozart, as the time of his marriage, changed his birth name Joannes Chrystostomus Wolfgangus Theophillus Mozart, to Wolfgang Adam Mozart in an attempt to simplify his name. Other examples such as Muhammad Ali changing his name from Cassius Clay, changed the projection he was born with to the freedom he sought to become the champion of the world. Some changes of names can become a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” as with other famous writers did, as these allow them to shuck off old expectations and open the world with new directions.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The Creativity Habit for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
In Chapter 1, Twyla Tharp starts with her review of a collaborative process as some other depend upon us holding our integrity to the product as their livelihood depends on it, as with the author’s dance group. For some beginning a creative process, there is so much anxiety before the creativity even begins that they would rather walk away from even starting. Procrastinate is an extreme form of putting off the beginning of a creative process. Some of the reasons one might not even begin, is as a creative process puts out their “identity” for everyone to become witness to -- the flaws & the imperfections. They would rather not expose themselves to the criticism. Creativity has its own daily patterns that when established assists with writers setting up a specific time to write. A painter a space in which to paint. These daily routines become habits over a period of time allowing the creative process to emerge. Creativity is not only for artists -- it’s for everyone, opening a perspective to see the world in many different ways. She discusses that creativity is a habit. Habits are routines which are practiced, daily. The author dispels the myth of genius as “there are no natural geniuses,” only ones who have practiced -- a lot. She prepares her readers, “In order to be creative you have to know how to prepare to be creative.” The book provides exercises to prep for the necessary skills to ensure daily habits of creativity. Her first point is toward “everything is usable,” within your day. In Chapter 2, she prepares her readers for the skills to assist with daily habits of creativity
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Kelly PenrodThese are my daily writings for the 100 day project. Archives
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