Product Description

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 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...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3865 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-27
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Perhaps the leading choreographer of her generation, Tharp offers a thesis on creativity that is more complex than its self-help title suggests. To be sure, an array of prescriptions and exercises should do much to help those who feel some pent-up inventiveness to find a system for turning idea into product, whether that be a story, a painting or a song. This free-wheeling interest across various creative forms is one of the main points that sets this book apart and leads to its success. The approach may have been born of the need to reach an audience greater than choreographer hopefuls, and the diversity of examples (from Maurice Sendak to Beethoven on one page) frees the student to develop his or her own patterns and habits, rather than imposing some regimen that works for Tharp. The greatest number of illustrations, however, come from her experiences. As a result, this deeply personal book, while not a memoir, reveals much about her own struggles, goals and achievements. Finally, the book is also a rumination on the nature of creativity itself, exploring themes of process versus product, the influences of inspiration and rigorous study, and much more. It deserves a wide audience among general readers and should not be relegated to the self-help section of bookstores.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School--Tharp shows how and why artists must actively seek and nurture inspiration. The dancer/choreographer draws heavily on her personal experiences to guide readers into cultivating habits that give birth to success. In addition, she recounts the experiences of artists from other disciplines, including painting and cinematography. Vignettes from the lives of people such as Mozart underline the fact that even geniuses work hard to realize the fruits of their labor. A personable tone is carried throughout the book, and within the text is a gold mine of advice. Tharp not only promotes tried-and-true habits, but also encourages readers to dig deep within themselves and come up with their own answers. Most sections conclude with exercises; they are fun and almost seamlessly bring home the author's main points. The black-and-white illustrations and photos are few in number. Students from all manner of creative arts who wish to make their dreams come true would benefit from reading this book.--Sheila Shoup, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal
If this guide to creativity is as insouciant and quirky as Tharp's dances, it should be really fun reading.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A dance genious shares her discipline for creativity
This is a great book for anyone who wants to cultivate the habits of good discipline that consistenly lead to creative ideas.

Great!
It's the kind of book I would want everyone to read. I want to buy a lot of copies and share them with a lot of people. I just loved it.

Twyla shares pearls from her life's creative adventure
A refreshing and inspiring glimpse into the creative habits employed by a successful artist, generously shared in a well thought out, intelligent, down-to-earth practical way. Twyla shares her personal experiences and keen observational skills in a way generalizable to nearly any creative field. A pleasure to read and re-read. Practical, not just fluff. She shares behind-the-scenes step-by-step insights into the preparation for some of her more successful projects (Movin Out, etc). Puts to bed the idea that artists are supernatural beings who simply sit still and wait for bolts of lightning to strike them with inspiration. Reading this book is highly conducive to inspiration. I bought a second copy as a gift.