The best book I read this month was another book related to writing, and no, I didn’t plan it that way. I wanted to read a book about creativity, because my creative battery is drained, and I thought this one—The Creative Habit by choreographer Twyla Tharp—would offer a different perspective than traditional writing craft books. I did not expect to fall so utterly in love with it.
In her book, Tharp explains what is needed to develop a creative habit (creative DNA, discipline, rituals, an archive, a bubble) and the nature of creativity (ruts, grooves, failure). She also provides exercises—some esoteric, some practical—to help draw out and explore creativity.
Her explanations are filled with examples from her own life, as well as from historical and contemporary figures of note. She refers to Mozart and Beethoven and Richard Avedon and Billy Joel, among many others. Her examples are drawn from across the spectrum—dance, music composition, photography, writing, painting, sculpting, and business. As she points out, creativity and creative thinking have many different applications.
And like Stephen King, Tharp writes in a very down-to-earth, accessible style. I never once felt condescended to, nor did I feel that she was holding herself up as the One and Only Expert. If nothing else, one recurring theme throughout the book was that each artist needs to develop habits and systems that work for themselves. There is no “one size fits all” in the creative habit.
So much in this book resonated with me that I’m looking forward to reading her latest one, Keep It Moving.