The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp

One of the world's leading creative artists, choreographers, and creator of the smash-hit Broadway show, Movin' Out, shares her secrets for developing and honing your creative talents-at once prescriptive and inspirational, a book to stand alongside The Artist's Way and Bird by Bird. 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... Editorial Reviews [An] exuberant, philosophically ambitious self-help book for the creatively challenged. - The New York Times Book Review 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 The Creative Habit emphasizes the work habits that lead to success. - C. Carr, O: The Oprah Magazine 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 [A]s accessible, smart and eye-opening as her dance. - Linda Winer, Newsday 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 - From the Publisher In these unselfconscious tales, where Tharp is talking about what she knows best -- her own work -- she does indeed have lessons to offer. In opening up her creative process, she shows us the perseverance, discipline, risk-taking, continuous self-assessment and mountains and mountains of hard work that have taken her to the top of the ladder. —Sarah Kaufman - The Washington Post Tharp's choreographic style has been called vernacular classicism. And at its best, The Creative Habit reflects the same demotic impulse that suffuses her most successful ballets -- from ''Deuce Coupe'' and ''Push Comes to Shove'' in the 1970's to the current Broadway hit ''Movin' Out,'' inspired by the songs of Billy Joel. It's an impulse that serves her as well here as it does on the stage. When she writes that ''art is a vast democracy of habit,'' who can doubt that she is right? - Emily Eakin - The New York Times 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. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly If this guide to creativity is as insouciant and quirky as Tharp's dances, it should be really fun reading. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. - 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 2004 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal