The Creative Habit

Know More: What I’m reading

I’ve been reading The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp. It’s not a dance book, or even strictly an artist’s book. I recommend it to anyone who wants to increase their productivity in any area.

One of the tenets she spells out at the very beginning of the book is that real, productive artists don’t rely on visits from the muse to create their work. What they do is get down to work.

Not only that, but anyone who’s willing to do the work will be able to produce. One not need to have been born an artist to do valuable creative work (and by creative I mean anything that involves creating, not just artwork). Good work is the result of habit and discipline.

Tharp believes that successful creators construct environments and habits that serve them. She herself gets up at 5:30 every morning and goes to the gym. That sets her up for the day. She even calls it a ritual, an activity that is always the same and that triggers a certain mindset that it’s been associated with. For some, the ritual can be getting a cup of coffee. For a painter it may be priming a new canvas. At work, it can be a ten minute check-in meeting. What’s yours?

Claire I enjoyed this read and wondered where self-motivation for the work fits into your notion that "Good work is the result of habit and discipline."

Thoughts?

Posted by: Ellen Weber | April 1, 2006 7:16 PM | Permalink to Comment

Ellen,
Knowing how to motivate yourself is important, and it's going to be different for everyone. But the point I was making here is that once you've decided to do something, you just need to do it, regardless of what mood you're in. If you wait around for inspiration, you're not being productive. I wrote about this in my March 17 post, "Demons of Inaction." That source material provides a more Zen outlook, that you can experience feelings but not let them control you.

Posted by: Claire | April 4, 2006 1:13 PM | Permalink to Comment

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