THE CREATIVE HABIT

The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don't know what I expected from this book; I read it because a mentor and teacher of mine wrote an article where she urged all writers to read it. It was one of her favorite books on creativity, so I went ahead and got the ebook. Now I think I'm going to buy a print copy and fill it with post-it notes. It said so many things that resonated with me, I kept going back to re-read parts. There are exercises in the book–it really felt like a dance class! first she explains the theory, then she makes you practice–and while I thought I had read every book on creativity and done all the exercises out there, I certainly haven't done the ones in this book. After I finished the book, I went onto Youtube in order to find videos of her dances and interviews about her projects. I was especially fascinated by her description of her Tony-award-winning production, MOVIN' OUT, done to Billy Joel's music. Basically, she was explaining how it was a big mess when it previewed in Chicago, and she had to turn it around in a couple of weeks before it hit Broadway. Her honesty really struck me–that's how creative people have to be, really honest but also really confident. You have to be brave and put your work out there, but when it doesn't work, you have to recognize it and do something about it.

This is a great book, for creatives in all the different fields, and also for fans of modern dance. Twyla Tharp is a legend, and in this book you can see why.

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