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My POV
Brian A. Wilson
Book Review
The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. By Julia Cameron.
Perhaps you've walked past "The Artist's Way" as many times as I have. I'm sure I've passed it on bookshelves dozens of times since it was published in 1992.
I even thumbed through the book a time or too. But I hate "fussy" books, and this one seemed exceptionally fussy. It appeared to have no end of pesky tasks in it.
When I want a book, I want a BOOK, not a doodle pad, not a sketchbook, and certainly not a workbook.
OK. So I was a dunce.
Do as I say, not as I have done. Get this book. Read it. But more importantly, work through it. I'm only two chapters in, two weeks into the twelve-week program of the book. Already, I feel changed. I mean, I'm still me-I can't resist my wife's chocolate chip cookies, weed eaters drive me nuts, my tee shots tend to hook right-but I'm a new and improved me. Sort of Me v2.0.
The best part? The difference largely feels like getting back to the roots of my creativity. I'm rediscovering the talents, desires and drive that launched me into this wacky world of writing, and of writing for Hollywood specifically.
Perhaps this sounds like mystic mumbo-jumbo to those of you dwelling at some distance from, like, totally tuned in Tinseltown. It's not. That's what I love about this book. It gives you concrete exercises to perform, gives you indications of what to expect, and presents a good framework and solid coaching so you can accomplish your goals.
The book calls itself " a course in discovering and recovering your creative self."
I can't imagine a writer who couldn't benefit from this book. We're all a bit tortured on the inside, a bit delicate yet crusty on the outside, and generally spend our lives wrestling to get our interpretation of the world out to a receptive audience. By the very nature of that pursuit, we get knocked around a bit. Our batteries run low. Our creative juices dry up.
This book is about reversing that process.
I think it's a book for everyone. At the same time, it's a book that only works when you're ready to work it. Took me nine years to "get around" to this book. But that's the nice thing about books; they just sit there on the shelf, infinitely patient, waiting for you to discover the treasure they hold within.
Next time you're in the bookstore, look through The Artist's Way. Maybe you'll take it home and apply its teachings. Maybe it'll take you a year...or two...or ten, before you're ready.
Believe me, when you are ready, you're in for a fascinating, compelling journey back into the heart of an exciting writer-you.
Keep writing.
BW
bigtex@loop.com
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