_3 Essential Books on Creativity_
“One must always be careful of books, and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.'
- Cassandra Clare
I wrote in my last post about the focus change I'm doing with the Creative People Podcast. You can read that here, but basically, I've spent 100 episodes exploring creative living and how to do it well. While that will always bleed into every episode of the podcast, it's a change of focus that excites me because of the foundation that has been laid.
While doing the podcast for the last 2 years, I have immersed myself in the topic of creativity and have found many of the answers I went searching for. Between 100 conversations and dozens of books, I have lived and breathed creative living and I have a couple of book recommendations from my quest.
These are books that I went back to time and time again because I wanted their concepts burned into the folds of my mind. I was an extremely frustrated creative and the lessons I learned in these books resolved much of that as well as informed my perspective whIle I made my podcast.
Here’s the list:
Stephen Pressfield is my guy. His minimal bullshit approach to creativity, and living a creative life has fundamentally changed the way I view mine. He introduced the concept of Resistance, it being the negative forces that seem to push against us while we are doing worthwhile and "important" work. That alone is worth the price of the audiobook. But the way he takes this concept and runs with it as he walks through the struggles of creatives is so honest and on-point. After you've read The War of Art, follow it up with No One Wants to Read Your Shit and Turning Pro. Really the 3 of these could be one big-ass book that will change your life.
This short book written in the 90s isn't on many people's radars and it might be because it was so ahead of its time. So while the references and examples are pleasantly nostalgically dated, the insights are spot on. Personally, Fear is something that I've dealt with a lot in my life, though the more modern term would be Anxiety.
This is a book about doing the work, and all the bullshit that can get in the way of that. From higher education, self-doubt, and imperfection Ted Orland & David Bayles tackle it all in the quick read.
This book led me to start the podcast. It was the first book I had read specifically about Creativity and it was essentially like pouring gas on the little flame that was inside me. I didn't know at the time I was reading it that it was written by Ms. Eat Pray Love Elizabeth Gilbert but the book did send me on my own spiritual journey that paralleled the ones she sent on with her previous book. And while there is a bunch of "magical thinking" the book is also practical and insightful.
2 things come to mind on this point. Her description of your field as the "shit sandwich" that you choose and our creativity being a dog that will eat your furniture if you don't use it, spring to mind. It’s a must-read.
Additional mentions:
The Creative Habit by Twila Tharp is a practical and non-magical look at creativity. The way she breaks down certain processes and approaches are incredibly refreshing and really takes the mystery of doing this kind of work, in the best and most inspiring way.
The Artist's Way - honestly, I kinda hate this book. I didn't like it at all, HOWEVER, I did find the workbook companion very helpful. And this is where the concept of Morning Pages originated. Morning Pages are recommended in numerous books that I have read, and it's a practice that I have adopted. Morning Pages are essential.
ADHD 2.0 - One of the things I've learned is that what I called CREATIVITY was actually many things mixed into one. The topic of ADHD and neurodivergent minds comes up often these days. I think figuring out how your brain works is essential to unlocking your creative potential. Sometimes the things that we call "creative" are actually different ways of learning and how some minds work differently than others. As creatives, we can be extremely hard on ourselves. Understanding how our brains work, and making peace with that is essential.
Hope this list helps you find peace with your own creativity.
- Ryan Leacock