I am one of those people who reads more than one book at a time. The benefit to this (besides that I don’t get bored with what I’m reading) is that the books often link together in my mind to provide me with ideas that are bigger than what is presented within just one book. That’s been the case this week as I’ve read two books about creativity and one about simplifying life.
These are the three books I’m reading right now and what other writers might get out of reading them:
Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued: A Woman’s Guide to Unblocking Creativity by Susan O’Doherty. This is a self-help type of book for the creative person who is feeling blocked. Although I don’t feel that at this current time, I think it’s always beneficial to work through writing exercises in these types of books. This one takes the approach of asking you to do one exercise per chapter (things like figuring out what people negatively impacted your creative process at a young age). It provides the stories of multiple women to assist you in understanding how others might work through this. This book is intended for women and is best for those women who are helped my a psychological, therapeutic, self-help approach to tackling their creative problems.
The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life by John Daido Loori. At the other end of the spectrum is a book on creativity that takes a zen approach to art. In fact, the bulk of the book seems to be about teaching you how to practice zen meditation and to bring yourself to a place of stillness. The underlying foundation here is the belief that if you can be still, you can hear your artist’s heart and really bring yourself to the core of your artistic self. This book is good for people who are interested in a spiritual approach to creativity.
The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz. This book isn’t about creativity per se. What it’s about is understanding how the availability of so many choices can effectively immobilize us in our lives. In a way, this ties in to the zen book. It’s got a theme of appreciating choice but also letting some of the decision-making go. It’s about living a simpler life so that you have the time and energy for other things, things like art. It’s the kind of book that helps me as a writer to remember what’s important to my creativity and what is just fluff on the edges.
These are just three books about creativity. I’m always looking for others and would welcome your suggestions here!
by Susan O’Doherty. This is a self-help type of book for the creative person who is feeling blocked. Although I don’t feel that at this current time, I think it’s always beneficial to work through writing exercises in these types of books. This one takes the approach of asking you to do one exercise per chapter (things like figuring out what people negatively impacted your creative process at a young age). It provides the stories of multiple women to assist you in understanding how others might work through this. This book is intended for women and is best for those women who are helped my a psychological, therapeutic, self-help approach to tackling their creative problems.
by John Daido Loori. At the other end of the spectrum is a book on creativity that takes a zen approach to art. In fact, the bulk of the book seems to be about teaching you how to practice zen meditation and to bring yourself to a place of stillness. The underlying foundation here is the belief that if you can be still, you can hear your artist’s heart and really bring yourself to the core of your artistic self. This book is good for people who are interested in a spiritual approach to creativity.
by Barry Schwartz. This book isn’t about creativity per se. What it’s about is understanding how the availability of so many choices can effectively immobilize us in our lives. In a way, this ties in to the zen book. It’s got a theme of appreciating choice but also letting some of the decision-making go. It’s about living a simpler life so that you have the time and energy for other things, things like art. It’s the kind of book that helps me as a writer to remember what’s important to my creativity and what is just fluff on the edges.
April 18th, 2012 at 1:27 pm
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