The Creative Habit
This inspiring, encouraging guide will show every reader--from the author facing a bad case of writer's block, to the business person looking to secure a deal--how to achieve his or her fullest creative potential.
Stats for nerds
10recommend
15mentions
14people
2009–2022years
73% recommend20% neutral7% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I agree that many people think "being creative" is just swanning around being inspired, but all the high-level creative people I know are very hard-working. There's a great book called The Creative Habit by the choreographer Twyla Tharp which is an absolutely fantastic insight into what it takes to operate at a high level in the arts.
- Read The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
- There’s a fantastic book called “The Creative Habit” by the choreographer Twyla Tharp if anyone is looking for a focused and clearly written “how to” manual for this. It became something of a bible for me when studying sculpture.
- If I could talk to my 14 year old self, I wouldn't recommend any particular books.
I would say, "Don't stress and worry so much about school or your grades, because absolutely none of that is going to matter in 10 years. Learn how to make things. Start now, and never stop. Learn how to use technology to the fullest, both software and hardware. Learn how to write, speak and communicate ideas as effectively as possible. Learn how to hack people and understand how social structures work. Take that seriously. Most importantly, don't let anyone change who you are. Choose a path and follow it doggedly."
Ironically, some of the best advice I've seen came from a book: "Who you will be in five years is determined by who you meet today and what you read today" [0]. But a 14 year old doesn't need to read a whole book to gain that particular pearl of wisdom, or many of the others. I read a lot now, several of the books mentioned on this thread and many others. But that's because I'm old, and it's too late for me. If I could talk to my 14 year old self, or any 14 year old, I would tell them that there is significantly more to life than what can be learned in a book.
[0] The Creative Habit, by Twyla Tharp
- I'm a big fan of Twyla Tharp's "The Creative Habit" for one reason: it completely does away with the whole mystification of "creativity" as some gift from a divine source. The plot is simple: creating stuff requires work. Figure out how you work best, then work. End of story.
Anyway, I'm a fan. It cured me of all inspiration-seeking behavior.
* http://www.amazon.com/The-Creative-Habit-Learn-Life/dp/07432...
- Books that might help in these areas:
1) Better Thinking techniques and Systems
2) Overcoming Cognitive Bias
3) Creativity/Innovation
4) Problem Solving/Decision Making
5) Any other similar area in business/life.
For example:
Peter Bevelin - Seeking Wisdom - From Darwin to Munger
The Personal MBA - Josh Kaufman
Charlie Munger - The Psychology of Human Misjudgment
Predictably Irrational - by Dan Ariely
Daniel Kahneman - Thinking, Fast and Slow
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life - Twyla Tharp
Michael Michalko - Creative Thinkering
Thinking in Systems: A Primer - Donella H. Meadows
The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt
