JM Hauser

via Up the Mountain, Into the Woods: Two Weeks at Wildacres

So this is a book I originally purchased some years back when I was going through a writer’s slump (which most of us do at some point), and it really helped me dig out of it. Written by author Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way has been refueling the creative gas tanks of other writers, sculptors, artists, and every other facet of the creative field since 1992.   And YES, it does work, but you have to stick with it every damn day.  The main gist of the Artist’s Way incorporates the use of MORNING PAGES, and these are to be done IN the morning, every day, three handwritten pages.  Which at first can be somewhat difficult, but it does speed up, and eventually you will come to look forward to your morning pages.  The default length of time for the project is 12 weeks, so that’s a solid 3 months of daily exposition, but Mrs. Cameron encourages her readers to continue the pages well past the end of the book, and incorporate into your daily life moving forward. I think she claims to have been doing them for 25 years, and she is certainly a great success in her chosen field of creativity.

If you have ever done journaling, this is essentially the same thing, but it has more structure to it when combined with the book chapters, which are eloquently and deliciously written, quite the sumptuous feast of words and inspiration.   The book is highly Spiritual in nature, but does not ask you to believe in God, so even if you’re atheistic or agnostic you can still garner a use from its pages.

There is a workbook too that can accompany the core book.  It’s a large, spiral bound book with more white space than actual words, and it is a complementary but not essential expansion to the core book.  I had lost my original Artist’s Way, and when I repurchased the Anniversary edition recently I also included the Workbook.  I don’t regret buying it, but you can really do just fine with the core book, a good sturdy notebook and a bunch of pens.  And I highly recommend getting a big batch of your FAVORITE pens, and maybe some colored pencils for the occasional splash of color.  Just my two cents.

So that’s it, just wanted to share my thoughts.  Check it out. Julia Cameron would certainly want you to 🙂

This was a fun little one that I photoshopped for the 4th story of the Harold novel.