A review by allisonjpmiller
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp

4.0

I've read perhaps too many books on the creative process – to the point where I've started to get diminishing returns, running into the same patterns and points raised time and again. The Creative Habit is a refreshing change of pace. Tharp's approach is more strictly philosophical, and very much aligned with the idea that creativity can only flourish in an environment of hard work, carefully maintained habits, and ritual. Otherwise, it is doomed to fizzle out. Tharp's primary creative pursuit is dance choreography – a world I know next to nothing about – and yet her insights and suggestions are sharp and universal. By the end, I felt challenged... I didn't feel like someone was holding my hand telling me it'll be all right (as many writing books do); I felt like I'd been given a healthy dose of reality and a hard shove out the front door.

Good stuff.