A review by documentno_is
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin

informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.5

I agree with a lot of the things he said in terms of creative process.

The more ‘woo woo’ elements were a little lost on me, although the gong was kind of funny. The part about not getting a potentially necessary surgery was well… in line with me disagreeing with him in that the artist does have some ideological responsibility for their work, theme is essential although I do agree that trying to force a story to work around a theme that’s not clicking is problematic. 

Bringing in some psychology principles like A/B testing was helpful, I also liked what he had to say about work vs. creative life, the artists job is never finished and that you hold responsibility to live creatively for yourself even when it’s inconvenient. I loved what he had to say about sincerity as goal, that’s it’s rarely effective to start super sincere without some sort of filter between yourself and feeling. The idea that the creative process is a thing outside yourself that you can tap into is super effective, I love the idea that art is deeper than your ideas or thoughts. The idea that the artist is simply a conduit. That preemptively critiquing the work can stifle it- but is ultimately necessary to remove what’s unneeded and to demonstrate taste (to be the editor). 

I think this book could be very helpful to anybody trying to build a creative process, and learning to tap into creative flow, artistic decision making, ruthless editing, and many other process he goes through in this book- for those who already have a artistic practice in place it can always be helpful to re-examine and take stock of your own approach.