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The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life Hardcover – October 7, 2003

4.5 out of 5 stars 1,938 ratings

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An inspiring guide to unlocking one's creative potential provides a wealth of exercises, anecdotes, and advice that comprise evaluating one's creative history, stimulating oneself by becoming active, and making time for creative change. 100,000 first printing.
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Perhaps the leading choreographer of her generation, Tharp offers a thesis on creativity that is more complex than its self-help title suggests. To be sure, an array of prescriptions and exercises should do much to help those who feel some pent-up inventiveness to find a system for turning idea into product, whether that be a story, a painting or a song. This free-wheeling interest across various creative forms is one of the main points that sets this book apart and leads to its success. The approach may have been born of the need to reach an audience greater than choreographer hopefuls, and the diversity of examples (from Maurice Sendak to Beethoven on one page) frees the student to develop his or her own patterns and habits, rather than imposing some regimen that works for Tharp. The greatest number of illustrations, however, come from her experiences. As a result, this deeply personal book, while not a memoir, reveals much about her own struggles, goals and achievements. Finally, the book is also a rumination on the nature of creativity itself, exploring themes of process versus product, the influences of inspiration and rigorous study, and much more. It deserves a wide audience among general readers and should not be relegated to the self-help section of bookstores.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School--Tharp shows how and why artists must actively seek and nurture inspiration. The dancer/choreographer draws heavily on her personal experiences to guide readers into cultivating habits that give birth to success. In addition, she recounts the experiences of artists from other disciplines, including painting and cinematography. Vignettes from the lives of people such as Mozart underline the fact that even geniuses work hard to realize the fruits of their labor. A personable tone is carried throughout the book, and within the text is a gold mine of advice. Tharp not only promotes tried-and-true habits, but also encourages readers to dig deep within themselves and come up with their own answers. Most sections conclude with exercises; they are fun and almost seamlessly bring home the author's main points. The black-and-white illustrations and photos are few in number. Students from all manner of creative arts who wish to make their dreams come true would benefit from reading this book.--Sheila Shoup, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 7, 2003
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0743235266
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0743235266
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.43 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.75 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 1,938 ratings

About the author

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Twyla Tharp
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Twyla Tharp, one of America's greatest choreographers, began her career in 1965, and has created more than 130 dances for her company as well as for the Joffrey Ballet, The New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, London's Royal Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. She has won two Emmy awards for television's Baryshnikov by Tharp, and a Tony Award for the Broadway musical Movin' Out. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1993 and was made an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1997. She lives and works in New York City.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,938 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book inspiring, with one mentioning how it helps maintain artistic practice, and appreciate its readability as an addicting read. Moreover, the book offers valuable insights, with one customer highlighting its great balance between practical advice and useful exercises. Additionally, the writing style is down-to-earth, and customers enjoy the interesting stories and real-life insights throughout the book.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

151 customers mention "Inspiration"145 positive6 negative

Customers find the book inspiring, noting it stimulates brain creativity and helps factor in discipline. They appreciate the author's expertise in various creative fields, and one customer mentions how it motivates them to maintain their artistic practice.

"...I enjoyed the way she opened her thoughts to the reader. It even felt voyeuristic at times, when she shared few words of her private vocabulary...." Read more

"...Plus Tharp is so well versed in other creative fields that it never reads as creativity through the eyes of a choreographer, but as someone with a..." Read more

"...sustained creativity begins with rituals, self-knowledge, harnessing your memories, and organizing your materials (so no insight is ever lost)...." Read more

"...to creativity, as it gives many ways of organizing your life and creative endeavors in order to generate more creativity...." Read more

131 customers mention "Readability"116 positive15 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as brilliant and an addicting read.

"...I'm glad I finally got to it because this book is truly a gem. Unless you skim it passively, there's no way you won't get something out of this book...." Read more

"...There is so much of enduring (and endearing) value in this book...." Read more

"Love this book souch good nugget of information for forming habits as an artist." Read more

"...In addition, there are two other threads in the book well worth your while...." Read more

115 customers mention "Insight"112 positive3 negative

Customers find the book insightful and full of great wisdom, appreciating its practical advice and useful exercises throughout.

"...The good news is that the training works. The process is the same for a mathematician as for a painter or dancer. It is certain and effective...." Read more

"...She writes about the importance of rituals and routines, or how to prepare to create...." Read more

"Love this book souch good nugget of information for forming habits as an artist." Read more

"...And in this inventive, encouraging book, Twyla Tharp shows us how to take a deep breath and begin! Twyla Tharp's rich and remarkable The..." Read more

64 customers mention "Writing quality"61 positive3 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, describing it as down-to-earth and unique, with one customer noting its beautiful words of wisdom.

"...This book was very well written - surprisingly well, since dancers I've known tend not to be verbally oriented...." Read more

"...The book is practical and insightful with elegant typography...." Read more

"...Tharp is a succesful choreographer and uses examples out of her own life as well as those of other artists..." Read more

"...This book really is so well written. She brings ideas to the table that one might never consider being important...." Read more

26 customers mention "Interest"26 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging, with interesting stories and autobiography pieces that provide real-life insights.

"...It is an interesting book, and an easy read...." Read more

"...Generous with deep perspectives, philosophy, and real life insights. What do you do if you are in a rut with your project or story or music?..." Read more

"...This is a pretty good book, well written, an interesting read, and useful." Read more

"...Plus there are so many interesting references and personal stories. She doesn't try to be a writer here, its her non-fiction." Read more

18 customers mention "Ease of use"18 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to use, describing it as simple hard work that can be put into practice immediately.

"...process, showing that it's mostly a matter of discipline and hard work...." Read more

"...to new possibilities. Tharp's exercises are practical and immediately doable--for the novice or expert. In "Where's Your Pencil?"..." Read more

"...Habits, discipline and simple hard work are the things she stresses again and again...." Read more

"...Creation is hard and an act of sheer will, but that sheer will must have the discipline to back it up...." Read more

So NOT "new"!
1 out of 5 stars
So NOT "new"!
Dust cover was so filthy I was afraid to touch it without gloves for fear of getting germs. Yellowed, but mostly just filthy.... and bookmarks throughout. I honestly wouldn't mind if I bought something that I knew was used but this vendor is not to be believed. hard to photograph all the disgusting bits of food remants all over the cover.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2004
    Create something new. This book describes how Tharp, and the intent reader, can amplify their creative energies and direct them into creative output. It is so effective that, just a few pages in, I had to put the book down to go back to some writing that had languished.

    When I got back to the book, I enjoyed it immensely. If anyone thought for a moment that creativity is some little light that flips on when it will, they are seriously mistaken. Occasional, random flashes do not support a livelihood. The good news is that, whatever your field, creativity can be cultivated. Someone working hard enough and working the right way really can generate what is needed, on a reliable basis.

    The process she describes is grueling. It involves massive amounts of training and effort, every day, for years at a stretch. Like it or not, that's the way it has to be. Scientific creativity requires identical dedication and single-mindedness, as described by Santiago Ramon y Cajal in his Advice for a Young Investigator. The good news is that the training works. The process is the same for a mathematician as for a painter or dancer. It is certain and effective. This doesn't mean that every painter will become a Picasso or that every dancer can be a Tharp. It does mean that a sufficiently dedicated worker can generate new ideas, good ones, predictably.

    Maybe, at this point, you can imagine some whiner mewling "I'm dedicated, but that's way too much work and it's boring." Such people have no idea what dedication means. Don't argue with them. It won't do them any good, and it will waste time you could have used productively.

    I admit that I never learned to appreciate dance, let alone Tharp's oeuvre. I still respect her as an artist and innovator, even though I do not understand her art. This book was very well written - surprisingly well, since dancers I've known tend not to be verbally oriented. I enjoyed the way she opened her thoughts to the reader. It even felt voyeuristic at times, when she shared few words of her private vocabulary. I recommend this to anyone who creates new ideas of their own, or who wants an insider's word on the act of creation.

    --wiredweird
    37 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2025
    I am an after-school art instructor and give this book to my seniors.
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2010
    I've always been intrigued to read this book since Merlin Mann championed it over a year ago on 43folders. I'm glad I finally got to it because this book is truly a gem. Unless you skim it passively, there's no way you won't get something out of this book. Tharp insightfully demystifies the creative process, showing that it's mostly a matter of discipline and hard work. She writes about the importance of rituals and routines, or how to prepare to create. To me, this is the key thing in the book and creativity for that matter. You have to find a way to trick yourself to make it habitual. It's difficult to form habits because we can't help thinking about the end result, but the focus should always be to start. After that, you can worry all you want about how to end something.

    There's a lot of dance talk throughout the book, but not as much as to overwhelm. Plus Tharp is so well versed in other creative fields that it never reads as creativity through the eyes of a choreographer, but as someone with a deep knowledge of the creative process who could be in any creative field she wanted. Her enthusiastic appreciation of Beethoven for example was contagious. I'm lowbrow, but she made me "last.fm'd" Bach and Wolfgang.

    The book is practical and insightful with elegant typography. With exception of the last chapter, all chapters have an exercise section that's enough to be worth the price of admission. It's superbly well written by a smart and classy lady.
    9 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2012
    As is my custom when a new year begins, I recently re-read this book and The Collaborative Habit. The insights that Twyla Tharp shares in them are, if anything, more valuable now than when the books were first published.

    It would be a mistake to ignore the reference to "habit" in their titles because almost three decades of research conducted by K. Anders Ericsson and his associates at Florida State University clearly indicate that, on average, at least 10,000 hours of must be invested in "deliberate," iterative practice under strict and expert supervision to achieve peak performance, be it playing a game such as chess or playing a musical instrument such as the violin. Natural talent is important, of course, as is luck. However, with rare exception, it takes about ten years of sustained, focused, supervised, and (yes) habitual practice to master the skills that peak performance requires.

    Tharp characterizes this book as a ""practical guide" but she also frames much of its material within a spiritual context. The creative process can probably be traced back to the earliest humans and yet so much of it remains a mystery. When Henri Matisse was asked if he was always painting, he replied, "No but when the muse visits me, I better have a brush in my hand." Of course, he was also prepared to transform an in inspiration into a work of art...and did on countless occasions.

    In the first chapter, Tharp acknowledges what she characterizes as "a philosophical tug of war...It is the perennial debate, born in the Romantic era, between the beliefs that all creative acts are born of (a) some transcendent, inexplicable Dionysian act of inspiration, a kiss from God on your brow that allows you to give the world The Magic Flute, or (b) hard work." She adds, "Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits. That's it in a nutshell."

    Throughout the remainder of her book, Tharp draws heavily upon her own personal as well as professional experiences (she would probably not make that distinction) while citing countless examples of other real-world situations that indicate "There are no `natural' geniuses." However, there are immensely creative people in every domain of human initiative. Therein, I think, is her primary purpose: To convince everyone who reads this book that they can be creative if they are willing to work hard enough.

    Here is a representative selection of what she affirms:

    o "In order to be creative you have to know how to be creative."
    o "Build up your tolerance for solitude."
    o "Trust your muscle memory" when physically exercising.
    o "If you're like me, reading is the first line of defense against an empty head."
    o "You never want the planning to inhibit the natural evolution of your work."
    o "Work with the best."
    o "Never have a favorite weapon." (Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of the Five Rings, circa 1645)
    o "Build a bridge to the next day."
    o "Know when to stop tinkering."
    o "Creating dance is the thing I know best. It is how I recognize myself."

    There is so much of enduring (and endearing) value in this book. Perhaps (just perhaps) this brief commentary helps to explain why I read The Creative Habit and The Collaborative Habit at least once a year and consult passages in them more often. Oscar Wilde once advised, "Be yourself. Everyone else is taken." Those who require proof of that need look no further than Twyla Tharp whose career is her art...and whose art is her life.
    31 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2025
    Love this book souch good nugget of information for forming habits as an artist.

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Claudio
    5.0 out of 5 stars La creatività come abitudine
    Reviewed in Italy on May 3, 2016
    Ballo come un tronco, sono leggiadro come un sasso: cosa c’entro io, umile e pigro lettore, con Twyla Tharp, ballerina e coerografa statunitense?
    Più di quanto si possa credere, più di una curiosità superficiale; tutù e scarpette rimangono fuori dal colpo di fulmine.
    Mi è stato sufficiente leggere poche righe per rintracciare una affinità profonda con questo saggio: dove si insiste sulla creatività come un lavoro, una abitudine, un esercizio senza tregua. Il problema è che (in qualsiasi campo si operi) bisogna trasporre un mondo in un altro, cambiargli segnali, linguaggio, vestiti, struttura, valori, per poter essere innovativi ed efficaci: non si può improvvisare, non ci si affida all’estro momentaneo. L’estro stesso risulta presto una tecnica che si deve coltivare quotidianamente, e i frutti si colgono anche (e) quando l’applichiamo inconsciamente, quasi da automi.
    Tutto ciò che suggerisce l’autrice non è nuovo, neanche una virgola, ma è affilato e diretto il modo in cui lo propone, la banale ed immediata messa a punto di un sistema elementare: non sei un artista, uno scrittore, un ballerino, un pittore? Certo magari sei un ingegnere, un cuoco, un imprenditore, un insegnante, un genitore... “learn it and use it for life”, recita il sottotilo. Non esiste un solo aspetto della vita che non necessiti di creatività, che non ne chieda un baule, un sacco, un silos, una sporta.
    Proprio perché si tratta di un esercizio, di una abitudine, il libro suggerisce una serie di esercizi pratici che servono a fare il punto, a ricoverare qualcosa di ovvio (probabilmente) di sé stessi, a darsi limiti certi o attaccarsi ad un filo, ad un inizio. Non sono obbligatori, e questo non è un libro che mira ad una psicologia debole, ad un lavaggio del cervello. Vale solo il lavoro sofferto su sé stessi, e non esistono scorciatoie (qualcosa che un italiano medio farà molta difficoltà a capire).
    Il libro è stato pubblicato per la prima volta nel 2006, ma io l’ho scoperto insieme a quello di Austin Kleon, “Steal Like an Artist”, tradotto e pubblicato anche in italiano (2013); li consiglierei entrambi a chiunque desideri anche solo spargere un pochino di sale nella propria vita, privata o professionale che sia.
    Per godere di questa lettura è sufficiente un inglese elementare ed un piccolo dizionario, non lasciatevi scoraggiare, ne vale veramente la pena!
    Report
  • Paula M Zaragoza
    5.0 out of 5 stars Maravilloso e libro y el servicio de entrega eficiente
    Reviewed in Mexico on May 7, 2020
    Maravilloso e libro y el servicio de entrega eficiente
  • Eduard Lacueva
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fácil de leer y motivador
    Reviewed in Spain on February 4, 2022
    Es un libro muy sencillo de leer pese que esté sólo en inglés. Además conecta contigo de forma muy sincera y honesta, por lo que motiva de una manera màs asertiva en mi caso. Se ve real, no como otros libros que exponen métodos como única verdad. En este libro, la autora explica cómo es un manera de trabajar, sin pretensiones. Muy contento con la compra!
  • Gavin
    5.0 out of 5 stars Learning from a master
    Reviewed in Japan on February 9, 2013
    I really enjoyed this book. The greatest lesson is that creativity requires strategies and effort. Twyla Tharp has a lot of experience with creativity. She provides exercises that get your creative energy moving. Reading the book didn't make me more creative. But it did show me how the process works.
  • A. Z. Pinkus
    5.0 out of 5 stars This is an amazing book!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2013
    I read this book in one go, on the plane from Amsterdam to New York, and time flew by! This book is very well written, and an absolute must-read for any artist struggling to find a way to work on their art every day.

    What makes this book different from others on the subject is that it was written by some one who has been successful for a long time herself.

    I'm implementing many small ideas from this book and it has improved my working habits immensely. This book is a must must must read for any artist who wants to find out how to easily turn the art creation process into a habit, a daily routine. And it is a fun read, it feels as if a successful choreographer is talking to you personally.