The Artist's Way
The Artist's Way book cover

The Artist's Way

Paperback – July 17, 1992

Price
$21.95
Format
Paperback
Pages
222
Publisher
Tarcher
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0874776942
Dimensions
7.4 x 0.76 x 9 inches
Weight
1.05 pounds

Description

Amazon.com Review With the basic principle that creative expression is the natural direction of life, Julia Cameron and Mark Bryan lead you through a comprehensive twelve-week program to recover your creativity from a variety of blocks, including limiting beliefs, fear, self-sabotage, jealousy, guilt, addictions, and other inhibiting forces, replacing them with artistic confidence and productivity. This book links creativity to spirituality by showing how to connect with the creative energies of the universe, and has, in the four years since its publication, spawned a remarkable number of support groups for artists dedicated to practicing the exercises it contains. Review “ THE ARTIST’S WAY by Julia Cameron is not exclusively about writing—it is about discovering and developing the artist within whether a painter, poet, screenwriter or musician—but it is a lot about writing. If you have always wanted to pursue a creative dream, have always wanted to play and create with words or paints, this book will gently get you started and help you learn all kinds of paying-attention techniques; and that, after all, is what being an artist is all about. It’s about learning to pay attention.” --Anne Lamott, Mademoiselle “The premise of the book is that creativity and spirituality are the same thing, they come from the same place. And we were created to use this life to express our individuality, and that over the course of a lifetime that gets beaten out of us. [ THE ARTIST’S WAY ] helped me put aside my fear and not worry about whether the record would be commercial.” --Grammy award-winning singer Kathy Mattea “Julia Cameron brings creativity and spirituality together with the same kind of step-by-step wisdom that Edgar Cayce encouraged. The result is spiritual creativity as a consistent and nourishing part of daily life.” --Venture Inward “I never knew I was a visual artist until I read Julia Cameron’s THE ARTIST’S WAY .” --Jannene Behl in Artist’s Magazine “Julia Cameron’s landmark book THE ARTIST’S WAY helped me figure out who I really was as an adult, not so much as an artist but as a person. And award-winning journalist and poet, Cameron’s genius is that she doesn’t tell readers what they should do to achieve or who they should be—instead she creates a map for readers to start exploring these questions themselves.” --Michael F. Melcher, Law Practice magazine “This is not a self-help book in the normative sense. It is simply a powerful book that can challenge one to move into an entirely different state of personal expression and growth.” --Nick Maddox, Deland Beacon “ THE ARTIST’S WAY (with its companion volume THE ARTIST’S WAY MORNING PAGES JOURNAL ) becomes a friend over time, not just a journal. Like a journal, it provokes spontaneous insights and solutions; beyond journaling, it establishes a process that is interactive and dynamic.” --Theresa L. Crenshaw, M.D., San Diego Union-Tribune “If you really want to supercharge your writing, I recommend that you get a copy of Julia Cameron’s book THE ARTIST’S WAY . I’m not a big fan of self-help books, but this book has changed my life for the better and restored my previously lagging creativity.” --Jeffrey Bairstow, Laser Focus World “Working with the principle that creative expression is the natural direction of life, Cameron developed a three month program to recover creativity. THE ARTIST’S WAY shows how to tap into the higher power that connects human creativity and the creative energies of the universe.” --Mike Gossie, Scottsdale Tribune “ THE ARTIST’S WAY is the seminal book on the subject of creativity and an invaluable guide to living the artistic life. Still as vital today—or perhaps even more so—than it was when it was first published in 1992, it is a provocative and inspiring work. Updated and expanded, it reframes THE ARTIST’S WAY for a new century.” --Branches of Light “THE ARTIST’S WAY has sold over 3 million copies since its publication in 1992. Cameron still teaches it because there is sustained demand for its thoughtful, spiritual approach to unblocking and nurturing creativity. It is, dare we say, timeless.” --Nancy Colasurdo, FOXBusiness Praise for VEIN OF GOLD, the second volume in the ARTIST’S WAY trilogy “For those seeking the wellspring of creativity, this book, like its predecessor, is a solid gold diving rod.” --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Features & Highlights

  • Asserting that creative expression is the natural direction of life, noted Hollywood screenwriter and director Julia Cameron presents an exciting method for artists to recover their creativity from limiting beliefs, self-sabotage, inattention, fear, jealousy, guilt, addictions, and other forces that inhibit the creative process.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(169)
★★★★
25%
(70)
★★★
15%
(42)
★★
7%
(20)
-7%
(-20)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Life-affirming beyond one's expectations

I think a perfect way to say how valuable this book is would beto share a story of what I did once while following it's advice: whilebitterly angry at someone with whom I was involved, I began writing in my journal all of my feelings, all of my pains, all of the most vituperative things I could think of... and within about half an hour it began turning into a children's story, putting the entire conflict that inspired it into a parable/metaphor, worthy of being published! Not to mention that by the time I picked up the phone later that morning to talk to the one I so deeply cared about but was enraged with, the anger was gone and the love returned, as if the vacuum Nature abhors was filled with love without my control.
This book is a treasure that goes deeper and beyond most if not all of the new thinker's books written in the past several years (if not decades) in the areas of spirituality, psychology and creativity. While so many wax poetically (or try to) on the religious and social constructs that have been at the foundation of everyone's life, Julia Cameron speaks from the point of view of the Creative Force, beuatiful in its unknowability...that is at the center of it all- all of our world, all of our art- all of our lives. What this book can do for artists and writers surpasses even that which Nietzsche made possible with his aphorisms in HUMAN, ALL TOO HUMAN on "The Soul of Artists and Writers." To put all the pain of an artist- in fact, of human existence in total really- in terms of being blocked creatively is in and of itself remarkable. .... The Miles Davis quote is worth the price of the book all by itself: "Do not fear mistakes. There are none."
42 people found this helpful
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Suck it up -- it works!

A creative artist's recovery program -- not to recover *from* writing, but to recover from the many things that can block it. Laid out as a fourteen-week program with specific exercises and self-exploration projects to work on each week, plus ongoing basic elements such as the Infamous Morning Pages and the compulsive's terror, the Artist's Date (one thing you do just for yourself, every week).
While Cameron's tone has occasionally made me yell for insulin, or even wax nostalgic over the Inquisition (she is distinctly of the New Age), her insights are sound and her program gets results. I've done the program with an on-line support group, and it was interesting to see the issues of the week crop up in everyone's lives -- even the folks who had gotten involved in another project and dropped the book for that week, hadn't even read the chapter. The basic philosophy of the book is that there is a Creative Spirit in the Universe that will get right down and haul with you as soon as you show any willingness to start using your own creativity. It has certainly been amply demonstrated for me.
20 people found this helpful
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Incredibly Valuable

I decided this summer to follow the path recommended by Cameron in this book. It has taken much time and effort. But it has been worth it. The exercises recommended have powerful and liberating effects.
I appreciate Cameron's constant encouragement and nurturing. She illuminates the pitfalls and negative thoughts that we all fall into and gives us tools to get away from these things.
One of the best ongoing exercises refers to morning pages. This takes much encouragement and Cameron gives it in this book. Doing morning pages is like proactive meditation. But be warned, you will need lots of paper.
Reading and participating with The Artist's Way is a gift to yourself and to everyone else.
14 people found this helpful
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Inspiration Can Sneak Up On YOU

I began using The Artist's Way in 1998. The artist's dates were the most difficult part of the assignments. The references to 12-step programs assume everyone knows all about those programs, but I don't. I felt excluded from the conversation. There were some aspects of the book that I was simply not comfortable with, and I never felt that I was experiencing synchronicity as described by Julia Cameron.
BUT I have developed a new interest (designing web sites) and new skills since I read The Artist's Way.
At the time I read the book and did the exercises, I thought that what I liked best were the quotes from famous people such as Einstein. They inspired and motivated me, and I began thinking of images to illustrate what the quotes meant to me. (That was more fun than writing the Morning Pages.) Since I enjoy using computers, I used a computer graphics program to create inspirational signs that I placed around my home.
I guess it pays to be open-minded; although I've finished the book, I'm still benefitting from doing the exercises. I followed up The Artist's Way with Mandala, by Judith Cornell, another ground-breaking book for me. I've developed a new career by taking small steps along a meandering path. So, what IS synchronicty?
6 people found this helpful
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This Book Changed My Life

I read and worked through this book 13 years ago and it changed my life. Getting in the habit of writing morning pages was a wonderful way to drain my brain and start each day fresh. Working through the chapters reawakened my creativity and allowed my inner child to come through. I have been living a wonderfully creative life since my Artist's Way experience and will be forever thankful.
5 people found this helpful
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An Excellent Tool for Discovering Your Path in Life

I've read just about every career/life planning book and this is in my top 3. Don't be deceived by the title, it's not just for artists, but for everyone! The exercises and examples in the book really help to discover your true life path. The morning pages that she suggests have been a discipline to do, but have really helped me and others I know to discover where they need to head in life from NOW. While you could check this book out at a library, I suggest owning a copy so you can take your time to go through it and revisit it periodically as you change and grow. It is not a simplistic, numbered list, short chapter book. In the years since this was first published, Julia has added new information she has collected from people she has met who have used the book and has incorporated those comments and suggestions where appropriate.

She has various creative activities for her readers to engage in, which really help in opening up your creative abilities. While no "self-help" book is a panacea, this one is really useful!
5 people found this helpful
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This book changed my life

I felt like I hit the jackpot when I found this book. I signed up for a 12-week course based on The Artist's Way, and got a lot more than I'd bargained for. Julia Cameron is a muse for this generation. In this astonishingly honest, insightful book she inspires the reader to step outside one's self-imposed box and literally reach for the stars. This is a life affirming book that generously provides a step-by-step method of "..harnassing universality and making it flow through your eyes." Forget chicken soup, this is creme brulee for the soul.
No matter what your occupation or avocation, you can benefit from The Artist's Way.
5 people found this helpful
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Take a journey into creative recovery or self discovery...

This book is a GREAT tool to fill your creative well. In the process you will discover joys you had pushed aside. The main tools in this twelve week workbook are the morning pages and the artist's date. Each day you journal three pages and each week you make a date with yourself. It is about nurturing and caring for yourself.
Often times we beat ourselves up after the world gives us the message that we are not good enough, smart enough, etc. This book peels back the layers to your true self.
WARNING! This book takes work. However it is fun. If you find a group to work with you will find synergy within the group and great insights through sharing. I facilitate groups using this book and the Vein of Gold and the results are amazing.
5 people found this helpful
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Great book, great inspiration

Don't be fooled by the title -- this is a book for everyone, not just artists, who struggle with self-esteem issues. Sure, this book is all about freeing yur creativity, but the sources, resources, hints, tips and inpsiration Cameron shares are applicable to everyone from the blocked writer (me) to the working professional trying to have it all (me). Cameron shows you how to make stopping and smelling the roses a productive action for life and not a life-waster.
5 people found this helpful
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This is an exciting, innovative approach to the craft!

I was mesmerized reading The Artist's Way and recommend it to my screenwriting students as well as "artists" of every variety. It's truely an innovative book that brings the artist out in everyone.
5 people found this helpful