Last weekend I was at an art gallery opening and I was talking to a man about writing. We talked a bit about how hard it is to write sometimes, and blah blah blah and then I brought up the book, the Artist's Way and I told him it had been pretty helpful for me and my writing.
For those of you who haven't been introduced to the Artist's Way, it's this huge deal...at least according to Amazon.com. Millions have been sold. The book is currently ranked as the 488th most popular book in the Amazon.com universe, which is pretty high up on the list when you think about how many books exist in this world.
Anyway, so a lot of people have read the book, but I brought it up very self-consciously. I'm not sure why I did this. Perhaps it was because all writers and painters and sculpters would like to be able to say that they've always trusted themselves artistically, and never needed to read a book to help them affirm themselves. Perhaps I was also worried that admitting I'd read something that millions of people had already read would somehow make my own creativity look less unique, less special. But I decided those were shit reasons for not talking about the book, so I asked the man if he'd read it too.
Sure enough, the man (who was quite a bit older than I) laughed when I admitted to reading it and said that it was quite possible that 40% of the people at this art gallery had used the book as well, but I shouldn't talk about it so loudly because the book had turned into such a cliche.
He even told me about using the book when he first moved to Seattle; playing with little toys in his bath tub to try to help make his artist's child feel nurtured. He shared this story, laughing, still a bit unsure what effect the book had had on him. He did, however, admit to writing a lot of poetry using the techniques Julia Cameron describes.
I thought it was kind of silly that we were both so ashamed of talking about this book, which had obviously helped us both.
What about you? Have you read the book? It's okay...get over yourself and admit it....
1 comment:
Not only have I read it but I teach an Artist Way Class here at Freehold Theatre along with Gin Hammond. Our students came into the class with a mixed reaction to the material but all left having gotten a lot out of it. In fact, here is a link to an article one of our students wrote about her experience:
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs025/1102313671991/archive/1102543542952.html
We are offering it again this coming May (starting May 5 through July 21) on Tuesdays from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 pm for $180 Tier I students and $220 Tier II students (based on household income).
Here's to yet another "artist's way" confession/fan!
Best,
Kate Gavigan
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