BOOK REVIEW: THE ARTIST'S WAY - JULIA CAMERON

It's another sluggish morning for me. The world is grey outside. It's rained for a few days, and the past couple of weekends. In this time, it feels like the world has barely moved. There is nothing new to report. So I suppose I'll get one with my blog post.

Today, because I'm tired and it's a momentous effort to get myself moving, but I still don't want to give up on my effort to create more than I consume, I'm doing another book review. This is a book I read a whole 6 months ago. But it's one that stays fresh, and one I am certain I will revisit frequently. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The Artist's Way

Author: Julia Cameron

Genre: Self Help

Sub Genres: The Arts, Creativity, Writing

Pages: +- 300-400

Summary: An intense 12 week guide to jogging your creativity, filled with thoughts, quotes, exercises, and prompts.

My Rating: 5/5

OVERVIEW

There's something magical about this book. And I don't mean that in the artistic sense - like ethereal writing, and beautiful layouts on the pages. I mean that in the mystical sense. This book contains some otherworldly essence. It has to. It's the only way I can explain what it's done for me. It hasn't just jogged my creativity; it's weaved my dreams into reality. But not before an ugly purge of everything blocking it. 

This book is infamous in creative circles for being like moldavite - moldavite is a type of crystal that is rumored to turn your life upside down, and clear out everything that is not aligned with you, but in a very cataclysmic way. If you haven't guessed it already, I am a great believer in astrology, and metaphysics, and the magic of the universe. So no, it's not odd to me that a crystal or a book can magically alter the course of your life. And even if I was a sceptic, this book would have changed that very quickly. 

It's rumored that this book will only find you when you're meant to have it. And you'll only be able to access it when the time is right. I first heard about this book years ago, as a small mention in passing conversation, but at the time I couldn't find a copy anywhere in the whole country, and the thought of The Artist's Way passed quickly, like a flitting butterfly. Last year I began seeing content about this book EVERYWHERE - in videos, book reviews, pictures. And so my time had finally come. With sudden serendipity, this book was on sale at a multitude of places. I just needed to take my pick, and so I did. 

By the time the book arrived - I ordered it online - I'd heard all the stories about how a string of coincidences and synchronicities would follow you over the 12 weeks of reading this book. And having completed the book a couple of months ago, I can confirm that it's all true. I had everything from thinking of a distant person to seeing them that very day, to exact amounts of money I needed appearing suddenly, to watching videos that parroted my thoughts back to me word for word. 

And I say again - there is something magical about this book. 

The last thing you need to know before delving into it, is that it's not a standard non-fiction book. This is more so a workbook or a guide. It is split into 12 chapters and you need to complete one per week. Each chapter starts off with a few pages of inspirational prose around a creative topic... like fears, ambitions, talent etc. Interspersed, there are motivational quotes. Each chapter ends with some daily exercises and writing prompts, then a weekly review. 

 

Ultimately, it's work. Not light reading. 

PROS

The first thing I noticed about this book, as someone with an eye for design, is that this is quite possibly one of the most beautifully laid out books I have ever seen. The white space in this book is used liberally and carefully at the same time. The pages are crisp white, with careful laying of text blocks, quotes in the margins, and sections for the tasks. This is ultimately a multi-media sort of book, or at least one with multiple thoughts going on, so I was impressed with how it all came together visually on the pages. 

The biggest compliment I can give this book is that it works. That's if you do it properly and diligently. I can't speak to what results you'll get if you half-heartedly swan your way through the pages, but I took these 12 weeks very seriously. And by the end of it all I felt properly creatively unblocked. 

 

Within those 12 weeks I completed my new book (Splitting an Empire) that I had been dithering about for years, I had gotten lots of media opportunities as an author, and my craft just felt easy. 

 

The book's tagline is 'a spiritual path to higher creativity' and I certainly felt like I had reached a new level of creative competence and confidence by the end of the 12 weeks. 

CONS 

A period of 12 weeks is essentially 3 months. It's a long time to be adding extra work to your plate. Every week for 3 months, there is compulsory reading to do, daily journal pages to complete, weekly creative exercises (not all are writing tasks, some are active tasks), end of week reviews. 

 

Ultimately, this is work. 

 

I estimate it added about 1-2 hours of extra work to my plate everyday for 3 months. For the person trying to balance their creative journey alongside a daily humdrum, this book is going to feel overwhelming. I mean, it even felt like a weighty workload to me, and I don't have children to take care of or a 9-5 workday. 

This next one is not going to be a con for everybody - just if you're sensitive about this stuff. This book has a spiritual component to it. It stems from the idea that creativity is an expression of God (or whichever higher power you believe in) and that we need to be in touch with our spiritual selves to be able to channel it from above effectively. The book isn't balanced on a particular religion, although it uses the word God a lot. It is very clear that you substitute this with anything you believe in. But if you don't subscribe to any spiritual ideas, and feel uncomfortable marrying the idea of your skills with some other worldly force, I should warn you this book has a lot of it. I've also mentioned above that a lot of the lore around this book is about the weird and sudden purges of parts your life when you unblock your path to higher creativity... if this thought unsettles you, then it may not be the right time for this book. I can assure you it is going to make life ugly before it makes it wondrous. 

Lastly, this book is not science-backed. A lot of the prose are simply thoughts and musings of the author, wandering where it may take her. There aren't studies, psychological tools, or strategic steps to unlocking your highest creativity. This is all based on thought. (I must add, though, that I didn't feel like it affected the quality of results of the book.) 

TARGET AUDIENCE 

I personally believe this book is best suited to adults over the age of 27. You'll often see me reference adults aged 27+ in my posts, because this is the age at which the frontal lobe develops, and this is the age at which understanding of concepts becomes best. Younger adults, say those with little life experience outside of university, have very different understanding or relatibility to certain written ideas. This book requires wisdom to be best enjoyed.

I would also say that this book is best suited to writers (although it can technically be used by any kind of creative) who have made some headway in their careers, or at least have serious intent about it for their future. 

 

This book is intensive and the kind of results it aims to produce are probably not for the very occasional hobbyist creative writer. 

And we come to the end of my thoughts on this book. I wrote this over 2 days. Can you tell where I stopped and started? Anyway, I've got a dentist appointment soon, so time for me to sign off. 

For more articles written by Keli H, the author, visit this blog's home page on keli-h.com

 

Keli H is the award winning author of the 400 series, which includes The Four Hundred Club and Splitting an Empire. The 400 series is high brow contemporary fiction revolving around the lives of wealthy circles. Keli's other works include Creating Literary Art. She is also the founder of The KREST House, a storytelling empire.