About the Book:

All it takes to make creativity a part of your life is the willingness to make it a habit. It is the product of preparation and effort, and is within reach of everyone. Whether you are a painter, musician, businessperson, or simply an individual yearning to put your creativity to use, The Creative Habit provides you with thirty-two practical exercises based on the lessons Choreographer Twyla Tharp has learned in her remarkable thirty-five-year career.

In 'Where's Your Pencil?' Tharp reminds you to observe the world — and get it down on paper. In 'Coins and Chaos,' Twyla Tharp gives you an easy way to restore order and peace. In 'Do a Verb,' she turns your mind and body into coworkers. In 'Build a Bridge to the Next Day,' she shows you how to clean the clutter from your mind overnight.

Twyla Tharp leads you through the painful first steps of scratching for ideas, finding the spine of your work, and getting out of ruts and into productive grooves. The wide-open realm of possibilities can be energizing, and Twyla Tharp explains how to take a deep breath and begin…

What people say:

"[An] exuberant, philosophically ambitious self-help book for the creatively challenged." — The New York Times Book Review

"An entertaining 'how to' guide, The Creative Habit isn't about getting the lightning bolt of inspiration, but rather the artistic necessity of old-fashioned virtues such as discipline, preparation and routine." — Newsweek

"The Creative Habit emphasizes the work habits that lead to success." — O: The Oprah Magazine

"Twyla Tharp's amazingly plain-spoken treatise…is a frank, honest, and tough-love testament essentially arguing that art and creativity are matters of hard, old-fashioned work." — The Chicago Tribune

"Though its context is a choreographer's world, its principles are universally applicable and sound….It could change your life." The Village Voice

"[As] accessible, smart and eye-opening as her dance." — Newsday

About the Author:

Twyla Tharp is an American dancer, choreographer, and author. She has choreographed more than 130 dances, six Hollywood movies, directed and choreographed four Broadway shows, written two books and received a MacArthur fellowship (popularly called "the genius grant"), two Emmy awards, and a Tony award. She has written and directed television programs, created Broadway productions, and choreographed dances for the movies Hair, Ragtime, and Amadeus.