Media Deprivation, a tool I first introduced in The Artist’s Way as Reading Deprivation, is a conscious unplugging. In the twenty years since The Artist’s Way was published, I expanded the term to “Media Deprivation” to include the many devices and distractions now available to us on a constant basis. Media Deprivation is one of the most […]

Art is an image-using system. In order to create, we draw from our inner well. This inner well, an artistic reservoir, is ideally like a well-stocked trout pond. We’ve got big fish, little fish, fat fish, skinny fish– an abundance of artistic fish to fry. As artists, we must realize that we have to maintain […]

We must write from love and we must choose those to read us who read from love: the love of words. The love of naming our experience must finally be the guiding force in what we put on the page. When we write from fear of criticism, we hamper our stride and we cripple our […]

Let’s say you have kept up your Morning Pages and yet you still find yourself “blocked.” I would ask if you let your Artist Dates go by the board. Many artists use this tool only until it works. They go on Artist Dates, encounter a new and enriching flow of insights and ideas, and then, […]

When we look at God’s creation, with all of its diversity and abundance, it is hard not to look at God as someone who might just send us support for our creative adventures. As we rely on the unlimited supply of the Universe, we are reminded over and over again that the Creator itself certainly […]

Many blocked creatives tell themselves they are both “too old” and “too young” to allow themselves to pursue their dreams.  Old and dotty, they might try it. Young and foolish, they might try it. In either scenario, being crazy is a prerequisite to creative exploration. We do not want to look crazy, and trying something like […]

Once you accept that it is natural to create, you can begin to accept a second idea: that the Creator will hand you whatever you need for the project. The minute you are willing to accept the help of this collaborator, you will see useful bits of help everywhere in your life. Be alert: there […]

In order to move through loss and beyond it, we must acknowledge it and share it. Because artistic losses are seldom openly acknowledged or mourned, they become artistic scar tissue that blocks artistic growth. We must remember that our artist is a child, and that what we can handle intellectually far outstrips what we can […]

When it comes time for us to choose between a cherished dream and a lousy current drudgery, we often choose to ignore the dream, and blame our continued misery on God. We act like it’s God’s fault we didn’t go to Europe, take that painting class, go on that photo shoot. In truth, we, not […]