10 Best Creativity Books to Enhance Your Self-Expression
So, you're an aspiring Picasso, eh? Well, the good news is creativity isn't some mystical trait you're either born with or you're not. No, sir! It's a skill that can be whittled, chiseled, and honed, much like sculpting a masterpiece out of a hunk of marble. Now sure, practicing painting or writing or interpretive dance may indeed boost your creative prowess. But sometimes, you just need a nudge, a spark, perhaps a book or two to set your mind ablaze with curiosity and color. That's where this nifty list enters the scene. We've collated 10 of the most thought-provoking, planet-shaking creativity books intended to squeeze every ounce of self-expression out of your being. These gems will dip their hand into your soul and smear it across a canvas, letting you discover layers of your creativity you didn't know existed. It's not about stealing ideas; it's about gathering the fuel to launch your original thoughts into space. So, buckle up, let your hair down, lick a lemon, do whatever gets your creative juices flowing, and embark on this roller-coaster ride to the heart of your expressive self.
『The Artist's Way』
"With its gentle affirmations, inspirational quotes, fill-in-the-blank lists and tasks — write yourself a thank-you letter, describe yourself at 80, for example — The Artist’s Way proposes an egalitarian view of creativity: Everyone’s got it."—The New York Times "Morning Pages have become a household name, a shorthand for unlocking your creative potential"—Vogue Over four million copies sold! Since its first publication, The Artist's Way phenomena has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose. Julia Cameron's novel approach guides readers in uncovering problems areas and pressure points that may be restricting their creative flow and offers techniques to free up any areas where they might be stuck, opening up opportunities for self-growth and self-discovery. The program begins with Cameron’s most vital tools for creative recovery – The Morning Pages, a daily writing ritual of three pages of stream-of-conscious, and The Artist Date, a dedicated block of time to nurture your inner artist. From there, she shares hundreds of exercises, activities, and prompts to help readers thoroughly explore each chapter. She also offers guidance on starting a “Creative Cluster” of fellow artists who will support you in your creative endeavors. A revolutionary program for personal renewal, The Artist's Way will help get you back on track, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to change your life.
Author | Julia Cameron |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Penguin |
Release Date | Oct 25, 2016 |
Source | Google Books |
『Creativity, Inc. (The Expanded Edition)』
The co-founder and longtime president of Pixar updates and expands his 2014 New York Times bestseller on creative leadership, reflecting on the management principles that built Pixar’s singularly successful culture, and on all he learned during the past nine years that allowed Pixar to retain its creative culture while continuing to evolve. “Might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”—Fast Company For nearly thirty years, Pixar has dominated the world of animation, producing such beloved films as the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, and WALL-E, which have gone on to set box-office records and garner eighteen Academy Awards. The joyous storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In some ways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Here, Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques that have made Pixar so widely admired—and so profitable. As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the first computer-animated movie. He nurtured that dream as a Ph.D. student, and then forged a partnership with George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter in 1986. Nine years later, Toy Story was released, changing animation forever. The essential ingredient in that movie’s success—and in the twenty-five movies that followed—was the unique environment that Catmull and his colleagues built at Pixar, based on philosophies that protect the creative process and defy convention, such as: • Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they will screw it up. But give a mediocre idea to a great team and they will either fix it or come up with something better. • It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe for others to take them. • The cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them. • A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody. Creativity, Inc. has been significantly expanded to illuminate the continuing development of the unique culture at Pixar. It features a new introduction, two entirely new chapters, four new chapter postscripts, and changes and updates throughout. Pursuing excellence isn’t a one-off assignment but an ongoing, day-in, day-out, full-time job. And Creativity, Inc. explores how it is done.
Author | Ed Catmull/Amy Wallace |
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Price | $8.99 |
Publisher | Random House |
Release Date | Apr 08, 2014 |
Source | Google Books |
『Steal Like an Artist』
Unlock your creativity. An inspiring guide to creativity in the digital age, Steal Like an Artist presents ten transformative principles that will help readers discover their artistic side and build a more creative life. Nothing is original, so embrace influence, school yourself through the work of others, remix and reimagine to discover your own path. Follow interests wherever they take you—what feels like a hobby may turn into you life’s work. Forget the old cliché about writing what you know: Instead, write the book you want to read, make the movie you want to watch. And finally, stay Smart, stay out of debt, and risk being boring in the everyday world so that you have the space to be wild and daring in your imagination and your work. “Brilliant and real and true.”—Rosanne Cash
Author | Austin Kleon |
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Price | $9.99 |
Publisher | Workman Publishing Company |
Release Date | Feb 28, 2012 |
Source | Google Books |
『The War of Art』
Author | Steven Pressfield |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | |
Release Date | Jan 01, 2022 |
Source | Google Books |
『Bird by Bird』
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An essential volume for generations of writers young and old. The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this modern classic will continue to spark creative minds for years to come. Anne Lamott is "a warm, generous, and hilarious guide through the writer’s world and its treacherous swamps" (Los Angeles Times). “Superb writing advice…. Hilarious, helpful, and provocative.” —The New York Times Book Review For a quarter century, more than a million readers—scribes and scribblers of all ages and abilities—have been inspired by Anne Lamott’s hilarious, big-hearted, homespun advice. Advice that begins with the simple words of wisdom passed down from Anne’s father—also a writer—in the iconic passage that gives the book its title: “Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”
Author | Anne Lamott |
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Price | $12.99 |
Publisher | Anchor |
Release Date | Dec 18, 2007 |
Source | Google Books |
『Show Your Work!』
In his New York Times bestseller Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon showed readers how to unlock their creativity by “stealing” from the community of other movers and shakers. Now, in an even more forward-thinking and necessary book, he shows how to take that critical next step on a creative journey—getting known. Show Your Work! is about why generosity trumps genius. It’s about getting findable, about using the network instead of wasting time “networking.” It’s not self-promotion, it’s self-discovery—let others into your process, then let them steal from you. Filled with illustrations, quotes, stories, and examples, Show Your Work! offers ten transformative rules for being open, generous, brave, productive. In chapters such as You Don’t Have to Be a Genius; Share Something Small Every Day; and Stick Around, Kleon creates a user’s manual for embracing the communal nature of creativity— what he calls the “ecology of talent.” From broader life lessons about work (you can’t find your voice if you don’t use it) to the etiquette of sharing—and the dangers of oversharing—to the practicalities of Internet life (build a good domain name; give credit when credit is due), it’s an inspiring manifesto for succeeding as any kind of artist or entrepreneur in the digital age.
Author | Austin Kleon |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Workman Publishing |
Release Date | Mar 06, 2014 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Creative's Guide to Starting a Business』
WINNER OF THE BEST START-UP INSPIRATION BOOK AWARD AT THE 2019 BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS 'A book to devour from start to finish - easy to do as it is accessibly-written and oh so fascinating - and then to dip into later for reference.' - Joanna Reeves Do you have a passion for making beautiful objects? Are you wondering whether you can take the next step and turn your creativity into a career? This inspirational guide offers easy-to-follow advice from talented and creative industry experts. There are practical exercises that will help you sell your creations, choose the right time to start your business, and guide you through as you do so. With The Creative's Guide to Starting a Business, you will discover the best way to: Create pieces that sell Write a business plan Identify and reach customers Research the competition Price products and test the market Promote the business successfully Packed with interviews, encouraging real life stories, and tips from successful entrepreneurs who started with a passion and turned it into their own successful, creative business, this practical guide will take you through the very first steps of defining creative and financial success to ultimately establishing a rewarding start-up.
Author | Harriet Kelsall |
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Price | $2.99 |
Publisher | Robinson |
Release Date | Sep 20, 2018 |
Source | Google Books |
『Art as Experience』
Based on John Dewey's lectures on esthetics, delivered as the first William James Lecturer at Harvard in 1932, Art as Experience has grown to be considered internationally as the most distinguished work ever written by an American on the formal structure and characteristic effects of all the arts: architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and literature.
Author | John Dewey |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Penguin |
Release Date | Jul 05, 2005 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Creative Habit』
One of the world’s leading creative artists, choreographers, and creator of the smash-hit Broadway show, Movin’ Out, shares her secrets for developing and honing your creative talents—at once prescriptive and inspirational, a book to stand alongside The Artist’s Way and Bird by Bird. 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 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," she 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. 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...
Author | Twyla Tharp |
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Price | $14.99 |
Publisher | Simon and Schuster |
Release Date | Mar 24, 2009 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Accidental Creative』
Many of us assume that our creative process is beyond our ability to influence, and pay attention to it only when it isn't working properly. For the most part, we go about our daily tasks and everything just "works." Until it doesn't. Adding to this lack of understanding is the rapidly accelerating pace of work. Each day we are face escalating expectations and a continual squeeze to do more with less. We are asked to produce an ever-increasing amount of brilliance in an ever-shrinking amount of time. There is an unspoken (or spoken!) expectation that we'll be accessible 24/7, and as a result we frequently feel like we're "always on." Now business creativity expert Todd Henry explains how to unleash your creative potential. Whether you're a creative by trade or an "accidental creative," this book will help you quickly and effectively integrate new ideas into your daily life.
Author | Todd Henry |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Penguin |
Release Date | Aug 27, 2013 |
Source | Google Books |
In wrapping up, here's an honest truth: creativity isn't exclusive to Picasso or Miss Angelou. It's contained within each of us, merely waiting for the right spark to set it ablaze. Hopefully, within the pages of these ten recommended books, you've found a spark or two that resonated. Whether you're an aspiring artist seeking inspiration or a frazzled professional needing a fresh perspective, these books pose potential game-changers. They're brimming with ideas, exercises, and novel ways of viewing the world that can redirect stagnant energy towards the exciting realm of creation. Be prepared to strengthen your imaginative muscles, commandeer self-expression, and develop innovative solutions to everyday problems. In essence, embracing creativity propels us into becoming the best versions of ourselves. So, are you ready for the journey? Regardless of where you are in life, remember that the flame of creativity can be ignited under the right conditions. Allow these books to provide the fuel, and enjoy the dazzling spectacle of your self-expression!
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