Three Fabulous Books on Creativity

Fire up your spark!

When I am looking for fresh creative motivation, I often read or listen to books about creativity to get me fired up about the creative process. I’ve read dozens of dozens of books on the topic, and here are my three favorites:

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

This book is the type of thing you would stuff in your artistic friend’s stocking for Christmas. It’s small and a quick read and it has lots of visuals.

When you “steal like an artist,” you start by studying the great masters and incorporating the elements into your own work. The good kind of stealing helps you develop your voice and create your own unique voice. As someone new to taking my creative journey seriously, I enjoyed his encouragement to develop my voice and share my work.

It’s a great quick read that will make you smile, but it’s surprisingly inciteful and deep.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

I’ve got this book on audiobook read by the author and Liz Gilbert is like having my own creativity cheerleader in my ear.

The book talks about the magical aspects of creativity and inspiration as she describes her own lifelong devotion to the creative process. She has pledged herself to writing as a lifelong devotion, succeed or fail. The focus on effort and consistency is a healthy reminder of staying focused on process instead of product. The book is interspersed with different artist’s experiences and it’s an entertaining read from beginning to end.

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

If you want to dive into a creativity and spirituality boot camp, this is the book.

Julia Cameron has strong spiritual beliefs around creativity and a higher power. In the Artist’s Way, she leads you on 12 week journey to reawaken your blocked creative energy. In those 12 weeks, she will ask you to write morning pages each day and take yourself on an artist date once a week. It’s not a commitment to take lightly, but I haven’t been the same person since working through the book. You don’t have to have any specific spiritual background to enjoy the Artist’s, but she does talk about God or a higher power quite a bit, so if that’s a deal breaker, this isn’t your book.

I love a good book about the creative process. If you have any good recommendations for ones I should read next, let me know in the comments!