'Write For Life' - by Julia Cameron
(an invaluable book for anyone wanting to write)
I recently had the wonderful opportunity to attend a private online workshop with world-renowned artist and author of 'The Artist's Way', Julia Cameron. Rather than doing a standard book review, I thought I’d treat you to some of the things she shared with us during her ‘Write For Life’ workshop that I attended.
Those of you who've been with 'Love & Decibels' for a while, now know who Julia Cameron is and that 'Love & Decibels' is very much inspired by several of Julia Cameron's books. One of those books is, ‘Write For Life: Creative Tools For Every Writer’, a practical guide for writers.
The workshop was run by Julia from her home. It was a comfortable experience for us, although it was 2:00 a.m. for me due to the time-zone difference and yours truly was very sleepy! I also hadn’t realised that it was an interactive workshop. Luckily I received a hunch from somewhere 'out there' to get out of bed and get dressed at the last minute, because soon after I joined the meeting, our cameras were switched on so Julia could see us! 😅
Julia took the opportunity to share with us some self-reflecting exercises and some of the biggest take-aways from ‘Write For Life: Creative Tools For Every Writer’. She lovingly called the book, "My love letters to writers". How most appropriate! Just as I compose love letters for you on a regular basis, now it was my turn to receive a love letter from the Queen of Creativity herself!
Some of the tools she shared with us that evening:
1. MORNING PAGES - I’ve been writing Morning Pages now for several years, so I was very familiar with this tool. Julia spoke to us about the importance of making Morning Pages a daily habit for many reasons, including "cleaning the slate" first thing in the morning so that we can begin the new day with fresh, new thoughts; for connecting to the higher powers and our inner muse; and for staying on track with our agenda for the day.
2. ARTIST DATES - a fun tool, also introduced in 'The Artist's Way', and one that I find myself putting off more than on! This was a gentle reminder of how crucial it is to set some time every week to nurture the little artist child that lives within us, so that it can feel comfortable to freely express itself. And it's so much fun! 😄
3. DAILY QUOTA - this is a new tool that Julia introduced us to, and one that I have personally adopted and am seeing incredible progress with! When done daily, this can amount to over 60 pages of writing a month! Here's living proof:
Jo explaining ‘Daily Quota’
4. ARTIST WALKS - Julia emphasised how 20 minutes of daily walking (without pets, without mobile phones, or anyone else!) can help us to pay attention to totally different things than what we usually do when we are at home or at our desk. These walks end up leading to new creative insights. Celebrate every time you take one!
5. LAYING TRACK - giving ourselves permission to just lay a creative piece of writing down without any prior expectations of a finished piece. Put that inner perfectionist aside for a while!
6. GRABBING TIME - If we really want to do something, then we must MAKE time for it! Grab bits of time wherever you can, but please avoid the excuse of not having time to be creative - unless you wish to remain blocked! 😉
You’ll find more tools like these in this invaluable book. If you are passionate about writing, I strongly recommend you pick up a copy of 'Write For Life: Creative Tools For Every Writer'. It is available as a hard copy, e-book and audiobook from Amazon.