Post Punk Kitchen Forum

The short story: I feel like I've hit a creative wall. I'm a writer and actor (and sometimes dancer) and I've been doing mostly comedy stuff lately, but really I just like creating or participating in something exciting. But since my sketch comedy group broke up recently I'm feeling lost.

A couple friends have recommended I read Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, which guides you through a rigorous twelve-week program of finding your creative self and gaining confidence through writing and other exercises. All this sounds great, but also, well... intense. Plus, when I read more about it on Amazon, there seemed to be some kind of God and Christianity thing going on. No offense meant to religious folks, it's just that I'm not religious at all and I don't like mixing spirituality into my creative inspiration. I just want to have a direction again.

Have any of you PPKers read it? Is it worth it? Is it too God-y? Or maybe you can recommend me something else to get my artistic mojo back?? Lay it on me.

I did it! I'm not Christian and I was comfortable with it. It has a spiritual dimension to it, but it's not specific to any religion and it's totally possible to ignore those parts. She has other books which are even less spiritual - The Right to Write comes to mind.

I did the World Changing Writing workshop this summer and it was AMAZING for my creativity. The course is now available as a home-study so you can get all the classes and assignments and stuff as a downloadable package. It's a bit pricey, I'm afraid; I would never have been able to afford it but a friend of mine felt so strongly that I should take it that he paid for me. We have an ongoing group that meets on Facebook on Monday mornings to keep each other motivated post-workshop, so if you do decide to do the workshop (or if you just want to join us on Monday mornings) let me know and I'll get you added to the group.

What kind of writing do you do?

Have you done any Theatre of the Oppressed work? I took a class this spring and it absolutely changed my life. I had never really done much theatre before -- or so I thought; I learned in the class that really EVERYTHING is theatre! ;-) -- and it was an wonderful experience for me.

julia cameron is amazing! i'm a pagan, and i love this book... it is not christian at all. i found it life changing...although both times i have done the 12 week course, i have kinda bailed on week 8 and taken a month or so to get back on track and finish the damn thing. it seems part of my creative blocking is my paralizing fear of finishing things heh.

Oh OK, good to know it's not as church-y as I thought! I'd probably be doing it with a friend so hopefully that will keep me motivated.

Choirqueer: thanks for the heads up about the World Changing Writing Workshop! I'd never heard about it before. I'll let you know if I do it - online support sounds great. I was mostly writing comedy sketches but I also write about film for a friend's website and I ramble in my own blogs now and then (see my sig). I've also had some fleeting thoughts about writing some sort of non-fiction essay-ish stuff (a la Sloane Crosley, Jonathan Ames, Julie Klausner, etc.), but that's where I'm having trouble deciding what to do. I'm also kicking around ideas for a solo, character-based performance thing. HA, see how vague all this is? I definitely need direction.

Hmm... I did just get an Amazon gift card for my birthday so maybe it's worth a shot. I could use a good fall project.

I did it. I still refer to it often when I need a kick in the pants. I loved how she phrased things. It really did make a positive change in my life and I do recomend it to others.
I actually have my 14 year old using it.

I have done it a couple of times, it can be helpful.

If you're a practicing artist though, you might find one of her other books to be more helpful (Walking in This World or Finding Water), since those are both aimed at individuals who have, like you mentioned, hit a wall creatively.

Hello people! I just searched "Julia Cameron" and found this discussion :)
I had read the book (and made all the exercises) like two years ago and was wondering if anyone here had :)
have a nice day, artists!