It’s time once more for 5 Cool Things. This week, it’s all about books, cool books, of course.
Each one is a cool book for creative people.
So, if it’s cool with you, I’ll begin.
5 Cool Books for Creative People
Cool Book #1: Ignore Everybody by Hugh McLeod
Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War.
Steven Pressfield wrote The War of Art.
And Hugh McLeod wrote Ignore Everybody, a book one might describe as either The Art of War for creative people, or the The War of Art for potty mouths.
McLeod, well known for drawing cartoons on the backs of business cards, provides his readers with a list of 40 “keys to creativity”, one of which is the book’s main title.
Each key is explained with a brief but brutally honest essay, and illustrated with a witty cartoon.
McLeod’s cartoons are abstract, his advice is concrete, and his book is irreverent and relevant, profane and profound.
And it’s currently my main source of quick inspiration.
The Book: Ignore Everybody
The Author: Hugh McLeod
Cool Book #2: Thinkertoys by MIchael Michalko
This book is a collection of creative thinking strategies compiled and explained by an author who knows how to use both sides of his brain.
Michael Michalko, creativity expert, divides his collection into linear (left-brained) and intuitive (right-brained) strategies.
Thinkertoys is not so much a book to be read from cover to cover as it is a tool box to be opened from time to time when you need something to pry open your mind.
I think the book is best used by picking and learning one strategy at a time, then putting it into practice until it becomes your own. I think this because the author convinced me of the benefits of using this approach. How’s that for thinking?
The Book: Thinkertoys
The Author: Michael Michalko
Cool Book #3: Poemcrazy by Susan Wooldridge
How do I love this book? Let me count the ways.
Susan Wooldridge’s Poemcrazy takes poetry off the pedestal and places it against your skin. It’s kind of like wading, dipping, and swimming in a pool of words, which is one of the very things Wooldridge encourages you to create, your very own word pool.
She takes the techniques she uses in her poetry workshops and opens them up for all her readers to share.
This book is not just for poets and poetry lovers. Its exercises could be helpful to anyone trying to think of new ways to think.
Diving into a “word pool”, redeeming “word tickets”, and experiencing the thrill of “joywriting” can be fun and beneficial for any creative soul.
Come on in. The words are fine.
The Book: Poemcrazy
The Author: Susan Wooldridge
Cool Book #4: The Creative License by Danny Gregory
I own several good books on the subject of drawing, but Danny Gregory’s The Creative License did something the others never did. It got me drawing.
It did so by giving me permission to draw anything, anytime, anywhere from any available source.
It’s long on exercises, short on rules, and for a guy who doesn’t do rules so well, this was the book for me. Maybe it’ll be the one for you too.
The Book: The Creative License
The Author: Danny Gregory
Cool Book #5: Old Friend from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg
Natalie Goldberg is perhaps most famous for her book, Writing Down the Bones, but I think this one’s better.
Old Friend from Far Away is a book about writing memoir, but it’s more than that. It’s a book about remembering. It’s about remembering who you are, where you came from, where you’ve been since then, and what you’ve encountered all along the way.
So much of creativity requires drawing on one’s own experience, and this book can help you do just that.
Goldberg’s writing exercises are meditative and many of her introductions to them are contemplative, but she’s just as apt to dive right in, tell you what to do, and send you writing. Here’s just one example: “Tell me what you thought was ugly. Be detailed. Go. Ten minutes.”
She really does the most amazing thing here. She teaches you how to summon the sights, sounds, smells, and lessons of the past by teaching you how to be present. That’s the essence of creativity and the lady knows her stuff.
I recommend you check this out. Go. Ten minutes.
The Book: Old Friend from Far Away
The Author: Natalie Goldberg
Cool.
Now, it seems to me, you’ve got some cool reading to do.
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