Twyla Tharp blows up the myth of creativity as magic. She shows it’s a muscle—you strengthen it through routine, discipline, and repetition.

Creativity Isn’t a Gift—It’s a Habit

Don’t wait for inspiration—go out and scratch for it. Read. Walk. Watch. Steal like an artist. The more curious you are, the more kindling you collect for that creative fire.

Scratch for Ideas

Tharp suggests collecting the tools that keep you sharp: notebooks, routines, favorite works, challenges you revisit. Creativity isn’t just flow—it’s scaffolding.

Build a Creative Toolbox

Some days you’ll feel flat. Some days you’ll hate your own work. That’s normal. The trick is to keep going. The habit of showing up beats the myth of genius.

Keep Showing Up

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.

Every piece you create needs a “spine”—a clear, driving idea behind it. You may not see it at first, but once you do, everything else hangs off it. Find your spine, and the chaos starts to form shape.

The Spine of the Work

Creativity loves structure. Tharp starts every day the same way—with a workout. Not because it’s glamorous, but because ritual triggers readiness. Your ritual is your creative ignition key.

Start with a Ritual

Tharp’s message: there is no “arriving” in creativity. You keep evolving. You get better by doing. And doing again. Creativity isn’t a moment. It’s a life.

Creative Growth is Lifelong

Self-doubt, perfectionism, fear of failure—they’re all part of the process. Tharp doesn’t sugarcoat it. She tells you to name your fears. Write them down. Then work anyway.

Face Your Fears

Tharp shows how limits can sharpen creativity. Deadlines. Budgets. Space. Rather than stifle you, they force creative choices. Freedom often hides within the frame.

Embrace Constraints

Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.

You need a space—physical or mental—where the clutter is cleared. Tharp calls it “the empty white room.” From emptiness, newness can emerge. But you have to show up.

The Blank White Room

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...

Scratch for Ideas

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ANGELINA JOLIE