The Creative Habit

I'm usually too proud to confess an interest in self-help books ("Who needs help? Not me!"), but this one I embraced immediately. Maybe it's because Tharp's art form, dance, feels so distant and mysterious to a word person like me, or maybe it's because she is so clear, sensible, and structured in her advice and her own practice. She's also good at slogans that rearrange the world in productive order: "Make dance pay for the dancers," is one I like; "Brew ruts into grooves" is another. Make a habit of work, she says, that will get you through both success and failure; plan but stay open to accidents. You've heard a lot of it before, but rarely said so well, and you won't be able to read her without wanting to make something of your own.