Create: Day 29
August 29, 2011 
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The Shrine, 1895 oil painting by John William Waterhouse
Day 29
Make a creativity shrine.
If you’re going to make creativity your religion, it might be nice to show your devotion by putting together a creativity shrine. Nothing too elaborate, mind you. Just a favorite talisman on a shelf would do nicely. Or maybe a photo of a writer or artist you admire. You could even write out a creative intention (such as, “I will devote two hours a week to writing an opera about twitter.”) and then put it inside a nice vase.
Then, each time you get ready to do your work, whether it’s dancing or writing or playing the violin, take a few minutes to give a nod to your shrine. It’s like priming the pump of your creativity.
Perhaps this venerable practice works by shifting your subconscious into another gear.
I’ve always liked reading about the strange superstitions and talismans of writers. For instance, Lionel Shriver keeps a Clippety toy nearby, Jay McInerney an axe artifact, Janine Di Giovanni, a Maglite found in the midst of Serbo-Croatian war.
Create Month 1
What to do so far:
In case you missed a day, the reminders below are clickable.
Have fun.
Be violent and original in your creative life.
Make collages (dream boards, vision boards).
Leave perfectionism behind.
Take risks by throwing out tons of ideas.
Set aside time every Sunday to work on art.
Moodle (going on an “artist date”) once a month on Saturdays (to start).
Make more time for creativity by ditching something else.
Schedule moodling (artist date) for next month.
Try setting a timer for 11 minutes for a fast, creative break.
Decide what you’d need in order to finish one of your shelved projects.
Join with other artists.
Practice for expertise, play for yourself.
On the Ides, I’d rather be ______.
Be green and glean.
Live your passions in your work.
Protect your artist space.
Customize creative habithacking.
Good enough is plenty good.
Abandon your projects or commit to them.
Use your environment to best advantage.
Free your mind on Fridays.
In the war of art…half the battle is getting a start.
Surviving as an artist is better than thriving as anything else.
Perform your creative ritual.
Remember the science of seven.
Practice your creativity religiously.
Make a creativity shrine.
 An enlightening anthology, September 10, 2008
This review is from: How I Write: The Secret Lives of Authors (Hardcover)
At first glance, I didn’t like this book: it looked like a coffee-table book — cool design, but no substance, I thought. I was wrong. It’s an anthology of very short statements from over sixty authors on how they write — specifically on the wierd habits or objects that have become an essential part of their process. Johathan Lethem’s list of names, Jay McInerney’s axe artifact, Lionel Shriver’s toy Clippity, A.S. Byatt’s “Antonia Writing Time!” notice, Jonathan Franzen’s old and ugly office chair, Claire Messud’s graph paper pad and fine .005 felt-tip pens … I came away with a fuller understanding that the process of writing is magical, that for many writers, it requires some sort of incantation, totem or ritual. I recommend this book to any writer.
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