The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
Back at the end of June, I finished reading The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin. If you're not familiar with the book, the long and short of it is that it's a book about being creative and in some senses, how to be an artist. It reads like a manifesto, and I think that's exactly the point.
In many ways it feels like Rubin dictated the book into a microphone and Neil Strauss (credited as a lower case co-author1) crafted it into coherent sentences and the structure of a book. Like a stream of Rubin's consciousness.
I read it from beginning to end - well, actually, not entirely to the end; I found it rather repetitive after a while, and the book lost my attention. No going back. I think it's a worthwhile read if you're struggling creatively and need an authoritative voice telling you that you're on the right path, just stay the course.
I gave it 3 stars, because of the repetitiveness. I think it's meant to be a book you leave on your shelf and return to, so I didn't read it the "correct" way. It was borrowed from the library though, so I didn't have the luxury of picking it up on a whim.
However, I did draw some interesting passages, so here are some selected highlights.
If we choose to share what we make, our work can recirculate and become source material for others.
Look for what you notice
but no one else sees.
Of all the great works that we can experience, nature is the most absolute and enduring.
On those overcast days, it helps to tune in to the fact that the sun is still there.
Interference may also come from the voices within. The ones in your head that murmur you’re not talented enough, your idea isn’t good enough, art isn’t a worthwhile investment of your time, the result won’t be well-received, you’re a failure if the creation isn’t successful. It’s helpful to turn those voices down so you can hear the chimes of the cosmic clock ring, reminding you it’s time.
Self-doubt lives in all of us. And while we may wish it gone, it is there to serve us.
...
By accepting self-doubt, rather than trying to eliminate or repress it, we lessen its energy and interference.
A painting is just a painting until you put a frame on it and hang it on the wall, then it’s called art.
Formulating an opinion is not listening. Neither is preparing a response, or defending our position or attacking another’s. To listen impatiently is to hear nothing at all.
...
Listening is suspending disbelief.
Even if your art is non-performative, such as writing or cooking, it will still likely change with an observer present.
In the end, you are the only one who has to love it. This work is for you.
...
There is no more valid metric to predict what someone else might enjoy than us liking it ourselves.
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That's just my shorthand for saying that it's plainly credited in the book, but it appears that the publisher and the marketing behind the book wants you to know this is Rick Rubin's book.↩