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Book Review: The Artist’s Way: A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self, by Julia Cameron

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Photo by Ian Sane

The Artist’s Way is one of the best books I have ever purchased. I had been recommended it several times before I finally went out and got it. It is a twelve-week course, with essays, exercises and tools designed to help you unblock your creativity and become a happier, more freely creative artist. It is suitable for anyone practising any form of art, or who wishes to do so. Writers, visual artists, musicians, actors, directors, comedians – all can find something useful in this book. This book does not teach you how to be creative, exactly, but it will hopefully show you how to be creative and happy, how to be creative without drugs or other addictions. It can help you shed your creative inhibitions. The Artist’s Way teaches you how to let go of negative beliefs that can hold you back from realising your creative potential.

I think anyone who wants to be a artist of any variety, professional or amateur, should read it because it will help you discover what has been holding you back. It changed my life. I completed the course for the first time in 2006, and I’m doing it again now, because there is much in it that I think I need to revisit. The Artist’s Way will not make you successful. You will still need to work on your craft, and learn to market yourself – none of which is covered in this book. It’s more about getting going in the first place than learning to be good at what you do.

My main criticism of this book is that it is very spiritual, although not confined to one particular religion. At the start of the book Cameron says that you don’t need to believe in God to follow the path in the book – but if you don’t believe in God you will probably not engage with some sections of the book so well. Cameron also talks a lot about ‘synchronicity’ and the universe helping those who help themselves, seemingly believing that once a person has recovered their creative ability, all they need to do is create, and then they will be successful! It’s very “New Age” in this way, and if you are the type of person who enjoyed The Secret and believes in the law of attraction then you will have no problems following what Cameron teaches.

I will make one point that goes against the ideas in the book – with practice, you can type your morning pages. I nearly always do, because my handwriting is appalling and I don’t have room for all the notebooks I’d need to keep. When I first started doing them I hand wrote them, but my writing hand got tired quickly and I couldn’t bear the thought of using up all that paper, so I trained myself to do them on the PC. As long as you can type fast enough to keep up with your thoughts it’s fine!

I didn’t complete The Artist’s Way within the twelve weeks. I’ve been on week three of my second go for about a month now. If you need to start and stop, it’s easy to read through the previous chapters and remind yourself of what you’ve missed. The main thing is keeping up with the morning pages. I’ve stopped writing them at various times, and when I get myself writing them again it’s like coming home, and I wonder why I ever stopped. Committing to them really works.

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Book Review: The Plain Janes, by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg

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After a terrorist attack in her old home, Metro City, Jane Beckles’ parents decide to move away to the suburban town of Kent Waters. She joins the local school and decides that she doesn’t want to have the superficial friendships she had in Metro City any more. When the most popular girl in school invites her to sit at her table, Jane walks away, choosing to eat with the group of misfit girls instead. She asks them their names and decides that she, Theatre Jane, brainy Jayne, and sporty Polly Jane should be a gang immediately.

Jane is still making trips back to Metro City – when the bomb exploded she found herself lying in the street beside a man who is now in a coma, they call him John Doe. Jane treasures the sketchbook she ‘borrowed’ from him, which has ‘Art Saves’ written on the cover. She writes to him regularly, and we see these letters in the book. Jane decides to see if art can save, to try to make the outside world more beautiful for her, and the Janes become an art gang, called P. L. A. I. N. – People Loving Art In Neighbourhoods. They start sneaking around at night, creating public artworks – like putting bubbles in fountains and a whole load of garden gnomes together – but since the bomb went off in Metro City, people have closed their minds and they are frightened by the anonymous displays, leading to curfews and police warnings…

I really enjoyed The Plain Janes. It has a fast paced yet emotionally striking storyline, and I liked the idea of a gang of girls secretly making public art pieces. The art works for the most part, although it is sometimes too sparse, I would have liked more detail, especially in the interior of buildings. The Janes’ characters do rely too much on clichés, and the main Jane, Jane Buckles, and Theatre Jane, have more space spent developing their characters than the other two. I would also have liked to see some aspects of the plot explained in more detail, to see some of Jane’s life before the terrorist attack. There is a lot crammed into to this short book, which is overall a good thing, but I often wanted it to be fleshed out more. The book doesn’t have a real ending, it just cuts off – but there is a sequel, Janes In Love, that concludes the girls’ story. There were originally meant to be several books in this series, but the Minx imprint was cancelled.

I think The Plain Janes is a fantastic read for teenagers, with its themes of rebellion and friendship. Jane is a great heroine for teenage girls to look up to, but the story could appeal to boys too. It would be especially good for reluctant readers, as the style is very filmic and it is quick to get through, thinner than the average paperback and light to carry around. Adults should enjoy this too but they are more likely to wish it was longer and that the characterisation and plot was filled out more.

The Plain Janes was the first release under the DC Comics imprint Minx, aimed at young girls and cancelled after only two years. It is the first book in this imprint that I have read, I have now read four and hope to read all the others that made it to print before the line was cancelled, look out for more Minx reviews coming up!

The Plain Janes is written by Cecil Castellucci, who has three published YA novels and is also a musician. Her website is . The art is by Jim Rugg, best known for his work on the comic book series Street Angel.

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