The Sound of Paper: Starting from Scratch by Julia Cameron

From the Publisher

The bestselling author of The Artist's Way draws on her many years of personal experience as both a writer and a teacher to uncover the difficult soul work that artists must do to find inspiration.

In The Sound of Paper, Julia Cameron delves deep into the heart of the personal struggles that all artists experience. What can we do when we face our keyboard or canvas with nothing but a cold emptiness? How can we begin to carve out our creation when our vision and drive are clouded by life's uncertainties? In other words, how can we begin the difficult work of being an artist? In this inspiring book, Cameron describes a process of constant renewal, of starting from the beginning. She writes, "When we are building a life from scratch, we must dig a little. We must be like that hen scratching beneath the soil. 'What goodness is hidden here, just below the surface?' we must ask."

With personal essays accompanied by exercises designed to develop the power to infuse one's art with a deeply informed knowledge of the soul, this book is an essential artist's companion from one of the foremost authorities on the creative process. Cameron's most illuminating book to date, The Sound of Paper provides readers with a spiritual path for creating the best work of their lives.

Publishers Weekly

Best known as the coauthor of The Artist's Way, creativity guru Cameron now offers a series of personal essays and exercises about working through creative droughts. She emphasizes the importance of acknowledging artist's blocks as a part of the creative process, but also "soldiering through" by continuing to show up "at the typewriter or the easel." In each essay, she invokes her own struggles to make time for creative work and avoid the traps set by the "inner censor." In "Getting at It," she writes that "[w]aiting for art to be easy, we make it hard. We take our emotional temperature and find ourselves below normal, lacking in resolve.... The truth is that getting at it makes it easier. Every day we write creates a habit of writing in us." In the exercise that follows, Cameron suggests that readers list five ways in which they have inched forward in a given day. Some pieces of advice are likely to resonate more with readers than others-and the author's straightforward message can seem one-note at times. But for novice artists looking for encouragement in an uninspired period, this volume could do the trick. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

At one time or another, all artists face an upsetting emptiness, be it a blank canvas, notepad, or computer screen. To help budding and established creative types cope, Cameron (The Artist's Way; The Right To Write) offers a series of personal essays, each followed by exercises designed to empathize with and nudge readers. As in her earlier books, she recommends three activities from her "Artist's Toolbox": "Morning Pages," writing about something-anything-every morning; "Artist Dates," taking a festive, soul-enhancing outing every week; and "Walks," taking a walk every day to awaken intuition, discover oneself, and access intuition. To help with "Morning Pages," she also provides exercises that illuminate one's thinking, e.g., making lists of items indicative of success and instances when the reader has shown persistence. Cameron's biggest asset is that she speaks from experience; she is an artist who has struggled, who still struggles, and who gets through. And she has some well-tested ideas for doing just that. Recommended for public and academic libraries.-Deborah Bigelow, Leonia P.L., NJ Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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