The Artist Date: A Crucial Tool for Writers

Over forty-four years ago, Julia Cameron woke up one morning, her marriage to director Martin Scorese in tatters, her head throbbing from yet another night of overindulgence in the grape. Other things happening in her life led her to the realization she needed to do something.

That something turned out to be the phenomenal The Artist’s Way.*

Over forty books later, Cameron still remains sober, still intent on sharing her path to greater creativity and artistic intent.

I speak from experience when I say The Artist Way packs a wallop. For longer than I care to admit, I was convinced that my dream of writing seriously was just that, a dream. Shouted down by an arrogant professor and rejection slips, one day several years ago I spotted Cameron’s book in my local library while browsing in the Dewey 100s, checked it out, and began following the twelve-week program.

I started with Morning Pages, three pages written by hand first thing in the morning, and soon I’d filled several lined, laboratory notebooks. Sometimes I startled myself as I wrote, thoughts and ideas I never paid much attention to before.

Another tool Cameron advocates is the Artist Date – a weekly time-out, crucial for creatives in recharging their batteries, be they artists, dancers, filmmakers, or, yes, writers.

What is an Artist Date?

It’s not something you do with other people. It’s giving yourself permission to embark on path to wild and crazy things, within reason, of course. On your own. Once a week. In other words, you break out of your box, shaking up ruts in your writing life.

Suggested Artist Dates

Engage as many senses as possible when planning your Artist Date – sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste – above and beyond your usual activities or daily routine. Be sure to unplug yourself from your laptop and phone!

• Check out local museums
• Meander through art galleries
• Take nature walks – subscribe to a plant identification app and learn the names of the plants you see. Ditto animals, birds, and snakes.
• Browse ethnic grocery stores
• Explore the Special Collections section of a university library
• Antique stores – look at the vintage clothing, the furniture, chinaware, etc.
• Cook something you’ve never cooked or eaten before
• Drag out boxes of old photos and make up stories about the people in them
• Explore lists of old films, then watch them
• Visit a garden store
• Go to a restaurant by yourself and observe your fellow diners
• Seek out farmers’ markets
• Spend a whole afternoon reading just for the pleasure of it

And many other ideas will occur to you, depending on your interests, where you live, and what you write about.

Consider the apocryphal story of Isaac Newton hypothesizing the theory of gravity, resting under an apple tree, watching an apple tumbling to the ground. From idle moments, great discoveries might come.

Yes, Cameron’s work echoes the thoughts and opinions of other writers, but unlike those, The Artist Way provides a tangible method that incorporates writing regularly into your life. And trains you to look at the world differently, listening as it were, paying attention to details often overlooked in the fast-paced, digital climate of today.

What could be better for writers than that?

For more on solitude and stillness and creativity:

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihali Csikszentmihalyi

The Art of the Wasted Day, by Patricia Hampl

The Art of Stillness: Adventures In Going Nowhere, by Pico Iyer

“In Praise of Idleness,” by Bertrand Russell

Solitude: A Return to Self, by Anthony Storr

*Don’t be put off by Cameron’s occasional use of the word “God.” She herself says, “In order for this creative emergence to happen, you don’t have to believe in God.” For her, there’s no difference between creativity and spirituality, which she calls a form of “mystical union.”

[Editor’s note: WAG would love to see articles on any and all topics of interest to writers. Please send your ideas or finished pieces to Cynthia D. Bertelsen at BlogEditor@writersalliance.org for consideration. Remember: these posts are more than just posts, for they are actual articles and can be cited in your CV/résumé in the same way you would a short story, essay, or any other writing credit you may possess.]