Making Your Creative Mark

February 25, 2013
Art is often work that you do alone and for yourself, but Maisel (Mastering Creative Anxiety) stresses that you are also “creating for other people; you are relating to other people; you are working with marketplace players and selling to your audience.” Accordingly, the therapist and “creativity coach” offers practical advice designed to overcome the blocks that artists face on their own, as well as the challenges of being an artist in the world. Organizing his work according to nine themes (or “keys”—e.g., passion, freedom, empathy), Maisel marshals diverse therapeutic techniques, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and mindfulness meditation, in addition to sensible self-assessments in order to help artists cope with obstacles like self-censorship or lack of focus. While many of these are useful, the pragmatic recommendations sometimes feel tedious or generic, and his attempts to appeal to a myriad of artist types (e.g., musicians, writers, visual artists) suck the life from portions of the book. Still, his advice on relating to the outside world—other artists, the market, societal pressures—is astute and contains valuable lessons.