I’m reading Twyla Tharp: The Creative Habit, and it’s amazing. She’s so articulate about her process. Let’s all become better people together because I just keep highlighting whole pages.
“Here’s how I learned to improvise. I played some music in the studio and I started to move. It sounds obvious, but I wonder how many people, whatever their medium, appreciate the gift of improvisation. It’s your one opportunity in life to be completely free [...] .”
“You can’t just dance or paint or write or sculpt. Those are just verbs. You need a tangible idea to get you going. The idea, however minuscule, is what turns the verb into a noun.”
Twyla says when people ask: “Where do you get your ideas from?” They really mean, “How do you get them?”
“Art is not about minimizing risk and delivering work that is guaranteed to please. Artists have bigger goals.”
“Scratching is what you do when you can’t wait for the thunderbolt.”
“Scratching can look like borrowing or appropriating, but it’s an essential part of creativity. It’s primal and very private […] It bloodies your fingernails. The key is not to block yourself; you have to leave yourself open to everything.”