Dear Friends,
Today’s the day! My new book Get to Work: Practical Advice for Consistent Creativity is out and available!
It’s been a long time in the making but I am so excited to bring it to you. If you’re looking for some practical advice and some motivation to make and create, this might be the book for you!
Although I’ve been working hard to write, shape, edit, and design Get to Work for the past two years, it’s a journey that has been about 15 or 16 years in the making. I actually began laying the foundations of the book way back then as a way to give myself a some motivation to make more and create more. This advice, though I called them rules back then, was simply something that I could repeatedly turn to anytime that I felt stuck or stagnant.
Sometime in 2008, my good friend and fellow Journal Fodder Junkie, David introduced me to the rules that Corita Kent had for her classroom at Immaculate Heart College. Though the photocopy David had of these rules wrongly attributed them to John Cage, I did copy them into my journal, and later, a quick Google search turned up Kent as the author and creator. This list of rules got me thinking about creating rules for myself.
Original journal page with Kent’s rules wrongly attributed to John Cage.
Then in 2010, I came across Patti Digh’s rant about how to write a book, which she later included in her book, Creativity is a Verb. Borrowing heavily from Digh and Kent’s lists, I came up with my own rules to provide me with a bit of motivation and first published them in December 2010. Over the years, I have changed, modified, and rearranged them into their current state, but they have been a guiding set of advice that I can return to time and again.
The idea to use these rules as the basis of a book took root in 2013, and I began expanding each rule into some practical advice. Unfortunately, life got in the way, and I abandoned the idea. But a couple of years ago, I returned to the idea of writing a book about creativity, and I returned to my rules. Seeing them with fresh eyes, I dropped the idea of rules since rules are too tight, too structured, and too imposing. Seeing them as practical advice—things to do when I felt stagnant or stuck— seemed more inviting. However, I kept some of the bluntness. After all, it was advice that I was writing for myself.
And now I can share the fruits of this 15+ year journey with you.
It is my sincerest hope that the words in this small book can help and motivate others, so I invite you to do three things.
Buy the book! If you need some practical advice and motivation to consistently create, then get your own copy. Since I self-published Get to Work through Amazon, it’s only available there. But I will have my own copies soon to sell in person.
Spread the Word! I would love for this book to reach as many folks as possible, so I ask for your help in getting the word out. Since it’s self-published, I don’t have a big publisher behind me that will market and promote the book. You can share this post, or you can share about the book on social media. If you purchase the book, share photos on social media and tag me @emscottart ! I’d love to see the book out in the wind.
Write a Review! If you purchase and enjoy the book, write a review on Amazon. More reviews mean that it’s more likely to be seen by others!
Thank you all so much for the continued support! I hope that this book resonates with you!
Happy creating,
Eric
P.S. Don’t forget about my upcoming online workshop as well. Drawing for Everyoneis Saturday, October 19th, and I’d love to make art with you!