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Mastering Creative Anxiety: 24 Lessons for Writers, Painters, Musicians, and Actors from America's Foremost Creativity Coach
 
 
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Mastering Creative Anxiety: 24 Lessons for Writers, Painters, Musicians, and Actors from America's Foremost Creativity Coach [Paperback]

Ph.D. Eric Maisel (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 1, 2011
In his decades as a psychotherapist and creativity coach, Eric Maisel has found a common thread behind what often gets labeled “writer’s block,” “procrastination,” or “stage fright.” It’s the particular anxiety that, paradoxically, keeps creators from doing, completing, or sharing the work they are driven toward. This “creative anxiety” can take the form of avoiding the work, declaring it not good enough, or failing to market it — and it can cripple creators for decades, even lifetimes. But Maisel has learned what sets successful creators apart. He shares these strategies here, including artist-specific stress management; how to work despite bruised egos, day jobs, and other inevitable frustrations; and what not to do to deal with anxiety. Implementing these 24 lessons replaces the pain of not creating with the profound rewards of free artistic self-expression.

* Practical insights and proven techniques for overcoming the challenges and fears that plague creators of every kind
* Teaching tales that convey effective approaches to creating fearlessly and abundantly

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Mastering Creative Anxiety: 24 Lessons for Writers, Painters, Musicians, and Actors from America's Foremost Creativity Coach + Coaching the Artist Within: Advice for Writers, Actors, Visual Artists, and Musicians from America's Foremost Creativity Coach + Fearless Creating: A Step-by-Step Guide To Starting and Completing Your Work of Art
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Maisel is a meticulous guide who knows the psychological landscape that artists inhabit.”
The Writer magazine

About the Author

Eric Maisel, PhD, is America’s foremost creativity coach and is widely known as the creativity expert. He is a columnist for Art Calendar magazine, the number one business online and print magazine for visual artists, coaches individuals and trains creativity coaches, and offers workshops and keynotes nationally and internationally. He is the author of Brainstorm, The Atheist’s Way, A Writer’s San Francisco, Coaching the Artist Within, Fearless Creating, The Van Gogh Blues, Ten Zen Seconds, and thirty other books. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: New World Library; 1 edition (March 1, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 157731932X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1577319320
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Mastering Creative Anxiety by Eric Maisel

Twenty-four lessons for managing your feelings of anxiety. The subtitle suggests that artists of all kinds tap into these chapters, "24 Lessons for Writers, Painters, Musicians and Actors...." I believe these techniques would help any procrastinator out there. Have you ever started a project only to run out of enthusiasm? I know I have. I started painting a small apartment in the end of December and admit that I still have finishing touches to add and it's mid-March. Even as recently as a few days ago I was painting. I have one more color to touch-up and then I can officially say the project is complete. I believe that this book helped me put the excuses aside and change my attitude from project as chore to project as gift to myself.

Two of the 24 lessons particularly appealed to me. Chapter 14, The Anxiety of Failing, provides new visualization techniques. I loved the suggestion to visualize yourself in the presence of someone who is calming for you such as a loved one, a deceased one, a close friend, etc. Usually these techniques center on placing yourself in a safe environment or stepping your mind through the process visualizing a successful ending.

Chapter 21, The Anxiety of Procrastination, says, "Anxiety causes procrastination, and procrastination produces more anxiety. Get out of this vicious cycle by recognizing how much anxiety is at play..." That's what I needed to hear. I felt like I was avoiding anxiety by pushing off my painting needs and yet what I was actually doing was making the feeling grow. Once I realized that, it was a matter of time before that color line between ceiling and wall became straighter. It was a great gift to give myself to wake up the day after painting and say, "Wow, that wall looks great." Rather than saying, "I've really got to fix that awful bleed-over. It looks so bad." By focusing on the negative, my energy fled from painting over to anything else I could find to do that day. And, it was easy to go on and on finding an ever-growing list of other chores less taxing. When I shifted focus to relieving my anxiety, I woke up one morning, changed into my paint clothes and got to work.

I did not like the format of the book, however. Each chapter contains a parable. A little fictional story demonstrates the chapter principle. I just skipped them and got to the point. I felt like they were used more as filler and adding fiction to a non-fiction work didn't appeal to me. So maybe I missed out on an insightful bit but really, I feel much relieved because my project is now complete and that anxiety is gone.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is my new favorite of Maisel's books. In the beginning a menu presents 22 techniques for mastering anxiety. Maisel has written about anxiety in his past books. However this book summarizes, expands, and introduces new material for a thorough study on coping with anxiety that is encountered in the creative process. The 24 chapters pinpoint some of the exact issues I struggle with. I would suggest reading the book slowly and journaling about the issues. Highlight passages and write in the book.
Each chapter contains a teaching tale, which discusses the topic, but is a delightful, philosophical short story. Not only do the tales showcase Eric Maisel's thoughtfulness, but prove that his own mastery over anxiety has produced writing that is creative art.
Excellently organized, each chapter expounds on each technique in the anxiety mastering menu.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Aid for Artistic Angst January 23, 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've been reading this book on my Kindle and I've decided that I like it. Not everything about it, mind you. I don't demand that of books. There are even a few features that I find too cutesy. If a self-help book gives me a couple of really useful nuggets, I figure I got my money's worth. After all, how much useful advice can you get on an average day for $15-$20 or, in this case, a mere $8 on Kindle?

You get a lot more than a few nuggets from this Mastering Creative Anxiety. If you put them to work for you, this book is practically priceless. In the words of Eric Maisel, the author of this and dozens of other creativity titles:

None of the techniques in the book will be available to you when you need them simply because you read about them and nod your head. You have to practice them and use them.... If you want the results, you will have to do the work.

This may seem obvious but I know people who read books or listen to CDs and expect this passive act alone to transform their lives. It can transform your thinking but transforming your life requires some participation on your part.

"It doesn't work," they say. Well, no, it doesn't. You have to do the work. One of my mottos is "emotion provides devotion but action provides the traction." You got to actually do the work to get the results you are hoping for. `Nuf said, hey?

I found the Ari and Phoebe tales a tad too cute and not altogether necessary. Incongruously enough, I read every one! I guess they appeal to the right brain and balance the more pedantic. Or something.

Rodney Merrill, PhD
Excerpted from [...]
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