If you’re a fan of the Artist’s Way or The Right To Write by Julia Cameron then you’re going to love one of her latest books Letters To A Young Artist.

Letters To A Young Artist comprises of Julia Cameron’s responses to an imaginary young artist that she is mentoring. It is written in easy to read bite-sized pieces so that you can read a few small sections a day as inspiration. Whilst it doesn’t present any new creative ‘methodology’ it is a wonderful reminder of Cameron’s techniques that are laid out in her other books and are certainly responsible for my development as a writer.

One of the things I have found most useful is her view that you don’t need oodles of time to get on and make your art. Even a few minutes a day keeps your momentum up, and in her words, ensures that you continue to “lay track” with your writing or artistic practice. In fact much of the book is about her drumming this into the young artist (and hence drumming it into me!).

The other benefit I have gained from reading the book is that I have returned to writing morning pages. This is something I have not done that regularly in the last couple of months and it is so wonderful to return to it. There is something about morning pages that helps you connect with your intuition. I find that morning pages helps me to make difficult decisions and be at peace with those decisions. Having worked very hard over the last few months on my Countess book I have recently felt quite ‘dried up’ on the creative thinking front. Somehow I think that a few days and weeks of morning pages is going to fix this!