COURAGEOUS CREATIVITY

This guide for teens provides tools for living a creative life.

Teenagers receive sympathetic inspiration and practical how-to advice on living a creative life and being productive in one’s work. The chapters, each of which is further broken down into focused sections, follow the cycle of developing and executing projects, guiding readers through five steps: “Play,” “Plan,” “Make,” “Share,” and “Play Again.” In each, the author addresses topics such as exploration, setting up your creative space, brainstorming and freewriting, and how and why to pay attention. Readers can learn challenging lessons in setting intentions and planning, dealing with failure, procrastination, self-doubt, and critical feedback. Zarr balances stories from her own life with concrete exercises to put these lessons into practice. The book combines you-can-do-it cheerleading with straight talk about sitting down and getting the work done. With her accessible, confessional tone and hands-on exercises, the author defangs many young artists’ deepest and most immobilizing fears while also giving them tools for success. Most importantly, she affirms these feelings and lets teenagers know they are not alone. Notably, Zarr directly addresses readers’ different personal circumstances when it comes to the money to fund projects or experience the arts, family encouragement, and access to private space in which to create. Black-and-white illustrations and design elements enhance the text. This inspirational and powerful work affirms readers with the underlying message: Fear not!

Inspiring and honest, this smart book offers both compassion and practical instruction.