5 Steps that Helped Me Finish The Artist's Way

After a couple of false starts, I gave myself grace and made completion, not perfection, the goal.

I bought the book, gave it a go, couldn’t do it perfectly, then gave up. Start. Stop. Feel like a failure.

There are very good reasons for completing The Artist’s Way to the letter. No argument there, but for those of us who feel called and just need to get going, granting some allowances was key for me.

On my second, or maybe third attempt, I committed to the practice even when I couldn’t do it perfectly, and it worked.

Don’t tell Julia Cameron, but here’s what worked for me.

#1: Released the expectation of sequential weeks.

Whenever I’ve attempted a healthy habit, inevitably, momentum is halted. Whether it’s by my own motivation waning, forces outside my control, or any myriad of convenient excusesI have too often allowed a break the streak and ruin everything.

So, I decided I’d just keep going, no matter what interruption came my way.

#2: Used a completely non-special notebook.

I loooooooove a notebook. The problem is, if they are too special, they sit on an aspirational shelf instead of getting sullied by my real-life use. My unfiltered, stream-of-consciousness blah blah blah did not feel worthy of such a fine vessel, so I bought a dollar-store composition notebook instead.

No pressure, no big investment, just unpretentious, wide-ruled pages ready for me to do the work. What it lacked in aesthetics, it made up for with deliciously crunchy paper.

#3: Focused on the practice of Morning Pages, not the length.

Once I had my completely non-special notebook, now I had three, 8.5X11(ish) pages to fill each morning. Three long pages, and only about 30 minutes of time in my morning.

I just couldn’t get it done. I’d drift off and stare into space–which is not a bad thing for a creative practice. So, I allowed myself space and released the assignment of three, full pages, and made the practice of journaling every morning a habit. It worked then and it’s worked ever since.

#4: Spiral bound the book.

It was cheap, quick, and easy to take my book to an office supply story and get my book spiral bound. Now, it feels more like a workbook. It stays open, lays flat, or doubles over to give me more space.

#5: Loosely interpreted artists’ dates.

I did artists dates, just not every week and not always alone. When I took my daughter to the art museum, I counted it. If we went to the movies as a family, I counted that, too.

I maintain a list of suggestions so I can incorporate whimsy and adventure into my life.

And with that, I made it through the 12-week program in maybe 15 or so weeks. Was it imperfect? Yeah. Did it work? Also, yeah.

Have you tried The Artist’s Way? Did you quit like I did?