a book club for writers: Make Your Art No Matter What
the first installment of our book club
Hello friends! This is Ursula Fan Club, where I write on a weekly-ish basis about what I’m writing and reading as I work on the first draft of my first book. If you’re interested in speculative fiction, climate, ancestral stuff, textiles, living in a human body, and balancing a creative practice with whatever this is *waves wildly around*, you’ll probably like it here.
This is the first installment of our Book Club for Writers! I’ll be back soon with a writing update. My writing time has felt limited this month, so when I’ve had dedicated time for my creative practice and I confront my options—write a Substack post, text my writing group back, or work on my book—I’ve chosen “work on my book” every time. Lots cooking though, and I’m excited to share a bit more soon.
We are beginning our year-long Book Club for Writers with Make Your Art No Matter What: Moving Beyond Creative Hurdles by Beth Pickens. Are you a writer looking to cultivate a deeper creative practice? Consider reading this book or all of the books on our reading list, at your own pace or in time with my planned pace. Our next book is Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative by Melissa Febos for April.
I am in Beth’s year-long writing program, PARAKEET, so was especially eager to read her book from cover to cover. The print book is a slim, colorful little thing and the audiobook is narrated by Beth; I found a mix of reading in both formats to be a helpful way to digest a book that is chockfull of exercises and recommendations to build a more vibrant and consistent art practice.
Since we’re not meeting virtually or in person to discuss this book together (the way we do for my other book club), I’ve been chewing over the best way to recap this book or provide you with threads to unravel further, whether you’ve read it yet or not. I’m going to jump in with an overview, a personal reflection on the book, and then reading questions for you to take away and consider in regards to your own writing practice. Let me know what you think!
What this book is and who it’s for
This is a self-help book for anyone who identifies as an artist. Any kind of artist. Beth defines an artist this way:
What is my definition of an artist? The quick and dirty is this: Artists are people who make art. My deeper understanding is that artists are people who are profoundly compelled to make their creative work, and when they are distanced from their practice, their life quality suffers. Making their work is a way to take care of themselves, communicate, process information, engage in a spiritual interior, or strengthen their relationship to themselves and others.
If you are reading this book as an artist whose primary output is words (aka you’re a writer), simply replace every mention of “artist” with “writer” and replace “art” with “writing.”
As I was reading this book, I found myself wanting to give a copy to every artist I know. My best friend who teaches art at Rutgers and is pursuing her PhD in art. My other best friend who works as a graphic designer and makes clothing in her free time. My husband who makes electronic music. Honestly, many, if not most, of my friends. I am lucky to be surrounded by people who make all kinds of art, and many who struggle to maintain a consistent creative practice.
Each chapter is dedicated to a different topic, with reflections, prompts and exercises to expand your relationship to that topic. These start with foundational topics like time, work, and money, and then ripple out to topics that relate to how you intersect your art practice with other people and existential questions like death and God. (The final chapter, “Death + God,” was one of my favorites.) As such, you can read it cover to cover as I did, or simply pick up the chapter that feels most relevant to you right now. Make Your Art is infinitely quotable and will resonate with every artist on some or all topics.
Learn more about Beth Pickens here. After PARAKEET is over this year, I will be joining her Homework Club to have consistent accountability and community in my writing practice. Anyone can join Homework Club!
A personal reflection
I loved this book, read it cover to cover, and know that it will sit on my shelf and I will return to chapters and passages again and again, likely forever. Having now spent a few hours in Beth’s Zoom presence since the start of the year, this book holds true to her direct but compassionate approach in supporting artists in cultivating their practices. For me, the chapters titled, Time, Work, Fear and Other People felt the most relevant to my current experience. Education and Marketing felt less relevant but I was still interested in reading with Beth had to say about each.
A few prompts, inspired by Beth
Feel free to respond to these prompts in your own journaling, or share your thoughts on this book below in the comments.
Which thematic chapter, or chapters, resonated with you most? Why do you think that is?
Which thematic chapter, or chapters, felt most distant to your writing practice?
When, where, and how often do you currently write? What is working well? What can be let go to make more time for your writing?
What does your writing community look like? How can you join (or start!) a writing group or be in active community with other writers this year? (Social media and Substack don’t count, at least not for this prompt.)
Consider the list of crowdsourced, common fears of artists on page 96. Which ones do you identify with? What contrary action could you take to counter some of these fears?
How are your creative practice and your spiritual life connected? (A question from the “Death + God” chapter on page 198.) Try writing about this.