I've been a longtime fan of the cartoonist Lynda Barry, whose quirky view of the world is amusing and spot-on at the same time. Over the years Ann and I have collected many of her comic collections and a few years ago we attended and enjoyed immmensely the Off–Broadway performance of her play, "The Good Times Are Killing Me."
When I saw that she had put together a book about creativity entitled "What It Is," I immediately ordered it. Though it's not quite what I expected (typical Lynda Barry) it's crammed with doodles, comic characters and pithy observations on creativity.
Here's one such pearl of wisdom:
"It took a long time to realize that I didn't need to be in the mood to move my brush before I picked it up," she writes. "All I needed to do was move the brush and my mood would follow the trail."