'The capacity for writing success'

 

“I think we have a great deal of mythology around writing. We believe that only a few people can really do it. I wrote a book called  The Right to Write.  In it, I argued that all of us have the capacity to write. That it's as normal to write s it is to speak.” – Julia Cameron

 

Born on this date in 1948, Cameron has been a teacher, author, artist, poet, playwright, novelist, filmmaker, composer, and journalist.  She’s earned acclaim in almost every category but perhaps is most famous for her teaching and books on writing and creativity, including The Artist's Way.  She has written 3 dozen nonfiction books, 2 novels, 6 plays, 4 books of poetry, and many, many short stories, essays and screenplays.  Her most recent book, published in 2024, is The Artist's Way Toolkit, How to Use the Creative Practices.

 

She grew up in Chicago, went to college in New York and Washington, DC, and started her career as a writer at the Washington Post before moving over to Rolling Stone magazine. While working on an article for Oui Magazine, she met and married director Martin Scorsese – a marriage that lasted just a year and produced a daughter.  Despite their divorce, they have worked together on several successful films.     

 

“I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something,” she said.  “Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable things follow.“