In which my students face their creative fears

and get back to writing their stories

Twyla Tharp says, “In those long and sleepless nights when I’m unable to shake my fears sufficiently, I borrow a biblical epigraph from Dostoyevsky’s The Demons: I see my fears being cast into the bodies of wild boars and hogs, and I watch them rush to a cliff where they fall to their deaths.”

Whereas I see a game of Galaga. Gen X forever.

-Kelcey

p.s. Shout-out to my students for being awesome and vulnerable and funny and wise. And for letting me share their fears—and their inspiring rejections of those fears—with you!

Here’s a post from August where I revisited Twyla Tharp’s Creative Habit (and promptly added it to my class reading list):

In art and sports, it's all about practice

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Thanks for reading The Habit of Art by Kelcey Ervick, a Substack Featured Publication (twice!). I love writing and drawing these posts and am grateful to everyone who follows along. I’m a writer and professor in Indiana. If you like this newsletter, you might like my graphic memoir, The Keeper, which was featured in the New York Times Book Review’s Holiday Gift Guide and happens to be 40% off at the place that rhymes with Blam-a-zon. If you’re interested in making comics and visual stories, check out my edited craft book, The Field Guide to Graphic Literature. I have other books too. Thanks for your support!

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