‘…a rich inner life is not just the preserve of the arts. The joys, fears and profound self-discoveries of creativity — through making or building anything that wasn’t there before, any imaginative exploration or attempt to invent — I believe to be the birthright of every person on this earth. If you live your life with curiosity and intention — or would like to — this book is for you.’
'The Luminous Solution documents the mysterious, personal and near spiritual possibilities of creative thought for an individual; as much as creativity for Wood is about writing well, it is also a way of life ... This brilliant manifesto ought to find its way on to the shelves of curious people everywhere looking for an inspired approach to life. - Gretchen Shirm, The Australian
‘This collection is open, honest and generous. Magnificent, intelligent writing.' ★★★★★ - Good Reading magazine
'As one of Australia’s most successful novelists, the courage and boldness of [Wood’s] examining the less-visible and unenviable parts of creativity is exhilarating … The book ends with a vision of rapturous sea-swimming, the salt water’s “blissful shock” like the bracing freedom of this vision of unshackled creativity.' - Felicity Plunkett, The Sydney Morning Herald
‘Elegant and deeply considered’ – Rosemary Neill, The Weekend Australian
In this essential work, award-winning writer Charlotte Wood shares the insights and experience she has gained about creative thinking over a career paying close attention to her own mind, to the world around her and the way she and others work.
Drawing on her doctoral studies in creativity and decades of writing, conversation and immersive reading, she explores what artists might have to teach the rest of us about:
intuition and perseverance;
risk, and the exhilaration of departing from safe territory;
the power of ‘unknowing’;
making an art form of your own life;
nature's crucial role in a flourishing inner world;
working through failure, and more.
The Luminous Solution is a book about how thinking creatively can help all of us to live richer, more wholehearted lives.
THE WRITER'S ROOM PODCAST: JOAN SILBER Charlotte interviews US author and teacher Joan Silber on character, narrative time, point of view and 'weight' in fiction.