Blasting Through the Blocks

An Artist’s Way Guide to Unleashing Your Inner Creativity

Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, in conversation with editor Joel Fotinos

This evening’s presentation by Julia Cameron is meant to give us simpler approaches to awaken and strengthen our writing ability. Every artist or aspiring creator knows the sting of being stuck. Blasting Through Blocks is a “good news” book: Yes, you will find yourself in its pages. You’ll recognize the resistance, the internal critic, the fear of failure, the perfectionism, the inertia. But the promise here is simple: You can always unblock. You don’t need grand methods or deep dives into theory—just the willingness to work with small, powerful tools.

As you cross the 52 essays in this new book by Julia, you’ll come upon one creative block and one practical practice each week. Some tools will feel familiar—rooted in The Artist’s Way heritage—but many will surprise you with their straightforwardness, their clarity, their freshness. Over time, these practices build into a living, flexible toolkit you can revisit whenever you feel stuck again.

This is a book for personal pilgrimage and communal practice alike. Use it as a companion through a year of your creative life. Bring it to your writing group, your classroom, or give it as a gift to any artist in your life. As these pages light up one shadow at a time, you’ll begin to see the spiritual and psychological pathways through your creative difficulties—and discover why your work matters.

NOTE: A copy of Julia Cameron’s new book Blasting Through the Blocks: An Artist’s Way Guide to Unleashing Your Inner Creativity is included in the $35 price of this talk. Books will be mailed to students living only within the contiguous United States.

Julia Cameron has been hailed by The New York Times as “The Queen of Change.” Credited with starting a movement in 1992 that has brought creativity into the mainstream conversation— in the arts, business, and everyday life—she is the bestselling author of more than 50 books, fiction and nonfiction, and a poet, songwriter, filmmaker and playwright. Commonly referred to as “The Godmother” or “High Priestess” of creativity, she offers tools based in practice, not theory. Her No. 1 bestseller, The Artist’s Way, has been translated into more than 40 languages and sold over five million copies. juliacameronlive.com

Joel Fotinos is the founder, vice president and editorial director of St. Martin’s Essentials, the lifestyle imprint at Macmillan, and a former vice president and publisher at Penguin Random House. For nearly 30 years, he has collaborated with Julia Cameron on The Artist’s Way series and related projects. Joel also facilitates Artist’s Way groups and shares creative inspiration on his Substack and TikTok. joelfotinos.com