great book! - Rated 
This book is so inspiring and puts you on the right track when it is so easy to get off. It reminds you that the process is what is important...not the outcome, which is something I need to regularly be reminded of. I find that it is helpful not only in my artistic life, but also in everyday life...when the process is really what matters. Very few books are available which address which subject of The process, the present moment, the now...in such a practical and real-life manner, so I'm very happy to have discovered this gem. I dip into it regularly for fresh reinforcement that the process is what is important. For example, I work with photography and sometimes when getting the photos ready for clients, it's VERY easy to move attention to the outcome or finished product...but then all my joy disappears. But, when I continue to focus on the actual DOING (the process) of the project, my motivation remains high. I love this book and will continue to dip into it for regular reminders. Oh, BTW, it is not a step by step guide...it is more inspirational than that in that you can see that others in the arts go through the ups and downs of the creative process and you eventually come to accept your own individual process. Great stuff!
it does what it says in the title..truely - Rated
I've just read this book, and I reckon I'll dip into it for many years to come. I agree with all that's said in the other reviews. Even if you are an experienced artist, there is much here to keep you going if your energies are flagging or your finding it difficult to move forward creatively. I'm a pretty obsessive with getting lost in technique and detail, and this is proving an immense help to loosening up. I've been reading each chapter as little meditations on art making at night and have been amazed how his helpful words creep into my art making during the day. Shaun McNiff has such a lovely way of talking throughout the book, conversational but not dumb. The text is dense with support and assistance, whilst not going down the listmania route of creativity.
Wonderful book, useful ideas - Rated
Earlier in the year, I came across Mcniff's book ART AS MEDICINE. Whilst I did find it overlong and rambling in places, I was impressed by the breadth and width of this man's experience as an artist and an art therapist. So when I came across TRUST THE PROCESS, I was keen to give it a go. And I'm very glad I did. In fact, I'm about to re-read it. McNiff doesn't use jargon so this is a great book whether or not you are "in the field" (I'm not). He doesn't lecture, get on his high horse, or give hopelessly fluffy-bunny advice(unlike some creativity books I could mention !) He acknowledges that the creative process can be frustrating, lonely, difficult. . .whilst also deeply believing in its joyous or simply fun aspects. I particularly enjoyed his references to his six-year-old daughter and the work she is engaged in, also how she feels about it.She sees things clearly without grown-up hang-ups and inhibitions. Lovely. And he has these interesting little tasks for the reader to do as s/he sees fit . I'm particularly keen on his advice to break things up into small portions-do a whole series of quick little drawings, for example, rather than getting paralyzed at the thought of THE MAJOR WORK that one "must" produce. I am a poet not an artist, by the way, so I've been taking this advice to heart and writing quite a few little matchbox-sized poems! But I'm also going to try out the notepad of little drawings exercise-I haven't done any art since I was about 10 because I was given the distinct impression-as are so many people-that I had no "talent". But McNiff makes it sound like fun. Thank you, Shaun McNiff-and daughter.
Trust This Book! - Rated 
This is simply one of the best books on the subject of personal creativity & art. Author McNiff doesn't get preachy and didactic, and always gets to the point. He also doesn't engage the reader with "new age" solutions and descriptions. Clear and balanced. If you have a curiosity about your creativity, or bringing about artistic expression in your life, or you're an artist on the "path", this book is a gift.
More useful to me than The Artist's Way... - Rated
This book helps and inspires me (a visual artist) in a way that Julia Cameron's popular (and wonderful) work has not. For those of us who have a kneejerk negative reaction to following rules and doing "exercises", preferring instead to create our own structure, this is a refreshing alternative to her more structured approach. McNiff emphasizes that the sense of despair we feel when the "flow" isn't flowing is itself an integral part of the process of making art, which I found particularly encouraging and true to my experience. He also encourages the reader to get going by creating multiple small, "disposable" works, which can contain the roots of larger pieces... Read this book!
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