Make Time for Creativity

Brandon Stosuy, co-founder of The Creative Independent and former Pitchfork editor, has built a book that functions as both an intimate artistic retreat and a practical guide for anyone struggling to prioritize creative work amid competing demands. Built around searching questions about work-life balance, daily rituals, intentions, and knowing when to step away, it draws on a wide network of working artists — writers, musicians, visual artists, filmmakers, designers — including Hanif Abdurraqib, David Byrne, and Cynthia Daignault, each offering hard-won wisdom from their own practices.

The book acknowledges the material realities that shape creative life — financial precarity, caregiving, mental health — while maintaining that meaningful creative practice is possible within significant constraints. Space for reflection throughout makes it as much a workbook as a collection of interviews and essays. The first in a trilogy of interactive guides Stosuy has created for Abrams exploring the practical and emotional dimensions of creative work.