Ｏｎｌｉｎｅ Ｐｒｅｍｉｕｍ VVIP+++ Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon

Workman Publishing; 1 edition (February 28, 2012)

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon is I liked what this author had to say and enjoyed the material, but this was not a book. When I got to the end, I said "Where's the rest of it? Where's the useful stuff?" I went on a hunt and found the author on YouTube giving a TED Talk called Steal Like an Artist. There it was, the entire book in an eleven minute speech. Save your money and just listen to the speech.

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon is Steal Like an Artist gave me the push I needed to get into a more creative mindset. Although the book, and its message, may seem simple, it is clear that Austin Kleon has dedicated his life to creativity and using that to produce creative work (poetry, writing, drawing). If you feel stuck in a rut (as I did), this book is for you. The main quote that spoke to me was: "If we're free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it. (Kleon, 2015). That burden has been with me for a long time, and now Austin Kleon has given me permission to be inspired and taking from others in order to create something unique. "Imitation is about copying. Emulation is when imitation goes one step further, break through into your own thinking" (Kleon, 2015). This is the perfect book for breaking into your own thinking.

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon is Austin Kleon writes, “All advice in autobiographical… This book is me talking to a previous version of myself… These ideas apply to anyone who’s trying to inject some creativity into their life and their work. (That should describe all of us.)” The book is thoughtfully written and designed in a creative six-inch by six-inch format.The idea behind stealing like an artist is that “nothing is completely original… All creative work builds on what came before... If we’re free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it.”“We learn by copying. We’re talking about practice here, not plagiarismâ€"plagiarism is trying to pass someone else’s work off as your own. Copying is about reverse engineering… Remember: Even The Beatles started as a cover band.”“You are the sum of your influences… Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by… Seeing yourself as part of a creative lineage will help you feel less alone as you start making your own stuff… You don’t want to look like your heroes, you want to see like your heroes… That’s what you really wantâ€"to internalize their way of looking at the world… It is the act of making things and doing our work that we figure out who we are.”“You have to be curious about the world in which you live… Always be reading…. Don’t worry about doing research. Just search.”“You’re only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with… If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.”“The manifesto is this: Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to useâ€"do the work you want to see done.”The author urges readers to “step away from the screen… You need to find a way to bring your body into your work… If we strum a guitar, or shuffle sticky notes around a conference table, or start kneading clay, the motion kickstarts our brain into thinking… The computer is really good for editing your ideas… but it’s not really good for generating ideas. There are too many opportunities to hit the delete key.”Kleon points out the value of side projects and hobbies in sparking creativity. “By side projects I mean the stuff that you thought was just messing around. Stuff that’s just play. That’s actually the good stuff. That’s when the magic happens… I think it’s good to have a lot of projects going on at once so you can bounce between them. When you get sick of one project, move over to another… Practice productive procrastination.” The author quotes playwright Steven Tomlinson about having diverse interests: “Let them talk to each other. Something will begin to happen.”“Creativity is subtraction.” The answer to information overload is to “figure out what to leave out” so you can focus on what’s most important to you. “It seems contradictory, but when it comes to creative work, limitations mean freedom… Establishing and keeping a routine can be even more important than having a lot of time.”Kleon touches on the theme of his second book, Show Your Work. “If there was a secret formula for becoming known, I would give it to you. But there’s only one not-so-secret formula that I know: Do good work and share it with people. It’s a two-step process… Not everyone will get it… So get comfortable with being misunderstood, disparaged, or ignoredâ€"the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care.” That said, the author says to, “enjoy your obscurity while it lasts… There’s no pressure when you’re unknown. You can do what you want. Experiment. Do things just for the fun of it. When you’re unknown, there’s nothing to distract your form getting better.”On a final note, Kleon writes, “Your mileage may vary… Feel free to take what you can use and leave the rest.”

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon is This is a pretty tiny book (the cup of coffee I poured when I started reading was still warm when I finished), but may end up being my favorite of everything I read this year. It'll almost certainly be one of the few that I'll come back to over and over.Austin Kleon is an artist from Austin, TX, and in Steal Like An Artist he asserts that what good artists doâ€"that is, "stealing" as much as possible from as many influences as possible to shape one's own unique styleâ€"is a concept that can carry over into virtually any line of work. And while there are a number of people out there who have made the case that we are all a product of our influences, few have communicated this truth so compelling and creatively as Kleon.The reality is that someone can "know" that's true, yet still feel bound by a desire to be "original" than can have a debilitating effect on creativity. I know, because I'm that guy. And that's why I'm so thankful to have been told to read this book, because it's definitely a game changer for me!Kleon's 10 short chapters each present a different principle for developing creativity, and though it's a numbered list, it manages not to come across as a "how to" manual. Rather, it's a testimonial borne from experience, and an encouragement that these timeless principles (e.g., "Be Nice") really do work in the real world, and they really are things that don't apply only to artists. It's a book which manages to be both artistic and pragmatic... not an easy combination!Anyway, I've already written a review that will take you half as long to read as the book itself, so stop reading this and go get the book!"If we're free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and embrace influence instead of running away from it." ~ Austin Kleon