Steal like an Artist

by Austin Kleon

STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST

• Nothing is completely original

• All creative builds on what came before

• If we're free from the burden of trying to e completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it

• You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life

• The artist is a collector, not a hoarder

• Hoarders collect indiscriminately, artist collect selectively (Garbage in, garbage out)

• If you try to devour the history of your discipline all at once, you'll choke

• Instead, chew on one thinker - writer, artist, activist, or role model - you really love. Study everything there is to know about that thinker

• You have to be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down the reference. Go deeper than anybody else - that's how you'll get ahead

• Carry a notebook and pen with you wherever you go, to jot down your thoughts and observations

DON'T WAIT UNTIL YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE TO START

• It's in the act of making things and doing our work that we figure out who we are

• Imposter Syndrome: is a "psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments"

• Fake it till you make it, can be read as:

  1. Pretend to be something you're not until you are - fake it until you're successful until everyday sees you the way you want them to; or

  2. Pretend to be making something until you actually make something "You start out as a phony and become real" ~ Glen O'Brien

• Copying is about reverse-engineering

• Figure out who to copy, then figure out what to copy

• Don't just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. The goal is to see like your heroes

• You'll have to move from imitating your heroes to emulating them; at some point

• Imitation is about copying but emulation is when imitation goes one step further, breaking through into your own thing "It's our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique" ~ Conan O'Brien

WRITE THE BOOK YOU WANT TO READ

• Whenever you're at a loss for what move to make next, just ask yourself, "What would make a better story"

• Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the book you want to read, build the products you want to use - do the work you want to see done

USE YOUR HANDS

• If we just start " going through the motions", if we strum a guitar, shuffle sticky notes around a conference table, or start kneading clay, the motion kickstarts our brain into thinking

SIDE PROJECTS AND HOBBIES ARE IMPORTANT

"The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should do for the rest of your life" ~ Jessica Hische

• When you get sick of a project, move over to another and when you're sick of that one, move back to the project you left.

• Practice productive procrastination

"Avoiding work is the way to focus my mind" ~ Maira Kalman

• Let things you love talk to each other. Something will begin to happen.

• It's important to have a hobby. A hobby is something creative that's just for you

• Don't worry about a grand scheme or unified vision for your work - what unifies your work is the fact you made it

THE SECRET: DO GOOD WORK AND SHARE IT WITH PEOPLE

• When you're unknown there's nothing to distract you from getting better to expect you

• Step one: do good work

  • Step two: share it with people

• When you open up your process and invite people in, you learn

• The life of a project:

• 

• Share your dots without connecting them

GEOGRAPHY IS NO LONGER OUR MASTER

• Build your own world surround yourself with books and objects that you love

"Distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is the same. But something in our mind has changed, and that changes everything" ~ Jonah Lehres

• It helps to live around interesting people, and not necessarily people who do what you do.

BE NICE: THE WORLD IS A SMALL TOWN

• Make friends, ignore enemies

• You're only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with; by following the best people online - the people who are way smarter and better than you, the people who are doing the really interesting work.

• You will need:

  • Curiosity

  • Kindness

  • Stamina

  • A willingness to look stupid

• If you ever find that you're the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room

• Quitting picking fights and go make something

• The best way to get approval is not needing it

• Show your appreciation of your hero without expecting anything in return, and you get new work out of the appreciation

• Get comfortable with being misunderstood, disparaged or ignored - the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care

• Instead of keeping a rejection file, keep a praise file

BE BORING: IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO GET WORK DONE

• It takes a lot of energy to be creative. You don't have the energy if you waste it on other stuff

• Learn about money as soon as you can

• Figure out what time you can carve out, what time you can steal and stick to your routine

• Parkinson's Law: Work gets done in the time available

• Get a calendar. Fill it bores. Don't break the chain

• A logbook is a book in which you list the things you do every day

CREATIVITY IS SUBTRACTION

• In this age of information abundance and overload those who get ahead will be the folks who figure out what to leave, so they can concentrate on what's really important to them

• When it comes to creative work, limitations mean the freedom to start a business without any start-up capital

• Don't make excuses for not working - make things with the time, space and materials you have, right now

• You must embrace your limitations and keep moving!!