When I set out to write a blog it started because I wanted to increase my creativity. I wanted to prove to myself that I could improve on my writing and I could do something that was creative.
My next question was, how do I become more creative and this book answered the question for me. It was of great comfort to me that I was asking questions that every creative person has asked before.
If you have a hobby or a job that involves being creative I would highly recommend reading this book as it will help you by giving you key tips on how you can stay creative.
I hope you enjoy this book summary.
Summary
This book is written by Austin Kleon and is part of his trilogy of books. This book focuses on how to stay creative and how to get thos creative juices flowing. It has "10 things that nobody told you about being creative."
Like all of Austin Kleon's books, if you are an individual that has creativity linked in to what you do either as a hobby or job, then you need to have his books.
This book specifically focuses on creativity and has ten chapters that explores what creativity is and a unique outlook on it. The title of the book gives you a glimpse in to his genius. You wouldn't say a true artist steals but they do, it is just the perspective of their stealing that you need to understand.
Key points
The book is split in to 10 'chapters':
- Steal Like An Artist. Every artist steals. This sounds weird at first but when you read the chapter you will see what he means and you will agree!
- Don't Wait Until You Know Who You Are To Get Started. Prettty self explanatory by the title. The best time to start was yesterday and the next best time is today. Dont delay.
- Write The Book You Want To Read. The stuff that you like, do that. When you're stuff, ask yourself what you want to do and then do that.
- Use Your Hands. Just doing this increases your productivity. When I am appraching writing a new blog post I us a pen and paper to mind map the idea instead of typing first. I find this increases my creativity and gets me thinking more.
- Side Projects And Hobbies Are Important. You have side projects and hobbies because that is what you really enjoy and what your passion is. Use those passions to drive your creativity.
- The Secret: Do Good Work And Share It With People. This explores the stumbling block that most creative people come up against, how do they get their work noticed? Austin's response is simple, do good work and share it with people.
- Geography Is No Longer Our Master. Probably an obvious one but worth mentioning. The power of the internet can make a big difference to your creativity so use it to your advantage.
- Be Nice. One to just remember in your everyday life as it can make a big difference. When you send out positive vibes out to the world yo will get positive vibes back.
- Be Boring. This could also be called be consistent. you need to make sure you are settled and have some consistency in what you do so it brings the best out of you and you get work done.
- Creativity Is Subtraction. You can create lots and most of it will be bad so knowiong what to leave out can sometimes be key.
I have just given you a very very brief sentence about each chapter but to get the full understanding of it I would urge you to pick the book up and read the authors words.
My personal likes
Some things that may seem insignificant but appealed to me:
- Similar to his other books, the book is small compared to other non-fiction books. It is only 140 pages long and smaller than A5 size. This makes it easy to carry around with you.
- Also this meant I could read the book in about a 45 minutes if I was uninterrupted. It does not drag out topics, it is to the point and very insightful.
- Austin Kleon has his unique style and I really like the visual aspect of his titles and illustrations. They show what he is writing about in another way that really makes sense.
What I have done differently as a result
It gave me the confidence to just go and start my blog and not procrastinate. Also it reminds me every now and again of the important things I need to remember when keeping creative. Such as be boring. Might sound easy to do as an accountant but it is so important to just keep consistent as it makes a big difference to the end product.
If after reading this you want to purchase this book you can do by using the Amazon link below.
Other books by Austin Kleon
I have read all three of his books and not only read them on the kindle but had to have the physical books so I can flick through and show people that come to my house!
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Thanks for reading,
Gav
*For full transparency, the post above has affiliate links. If you click on affiliate links and make a purchase it is of no extra cost to you but I will receive a small commission from it.
