Stare at a spot on the wall for as long as you can.” “If you’re out of ideas, wash the dishes. “It’s the side projects that really take off.” “If you have space, set up two workstations, one analog and one digital.” “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 use-do the work you want to see done.” Write the kind of story you like best-write the story you want to read.”

“The best advice is not to write what you know, it’s to write what you like. Adding something to the world that only you can add.” Transforming their work into something of your own is how you flatter them. “In the end, merely imitating your heroes is not flattering them. Emulation is when imitation goes one step further, breaking through into your own thing. The writer Wilson Mizner said if you copy from one author, it’s plagiarism, but if you copy from many, it’s research.Īt some point, you have to move from imitating your heroes to emulating them. Plagiarism is trying to pass someone else’s work off as your own. In Kleon’s experience, it’s in the act of making things and doing our work that we figure out who we are. Get used to pulling it out and jotting down your thoughts and observations.”

“Carry a notebook and a pen with you wherever you go. Nothing is more important than an unread library.” John Walters once said, “Collect books, even if you don’t plan on reading them right away. Then find three people that thinker loved, and find out everything about them. Study everything there is to know about one thinker. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by.” “You’re only going to be as good as the stuff you surround yourself with.” “Every new idea is just a mashup or a remix of one or more previous ideas.” But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” Nothing is completely original.Īndré Gide once said, “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. All creative work builds on what came before. When you look at the world this way, you stop worrying about what’s “good” and what’s “bad”-there’s only stuff worth stealing, and stuff that’s not worth stealing.Ī good artist understands that nothing comes from nowhere. Kleon’s believes that when people give you advice, they’re really just talking to themselves in the past.Īn artist looks at the world by figuring out what’s worth stealing and then moves on to the next thing. The secret: do good work and share it with people.Side projects and hobbies are important.Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started.Nothing is original, so embrace influence, school yourself through the work of others, remix and reimagine to discover your own path.

Austin kleon trilogy