tags:: #source/book Creatorpeneur on/creativity
author:: Austin Kleon

A New Way of Operating

"Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating." – John Cleese

Yes, be so good they can't ignore you. Your audience finds you, not the other way around. But in order to be found, you have to be findable.

Almost all of the people I look up to and try to steal from today, regardless of their profession, have built sharing into their routine.

You Don't Have To Be a Genius

Scenius. The great achievements of history weren't really done by a single person. They were part of an "ecology of talent," a whole scene of people supporting each other, stealing ideas and contributing ideas.

"That's all any of us are: amateurs. We don't live long enough to be anything else." – Charlie Chaplin

Amateurs are just regular people who get obsessed by something and spend a ton of time thinking out loud about it. They're not afraid of making mistakes and looking ridiculous in public—they just love the craft.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke: My greatest strength is that I don't know what I'm doing.

Be on the lookout for voids that you can fill with your own efforts, no matter how bad they are at first.

You can't find your voice if you don't use it.

"Find your voice, shout it from the rooftops, and keep doing it until the people that are looking for you find you." – Dan Harmon

If your work isn't online, it doesn't exist.

Think Process, Not Product

"Pull back the curtain on your process." – Ann Friedman

The work is all that happened in a day. It's a process, not a thing. Your work is all that you're doing that eventually leads to the noun "the work."

Human beings are interested in other human beings and what other human beings do.

"In order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen—really seen." – Brene Brown

Whatever the nature of your work, there is an art to what you do, and there are people who would be interested if only you presented it to them in the right way.

In fact, sharing the process gets you into sharing when you're still learning, when you don't have a portfolio to put up yet.

Share Something Small Every Day

"I like to work while the world is sleeping, and share while the world is working."

Always think "so what?" before sharing. You're not sharing your lunch—you're sharing your work. It should be interesting. Go with your gut feeling and learn. Everything you put on the internet will be there forever.

90% of everything is crap, including what you put out. Sharing often helps you learn. Find time to do this in the nooks and crannies of your time.

These small pieces start living on their own. Tweets become blog posts become books.

"Carving out a space for yourself online, somewhere where you can express yourself and share your work, is still one of the best possible investments you can make with your time." – Andy Baio

Your website doesn't have to be pretty—it just has to exist.

Open Up Your Cabinet of Curiosities

If you hoard, at some point you'll start living off your reserves. You have to give it all away so that you can keep receiving.

There's not as big of a difference between collecting and creating as you might think.

Your influences are all worth sharing because they clue people in to who you are and what you do—sometimes even more than your own work.

Don't self-edit in sharing your influences. There are no guilty pleasures.

Credit is always due.

Tell Good Stories

Our work doesn't speak for itself.

Whether you realize it or not, you are already telling a story about your work.

"'The cat sat on the mat' is not a story. 'The cat sat on the dog's mat,' that's a story." – John Le Carré

Structure is everything

Story Circle

The most important part of a story is its structure. A good story structure is tidy, sturdy, and logical. Unfortunately, most of life is messy, uncertain and illogical. Sometimes we have to do a lot of cropping and editing to make our lives fit into a Hollywood plot.

Pitches are just stories with the end chopped off.

Talk about yourself at parties

"You got to make your case." – Kanye West

It's not an interrogation. It's an opportunity to honestly connect about topics you're interested in.

Bios are not the place to practice your creativity. A two-sentence explanation is usually what the world wants.

Teach What You Know