Austin Kleon

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  1. Thanks for the post. I really enjoyed this, and it made me feel content in my life for just a little bit.

    I’m trying to be an artist. This post helped me realize that I am an artist as long as I create.

    Thank you.

  5. I’m a director. I have a show opening on Tuesday. I had to borrow €50 from the actress in my show last night so I could eat for the next few days. If I only had work that paid me money, yesterday would have meant that I was failing because if money is the measure, that measure for me is less than zero at the moment. But I spent my day in a theatre refining moments of expression and figuring out how to clearly communicate a very complex, delicate, story to an audience I haven’t met yet. Because I tell stories for a living and there is no money in that, I had a spectacular day. We worked hard, we didn’t give up, we were lost for awhile, we were scared, we stopped taking our communication for granted and we found meaning and we held it up and we figured out how to give it away so it can be understood. You can’t buy or spend that (unfortunately, you can’t eat it either), but it’s worth everything.

  8. Great stuff. I humbly disagree about not using a computer. Back when I was a pen and pencil guy I was like a slowpoke in a marathon. A swimmer caught in seaweed struggling to keep up. Learning to type gave me the keys to keeping up. Slowing down enough to use a pen often destroys momentum and kills ideas. A keyboard allows me to keep up with them. To me, it comes across like you’re telling people what their process should be. You may as well have told a painter to never use a fan-tipped brush or a musician to stay away from the trombone.
    It’s good to step away from the keyboard, people should stretch and try new and different things. But by the same token, MS Word may not be your friend, but it is one of my buddies, along with Google Docs, Wordpad, Posterous, Blogger, and even SpringPad.

  10. Great post! I’m printing the whole thing and creating inspiring wall paper with it. I havent read anything this good in a while. Thank You!

  11. Who are you? And what are you doing outside my brain? I am sure you and i are the same person.

    You not only think the same and like the same stuff. But we have the same perception of creativity in life. The only thing that makes me realize that you are not me is that you are a better writer.

    I totally agree and will share this information, i feel like i am not the only one who thinks like this.

    BTW: thanks !

  13. Austin,

    although I don’t know you, I still want to hug you. You are a kind of psychotherapist for wannabe writer. Reading your article is a pure remedy. I wish you the best for all. Thanks you so much !

  14. I took your message to heart & spent the day in the studio. I happen to be on Spring Break (I have a day job as a school librarian). So much of my time is spent lamenting the fact that my day job is sort of far from my being as an artist. Your ideas helped me embrace the goodness of having a steady day job, being boring & living quiet. Your ideas also lit a match & my ideas are licking me clean. I feel dee-lighted!

  15. I’ve been trying to decide on what to do with my creative abilities and still I am puzzled. But I feel so refreshed after reading this post and I think it answered a lot of those questions that I didn’t even know I had. Strange but when something like that happens, it’s usually an indication that I’ve found another missing piece of that puzzle. Thank you so much! I aspire to use my creativity and to establish my own business.

  23. You mean… this was not just for me?? : }

    Thanks for putting this into words (and pictures) & thanks for sharing. Enjoyed all the thoughts it scatter… and all the thoughts it brought together.

  26. I found this so very helpful to read. Especially the part about how everyone is really faking it, I have often felt that way and its comforting to know its not just me.

  27. Dig it Dig it Dig it! This was an excellent push in the right direction for me. I steal and warp, edit, crop, skew and otherwise change other people’s work. It’s often unrecognizable from the original, but I always felt a bit – weird about it. My goal has never been to plagiarize, but to provide new perspectives and this article validated me. Thanks!

  28. seriously one of the best articles i’ve read, maybe ever. i rarely bookmark articles, but this one’s getting its own space in my favorites menu. thank you!

  29. Thank you. I have been telling my 16 year old this stuff for a long while, perhaps having it coming from you might sink into his teenage brain. You got wisdom son, especially about the marry well part. Keep it up there are great things ahead of you, somehow I just know it. ; )

  30. thank you! I needed the refresher course.

    I made a connection between some fashion advice on a television show and my life: “when you are all ready, take one piece of jewelry off, then you are really ready”.
    EDITING is so important.
    Make a list of what you want to do. Then take one or two things off the list. Forgive yourself the undone so the done is done better.

Trackbacks

  15. […] Aha, that puts the finger on the problem with the whine, “but I can’t write. I don’t have any ideas.” If I waited to know “who I was” or “what I was about” before I started “being creative”, well, I’d still be sitting around trying to figure myself out instead of making things. In my experience, it’s in the act of making things that we figure out who we are. —Austin Keon in How to Steal Like an Artist […]

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