Book Review: Show Your Work!

This recent work from author Austin Kleon aims to address the issue of getting your work discovered in our modern, busy, noisy world.

Much like his previous book, Steal Like an Artist (which I also reviewed here), it is an unconventionally written book, with a very brief, casual voice that focuses on some simple, but actionable tips. Kleon delves into things like being authentic, utilizing social media and other platforms to share content (your own and others), as well as just sharing your story and having fun with the process of creating. I don't think any of these tips are revolutionary, but seeing them here as well as other books and articles I've read further reinforces the advice. I do my best to embody many of them already, and it has been effective, so it deepened my commitment to keep it up after reading this book.

I will say that Kleon's work is probably not for everyone. I appreciate the candid, casual feel to these books and others like it, but it I have started to think that many will see them as too simplistic and too cavalier. It assumes a lot I think to just lay out the advice these sort of books do (essentially, just do it and the success will come) since I think life is a lot more complicated than the way these sorts of books convey things. They also seem to convey a bit of privilege at times that makes the advice less accessible to most people. From my point of view, not everyone can just drop everything and go for their "passion". People need to be able to pay their bills and live their lives while not having to worry about if their art is going to make them enough money. Thankfully, Kleon does acknowledge this a bit by seeing a lot of people as working a full-time day job to fund and supplement their creative "side hustles", and if you can make money off of this effort, that's great but it isn't necessary. This is refreshing and far more realistic from my point of view. Not everyone is going to have the time or the money to devote to creating a living for writing from nothing, and it is important to acknowledge that with a book like this. I'm glad this one does.

With all that being said (just had to get that out) I think this book, and Kleon's other work, Steal Like an Artist, are great starters for someone looking to nourish a creative hobby and looking to get it noticed too. I know I write for myself, but I'd also love for my writing to help and positively impact other people. I write from the heart and it's awesome to connect with other people through it.

Check out Show Your Work! and purchase it at any of your favorite book retailers.

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Book Review: Steal Like an Artist

"If we’re free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it."

I remember hearing about this book at some point. It got stuck in my head as something I knew I wanted to read at some point but just never got around to. I finally blew through this book and I am very glad I made time for it.

This 2012 book by Austin Kleon explores the traditional concepts about what we think creativity is and how we are creative and seeks to break them down. Kleon challenges conventional notions and builds up his own view on how we maximize our own unique creativity and stop preventing ourselves from creating. His liberating manifesto that nothing is original helps the reader break free of the oppressive mindset that we have to reinvent the wheel in order to be a creative. All we have to do is put our own spin on what is already out in the world and that makes something valuable and creative.

Kleon's style of writing is brief, engaging, and transformative so it is right up my alley. I was able to breeze through this book with some powerful takeaways in the matter of a few nights. I feel like I could have easily read through it in a day if I was commuting or had a few more hours free in a day to plug in with this book. I appreciate when books can be concise since it allows for the message to come through so much clearer for me when there isn't massive amounts of what ends up feeling like filler. Just because a book is longer doesn't make it better, but that's just me.

If you're looking to get inspired to be more creative or just want a great book to get motivated by for your current endeavors, I encourage you to check this book out. It's a quick but powerful read with some great perspectives on how to be a better creative.

Steal Like An Artist is available at all of your favorite book retailers which you can find at the book's official webpage.

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