“Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon

 Another little gem of a book.

I love these little pocket books that brim and bristle with good ideas and sage advice.

This really is one of those bedside books that I constantly dip into. Austin’s guidance is down to Earth and easy to digest. While it is quite a quick read; it’s nevertheless worthwhile, as Austin, himself a creative with a unique and idiosyncratic ISP, writes from the heart and the brain about the “10 things nobody [tells us] about being creative”

1. Steal like an artist – How to think like an artist and how to evaluate what are useful ideas.

2. Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started – Don’t wait until you know what you’re about before starting to be creative  – start now and you’ll discover your way … along the way.

3. Write the book you want to read – Create things for yourself. Let everyone else catch up with your vision.

4. Use your hands – Computers and technology have their uses; but hands-on

5. Side projects and hobbies are important – Things that you’re just messing around with, for your own amusement are often the things that take off.

6. The secret: Do good work and share it with people – The secret to getting known.

7. Geography is no longer our master – How place can affect your work; from using technology to connect to getting out there and seeing the world.

8. Be nice. (The world is a small town) – Henry James once said “Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.”

9. Be boring. (It’s the only way to get work done) – Being regular and orderly helps your work.

10. Creativity is subtraction – Placing constraints on yourself to foster creativity.

Austin’s book is, as I’ve said, a fairly quick read, so I’ve kind of skated across the ten things that he identifies, as I didn’t want to give you the potted version of the book, just a brief summary.

150 pages