10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
A friend of mine has been bugging me to read this book by Austin Kleon for a while now, and I finally got around to it.
Unfortunately, I got around to it right before getting ready for bed. That was a bad idea because this book is full of great ideas and it is, as my friend said, a great “kick in the pants”. When I was finished reading it, I was filled with ideas and felt super motivated to do ALL of the writing! Which would have been awesome if it hadn’t been one o’clock in the morning. I’ve never actually lived the writer stereotype of staying up all night to write (except once in college, but that was for a 24-hour playfest) and I don’t intend to start now. My sleep is too important to me. After jotting down some frantic notes and some meditation, I finally managed to nod off.
The thing is, this book doesn’t actually say anything new. It has ten chapters (it’s a super short book), and each chapter is one tip for getting your work out there. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen all these tips before. Kleon says each chapter started as a tweet, then a blog post, then a chapter of this little book. I think I’ve read all the blog posts. Not necessarily his blog posts, but this is the kind of stuff creative people are talking about all the time. The basic premise is that you need to be good, produce a lot, and share even more. That’s it. It’s simple (which is not the same as easy).
Of course, there is no secret formula that will bring success to anyone. What works for one person might not work well for another. It all depends on what you’re creating, who your audience is, and where your audience is. Any way you go about it, the basic premise of the book still stands: it’s not enough to just create something, say “Look what I did!” and expect everyone to fall all over themselves over your genius.
People want stories. They want a behind-the-scenes look. They want to know who you are as a person and they want to know your process. How do you create your art? Where? When? They don’t want to just know your work, they want to know you.
Kleon may not be revolutionary is what he’s saying, but he does give some ideas for how to go about showing people your process. He includes quotes and examples from famous creative people. When I say I was filled with ideas after reading this book, it’s not because Kleon told me exactly what I need to do. It’s because he has so many suggestions for all the different ways you can show your work. When you think about it (and this book definitely makes you think about it) the possibilities are endless.
The other reason I felt so motivated is because Kleon stresses the importance of working your butt off. No one is going to see your stuff if you don’t create it. No one is going to like it if it’s not good. And the best way to get good is to keep doing it.