Learn How to Steal Like The Best
Intro
Welcome to another installment of #AJsBookClub. If you haven’t already, make sure you join our Facebook group where we take books like this and discuss them with a group of like minded individuals. We’re a growing community and would love to hear your thoughts on “success focused” books!
Today we’re going to talk about Austin Kleon’s “Steal Like An Artist.”, which really hit home for me. For awhile now I have been trying to find my own way and my own voice, but I was worried I was “doing too much of the same” or felt like I was copying others too much. Frankly I don’t always know what the hell I’m doing and am just making it up as I go. This book really gives insight in to not only that being OK, but that it’s what all great artists do. Stealing is nothing more than picking the things you like best and putting your own twist on them.
As someone who is trying to start a “success focused” blog with a lot of book reviews this was refreshing to read. It really reinvigorated some of the passions I already had for this and helped me get things, like this website, up and running. A lot of the layout and content ideas were very much inspired by other pages that I really enjoy. And by that I mean, I stole some shiiiiit and made it my own.
But I digress.
Just like any other book we review, I recommend you go and support that author and buy a copy for yourself. I’ll hit some of the key points and dissect some topics that really resonated with me, but it’s never a replacement for reading the book itself. What it means to me may never come close to what it means to you!
“Steal Like An Artist”
“There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). I mean the bible says it, so it must be true. Now before some of you throw something at me for quoting the bible, the words are a lot more important here than where they came from. Ironically, that last sentence is, in itself, a great summary of Austin Kleon’s “Steal Like An Artist”.
Chock full of quotes and excerpts from other artists over the years, Austin Kleon has a fun & thought provoking view on what it means to “steal”. He breaks down 10 principles to help you be more creative in your work, highlighting that you shouldn’t feel bad that you steal from others, as long as you’re doing it right.
All the books in Austin Kleon’s series (“Steal Like An Artist”, “Show Your Work!”, and “Keep Going”) follow a similar format and flow. Each one contains 10 principles with a few pages of notes and doodles to help support. This helps to make them fairly quick reads and also extremely enjoyable. After having just finished “The Millionaire Fastlane” (Check out that review here), it was a nice break to read something that was so visually engaging.
The South Park Intro
I struggled with what to write for this review, not for lack of content, but actually because of a TV show that continually bounced around in my head. South Park. More specifically, an episode they did a few years ago called “The Simpsons Already Did It”
One of the main character’s alter ego “Professor Chaos” spends his time brewing up new nefarious schemes to take over the world. Every time he came up with something new, his assistant “General Disarray” points out that while his plans are great, they all mimic an episode of The Simpsons. Any new idea follows this same cycle. The Simpsons. Already. Did It. Does that mean that he should thwart all efforts going forward until he comes up with a unique idea?
The chef, who is often the voice of reason on the show (and also legendary singer & actor Isaac Hayes), reminds the kids that most ideas are not new. He points out that many of The Simpsons plot lines are borrowed from different places, such as the Twilight Zone for example. Ironically, the idea for this episode was based after the creators own run ins with South Park episode ideas when they were reminded “The Simpsons Already Did It.”
This episode is a pretty decent insight in to the main focus of “Steal Like An Artist.” Nothing is new. Everything is “inspired” (read stolen) from somewhere else.
Be your Own Best Remix
Think about how we are created as humans. We are a mix of DNA from our parents. Part mom, part dad. Nothing new, just bits and pieces from both. There is one major thing here that is lacking, though. Choice. We don’t chose what qualities we get from our parents. If we could many of us probably would have chosen differently. Instead we get to chose (again read steal) the things that mean the most to us. We can become our own best mix of our favorite influences.
Pablo Picasso, TS Elliot, David Bowie, insert name of your favorite artist, they’ve all stolen from somewhere.
Kleon has a great quote from novelist Jonathan Lethem “What people call Original is just not knowing the references or original sources involved”.
So the good news here is you don’t to try to invent something new, because you’re not going to. But that is OK! Every author and artist in history has stolen something from somewhere. The key is not what we steal, but how we steal it. Look at the breadth of people who inspire you, take the things you like most from each and make that who you are. This way you don’t become a direct copy, but a mashup or remix of those that came before you
Start Stealing Today
Kleon goes in to a laundry list of philosophies on getting started and things to focus on. He says if you know nothing is new, then don’t wait to get started. Start now. Write the book that you WANT to read. Find the things that excite you from the people who interest you and start sharing.
Don’t be afraid to fake it til you make it. No one ever REALLY knows what they’re doing, especially if nothing is ever new. Imposter Syndrome is a real thing and slows down a lot of academic types. Again, just start stealing and put your twist on it. Cite your sources if need be and move on.
The good thing about being new is that when you suck, no one care because there’s a good chance no one is even listening yet. ENJOY THAT! Use that time to learn about what you’re stealing and hone your craft. There will become a day when you might wish you could go back to being unknown.
With that in mind, remember that everyone sucked at somepoint. In fact, they might still suck now. Kleon goes in to some interesting points about the internet and how you need to stay humble and kind on it. It’s a big place, but can feel like a very small town after awhile. The things you say have a way of finding their way to the surface, so be kind.
On the flip side, save the kind things that people say about you. Don’t become obsessed with them, but use them as fuel for when you’re feeling down or when someone says something not so nice about you. I had a friend tell me that he liked “how genuine” I was in my writing. That could be a nice way of saying “you suck, but you suck in a way that’s really you.” But to me, it’s what I needed to hear and I really appreciated it. I have definitely looked back at that message a few times when I’m a little behind on posts.
Creativity Is Subtraction
Before I wrap up I will hit on one more topic that really stuck out to me. The last chapter is called “Creativity is Subtraction.” Kleon’s point here is that we have access to so much right at our finger tips. Anything we want to make. We can get all the parts. Over night. It’s a pretty amazing idea when you think about how much is possible with time & money. But he postulates that this does not make creativity. Creativity is working with what you have. Or even better, removing something and still making art.
“The Right Constraints can lead to your very best work.” I love this quote and the story that follows it. I won’t try to paraphrase, it’s too perfectly written:
Dr. Seuss wrote Cat In The Hat with only 236 different words, so his editor bet him that he couldn’t write a book with only 50 different words. Dr. Seuss came back and won with Green Eggs and Ham, one of the best selling children’s books of all time.
Conclusion
At the time of writing this, I’ve already read 2 of Austin Kleon’s books and I definitely plan on reading his third soon. The style of writing is a wonderful break from the norm. Kleon does a phenomenal job of keeping you both entertained & engrossed in the topics by sharing not only his thoughts, but the thoughts of others via insightful quotes throughout. There is a surprising amount of info covered in such a small, picture filled book. I have a pretty decent number of pages dog eared for future reference & some social media posts.
And as always, if you like this book or any others, please join our conversations over in the facebook group #AJsBookClub
Until Next Time!