Don't wait until you know who you are to start making things:

Creative work builds on what came before, and thus nothing is completely original.Ģ. The author cautions that he does not mean ‘steal’ as in plagiarise, skim or rip off - but study, credit, remix, mash up and transform. Įach chapter is dedicated to one of the ten principles, which are represented by the following: Kleon reminds throughout his book that “nothing is original… all creative work builds on what came before.” This sentiment is also a foundation for effective ELA teaching: From our past experiences as readers and writers, we can design better learning conditions for our students.

Kleon responds by writing, “the reason to copy your heroes and their style is so that you might somehow get a glimpse into their minds'. The book is small, full of illustrations and several poems in the style of his newspaper cutouts by Kleon. He lists them on the back cover of the book so that they're easily referenced. Kleon describes ten basic principles to boost your creativity. The talk went viral, and Kleon dug deeper and expanded to create the book, for anyone attempting to make things - art, a career, a life - in the digital age. They were: 'Steal like an artist Don't wait until you know who you are to start making things Write the book you want to read Use your hands Side projects are important Do good work and put it where people can see it Geography is no longer our master Be nice (the world is a small town.) Be boring (it's the only way to get work done.) and, Creativity is subtraction.Īfter giving the speech, he posted the text and slides of the talk to his popular blog. Kleon was asked to address college students at Broome Community College in upstate New York in 2011, he shaped his speech around a simple list of ten things he wished someone had told him when he was starting out at their age. In his own words, 'You don’t need to be a genius, you just need to be yourself'. Kleon presents himself as a young writer and artist emphasizing that creativity is everywhere and is for everyone. The book, has since then become a New York Times Bestseller. Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative is a book on coming up with creative ideas written by Austin Kleon and published in 2012 from Workman Publishing.

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