Show Your Work! is a book by Austin Kleon. I picked it up to share with my kid, who seems to always be on the cusp of showing their work.
I left it out in the reading pile, but I think I’m the one reading it. Here are some notes.
A new way of operating
For artists, the great problem to solve is how to get oneself noticed.
– Honoré de Balzac
Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.
– John Cleese
The premise of this book is to update how artists operate based on observed wisdom. The ten points help artists incorporate this wisdom into their processes so they are always “showing their work”.
The ten points:
- You don’t have to be a genius.
- Think process, not product.
- Share something small every day.
- Open up your cabinet of curiosities.
- Tell good stories.
- Teach what you know.
- Don’t turn into human spam.
- Learn to take a punch.
- Sell out.
- Stick around.