Book Title: Steal Like an Artist

Author: Austin Kleon

Number of Pages: 160

Book Summary: 

This books talks about 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative and it emphasizes that creativity is everywhere and for everyone. The author presents ten basic principles to boost the readers’ creativity, which are listed on the back cover of the book so they can be easily referenced. The book is a guide for creative people and encourages them to learn from the work of others and remix it into their own original work. It does not mean plagiarism or copying, but rather studying, crediting, and transforming. The author gives ten principles for stealing like an artist, such as "drawing the art you want to see, starting the business you want to run, playing the music you want to hear, writing the books you want to read, building the products you want to use, do the work you want to see done."

Key Takeaways:

This book encourages readers to learn from the work of others and remix it into their own original work.  The key takeaway from the book is that nothing is original and all artists steal. By embracing your influences, you’ll become a master of your craft by learning from your heroes. The book teaches you how to “steal” from the work of your heroes, and use it to create something new and unique. It also shares tips for maximizing creativity, finding inspiration, breaking out of a creative rut, and connecting with other people doing exciting work.

My Thoughts: 

"What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original."

“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since on one was listening, everything must be said again.”

"If we are free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence of running away from it."

These three quotes in the book really speak to my soul and let me understand as a creator, you don't necessarily have to strive for originality because nothing is original. Even we think something that we create is original but in reality, it may also be an idea we saw before and subconsciously stayed in our mind which we misunderstood that 's our own idea. After accepting this concept will be a huge relief and bring more peace and fun for us to inspire from others and create our own style and perspective with the mixture of inspirations. I believe everyone has a story to tell after they are getting inspired about something with their own interpretations and it is actually fun to see different creations with various perspectives.

My Favorite Quotes: 

"Nothing is original."

"What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original."

“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since on one was listening, everything must be said again.”

"If we are free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence of running away from it."

"Every idea is just a mashup or a remix of one or more previous ideas."

"Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by."

"Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul."

"The manifesto is this: Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use, do the work you want to see done."

"You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards."

"If you love different things, you just keep spending time with them. “Let them talk to each other. Something will begin to happen."

"It’s so important to have a hobby.A hobby is something creative that’s just for you.You don’t try to make money or get famous off it, you just do it because it makes you happy."

Thanks for reading till the end and I will catch up with you soon :)

Cheers!

Rachel

Chillization