The Bookworm: 'Steal Like an Artist'

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative, by Austin Kleon. 160 pages. Workman Publishing. 2012.

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

It’s right there in the Bible: “There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) (p. 7)

I read a book!

That’s not usually something noteworthy, but I’ve been busy with good things the last few months, and reading has taken a back seat. However, I finally got the chance to polish off Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist a few days ago.

Steal is insanely inspirational from the get-go. It is chock full of useful advice for artists of all types, and it is especially therapeutic for a writer who has suffered from writers’ block, a lack of motivation, and instantaneous editing for years (this guy). Kleon pulls from his own career as an artist and writer, and also forwards advice from a wide array of people through quotes.

Steal was lent to me by The Bag Lady to help me return to writing. I started reading it on the night of October 30 but did not pick it up again until a few weeks ago. I decided to restart it, this time taking notes.

Kleon offers simple but very useful advice for jumpstarting and maintaining one’s creativity. “Stealing” is one of them. It’s no doubt the most eye-catching, which is why it’s part of the title, but it’s not what one thinks at first. Basically, Kleon suggests you free your mind from trying to be original because it’s not possible. Inspiration and ideas are around every corner, so keep your eyes and ears open—and a notebook handy to take notes.

Speaking of notebooks, Kleon recommends having a lot of notebooks. I’m always looking for an excuse to get more notebooks. He suggests getting a daily logbook to jot down basic details about each day. I have a journal, but I don’t write in it every day, so the logbook idea is tempting (and possibly overwhelming given all the other notebooks I have).

Steal is succinct, funny, enlightening, and motivating. It will make you want to start writing right away. The advice I like the most is “Write the book you want to read.” That’s powerful! Also, “write what you like” is also amazing advice. Kleon features this mind-blowing quote from software developer Andre Torrez, which can be applied to just about anything: “Complain about the way other people make software by making software” (p. 107).

Another tip that has stuck with me is Kleon’s advice to “use your hands” and have separate analog and digital desks. He recommends writing by hand because “there are so many opportunities to hit the delete key” (p. 58). I am all too familiar with that! It has inspired me to set up my small Ikea desk and use it as an analog desk for writing by hand.

Steal is an amazing book, one that every artist needs on his/her bookshelf.