Book Notes — Steal Like an Artist
10 things nobody told you about being creative
The Book in 3 sentences 🎯
- They say you’re an average of 5 friends you spend the most time with. But in the digital era, you are an average of the content you consume. So, your job should be to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by.
- There’s nothing new under the sun. Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again. So, start copying what you love, add your element to it, and in the act of making things and doing work that you will figure out who you are.
- The best way to get approval is to not need it. Don’t make excuses for not working — make things with time, space, and materials you have, right now.
Who should read it? 📚
This book is for everyone who feels like they do not have anything to offer to the world. This book is for the one who is too worried to put out content because of the fear of getting judged. This book will motivate you to share your work and will open paths that you have never imagined. And it’s only a 2-hour read, so you have got no reason not to.
How did the book change me? 🥰
I have always had the urge to create content and share my ideas but then I feel why would people listen to me, what’s my credibility and there are so many well-known people out there. Imposter syndrome kicks in hard. But after reading this book I have realized that if I start considering myself as a part of a creative lineage, I’ll feel less alone. Well, this book has helped me to develop the courage to put out content (even if I consider it to be silly), And here I am writing on my blog again!
My top 3 quotes 💯
- It is better to take what does not belong to you than to let it lie around neglected
- The best advice is not to write what you know, it’s to write what you like. 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 backward
Summary + Notes 🖋
1. Steal like an artist
How to look at the world
Don’t obsess over discovering your true calling. Instead, master rare and valuable skills. When you look at the world this way, you stop worrying about what’s “good” and what’s “bad” — there’s only stuff worth stealing, and stuff that’s not worth stealing
Nothing is original
What is originality? Undetected plagiarism
Garbage in, garbage out
School yourself
School is one thing. Education is another. The two don’t always overlap. Whether you’re in school or not, it’s always your job to get yourself an education.
Google everything. I mean everything. Google your dreams, Google your problems. Don’t ask a question before you Google it. You’ll either find the answer or you’ll come up with a better question. Always be reading. Go to the library. There’s magic in being surrounded by books. Get lost in the stacks. Read bibliographies. It’s not the book you start with, it’s the book that book leads you to
2. Don’t wait until you know you are to get started
You’re ready. Start making stuff
Fake it till you make it
Start copying
Nobody is born with a style or a voice. We don’t come out of the womb knowing who we are. In the beginning, we learn by pretending to be our heroes. We learn by copying
Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing
Imitation is not flattery
Emulation is when imitation goes one step further, breaking through into your own thing
3. Write the Book You Want to Read
4. Use Your Hands
5. Side Projects and Hobbies are Important
The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life
Practice productive procrastination
Take time to mess around. Get lost. Wander. You never know where it’s going to lead you
Do not throw any of yourself away
A hobby is something that gives but doesn’t take
6. The Secret: Do Good Work and Share it with People
It’s not that people are mean or cruel, they’re just busy
Share your dots but do not connect them
Learn to code. Figure out how to make a website. Figure out blogging. Figure out Twitter and social media and all that other stuff. Find people on the Internet who love the same things as you and connect with them. Share things with them
It’s your finger that has to hit the publish button. You have control over what you share and how much you reveal
7. Geography is No Longer our Master
Build your own world
All you need is a little space and a little time-a place to work, and some time to do it; a little self-imposed solitude and temporary captivity
Leave Home
Distance and difference are the secret tonics of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything
8. Be Nice (The World is a Small Town)
Make friends, ignore enemies
There’s only one reason I am here: I am here to make friends
Stand next to the talent
Find the most talented person in the room, and if it’s not you, go stand next to him. Hang out with him. Try to be helpful
Validation is for parking
Once you put your work into the world, you have no control over the way people will react to it
The trick s to be too busy doing your work to care
9. Be Boring (It’s the only way to get work done)
Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work
Take care of yourself. Stay out of debt
Son, it’s not the money you make, it’s the money you hold on to.” Make yourself a budget. Live within your means. Pack your lunch. Pinch pennies. Save as much as you can. Get the education you need for as cheap as you can get it. The art of holding on to money is all about saying no to consumer culture. Saying no to takeout, $4 lattes, and that shiny new computer when the old one still works fine
Keep your day job
Freedom from financial stress also means freedom in your art
Establishing and keeping a routine can be even more important than having a lot of time. Inertia is the death of creativity. You have to stay in the groove. When you get out of the groove, you start to dread the work, because you know it’s going to suck for a while-it’s going to suck until you get back into the flow
Marry well
Who you marry is the most important decision you’ll ever make. And “marry well” doesn’t just mean your life partner -it also means who you do business with, who you befriend, who you choose to be around. Relationships are hard enough, but it takes a real champion of a person to be married to someone who’s obsessed with a creative pursuit. Lots of times you have to be a maid, a cook, a motivational speaker, a mother, and an editor-all at once.
10. Creativity is Subtraction
Choose what to leave out
In this age of information abundance and overload, those who get ahead will be the folks who figure out what to leave out, so they can concentrate on what’s really important to them. Nothing is more paralyzing than the idea of limitless possibilities
Originally published at https://www.harshdarji.com on March 21, 2021.
