Steal Like an Artist

By Austin Kleon

Nothing is original. Every “original” piece of work was inspired by the work that came before.
Stealing one person’s work is plagiarism. Stealing from all your favorite people and inspirations is creativity.
Create work that you’re interested in and want to learn about. Don’t create things just because you think other people will like it and will admire you.

Every new idea is just a mashup or a remix of one or more previous ideas.
If you copy from one author, it’s plagiarism, but if you copy from many, it’s research.
If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.

First, you figure out what’s worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing.
A good artist understands that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original.
If we’re 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 instead of running away from it.
You are a mashup of what you choose to let into your life. You are the sum of your influences.
Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by.
You have to be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper than anybody else—that’s how you’ll get ahead.
Collect books, even if you don’t plan on reading them right away. Nothing is more important than an unread library.

It’s in the act of making things and doing our work that we figure out who we are.
Fake it ‘til you make it. Pretend to be something you’re not until you are—fake it until you’re successful, until everybody sees you the way you want them to.
Dress for the job you want, not the job you have, and you have to start doing the work you want to be doing.
Nobody is born with a style or 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.
Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self.
First, you have to figure out who to copy. Second, you have to figure out what to copy.
Who to copy is easy. You copy your heroes—the people you love, the people you’re inspired by, the people you want to be.
The reason to copy your heroes and their style is so that you might somehow get a glimpse into their minds. That’s what you really want—to internalize their way of looking at the world. If you just mimic the surface of somebody’s work without understanding where they are coming from, your work will never be anything more than a knockoff.

The best advice is not to write what you know, it’s to write what you like.
Think about your favorite work and your creative heroes. What did they miss? What didn’t they make?
If all your favorite makers got together and collaborated, what would they make with you leading the crew?
Build the products you want to use—do the work you want to see done.

The computer is really good for editing your ideas, and it’s really good for getting your ideas ready for publishing out into the world, but it’s not really good for generating ideas.
Stand up while you’re working. Pin things on the walls and look for patterns. Spread things around your space and sort them through.

Take time to be bored. “When we get busy, we get stupid.” Creative people need time to just sit around and do nothing.
If you’re all out of ideas, wash the dishes. Take a really long walk. Stare at a spot on the wall for as long as you can.
Take time to mess around. Get lost. Wander. You never know where it’s going to lead you.
If you love a lot of different things, just keep spending time with them. “Let them talk to each other and something will begin to happen.”
It’s important to have hobbies. 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. A hobby is something that gives but doesn’t take.

It’s not that people are mean or cruel, they’re just busy. Don’t be offended when few people notice your work.
- This is a good thing because you want attention only after you’re doing really good work. There’s no pressure when you’re unknown.
The secret of the internet:
- Step 1: Wonder at something.
- Step 2: Invite others to wonder with you. You should wonder at the things nobody else is wondering about. The more open you are about sharing your passions, the closer people will feel to your work.
People love it when you give your secrets away, and sometimes, if you’re smart about it, they’ll reward you by buying the things you’re selling.
Think about what you have to share that could be of some value to people. Share a handy tip you’ve discovered while working. Mention a good book you’re reading, or link an interesting article you discovered.

Surround yourself with books and objects that you love. Tape things up on the wall. Create your own world.
It helps to live around interesting people, and not necessarily people who do what you do.

You’re only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with. In the digital space, that means following the best people online—the people who are way smarter and better than you.
You can’t go looking for validation from external sources. Once you put your work into the world, you have no control over the way people will react to it.
Ironically, really good work often appears to be effortless.
Instead of keeping a rejection file, keep a praise file. Use it sparingly—don’t get lost in past glory—but keep it around for when you need the lift.

Stay out of debt. 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.
Keep your day job. The truth is that even if you’re lucky enough to make a living off doing what you truly love, it will probably take you a while to get to that point. Until then, you’ll need a day job.
Establishing and keeping a routine can be even more important than having a lot of time.
The trick is to find a day job that pays decently, doesn’t make you want to vomit, and leaves you with enough energy to make things in your spare time. Good day jobs aren’t necessarily easy to find, but they’re out there.
Amassing a body of work or building a career is a lot about the slow accumulation of little bits of effort over time.

The way to get over creative block is to simply place some constraints on yourself. It seems contradictory, but when it comes to creative work, limitations mean freedom. Write a song on your lunch break. Shoot a movie with your iPhone.
The right constraints can lead to your very best work.
Creativity isn’t just the things we choose to put in, it’s the things we choose to leave out.