Book Summary/Review: Show Your Work
Book: Show Your Work
Author: Austin Kleon
Overview:
The following is a summary and brief review of Austin Kleon's book Show Your Work with a few quotes I found impactful.
About the Author:
Book on Amazon: Show Your Work by Austin Kleon
Website: austinkleon.com
YouTube Channel: Austin Kleon - YouTube
Who I Recommend This Book For:
Artists:
Austin himself is an artist, and this book is intentionally written for his peers. We have all heard the expression “starving artist" which points to the difficulty of “making it" in the profession. Austin writes this book to help give his fellow artists a framework for increasing their chance at long-term success.
Creatives:
There are many people who would not consider themselves artists but who have an inherent desire to create. This is the camp I consider myself to be in. This book will motivate you to venture beyond your day job and not only create something but also share it.
Professionals Looking to Level Up Their Career
Even if you do not consider yourself artsy or creative, I think this book gives a ton of unique ideas for leveling up your work. Part of this is the encouragement to grow your world by sharing what you do and connecting with others who have overlapping interests.
Book Summary:
There is a lot packed into this relatively short book, so I'm going to distill it down to what I feel are the 5 main points.
#1 Creativity Is A Lifestyle
“Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.”—John Cleese
In the first few chapters, Austin expounds on this idea that creativity is not in what you create. Creativity is how you operate. Are you working alone or with others? Do you learn in secret or in front of people? Are you waiting to present a masterpiece or sharing something small every day? Austin reminds us that few people are actually geniuses. Thankfully, you don't have to be to find success as an artist or creator!
“…creativity is always, in some sense, a collaboration, the result of a mind connected to other minds.”
Even people we consider geniuses often have a network of other people giving them feedback and ideas. Most of the time, the secluded artist is the exception and not the rule. Use other people who are interested in similar things as you to amplify your creativity. Few ideas are truly original.
How might you find these people?
“Share what you love, and the people who love the same things will find you.”
Austin repeatedly encourages us to let others know what we are interested in and what we are working on. He covers this idea more in depth later in the book, but the basic concept is that the more people you reach, the more people you will find that share an interest with you.
So, what does showing your work look like?
“A daily dispatch is even better than a résumé or a portfolio, because it shows what we’re working on right now.”
Austin's main point in this section is that people should not worry so much about sharing finished work and focus more on sharing what they are working on. His justification is that your audience is likely interested in your process, and more opportunities are likely to present themselves if you are sharing more frequently.
#2 Be Curious
The next section of the book is about how to create incremental change in your work, starting with nurturing curiosity.
“When you find things you genuinely enjoy, don’t let anyone else make you feel bad about it. Don’t feel guilty about the pleasure you take in the things you enjoy. Celebrate them. When you share your taste and your influences, have the guts to own all of it.”
Having a habit of curiosity gives you the foundation to grow. It keeps new ideas flowing, and it attracts people to you that are interested in the genuine you. When you come across someone that inspires you, give them credit and point others to their work.
“It’s always good practice to give a shout- out to the people who’ve helped you stumble onto good work and also leave a bread- crumb trail that people you’re sharing with can follow back to the sources of your inspiration.”
#3 Tell and Teach
As you grow, Austin gives the advice to tell good stories and teach others what you are learning.
Think of how successful the show “How It’s Made" was. More recently, look at YouTube channels like “Smarter Every Day" hosted by Dustin Sandlin (11.4M Subs). People love this kind of content because they want to know “how the sausage got made".
“Human beings want to know where things came from, how they were made, and who made them. The stories you tell about the work you do have a huge effect on how people feel and what they understand about your work, and how people feel and what they understand about your work affects how they value it.”
Teaching others is a common piece of advice, but Austin goes a step farther by giving some helpful ideas of how to do this.
“The minute you learn something, turn around and teach it to others. Share your reading list. Point to helpful reference materials. Create some tutorials and post them online. Use pictures, words, and video. Take people step- by- step through part of your process. As blogger Kathy Sierra says, “Make people better at something they want to be better at.””
#4 Spam and Punches
The fourth idea is cautionary. There are a few pitfalls that people commonly fall into, and the first is what Austin calls “human spam". He defines this as people who are not willing to study, enjoy, or explore the work of people who are doing what they want to do. These are also, “…people who don't want to listen to your ideas; they want to tell you theirs”. Don't be human spam. If you want to be a writer, read. If you want to be a concert musician, go to concerts. If you want to be a painter, study other painters work.
The second caution is to learn how to take a punch. Most people know that attempting a profession in the arts often comes with many criticisms. Here, Austin offers the advice of: practice getting hit by putting out lots of work and letting others be critical of it. This might be an easy tip to brush off, but Austin makes a point to emphasize the devastating consequence of avoiding criticism.
“But remember what writer Colin Marshall says: “Compulsive avoidance of embarrassment is a form of suicide.” If you spend your life avoiding vulnerability, you and your work will never truly connect with other people.”
#5 The Long Game – Sell out and stick around
Lastly, Austin addresses two key topics that are often over looked. The first is that at some point or another you probably want, or need, to make some income from your work. There is expressed emphasis on the fact that asking for support, accepting a paid gig, or monetizing your work is not a bad thing. The term “sellout” has become somewhat derogatory, but people should not be afraid to get compensated for what they do. And, if you want to adhere to Austin's second tip, you will likely need to be generating some income from your work eventually.
His second tip is this: many times, the people who end up where they want are the ones who just stuck with it long enough.
“Work is never finished, only abandoned.” —Paul Valéry
There are two pieces to this. The first is purely related to time. If you have been painting for 20 years you are probably better than someone who has been painting for 2. The second piece is to keep learning new things. Once you master something, “begin again" with something new. Doing these things together will take you farther than you know if done consistently over time.
A good way to approach the idea of “sticking with it” is with this sentiment from earlier in the book:
“Building a substantial body of work takes a long time— a lifetime, really— but thankfully, you don’t need that time all in one big chunk. So forget about decades, forget about years, and forget about months. Focus on days.”
What I'm Applying To My Life:
This book tipped me over the edge and got me to take action on creating this blog! Overall, I am going to take away these three ideas in the form of actions:
Show your work by sharing what you are learning.
For me this will manifest in the form of this blog and eventually YouTube videos.
Grow your network by finding others who have an interest in the things you are working on.
This is where I will make the ask to please give me some feedback! Use my contact page to drop me a note, or find me on socials (linked below). If you have a story about your own journey, I would love to hear it!
Stick around and continue learning new things.
I know I will continue being curious, because it is in my nature, but I also want to keep creating content. Someday this might not align with my values and goals, but as long as I am taking time away from family, friends, and other work to learn new things, I want to be intentional about sharing what I learn so that it is time not wasted.
Closing Thoughts
I would highly recommend this book, especially for artists and other creative type people. It lays out a compelling argument for creativity being communal, and it offers a clear roadmap to start developing that community. It is both challenging and actionable, and I was able to take away dozens of helpful and impactful strategies to apply to my own work.
Special shoutout to Ali Abdaal for recommending this book! If you are interested in how to enhance your productivity, check out his content HERE.
If you want to read my (much shorter than this) review of Ali’s book on productivity, CLICK HERE!