Why do you have to read Steal Like an Artist book summary?
Reason:
This book shares easy ways to boost your creativity and think up new stuff.
It’s full of cool stories and examples that’ll make you excited about being creative.
By learning from others and trying out different things, you’ll figure out what makes your work unique.
Benefits:
If you’re ever stuck, this book has tricks to help you get unstuck and keep creating.
You’ll learn new skills and tricks that will make your creative work even cooler.
Want to know how?
Let’s get started.
I have thoughtfully covered every chapter’s lesson.
Are you excited like me?
So, stay tuned till the end.
Favorite quote:
“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.”
Chapter 1: Steal like an artist.
“Where do you get your ideas?” is a question asked to all artists.
In response, the sincere artist says, “I steal them.”
How does the world appear to an artist?
You decide what is worth stealing first, and then you proceed to the next item.
Nothing is original
As the French writer André Gide put it, “Everything that needs to be said has already been said.
But everything had to be told again since no one was paying attention.
Climb your own family tree.
The author claims that you will choke if you attempt to swallow your discipline’s history all at once.
Consider one thought leader that you truly like, such as a writer, artist, activist, or role model. Learn everything you can about that thinker.
Next, discover every detail possible about the three individuals whom the thinker adored. As often as you can, repeat this. Climb the tree as high as you can. It’s time to plant your own branch after you’ve constructed your tree.
School yourself:
It is always your responsibility to educate yourself, whether or not you are enrolled in school.
Get ahead by digging deeper than anyone else.
Chapter 2: Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started.
You may feel afraid to begin. It makes sense. Among educated people, there’s this really real thing that’s common. The term for it is “impostor syndrome.”
Fake it until you make it.
Until you’re successful and everyone perceives you the way you want them to, pretend to be someone you’re not until you actually are.
You need to start performing the work you want to be doing and start dressing for the job you want, not the one you have.
Start copying.
“Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self.” —Yohji Yamamoto
The author claims that neither style nor voice is inbuilt. We are not fully formed when we emerge from the womb. We learn by acting out the roles of our heroes in the beginning. Copying helps us learn.
The author says that copying isn’t the same as plagiarism. Plagiarism is when you pretend someone else’s work is yours. Copying is like taking apart something to understand it better, like when a mechanic looks inside a car to see how it works.
Chapter 3: Write the book you want to read.
Write what you like:
“My interest in making music has been to create something that does not exist that I would like to listen to. I wanted to hear music that had not yet happened, by putting together things that suggested a new thing which did not yet exist.” —Brian Eno
The best advice, in the author’s opinion, is to write what you enjoy rather than what you know. Write the stories you would most like to read and the stories you enjoy the most.
This same idea should apply to both your personal and professional life: whenever you’re unsure about your next step, ask yourself, “What would make a better story?”
Reflect on the pieces you love most and the artists who inspire you. What was it they failed to notice?
What failed to produce? What could have been improved upon? What would they be producing now if they were still alive? What would they create if all of your favorite creators joined together and worked together, with you in charge?
Chapter 4: Use your hands
“We don’t know where we get our ideas from. What we do know is that we do not get them from our laptops.” —John Cleese
Step away from the screen:
Lynda Barry, a cartoonist, once said, “In the digital age, don’t forget to use your digits!” The very first digital devices are your hands. Make use of them.
The author claims that in order to feel as though we are using our bodies in addition to our minds, we must move.
Work that originates entirely in the mind is less worthy. See a master musician perform live. See a speech delivered by a famous leader. You will see my meaning.
A computer is an excellent tool for editing and preparing ideas for publication, but it is not a very good source of original ideas.
Chapter 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.” —Jessica Hische
Practice productive procrastination;
Do the dishes if you’re at a loss for ideas. Go for a very lengthy walk. Take your time focusing on a particular area of the wall. Maira Kalman, an artist, states that “the way to focus my mind is to avoid work.”
Don’t throw any of yourself away:
The author states that you shouldn’t feel pressured to choose between your two or three true passions if you have more than one. Avoid throwing it away. Maintain all of your interests throughout life.
Chapter 6: The Secret Do good work and share it with people
The author gets a lot of emails from young people asking, “How do I get discovered?”
The author understands that leaving college can feel like a big change.
In college, people pay attention to your ideas, but in the real world, not everyone cares.
This might sound tough, but it’s true. Most people are busy with their own lives. But that’s okay! It’s better to get attention when you’re doing really good work.
When you’re unknown, you have the freedom to experiment and have fun without any pressure. There’s no need to worry about managing your public image or pleasing others. It’s a time to focus on getting better at what you do.
Once people start noticing you, and especially once they start giving you money, you’ll never be able to regain that freedom.
The not-so-secret formula:
If there was a secret recipe for getting well-known, it would be to produce great work and spread the word about it.
The process is two steps. The first step, to “do good work,” is really challenging. There aren’t any quick cuts. Create something each day. Recognize that you will feel awful for a while. Make Mistakes.
Improve.
step two, “share it with people,” until about a decade ago. It was quite difficult to complete. It’s so easy now: just post your content online.
Chapter 7: Geography is no longer our master
Build your own world:
Franz Kafka wrote, “It isn’t necessary that you leave home. Sit at your desk and listen. Don’t even listen, just wait. Don’t wait, be still and alone. The whole world will offer itself to you.”
A place to work and some time to complete it, together with a little self-imposed solitude and temporary captivity, are all you need. You can occasionally find isolation and captivity in the wild if your living circumstances don’t permit that.
Leave home.
“Distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything.” —Jonah Lehrer
Your normal environment becomes too familiar to your brain. It must be uncomfortable for you. You have to live for a while in a different country with people who live differently from you. The world appears new when we travel, and when the world appears new, our brains have to work harder.
Chapter 8: Be nice (The world is a small town)
Make friends, ignore enemies.
In our highly interconnected world, the golden rule is even more valuable. A crucial lesson to take away is this: people will find out if you talk negatively about them online.
Everybody’s name is associated with a Google alert.
What’s the best way to defeat your rivals on the Internet? Ignore them. What’s the greatest approach to meeting people on the Internet?
Speak positively about them.
“There’s only one rule I know of You’ve got to be kind.” —Kurt Vonnegut
Stand next to talent.
To be active in the world of technology, you should follow the most intelligent and skilled people on the internet—those who are achieving truly fascinating things and are far more accomplished than you. Observe their actions, their conversations, and the links they are making.
Validation is for parking.
People are going to misunderstand you and your actions. They may even refer to you negatively. Thus, learn to be comfortable with being misunderstood, criticized, or ignored. The secret is to be too busy with what you’re doing to give a damn.
Chapter 9: Be boring it’s the only way to get work done.
Take care of yourself:
The truth is that creativity requires a lot of energy. If you use that energy on other things, you won’t have any left.
It’s best to assume that you’ll be alive for a while.
Keep your day job.
You can get money, a schedule to follow, and a connection to the outside world with a day job.
Working a day job exposes you to other people.
Take inspiration and ideas from them.
The worst thing about a day job, according to the author, is that it takes time away from you, but it makes up for it by providing you with a daily pattern where you may set aside specific times for your creative efforts.
Having a lot of time is not always as crucial as developing and sticking to a routine.
The solution is really simple: Figure out what time you can carve out, what time you can steal, and stick to your routine.
No one is claiming that it will be enjoyable. It often feels as though you are living two separate lives.
Chapter 10: Creativity is subtraction.
Choose what to leave out.
As stated by the writer: Those who understand what to cut out in this day of excessive information and overload will come out successful, freeing them to focus on the things that truly matter to them. The thought that the options are endless is the most paralyzing thing.
It’s quite scary to think that you can do anything.
Put some simple limitations on yourself to overcome your creativity block. Though it may sound strange, limitations promote creativity.
“Telling yourself you have all the time in the world, all the money in the world, all the colors in the palette, anything you want—that just kills creativity.” —Jack White
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