You can read Steal Like an Artist in an afternoon, and that is part of the point. Austin Kleon wrote it as ten pieces of advice he wished he had heard when he started, and it has the energy of someone talking fast because they think you are wasting time.

The idea

Nothing is completely original. All creative work builds on what came before it, so the real question is not whether you are influenced, but by whom. Choose your influences well, study them closely, and the mix becomes something only you could make. Copying is not the opposite of originality. It is how you get there.

The distinction that matters is between good theft and bad theft. Honour rather than degrade. Study rather than skim. Credit rather than plagiarise. Transform rather than imitate.

The ten things

  1. Steal like an artist.
  2. Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started.
  3. Write the book you want to read.
  4. Use your hands.
  5. Side projects and hobbies are important.
  6. The secret: do good work and share it with people.
  7. Geography is no longer our master.
  8. Be nice. The world is a small town.
  9. Be boring. It’s the only way to get work done.
  10. Creativity is subtraction.

What stayed with me

Three of these do most of the work for me.

Don’t wait until you know who you are. Many people treat finding their voice as a step you complete before beginning. Kleon has it backwards, in the best way. You find out who you are by making things, including the bad early ones.

Side projects are important. It is often the thing you do on the side, with no one watching and nothing at stake, that ends up being the real work. As someone with too many interests, I found this a relief.

Be boring. The romantic picture of the chaotic creative is mostly a myth. Keeping a routine, keeping your finances in order and looking after your health is what buys you the energy to take risks in the work itself.

Who it is for

It is best for anyone stuck at the beginning, whether they are a student, a hobbyist, or someone who has been saying “one day” for years. It is short and visual, with Kleon’s own drawings, and it reads quickly enough to reread.

If you have been making things for decades, you will not find much that is new here. You may still enjoy being reminded. Keep it somewhere you can reach it, because it works best at exactly the moment you have talked yourself out of starting.