Austin Kleon (rhymes with neon) wrote a book called Steal Like an Artist. Number 3 on his list of 10 things he wished he had heard when he was starting out was “write the book you want to read.”

Here’s the list:

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.

 

I would also call it learning.  You learn from copying others. You pick up habits. You listen to advice. You read. Eventually you make it your own.

Kleon mentions the difference between good theft and bad theft.

Good theft:  honor, study, steal from many, credit, transform, remix.

Bad theft: degrade, skim, steal from one, plagiarize, imitate, rip off.

Who is Austin Kleon? His website says he’s a writer and artist living in Austin, Texas. He’s a writer who draws.   austinkleon.com

This reminds me of another book by Glyn Dewis:  Photograph Like a Thief, using imitation and inspiration to create great images. His guest article appeared in Scott Kelby’s blog on August 31, 2016.

scottkelby.com/guest-blog-wednesday-featuring-glyn-dewis/

Both authors provided inspiration for me to start this blog.

I’m not much of a writer. I could never keep up with a blog. I’ve always wanted to create notes for myself about different things that I’ve read online.  I’ve made web pages in the past, but this blog will allow me to categorize and organize my notes. It’s the start of something I may want to read again.