Show Your Work!
10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
Ratings129
Average rating4.1
In his New York Times bestseller Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon showed readers how to unlock their creativity by “stealing” from the community of other movers and shakers. Now, in an even more forward-thinking and necessary book, he shows how to take that critical next step on a creative journey—getting known. Show Your Work! is about why generosity trumps genius. It’s about getting findable, about using the network instead of wasting time “networking.” It’s not self-promotion, it’s self-discovery—let others into your process, then let them steal from you. Filled with illustrations, quotes, stories, and examples, Show Your Work! offers ten transformative rules for being open, generous, brave, productive. In chapters such as You Don’t Have to Be a Genius; Share Something Small Every Day; and Stick Around, Kleon creates a user’s manual for embracing the communal nature of creativity— what he calls the “ecology of talent.” From broader life lessons about work (you can’t find your voice if you don’t use it) to the etiquette of sharing—and the dangers of oversharing—to the practicalities of Internet life (build a good domain name; give credit when credit is due), it’s an inspiring manifesto for succeeding as any kind of artist or entrepreneur in the digital age.
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Show Your Work is a quick and easy read that left me feeling motivated. I decided to get this book after Ali Abdaal recommended it in his video titled “How Writing Online Made me a Millionaire”, and managed to finish it all in one sitting. I'd highly recommend this for anyone who needs an extra nudge to get yourself out there!
Show Your Work is a quick and easy read that left me feeling motivated. I decided to get this book after Ali Abdaal recommended it in his video titled “How Writing Online Made me a Millionaire”, and managed to finish it all in one sitting. I'd highly recommend this for anyone who needs an extra nudge to get yourself out there!
I find myself torn about this book. On one hand, it can be truly motivational and resonates with me on a personal level in many aspects.
However, viewing it from a purely utilitarian, non-fiction perspective, it falls a bit short. It reads more like a collection of blog posts on a personal website or Medium rather than a cohesive book. Perhaps this is a reflection of the increasing quality of tech and design writers on the web, which I hope is the case.
I've noticed an overreliance on quotes and callbacks to stories from famous individuals, filling the chapters without the author providing much of his own opinion or additional insights. While some might see this as a clever approach, for me, it reinforces what I can't shake off about this book—it comes off as somewhat lazy. There's nothing particularly groundbreaking or extraordinary here. However, the writer keeps to his roots and beliefs. After all, he did write the book “Steal like an Artist”...
