Steal Like an Artist

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative is a book on coming up with creative ideas written by Austin Kleon and published in 2012 from Workman Publishing. The book, has since then become a New York Times Bestseller. Kleon presents himself as a young writer and artist emphasizing that creativity is everywhere and is for everyone. In his own words, "You don’t need to be a genius, you just need to be yourself". Kleon points out that no artist's work is ever completely original, and that trying to be completely original will daunt an artist and eventually smothers his creativity. He suggests artists embrace the inevitability of influence, to celebrate living outside of a vacuum, to relax, and have fun with their art. Beyond that, he also goes on to offer tips on how to stay focused, upbeat, and be receptive to incoming inspiration.

When Mr. Kleon was asked to address college students at Broome Community College in upstate New York in 2011, he shaped his speech around a simple list of ten things he wished someone had told him when he was starting out at their age. They were: 'Steal like an artist; Don't wait until you know who you are to start making things; Write the book you want to read; Use your hands; Side projects are important; Do good work and put it where people can see it; Geography is no longer our master; Be nice (the world is a small town.); Be boring (it's the only way to get work done.); and, Creativity is subtraction. After giving the speech, he posted the text and slides of the talk to his popular blog. The talk went viral, and Kleon dug deeper and expanded to create the book, for anyone attempting to make things - art, a career, a life - in the digital age.

Kleon describes ten basic principles to boost your creativity. He lists them on the back cover of the book so that they're easily referenced. The book is small, full of illustrations and several poems in the style of his newspaper cutouts by Kleon.

Kleon responds by writing, “the reason to copy your heroes and their style is so that you might somehow get a glimpse into their minds". Kleon reminds throughout his book that “nothing is original… all creative work builds on what came before.” This sentiment is also a foundation for effective ELA teaching: From our past experiences as readers and writers, we can design better learning conditions for our students.

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