Lumos Notes
39
B. Steal Like An Artist
10 things nobody told you about being creative
- Nothing is original
- Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started
Nothing is original
- All creative work builds on what came before. Embrace influence and remix ideas into something uniquely yours.
- “Idea Income” - average the 5 friends or sources of inspiration around you, so surround yourself with as many ideas you can draw creativity from
- It’s not the book you start with, it’s the book that book leads you to
- Collect and organize your observations
Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started
- Start making stuff, you’re more ready than you think
- Start copying what you love
“Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy, you will find yourself.”
Yoji Yamamoto
- ::Copying is a reverse engineering process::, not about passing it off as your own work
“It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique” - Conor O’Brian
Write the book you want to read
- Do the work you want to see done
Use your hands
In the digital age don’t forget to use your digits. Your hands are the original digital devices - Linda Bering
- Find a way to involve your body when you work: don’t likit your creativity to just one tool, especially early on
- Likely why whiteboarding and getting in a room to brainstorm is a healthy start
“Once the computer is involved things are an inevitable path to being finished” - Tom Gald
- ::Analog for thinking, digital for execution::
Side projects and hobbies are important
- Take time to be bored, ::recharge::
“You can’t connect the dots looking forwards, you can only connect them looking back” - Steve Jobs
- You don’t need to cutoff a passion, keep hurting what brings you joy
- A hobby gives, doesn’t take
Do good work and share it with people
- People aren’t generally mean, they’re just busy
- Enjoy your obscurity to explore before you have a responsibility to people that are paying you attention, or just paying you
“You can put yourself online to find something to say” - Austin Kleon
Geography is no longer our master
- There’s always a community to connect with and you can make your own world until you find it
- Resetting your environment stops your brain getting too comfortable
Be nice (the world is a small town)
- Go to where you aren’t the most talented person in the room
- Write public fan letters - you shouldn’t need them to respond
- Validation is for parking - get comfortable being misunderstood
- Keep a Professional/praise file
Be boring (it’s the only way to get things done)
- Focus your energy on being creative, not other stuff
- Stick to your routine, inertia is the death of creativity because it takes a lot more energy to get back into the groove
- Keep your rhythm and habits
- Keep a log book (daily notes)
- Marry well - and not just your spouse
Creativity is subtraction
- The right constraints can lead to your best work
“It’s often what an artist chooses to leave out that makes it interesting” - Saul Steinerg