SHOW YOUR WORK!- is written rather I would say crafted – by a great writer AUSTIN KLEON. His first book STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST IS an international bestseller. The Steal Like An Artist was about stealing influence from others in an artistic way then, this book is about how can you influence others by letting them steal from you.
His book, SHOW YOUR WORK!, is helpful for all creative people who have no idea how can they self promote their work so that they get discovered by the right people. In his book, he says, in this internet era, you can do the right use of the internet to get discovered.
As a book lover, I am sure that, you totally understand that a book summary is not an alternative to reading a book. It is just an effort to motivate you to read the book. Get the book from amazon from the below-given link:
Content Of the book, Show Your Work:
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A GENIUS
In the book SHOW YOUR WORK, Austin Kleon says you don’t have to be a GENIUS to SHOW YOUR WORK, instead become an AMATEUR. Since an amateur is always open to learning new things, ready to explore new ideas. While being an amateur, learn new things and share what you learned and people who love the same thing will find you.
THINK PROCESS, NOT PRODUCT
Austin Kleon focuses on showing the whole creative process that is required to make a final masterpiece, let it be paintings, poetry, story or anything or any work. Take people backstage and show them the full process, in spite of the process is messy. By showing people the process, you can connect with people of the same interest in a better way. People who have the same interest love to see the process that how you are doing your art.
SHARE SOMETHING SMALL EVERYDAY
Austin Kleon mentions in his book to share something small every day. One single share does not mean any significance, but when at the end of the whole month, when you look back at what you have shared, you can see patterns in your work and have great discoveries about your work. It can also work as your latest resume of work you have done last month. Don’t worry about which platform to select to share your work, but start with which works best for you. Just chose one platform and start sharing bits and pieces of your daily work.
OPEN UP YOUR CABINET OF CURIOSITY
We are always inspired and motivated by many things that are made by others. Our liking makes us who we are. When we share what we like then people who have the same liking will connect with us. But don’t let others make you feel guilty for your liking. What you like is your own taste, and never feel guilty for your true liking.
TELL GOOD STORIES
Austin says in his book that any work doesn’t speak for itself, rather we have to say a good story for that work. Everyone like a story. People will feel good or bad about work according to the story you tell them. To understand that assume that there are 2 paintings in an exhibition in an art gallery. Both paintings are exactly the same with the same colours and same brush stock. There is not a minor change in any. Both are identical. Just that there is nothing written on both the painting like who created those and when it is created. People in art galleries become confused that who is the artist behind both paintings since they are identical and beautiful. After a while, the manager comes in and people start to ask him who made those 2 paintings. He then goes on to reveal that one is very old and made by famous artists and just next to it was made by a local student who is learning the art. Now, after this explanation people will start to love the one which is made by the famous artist, and they will start to find problems with the colour of another one that was made by a new student. So the conclusion here is, that always tell a great story about the stuff you create. They will see your work through your stories and believe in your work based on how good a story you tell them.
TEACH WHAT YOU KNOW
The best way to learn and understand better way is by teaching people what you have learned. This way you can repeat your learning and can become a master in it. To support his argument he says best restaurants always share their recipes with others, and people who are interested come along and learn. In the process, restaurants become better at their recipes. Nobody else can become the best by just knowing your recipes. You help others with your recipes and you will discover many people who want to learn your recipes.
DO NOT TURN INTO HUMAN SPAM
Autin Kleon says you can’t be spamming about your work where ever you go. If you only focus on YOU and your work then nobody is going to connect. If you want to get noticed then first you have to notice others’ work. And pay attention to them, listen to them. Don’t turn into human spam, but turn into the open node.
LEARN TO TAKE A PUNCH
As Astin Kleon says in a book, when you start sharing your work, you will come across many people. And from them some of whom will turn out to be haters for no reason. Don’t give much energy to them. Bad criticism should not be the end of your work. If you think such punches get more serious and affect your image then consider blocking the person. But don’t feed the troll. And don’t let this affect your work.
SELL OUT
Austin says, artists also need to eat and pay for the bills. If your work is not yet mature enough to sustain your bills, then find out other ways to earn like a day job, or spouse earning etc. Since this support will let your life go on with your creative work and you get time to experiment and figure out your creative work. When you see others doing great in their creative journey then don’t be jealous and celebrate their victory.
STICK AROUND
This journey is long and might be hard too. But you will get your success only if you stick around for a longer time. You can’t quit since you might not know where you get your next job. Keep doing your creative work and keep on sharing it.
As I told you earlier that a book summary is not an alternative to reading a book. It is just an effort to motivate you to read the book. I could understand and summarized only 5% to 8% of the author’s work in the book. So best is you get your copy of the book.
You can get the book SHOW YOUR WORK and STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST from the below links on amazon:
I am an avid reader, blogger, and author of the book GOAL TO SUCCESS.
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