33 Quotes From Austin Kleon's Show Your Work That Show You The Way Into People's Hearts
Share What You Love, And The People Who Love The Same Things Will Find You.
1
(Definition of an amateur -)
- the enthusiast who pursues her work in the spirit of love, regardless of the potential for fame, money or career.
- are regular people who get obsessed by something and spend a ton of time thinking out loud about it.
2
The best way to flourish is to retain an amateur’s spirit and embrace uncertainty and the unknown.
3
Share what you love, and the people who love the same things will find you.
4
… the only way to find your voice is to use it. It’s hardwired, built into you. Talk about the things you love. Your voice will follow.
5
Reading about people who are dead now and did things with their lives make me want to get up and do something decent with mine.
6
Audience not only want to stumble across great work, but they, too, long to be creative and part of the creative process. By letting go of our egos and sharing our process, we allow for the possibility of people having an ongoing connection with us and our work, which helps us move more of our product.
7
… scoop up the scraps and the residue of your process and shape them into some interesting bit of media that you can share. You have to turn the invisible into something other people can see.
8
Forget about decades, forget about years, and forget about months. Focus on the days.
9
A daily dispatch is even better than a resume or a portfolio, because it shows what we’re working on right now.
10
A good daily dispatch is like getting all the DVD extras before a movie comes out - you get to watch deleted scenes and listen to director’s commentary while the movie is being made.
11
You find time the same place you find spare change: in the nooks and crannies.
12
The act of sharing is one of generosity - you’re putting something out there because you think it might be helpful or entertaining to someone on the other side of the screen.
13
A blog is the ideal machine for turning flow into stock: One little blog post is nothing on its own, but publish a thousand blog posts over a decade, and it turns into your life’s work.
14
A lot of the writers I know see the act of reading and the act of writing as existing on opposite ends of the same spectrum: The reading feeds the writing, which feeds the reading.
15
All it takes to uncover hidden gems is a clear eye, an open mind, and a willingness to search for inspiration in places other people aren’t willing or able to go.
16
What makes us unique is the diversity and breadth of our influences.
17
When you find things you genuinely enjoy, don’t let anyone less make you feel bad about it. Don’t feel guilty about the pleasure you take in the things you enjoy. Celebrate them.
18
How to be exceptional? The first step is to stop trying.
19
Human beings want to know where things come from, how they were made, and who made them. The stories you tell about the work you do have a huge effect on how people feel and what they understand about your work, and how people feel and what they understand about your work affects how they value it.
20
Your stories will get better the more you tell them.
21
There’s an intuition that you only gain through the repetition of practice.
22
If you want fans, you have to be a fan first. If you want to be accepted by a community, you have to first be a good citizen of that community. If you are only pointing to your own stuff online, you’re doing it wrong. You have to be a connector.
23
Stop worrying about how many people follow you online and start worrying about the quality of people who follow you.
24
If you want followers, be someone worth following.
25
Make stuff you love and talk about stuff you love and you’ll attract people who love that kind of stuff. It’s that simple.
26
Fear is often just the imagination taking a wrong turn.
27
Your work is something you do, not who you are.
28
You want feedback from people who care about you and what you do.
29
Beware of selling things that you love: When people are asked to get out their wallets, you find out how much they really value what you do.
30
If an opportunity comes along that will allow you to do more of the kind of work you want to do, say Yes. If an opportunity comes along that would mean more money, but less of the kind of work you want to do, say No.
31
You just have to be as generous as you can, but selfish enough to get your work done.
32
You can’t plan on anything; you can only go about your work.
33
The thing is, you never really start over. You don’t lose all the work that’s come before. Even if you try to toss it aside, the lessons that you’ve learned from it will seep into what you do next. So don’t think of it as starting over. Think of it as beginning again.
