Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered (Austin Kleon)

by Austin Kleon

Amateurs might lack formal training, but they’re all lifelong learners, and they make a point of learning in the open, so that others can learn from their failures and successes.

The expert met it so long ago he has forgotten.” Watching amateurs at work can also inspire us to attempt the work ourselves.

Share what you love, and the people who love the same things will find you.

But whatever the nature of your work, there is an art to what you do, and there are people who would be interested in that art, if only you presented it to them in the right way.

“The problem with hoarding is you end up living off your reserves. Eventually, you’ll become stale. If you give away everything you have, you are left with nothing. This forces you to look, to be aware, to replenish. . . . Somehow the more you give away, the more comes back to you.” —Paul Arden

Human beings want to know where things came 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.

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.

“The trick is not caring what EVERYBODY thinks of you and just caring about what the RIGHT people think of you.”