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Kindle Notes & Highlights
“Be so good they can’t ignore you.”
In order to be found, you have to be findable.
consistently posting bits and pieces of their work, their ideas, and what they’re learning online.
they’re taking advantage of the network.
“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
creativity is always, in some sense, a collaboration, the result of a mind connected to other minds.
“In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities,” said Zen monk Shunryu Suzuki. “In the expert’s mind, there are few.”
They’re just regular people who get obsessed by something and spend a ton of time thinking out loud about it.
Raw enthusiasm is contagious.
best way to flourish is to retain an amateur’s spirit and embrace uncertainty and the unknown.
The best way to get started on the path to sharing your work is to think about what you want to learn, and make a commitment to learning it in front of others.
Share what you love, and the people who love the same things will find you.
“Find your voice, shout it from the rooftops, and keep doing it until the people that are looking for you find you.”
physically and permanently.
if your work isn’t online, it doesn’t exist.
If you want people to know about what you do and the things you care about, you have to share.
they got where they were going by making do with what they were given, and having the guts to put themselves out there.
There’s “painting,” the noun, and there’s “painting,” the verb.
she can form a unique bond with her audience.
But human beings are interested in other human beings and what other human beings do.
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.
This isn’t about making art, it’s about simply keeping track of what’s going on around you.
when you’re ready to share, you’ll have a surplus of material to choose from.
Focus on days.
“If you work on something a little bit every day, you end up with something that is massive.”
Small things, over time, can get big.
Fill your website with your work and your ideas and the stuff you care about.
Stick with it, maintain it, and let it change with you over time.
“Build a good name. Keep your name clean. Don’t make compromises. Don’t worry about making a bunch of money or being successful. Be concerned with doing good work . . . and if you can build a good name, eventually that name will be its own currency.”
Whether people show up or they don’t, you’re out there, doing your thing, ready whenever they are.
“wonder chamber,”
curator,”
wanting to draw people’s attention to things that I liked, to shape things that I liked into new shapes.”
paying attention to the stuff that everyone else is ignoring, and taking inspiration from the stuff that people have tossed aside for whatever reasons.
search for inspiration in places other people aren’t willing or able to go.
have the guts to own all of it.
Don’t give in to the pressure to self-edit too much.
Don’t try to be hip or cool. Being open and honest about what you like
generosity and meticulous attribution
Don’t share things you can’t properly credit. Find the right credit, or don’t share.
bits and pieces of a multimedia narrative you’re constantly constructing.
“Once upon a time, there was _____. Every day, _____. One day, _____. Because of that, _____. Because of that, _____. Until finally, _____.”
Speak to them directly in plain language. Value their time. Be brief. Learn to speak. Learn to write. Use spell-check.
say you work a day job.
“By day I’m a web designer, and by night I write poetry.”) If you have a weird hybrid job, say something like, “I’m a writer who draws.”
Autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful.”
Have empathy for your audience. Anticipate blank stares. Be ready for more questions. Answer patiently and politely.
Keep it short and sweet.
