Steve Jobs famously misquoted Picasso when he said, “Good artists copy; great artists steal.”
What Picasso really said was, “Art is theft.”
T.S. Eliot said something far closer, “Immature poets imitate; mat...
Steve Jobs famously misquoted Picasso when he said, “Good artists copy; great artists steal.”
What Picasso really said was, “Art is theft.”
T.S. Eliot said something far closer, “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.”
I learned all of this from Austin Kleon, bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist, a guide I recommend to all writers seeking insights for tapping into your endless reserves of creativity and innovation.
As a noted speaker, and prolific blogger, Mr. Kleon offers timeless wisdom on the secrets of borrowing inspiration from your heroes to remix it into your own work in order to create something fresh and original.
Writers aren’t born, they are made. ~ Austin Kleon
In this installment of The Writer Files, Austin shares his method of “productive procrastination,” the difference between little writing and Big Writing, the importance of finding the right readers, and his secret of productivity.
Join me as we study the dossier of Austin Kleon, writer …
About the writer …
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m a writer who draws. I’ve written two books: Steal Like An Artist, a manifesto for creativity in the digital age, and Newspaper Blackout, a poetry collection made by redacting newspaper articles with a permanent marker.
What is your area of expertise as a writer or online publisher?
The Venn diagram of my career is pictures, words, and the web.
Where can we find your writing?
Your local bookstore, or www.austinkleon.com.
The writer’s productivity …
How much time, per day, do you spend reading or doing research?
1-3 hours.
Before you begin to write, do you have any pre-game rituals or practices?
Sadly, no. I’m sure if I did, I’d write more.
What’s your best advice for overcoming procrastination?
Practice productive procrastination — have 2 or 3 projects going at one time, so if you get sick of one, you can jump over to the other.
What time of day is most productive for your writing?
I like to write when the world is sleeping — in the morning or at night — but I have a six-month-old son that I take care of, a wife who works in the mornings, and an 8-hours-a-night sleep habit, so I’m pretty much doomed to the afternoon. As Dickens said, “I detest this mongrel time, neither day nor night.”
Do you generally adhere to a rigid or flexible writing system?
So flexible you could say it’s limp.
How many hours a day do you spend actually writing (excluding email, social media etc.)?
I sort of resent the distinction. It’s all writing. It’s all typing into boxes. The thing is, I don’t know what writing is going to really get me somewhere — I’ve typed tweets that have turned into blog posts that have turned into book chapters.
I don’t make a distinction between little writing and Big Writing. It’s all part of the same process. So, I’ll say: I spend at least 2 hours a day typing into boxes.
Do you write every day?
Larry David, after accepting the accepting the Paddy Chayefsky Award from the Writers Guild, said: “I hate writing. Nothing puts me to sleep faster than picking up a pen. I not only hate writing the shows, I hate all kinds of writing. Recommendations, thank you notes, excusing my daughter from school, condolence letters … oh, those are the worst.”
I’m with Larry: I hate writing. What I really like to do is read. Writing lets me be a professional reader, so I do as little of it as I can get away with.
(When I have a deadline, I’ll write every day.)
The writer’s creativity …
Define creativity.
Taking what’s in front of you and everybody else and making something new out of it.
Who are your favorite authors, online or off?
My favorite three authors are Midwesterners who wrote/write funny, sad books with pictures and words, together: Lynda Barry, Kurt Vonnegut, and Charles Schulz.
Can you sh
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