We all have the opportunity to use our voices, to have our say, but so many of us are wasting it. If you want people to know about what you do and the things you care about, you have to share.

The only way to find your voice is to use it

A good story structure is tidy, sturdy, and logical. Whether you’re telling a finished or unfinished story, always keep your audience in mind. Speak to them directly in plain language. Value their time. Be brief.

Story telling structure

Anyone who isn’t embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn’t learning enough

"Every day is an extra day"— Writer of Star Wars

A troll is a person who isn’t interested in improving your work, only provoking you with hateful, aggressive, or upsetting talk. You will gain nothing by engaging with these people. Don’t feed them, and they’ll usually go away.

Trolls

“In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind, there are few.”

No one is going to give a damn about your résumé; they want to see what you have made with your own little fingers.

Think about what you can share from your process that would inform the people you’re trying to reach.The minute you learn something, turn around and teach it to others.

Teach what you know

Don’t be afraid to charge for your work, but put a price on it that you think is fair.

Turn your work into patrons

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.

Become a better storyteller

Instead of taking a break in between projects, waiting for feedback, and worrying about what’s next, use the end of one project to light up the next one. Just do the work that’s in front of you, and when it’s finished, ask yourself what you missed, what you could’ve done better, or what you couldn’t get to, and jump right into the next project.

Momentum

If you’re only pointing to your own stuff online, you’re doing it wrong. You have to be a connector.Be thoughtful. Be considerate. Don’t turn into human spam. Be an open node.

Don't turn into a human spam

Small things, over time, can get big.Your stock is best made by collecting, organizing, and expanding upon your flow.

From flow to stock

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

Don’t waste your time reading articles about how to get more followers. Don’t talk about stuff you don’t want to talk about.If you want followers, be someone worth following. 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.

Be someone worth following

Anything you post to the Internet has now become public. Share imperfect and unfinished work that you want feedback on, but don’t share absolutely everything.“Is this helpful? Is it entertaining? Is it something I’d be comfortable with my boss or my mother seeing?”

Sharing and over- sharing

The people who get what they’re after are very often the ones who just stick around long enough.Every career is full of ups and downs

Don't quit

Put yourself, and your work, out there every day, and you’ll start meeting some amazing people.

They’re so, so important. Do what you can to nurture your relationships with these people.  Invite them to collaborate. Show them work before you show anybody else. Keep them as close as you can.

People who share your obsessions

The trouble is, we don’t always know what’s good and what sucks. That’s why it’s important to get things in front of others and see how they react.

90% of everything is crap

When you share your taste and your influences, have the guts to own all of it. Don’t give in to the pressure to self- edit too much.

Be authentic

Obituaries aren’t really about death; they’re about life.  Reading about people who are dead now and did things with their lives makes us want to get up and do something decent. Thinking about death every morning makes us want to live.

Read the obituaries every morning

“In order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen— really seen.”

Audiences 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.

Process matters

Everybody loves a good story, but good storytelling doesn’t come easy to everybody. It’s a skill that takes a lifetime to master.Your stories will get better the more you tell them.

Storytelling is a skill

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. In fact, sharing your process might actually be most valuable.

Document what you do

When you get rid of old material, you push yourself further and come up with something better. When you throw out old work, what you’re really doing is making room for new work.Have the courage to get rid of work and rethink things completely. Don’t think of it as starting over. Think of it as beginning again.

Change course and find something new

Take a lot of photographs of your work at different stages in your process. Shoot video of you working. This isn’t about making art, it’s about simply keeping track of what’s going on around you. You’ll start to see the work you’re doing more clearly and feel like you’re making progress.

Show your work

Forget about decades, forget about years, and forget about months. Focus on days.A daily dispatch is even better than a résumé or a portfolio, because it shows what we’re working on right now.

Daily dispatch

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.

Advantages of being an amateur

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked.”

We’re all terrified of being revealed as amateurs, but in fact, today it is the amateur who has the advantage over the professional.Because they have little to lose, amateurs are willing to try anything and share the results.The world is changing at such a rapid rate that it’s turning us all into amateurs.

Be an amateur

In his New York Times bestseller Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon showed readers how to unlock their creativity by “stealing” from the community of other movers and shakers. Now, in an even more forward-thinking and necessary book, he shows how to take that critical next step on a creative journey—getting known. Show Your Work! is about why generosity trumps genius. It’s about getting findable, about using the network instead of wasting time “networking.” It’s not self-promotion, it’s self-discovery—let others into your process, then let them steal from you. Filled with illustrations, quotes, stories, and examples, Show Your Work! offers ten transformative rules for being open, generous, brave, productive. In chapters such as You Don’t Have to Be a Genius; Share Something Small Every Day; and Stick Around, Kleon creates a user’s manual for embracing the communal nature of creativity— what he calls the “ecology of talent.” From broader life lessons about work (you can’t find your voice if you don’t use it) to the etiquette of sharing—and the dangers of oversharing—to the practicalities of Internet life (build a good domain name; give credit when credit is due), it’s an inspiring manifesto for succeeding as any kind of artist or entrepreneur in the digital age.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

creativity

Creativity

books

Books

In his New York Times bestseller Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon showed readers how to unlock their creativity by “stealing” from the community of other movers and shakers. Now, in an even more forward-thinking and necessary book, he shows how to take that critical next step on a creative journey—getting known. Show Your Work! is about why generosity trumps genius. It’s about getting findable, about using the network instead of wasting time “networking.” It’s not self-promotion, it’s self-discovery—let others into your process, then let them steal from you. Filled with illustrations, quotes, stories, and examples, Show Your Work! offers ten transformative rules for being open, generous, brave, productive. In chapters such as You Don’t Have to Be a Genius; Share Something Small Every Day; and Stick Around, Kleon creates a user’s manual for embracing the communal nature of creativity— what he calls the “ecology of talent.” From broader life lessons about work (you can’t find your voice if you don’t use it) to the etiquette of sharing—and the dangers of oversharing—to the practicalities of Internet life (build a good domain name; give credit when credit is due), it’s an inspiring manifesto for succeeding as any kind of artist or entrepreneur in the digital age.

I’m a writer who draws. I make art with words and books with pictures. Author of Steal Like An Artist and other bestsellers. Visit my website: http://austinkleon.com/

BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

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