Keep Going - Austin Kleon
BookNotes Author: Austin-Kleon
A short book full of wise, useful advice about how to keep a creative practise going. It pairs well with Four-Thousand-Weeks-by-Oliver-Burkeman-2021, being concerned with mortality and the choices we make. It also makes the case that the main purpose of art lies in the creation not in external judgement, that you make things to improve yourself, not to be judged. Nothing in here is revolutionary, but like Kleon’s previous book Show Your Work, I have a feeling I will return to this again and again.
Key Ideas
- The-Artist-Does-Not-Control-Reception
- All-we-can-control-is-the-daily-work.
- There-is-no-one-perfect-routine
- [[ Routine sets you free ]]
- Lists-help-to-clear-out-your-head.
- Slow-Down and seek-silence-to-connect-with-your-inherent-curiosity
- Bliss-can-be-a-space-or-a-time
- [[ Focus on the verb ]]
- [[ Don’t rush to monetise your art ]]
- [[ Ignore numbers on social media ]].
- Art-is-a-gift
- [[ Art can be found in the mundane ]]
- slow-down-to-pay-attention
- [[ Re-read old diaries to pay attention and know yourself ]].
- [[ Art thrives on uncertainty ]]
- Take-inspiration-from-old-stuff.
- Tidying-is-exploratory
- Walking-connects-you-with-the-world-as-it-is
- [[ Creativity is cyclical ]].
Notes mentioning this note
Art is a gift
You don’t create art to be successful. Instead you make art to share with others. [[Art-is-communication]] but it is also...
Walking is helpful for your mental health
Walking is movement at the pace of thinking, so when you walk you allow yourself to work through issues. It’s...
All we can control is the daily work
[[Focus-on-what-is-in-your-control]] is good advice, but is especially useful when thinking about a [[Creative-Routine]]. We should aim to [[Enjoy-the-creative-process]], not focus...
Bliss can be a space or a time
In [[Keep-Going-Austin-Kleon-2019]], Kleon argues you should [[create-a-bliss-station]]. He refers to Joseph Campbell saying bliss can be a space you enter,...
Lists help to clear out your head
[[Writing-is-a-way-of-externalising-our-thoughts]] of course. One way to get specific is to write long lists. These help you to order your thought...
There is no one perfect routine
Often we see successful people’s morning routines on social media and we strive to emulate them. Or we research our...
Take inspiration from old stuff
We all know that [[Copying-pushes-your-art-in-new-directions]] and you should [[Control-your-Input-for-Better-Output]]. But if everyone is paying attention to the new stuff the...
embrace-friction-in-your-systems
As much as we may dream that we can automate everything in our lives, you need a bit of friction....