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
Key Ideas
- The-Artist-Does-Not-Control-Reception
- All-we-can-control-is-the-daily-work.
- There-is-no-one-perfect-routine
- routine-frees-you-to-focus-on-what-is-important
- 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 ]]
- dont-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
- reread-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...
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....
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...
Walk-for-wellbeing
Walking is really good for you. [[walking-can-be-meditation]], so when you walk you allow yourself to work through issues.
Ignore numbers on social media
When making art, remember [[Dont-Focus-on-Marketing]]. Social media is marketing for artists, but also [[social-media-is-a-slot-machine]] so your posts may not reach...