The Creative Struggle
- Austin Kleon discusses the challenge of creative work amid a distracting world.
- He emphasizes the constant need to balance connection and disconnection for sustained creativity.
Authenticity over Attention
- Resist the urge to chase shallow trends for attention.
- Focus on creating authentic work that resonates with a niche audience.
The Human Element
- People crave human connection, especially in a digital age.
- Personal websites and newsletters offer this connection, unlike algorithmic social media.
Austin Kleon (@austinkleon) woke up one day and realized two things: The world seemed to be filled with more and more anger and distraction every day, and – to make matters worse – consistently doing creative work wasn’t getting any easier.
Austin had already written three New York Times bestselling illustrated books. Millions have already learned to Steal Like an Artist – the title of his first book – and they’d learned to put their work out there with Show Your Work.
Austin wasn’t sure how much more he had in him. That inspired him to write his new book, Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad.
In this conversation, you’ll learn:
- Why making something for yourself is technically making something for someone else. Learn about the many different ways that focusing on your own creative expression can reach others.
- How can you be a valuable asset to the creators you admire? Austin shares a specific story that shows you why you have more to offer than you might think.
- What one thing can you do in the morning – or rather, not do – to do your best work yet?
- Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon
- Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon
- Austin Kleon
- Austin Kleon Newsletter
- A/B Testing
- The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter by David Sax
- Leave A Message
- Studs Terkel Radio Archive
- Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do by Studs Terkel
- Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry
- Honoré de Balzac
- Seth Godin
- This is marketing by Seth Godin
- Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
- Stephen King
- The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
- The Complete Tales of Winnie-The-Pooh by A. A. Milne
- Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
- Newspaper Blackout by Austin Kleon
- Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon
- Lynda Barry
- Dan Chaon
- Saturday Night Live Five-Timers Club
- Role Models by John Waters
- Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book by Walker Percy
- Walker Percy’s problems of reentry
- Frankenstein
- Ryan Holiday
- Morning Pages
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Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.
Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/austin-kleon-podcast/