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Notion Tem… / ... / Show Your W…

Show Your Work!

Author Austin Kleon

Fiction? Non-Fiction

Genres Business Life Advice Creativity

Rating Lifechanging

Date Finish… January 5, 2016

Notes Status Ready for Publication

The Book in 3 Sentences

1. Share your thoughts and your process and your work, online, for free.
2. You don’t need to be an expert to share your work - beginners can easily help o
beginners.
3. By sharing your work online, you’ll attract an audience of people who care abou
stuff you do - this can change your life.

Impressions
This is one of the three books that most changed my life (the others being
No access ).
It completely changed the way I thought about sharing stuff online, and encouraged
my blog in January 2016.

Who Should Read It?

I think this should be required reading for everyone in the world. If you’ve got an inte
creativity (of any sort) or entrepreneurship or business (of any sort), you should sto
and just read the book.
Even if you don’t have the slightest interest in creativity, entrepreneurship or putting
there in any capacity whatsoever, you should still read this because it’ll open up neu
and possibilities that you never knew existed.
It also takes less than 30 minutes to read, so you’ve got no reason not to.

How the Book Changed Me

How my life / behaviour / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading

• It made me more comfortable with sharing my thoughts and my work online

• It made me generally more comfortable with putting myself 'out there'

• It made me start my blog

• Starting the blog was the first step to starting my YouTube channel a year later, a
YouTube channel changed my life

My Top 3 Quotes
• Amateurs know that contributing something is better than contributing nothing

• Carving out a space for yourself online, somewhere where you can express your
share your work, is still one of the best possible investments you can make with
 • The minute you learn something, turn around and teach it to others. Share your
Point to helpful reference materials. Create some tutorials and post them online.
pictures, words, and video. Take people step-by-step through part of your proce
blogger Kathy Sierra says, “make people better at something they want to be be

Summary + Notes

A new way of operating

The world has changed. It’s no longer enough to just make stuff and hope that peop
have to be findable.
Think of your work as a never-ending process. You can share your process in a way
others.

Imagine if your next boss didn’t have to read your résumé because he already rea
blog. Imagine being a student and getting your first gig based on a school project
posted online. Imagine losing your job but having a social network of people fami
your work and ready to help you find a new one. Imagine turning a side project or
into your profession because you had a following that could support you.

Or imagine something simpler and just as satisfying: spending the majority of you
energy, and attention practicing a craft, learning a trade, or running a business, w
allowing for the possibility that your work might attract a group of people who sha
interests.

All you have to do is show your work.

1. You don’t have to be a genius

Find a Scenius - We need to move away from the lone genius myth of creativity.
“Scenius” is a healthier way to think about creativity - “a whole scene of people sup
other, looking at each other’s work, copying from each other, stealing ideas, and con
ideas”.
Anyone can contribute to the scenius. You don’t have to be an expert.
Be an Amateur - Sometimes, amateurs have more to teach us than experts. An ama
understands the beginners mind. The expert doesn’t.
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 Find something you want to learn. And learn it in front of others. Share your process
successes, and more importantly, your failures. Help others who want to be on the s

2. Think process, not product

Take people behind the scenes - The finished product model of creativity is a relic
digital era. Where the only way artists could find an audience for their work was to s
finished product in all its glory. The internet has changed this. People really do want
the sausage gets made. Audiences want to see the person behind the product.
Become a documentarian of what you do - As Gary Vaynerchuk says, “document,
Share screenshots as you’re going along. Take photos of your process. Write down
in a notebook. Whether you share it or not, documenting your process has its own re

3. Share something small everyday

Sharing vs Oversharing - Share stuff that might be helpful or interesting or entertai
someone on the other side of the screen.
I think of it as “Will this potentially help at least one person in the world? If so, I shou
Get your own domain name - You need a personal website. Yes, even you reading t
might not have anything to write yet. But trust me (and Austin) - you need a persona
find a domain name, preferably www.[yourname].com, but if that’s not available, use
extension (eg: .co.uk, .com.pk, .io, .me etc, there are hundreds of them). Figure out
a blog on it (eg: Wordpress or Ghost, I prefer Ghost personally). Yes if you’ve never
before it’ll take some time and you’ll have to do some Googling. But it’ll be one of th
investments you ever make with your time.

4. Open up your cabinet of curiosities

Share other people’s work - We all like different things. If you can share the stuff yo
can curate it for others, good things will happen.
Credit is always due - Obviously, if you’re sharing other people’s work, you want to
Attribution = providing context for what you’re sharing. It’s about putting little muse
next to the stuff you share. Preferably attribute with a link. Eg: thanks Austin Kleon
book.

5. Tell good stories

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 People want to read (and hear) good stories. You’ll become more effective at sharin
and your work if you can tell a good story.

Talk about yourself at parties - It’s okay to talk about yourself if people ask. Don’t t
an interrogation. Think of it as a chance to connect with someone who might be inte
your work.

6. Teach what you know

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 The impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is d
Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open yo
and find ashes. -Annie Dillard

Teaching people doesn’t take away from what you do, it adds to it. When you teach
how to do your work, you’re actually generating more interest in your work. People w
to it because you’re teaching them what you know.
When you teach and share your work with others, you’ll get an education in return. P
see your stuff, connect with it, and reach out to you with recommendations and thei
thoughts. This is magic.

7. Don’t turn into human spam

If you want fans, you have to be a fan first. If you want to be accepted by a comm
have to first be a good citizen of that community. If you’re only pointing to your ow
online, you’re doing it wrong. You have to be a connector. The writer Blake Butler
being an open node. If you want to get, you have to give. If you want to be noticed
to notice. Shut up and listen once in a while. Be thoughtful. Be considerate. Don’t
human spam. Be an open node.

You want hearts, not eyeballs - Stop caring about how many people read your stuf
many people follow you online.
The vampire test - “Whatever excites you, go do it. Whatever drains you, stop doin
Sivers
Meet people IRL - Make online friends, and then meet them in real life. Meet-ups ar
know someone online and you’re in the same town, grab a coffee with them. When y
travelling, let your online friends know you’re going to be around.

Meeting people online is awesome, but turning them into IRL friends is even bette

In fact, as I write this in a coffee shop in central Cambridge, I’m sitting with a guy ca
He’s a doctor with an interest in medical education, and he found my work online. H
saying he was in Cambridge and wanted to grab lunch. We’ve been hanging out for
hours - first we grabbed lunch at a burger place, and then we came over to this coff
writing this book summary. He’s sitting opposite me reading a book that I recommen
Third Door by Alex Banayan). We’re IRL friends now :)

8. Learn to take a punch

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 When you put stuff out there, you’re going to get a bit of criticism. This is natural. Le
Don’t let the fear of haters stop you from putting yourself out there. They’re a tiny m
they have no real power over you.

Compulsive avoidance of embarrassment is a form of suicide. - Colin Marshall.

Don’t spend your life avoiding vulnerability. If you do, you and your work will never tr
with people.

9. Sell out
We need to get over our “starving artist” romanticism. There’s nothing wrong or evil
money. Charging money for stuff doesn’t hamper your creativity.

Michaelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling because the pop commissioned

But at the same time, be careful about selling the work you love.

Beware of selling the things that you love: When people are asked to get out their
you find out how much they really value what you do. My friend John T. Unger tel
terrific story from his days as a street poet. He would do a poetry reading and aft
some guy would come up to him and say, “Your poem changed my life, man!” And
would say, “Oh, thanks. Want to buy a book? It’s five dollars.” And the guy would t
book, hand it back to John, and say, “Nah, that’s okay.” To which John would resp
“Geez, how much is your life worth?”

Keep a mailing list - Even if you don’t have anything to sell right now, keep a mailing
are people who run multimillion dollar businesses off their mailing lists. The model is
away free great free stuff on your website. Collect the emails of people who enjoy re
When you have something remarkable to sell or share, send them an email letting th
Pay it forward - When you have success, help people who reach out to you. Help pe
helped you get where you are.
Caveat - Don’t sacrifice your art or your work for the sake of answering emails. Be a
as you can, but selfish enough to get your work done.

10. Stick around

Don’t quit - Keep doing your work, and keep sharing.
Take sabbaticals.
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 Don’t be afraid to change things up. It’s not really starting over. You’re still keeping e
you learned before. You’re just starting from chapter one again.
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