10 Tips I'm Stealing About Being Creative

I follow a writer named Austin Kleon. He also draws, is a little off-beat, and I like that about him.

I think he writes things from a different perspective that makes an interesting read.

This is his list of tips about how to unleash your own creativity. You don't have to be a painter or a writer. I think this is good advice for anyone who wants to come up with new ideas. (Uh, that would be ALL of us.)

I really want to address numbers 1 and 10.

Steal Like An Artist. The idea is that pretty much all art is built on (created from) other art. We artists see things that other artists do and we take what we like and build on it. There is a saying that there is nothing new under the sun, and there is truth to that.

All artists do it, whether they admit it or not, and there's nothing wrong with it. The thing that is not cool is to copy something instead of using it to create your own "version."

This applies to any creative endeavor. My nephew's wife recently opened her own hair salon. She pretty much follows 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Her salon has been an instant success. I suspect she got a lot of ideas from different sources and it seems to be working. I think she took the best parts of those ideas and put them all together to create her own version of what a hair salon should be.

Creativity Is Subtraction. Creative results are best when the creator (artist you) bunch all your "found" ideas together and then start eliminating everything that diminishes the new idea you are trying to execute.

Often, after mulling over all the ideas, a brand new idea pops into your head. One that grew from that bunch of other ideas. These are the best.

As I first wrote, I like the way Austin thinks, so if you'd like to read more (he also comes up with some pretty great cartoons to illustrate his ideas), you can visit his website. He actually has a new book about the subject of creativity called "How To Steal Like An Artist" and naturally he wanted me to give you a link to that page.

This link will take you to his book page with the original post below it.

AUSTIN KLEON: STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST