Keep Going 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad
Reviews
Easy to read, digestible and most importantly, very inspiring. Good for the soul.
I love these books, and pick one up every time a new one comes out. Quick read, lots of pats on the back and "go get 'em, tiger!"'s to encourage people to be creative. While I enjoyed it and still read his blog every day, this is his third book in this series, and I honestly couldn't tell you how it is different from the first two.
I liked the author's earlier book, "Steal Like an Artist" so wanted to check out his other creativity books. A lot of these ideas I heard before but the author presents them in an entertaining way. I enjoyed the first half especially of this book.
An inspiring book(let?) from Kleon, "an author who draws." Here, he offers 10 tactics for cultivating a creative and motivated mindset — ways of reframing work, both creative and otherwise, and pushing ahead when the headwinds pick up. Recommended.
Inspirational book!
Super short, but had a few good points. Kleon is a good go-to when I want to feel inspired.
This book didn’t do it for me either. It’s very oriented to artists, and most things didn’t resonate with my experience. It’s very light on aspects are truly important for any creative process, but thankfully there are other books out there to deepen on those.
Mal wieder ein inspirierendes Buch von Austin Kleon. Ich bin nicht mit jeder Idee aus „Keep Going“ auf einer Wellenlänge oder finde alles revolutionär, aber das muss ich ja auch nicht sein. Die Bücher machen immer Spaß und lesen sich wie eine interessante Diskussion mit einem guten Freund. Ich liebe auch die Gestaltung: Zwischen den Kapiteln sind immer wieder Illustrationen von Austin Kleon und auch die Fotos aus seinem Journal am Ende sind immer ein kleines Highlight. Auch, wenn sich die Bücher eigentlich an kreative Köpfe richten, finde ich auch immer was, was ich für mich mitnehmen kann und beende die Bücher schlauer und inspirierter, als ich sie begonnen habe. Die ganze Rezension: https://www.jenni.works/keep-going-austin-kleon
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a nice dose of inspiration for artists. Nothing earth shattering but like a friend sitting next to you, encouraging you. Super quick read.
Another thought provoking book by Austin Kleon full of ideas and artwork on living a creative life. This time much more focused on actual artists, I still enjoyed reading it but liked the previous books “Steal like an artist“ and “Show your work“ better.
Read this one before but so much great stuff it deserved a re-reading, especially during the pandemic.
A book about hope... Hope that it's okay to have more time, be selfish, isolate yourself (not eternally that is) ... etc ... Many times I sent the writer virtual hugs for sharing his thoughts ... Thank You ! I guess that this should be your go to writer if you are interested in making art, understanding creativity (first-hand) or simply aspiring to live a fuller life. I believe that being an artist is not tied to a specific type/category of disciplines, rather it's just hitting a sort of "nirvana" as you go about doing your job, something you love to do, or simply something you do ... Because, like it or not we all at some point find the most ridicule job or that part of the job we hate so bad interesting... And that's another lesson to keeping your horizons open, and instead of rushing to qualify things take time to savour them. Anyway, was a great one, short and fun! 100000% agreed : make art in order to enhance our life quality and this world better not the reverse... من كان منكم يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فليقل خيرا أو ليصمت
One word: comforting. Light and insightful read for a creative. I especially love the part about how making art is giving gifts using our natural gifts. Interesting perspective on how artists' minds work — on how creativity is about "being" and "becoming."
I love how his trilogy follows the natural progress of a creative process. Going through the phase of generating inspiration (steal like an artist), of generating feedback to improve your work (show your work) and finally, the phase of finally letting the whole process continue throughout life, steadily. (Keep going). 'Steal like an artist' and 'keep going' were my favorite, maybe because It was just what I needed at my creative phase. You can read one that is most relevant to the stage you are at. The one where you need a little push to unstuck yourself. So easy to read and to the point and fun too! I'm certain I'd be going back to these often in my life.
Finished reading all three Kleon’s books. ‘Show Your Work’ is still my favourite, but this one is a great motivation and feel-good book - first by being relatable, then extensive. My fav chapters, actionable and eye-opening would be: #4 Make gifts, and #8 When in doubt, tidy up - not because I need more of it but I realise that I always wanted to tidy up that doesn’t necessarily work well with messy creative minds. Perhaps, it’s just my being doubtful most of the time.. and procrastinating.
I liked Austin Kleon's first two works. They were short and to the point, acting as a reminder of what, how and why we do art and creative work. I also enjoyed Keep Going, which as a procrastinator, I do struggle with the most. He's making the reader reflect on why we do what we do and what we as individual artists want to express. A cute compendium that fits on every artists shelf. The perfect SOS book to grab if you are in a slump and need a pick up. I received a copy from Netgalley and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.
Note: I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. I thought this book was great. It's a short read that offers plenty of motivation to keep working on the stuff that makes you excited, and it made me want to continue my work. As any other artist, I often feel the sense of futility with my work. A common question is, "What's the point?" Austin Kleon's book makes a resounding statement that we should care about our work, and that it is important. I really liked the brevity of the book. Too often I think we have the tendency to try and expound forever on a topic, but sometimes it's worth being brief and to the point. I highly recommend this book to any other person looking to do work that matters.
I enjoyed the previous books from Kleon so this was a no-brainer. As a dedicated follower of his blog and newsletter, I knew what to expect and I am not disappointed. This is a book with little quotes, nice insights, some counter-advice for all those online hucksters who want to make a buck out of your passion and hobby. It doesn't have to be a sidehustle! His sobering and down-to-earth stories work like peptalks for your creative mind. When you are grinding through your days like Phil Connors in Groundhog Day (it's a thing) just pick up this book and read any page. You'll feel better. This is definitely one of those books I will give away as a present.
Great stuff.
Highlights
Every day is a potential seed that we can grow into something beautiful.
You have to pay attention to the rhythms and cycles of your creative output and learn to be patient in the off- seasons. You have to give yourself time to change and observe your own patterns. “Live in each season as it passes,” wrote Henry David Thoreau, “and resign yourself to the influences of each.”
Art is not only made from things that “spark joy.” Art is also made out of what is ugly or repulsive to us. Part of the artist’s job is to help tidy up the place, to make order out of chaos, to turn trash into treasure, to show us beauty where we can’t see it.
It’s always a mistake to equate productivity and creativity.
If you’re having trouble finding people to think with, seek out the dead. They have a lot to say and they are excellent listeners.
Really great artists are able to find magic in the mundane.
“Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake.”
Let go of the thing that you’re trying to be (the noun), and focus on the actual work you need to be doing (the verb). Doing the verb will take you someplace further and far more interesting.
What your daily routine consists of is not that important. What’s important is that the routine exists. Cobble together your own routine, stick to it most days, break from it once in a while for fun, and modify it as necessary.
The creative life is not linear. It’s not a straight line from point A to point B. It’s more like a loop, or a spiral, in which you keep coming back to a new starting point after every project. No matter how successful you get, no matter what level of achievement you reach, you will never really “arrive.”
Every day is a potential seed that we can grow into something beautiful. There's no time for despair. "The thing to rejoice in is the fact that one had the good fortune to be born," said the poet Mark Strand. "The odds against being born are astronomical." None of us know how many days we'll have, so itd be a shame to waste the ones we get.
These are the people I look to for inspiration. The people who found the thing that made them feel alive and who kept themselves alive by doing it. The people who planted their seeds, tended to themselves, and grew into something lasting.
For Kent, the tree came to represent creativity itself. Like a tree, creative work has seasons. Part of the work is to know which season you're in, and act accordingly. In winter, "the tree looks dead, but we know it is beginning a very deep process, out of which will come spring and summer."
When we are glued to our screens, the world looks unreal. Terrible. Not worth spending time with. But when you get outside and you start walking, you come to your senses. Yeah, there are a few maniacs and some ugliness, but there are also people smiling, birds chirping, clouds flying overhead ... all that stuff. There's possibility. So get outside every day. Take long walks by yourself. Take walks with a friend or a loved one or a dog. Walk with a coworker on your lunch break. Always keep a notebook or camera in your pocket for when you want to stop to capture a thought or an image.
"To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does," wrote James Baldwin.
Walking is good for physical, spiritual, and mental health. "No matter what time you get out of bed, go for a walk," said director Ingmar Berman to his daughter, Linn Ullmann. "Demons hate fresh air."
LEAVE THINGS BETTER THAN YOU FOUND THEM.
WHEN IN DOUBT, TIDY UP.
It's always a mistake to equate productivity and creativity. They are not the same. In fact, they're frequently at odds with each other: You're often most creative when you’re the least productive.
Interacting with people who don't share our perspective forces us to rethink our ideas, strengthen our ideas, or trade our ideas for better ones.
Thinking requires an environment in which you can try out all sorts of ideas and not be judged for them. To change your mind, you need a good place to have some bad ideas.
You start each work not knowing exactly where you're going or where you'll end up. "Art is the highest form of hope," said painter Gerhard Richter. But hope is not about knowing how things will turn out - it is moving forward in the face of uncertainty. It's a way of dealing with uncertainty.
"Attention is the most basic form of love," wrote John Tarrant. When you pay attention to your life, it not only provides you with the material for your art, it also helps you fall in love with your life.
"Don't make stuff because you want to make money-it will never make you enough money. And don't make stuff because you want to get famous-because you will never feel famous enough. Make gifts for people-and work hard on making those gifts in the hope that those people will notice and like the gifts." -John Green