• ABOUT
  • BOOKS
  • SPEAKING
  • COACHING
  • MUSIC
  • PODCAST
  • STORE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • MORE
    • CREATIVITY COURSE
    • BLOG

Justin McRoberts

Justin McRoberts

  • ABOUT
  • BOOKS
  • SPEAKING
  • COACHING
  • MUSIC
  • PODCAST
  • STORE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • MORE
    • CREATIVITY COURSE
    • BLOG

BOOK REVIEW: Austin Kleon’s “Steal Like An Artist”

May 24, 2016Creativity, Good Books
BOOK REVIEW: Austin Kleon’s “Steal Like An Artist”

This is a liberating book and a joy to read. Kleon clearly loves his work. His interest and curiosity carry the book.

At the heart of “Steal Like An Artist” is the idea that “We learn by copying.” Kleon writes, “Even The Beatles started as a cover band. Paul McCartney has said, ‘I emulated Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Jerry Lew Lewis, Elvis. We all did.’” You may have read something similar about the Beatles from Malcolm Gladwell, who suggests their greatness had less to do with some innately prodigious quality and more to do with the thousands of hours they spent playing cover songs in a brothel when they got started.

A highlight of this book is that Kleon gets to something I’ve been chasing since I wrote Title Pending. About the art of copying/stealing from the artists we love and are inspired by, he writes “You don’t want to look like your heroes, you want to see like your heroes.”

Yes.
That.
Exactly.

That is where copying becomes a kind of apprenticeship. I don’t want to make Tom Petty songs because Tom Petty songs work and mine don’t. I want to learn how he does what he does so I can do what I do better.

One very practical bit of advice he offers has to do with the tools of creativity and, in particular, the limitations that come with using a computer all the time. “The computer is really good for editing your ideas,” he writes “and it’s really good for getting your ideas ready for publishing out into the world, but it’s not good for generating ideas. There are too many opportunities to hit the delete key.”

I feel that deeply. The desire to self-edit as I’m just starting to create something is a serious problem. My handwriting is horrid, but I’m beginning to wonder if I ought to start more ideas on paper.

Fun book. Insightful and helpful. Check it out.

Post navigation

Stop Signs And The Truths We Get To Tell →
← Think Long Term

Search

Twitter

Tweets by @justinmcroberts

Title Pending Series

Title Pending Posts
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 

My Books

It Is What You Make Of It


Order on
Order CMYK on Amazon           Prayer: 40 Days of Practice

Prayer

40 Days of Practice

Get more info...
Order on
Order Prayer Book       Title Pending: Things I think About When I Make Stuff

Title Pending

Things I Think About When I Make Stuff

Get more info...
Order on
Order CMYK on Amazon     CMYK: The Process of Life Together

CMYK

The Process of Life Together

Get more info...
Order on
Order CMYK on Amazon

Archive

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • September 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • June 2014

Categories

  • Advocacy
  • At Sea
  • Atheism
  • Batman
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Christianity
  • Church
  • Comic Books
  • Community
  • Compassion
  • Creativity
  • Deconstruction
  • Design
  • Discipleship
  • Doubt
  • Everything Has Changed
  • Fatherhood
  • Good Books
  • Good Music
  • It Is What You Make of It
  • Justice
  • Justice League
  • Leadership
  • Lent
  • Lenten Journey 2016
  • Making Music
  • News
  • Podcast
  • Politics
  • Prayer
  • Race
  • Reconciliation
  • Reflections
  • Reviews
  • Sacred Strides
  • Sermons
  • Songleading
  • Songwriting
  • Soul-Audio
  • Sports
  • Star Wars
  • Sunday Reflections
  • Teaching
  • Title Pending
  • Uncategorized
  • Worship
  • Young Life

© 2023 Justin McRoberts All Rights Reserved.