I'm enamored of a new book--a collection of pithy quotes and stories--called "Steal Like An Artist" by Austin Kleon. Clearly this guy has thought long and hard about being an artist--in his case a writer---and he serves up some interesting ideas here.
To quote from his book:
Every artists gets asked the question, "Where do you get your ideas?". The honest artists answers, "I steal them." He goes on to say "first you figure out what's worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing."
And Kleon continues:
What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original. Some people find this idea depressing but it fills me with hope. As French writer Andre Gide put it, "Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again."
I couldn't have said it better myself. Let the stealing continue....!
To quote from his book:
Every artists gets asked the question, "Where do you get your ideas?". The honest artists answers, "I steal them." He goes on to say "first you figure out what's worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing."
And Kleon continues:
What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original. Some people find this idea depressing but it fills me with hope. As French writer Andre Gide put it, "Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again."
I couldn't have said it better myself. Let the stealing continue....!
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