Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Steal Like An Artist

Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative
By Austin Kleon

Nothing is completely original. Every creative work has been built on what has come before. Kleon explains this statement and gives license for others to be creative -- no matter what kind of artist you are. In Steal Like An Artist, Kleon lists the 10 things you need to be creative.

Here are the ten things, although I recommend reading the book for an explanation of each:

  1. steal like an artist
  2. don't wait until you know who you are to get started
  3. write the book you want to read
  4. use your hands
  5. side projects and hobbies are important
  6. the secret: do good work and share it with people
  7. geography is no longer our master
  8. be nice (the world is a small town)
  9. be boring (it's the only way to get work done)
  10. creativity is subtraction
What did this book have to do with my faith? Actually, this book has given me the freedom to preach a better sermon. This is because I have always believed that I must write my own sermons for each week from scratch. What works better -- mainly because nothing is really new in God's creation -- is to borrow from others and create a mash-up sermon. If I borrow heavily from an individual, I need to give credit. I can more freely choose what I feel God needs for me to say if I am not limited to the "original" words from Amelia. Why should I have to re-invent the wheel every week when someone else has said it so well already? Certainly, God still has a lot to do with what I say and what I choose. And I give God credit every week. 

How creative could you be if you could steal like an artist? I highly recommend this book!

Happy creating!

Amelia

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