Austin Kleon’s 10 Tips to Steal Like an Artist

Austin Kleon’s 2012 bestseller Steal Like an Artist is about advice: the writing ones, the creative ones, and the stealing ones. Advice, nonetheless. In those 160-odd creative pages—with glittering sketches, bold titles, and brilliant advice—the book is a marvel one can hold onto for now, and for later. One of its first few pages read: “Art is theft”, a dreary quote from a celebrity artist who painted Guernica, Pablo Picasso.

In the later pages, Kleon admits: “This book is me talking to a previous version of myself” (p.1). But turns out you can use it, too. There are ten tips in this book. What follows in this essay is a condensed version of these ten tips.

1. Steal Like An Artist.

Why is it important to steal like an artist? To steal from an artist would invariably mean that one needs to embrace being an artist themselves. You cannot steal like an artist if you aren’t already one. If you are not one yet, pretend! (This one is my tip. But it works well with the rest of the book.)

Kleon suggests that every artist steals their ideas. There is no originality in us. And, he is right, perhaps. You would perhaps be appalled by this; fret not. Philosophically, John Locke’s tabula rasa essentially notes that the human mind is a black slate.

We become what we are due to our internalisation and socialisation of the world. But not everything may be worth stealing. As an artist, you need to be able to tell the difference between what is worth stealing and what is not.

Originality is a hoax. Kleon is right, like several others before him. A good artist already knows where his work comes from. But, as the French writer Andre Gide notes: “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again” (quoted in Kleon, p. 9).

Each new idea comes from its previous idea. And so on. Just as you are, an individual, a mix of your father and mother, and them a mix of theirs, and so on, all tracing back to someone/something that gave it a start in this world. There is an inherent influence about the things we do, without our knowledge. Collecting good ideas is an everyday act. The more you have them, the better you are. But, collecting does not mean hoarding. Beware!

You have to be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper than anybody else—that’s how you’ll get ahead. Google everything. I mean everything. Google your dreams, Google your problems. Don’t ask a question before you Google it. You’ll either find the answer or you’ll come up with a better question. (p. 19)

You may not always read in a day or two. Save them for later. Carry a notebook and a pen wherever you go. Some convenient tips. Jot down your thoughts as and when they hit you – scribble them down. And by next time, they would be off elsewhere—and you would miss out on good ideas. As youngsters we did all this: maintain a scrapbook, and apply all “did you know”-sections that appeared in children’s sections. Cut sudokus and solve them. A picture of our favourite cricketers—there you go: cut and paste.

As we grow old, our creativity wanes. But, Kleon suggests that we need to rejuvenate our creative juices.

2. Don’t Wait Until You Know Who You Are To Get Started.

We are never really sure what we really like. But, if we sit around waiting to “be creative”, we will never get there, suggests Kleon. Stealing like an artist requires you to make a move. Start. Start somewhere. You may be scared to really start, but that’s natural. You are never really sure when the good stuff begins to happen. But, all good artists, do the same things repeatedly until good stuff happens.

As the phrase goes: “Fake it ‘til you make it”—you ought to keep the pretention on. Pretend to be something, someone.

There is no original style. No one is born a writer. (Singers, I am not sure—genes may play a part.) But start copying somewhere. And you will get there. Some of my peers ask me, what makes for good writing, and I always tell them: “COPY OTHERS”. Copy how they write, speak, and paint, and you will see the change you never thought you really had.

It is what Pierre Bourdieu calls habitus—an internalised social habit. You never knew you did it until you kept doing it so much that now it is part of you without your knowledge.  But copying also has two aspects: who do you copy? and how do you do it?

Perhaps you copy your role models. But, very soon, you move from imitating your heroes to emulating them. And there is a new transformation in it. But, you don’t stop with copying them—improve them. You have to make it your own. None of us are good at copying, so by default, we produce an original copy anyway.

3. Write the Book You Want to Read.

Do not just write anything; write what you like. If you love something, you always know how to tell it. For writers, “what should I write?” can be challenging. But, write what you like. Again, the problem here could be: how do you know what you like? Kleon does not go here. But the question could be an excellent pointer to think of “starting somewhere”.

The manifesto is this: Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use—do the work you want to see done (p. 48).

4. Use Your Hands.

This advice, I truly like. “Step away from the screen”, writes Kleon (p. 53). In the digital age, the whole task of steering clear of our computer screens/or mobile phones can feel awkward. Try this. Stay away from all electronic devices for a day. You are sure to go mad. Our dependence on digital screens cannot be under-emphasized.

Kleon says: We need to move beyond the digital space and walk around and observe—feel the air, breathe, and then you will know what it is like to be creative. He adds: “Art that only comes from the head isn’t any good” (p. 55). Sitting in front of a computer and typing stuff—like right now, can get taxing. It can get counter-intuitive in the sense of sustaining your creative juices.

Kleon presents his work style, and we have one or two things to learn here:

5. Side Projects and Hobbies are Important.

Do not sit around doing what you are supposed to do all day. I think of this blogging—the act of writing stuff unrelated to my PhD as a cathartic act. I get to read something—and write. I don’t have to worry about what happened in history, which scholars spoke what, or who is an idiot to suggest this way the world works—all that. Side hustles are essential.

If you are busy all the time, you get crazy and stupid. Therefore, it is always good to keep doing different things every day. I watch many movies on Prime, Netflix, Mubi, and Flex—and that sometimes does the trick. Other times, go shopping. Cooking once in a while and or just scrolling mindlessly. All these things help.

6. The Secret: Do Good Work And With People.

There is a shortage of attention span in our generation. No one cares. And everyone wants to be seen, felt, and paid to be seen. But, the truth is, no one bothers whether you think the earth is flat or the climate change is real. Everyone is just after things.

But, there is a way: “Do good work and share it with people” (p. 79). It is a two-step process. “Do good work” and “share it with people”. Both are important. Put your stuff on the internet. If you can do these things, half your problem is solved.

Kleon’s advice is gold: “Most websites and blogs are set up to show posts in reverse-chronological order—the latest post is the first post visitors see, so you’re only as good as your last post” (p. 82). So, figure out how to make a website. Do some Twitter and Facebook. Hop onto Reddit.

Find others on the internet, and share things!

7. Geography is No Longer Our Master.

In an era of the Internet, everything, everywhere, is a space. There are no physical boundaries to whom you can share and connect with. There are no barriers. If you were a poor factory worker or a truck driver in India, you could still make videos of your daily life—and earn thousands of dollars. And many have been doing so today.

On the Internet, you live anywhere and everywhere and nowhere. Be mindful. Kleon notes: “All you need is a little space and a little time—a place to work, and some time to do it; a little self-imposed solitude and temporary captivity” (p. 92). That is all that one needs. A mobile phone can connect you to the world outside of your roof.

8. Be Nice. (The World is a Small Town.)

This one is a practical tip. Be nice. Say nice things to others. It helps them. They will always have a good opinion about you—until no more. Stay close to talented people. Surround yourself with interesting people.

Stay curious. Everyone has one or the other thing to teach us always. Be open to learning. Kleon suggests: “If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room” (p. 104). Write fan letters, Kleon suggests. I would add: write letters. Letter writing is always cute—and never lose out on it.

I find it challenging to take appreciation. But that does not mean I don’t enjoy the validation it gives. “Keep a praise file”, says Kleon, for “life is a lonely business, often filled with discouragement and rejection” (p. 113). Validation does not necessarily drive you to work, but it can always help when people have nice things to say about you.

Keep nice emails in one folder, and nasty ones—delete them immediately.

9. Be Boring. (It’s the Only Way to Get Work Done.)

Austin Kleon admits to being a boring person. A boring personality is not all that bad. Sometimes, it takes a lot to be creative. And it is just nice to stay boring. Routines are always helpful. A disciplined life feels good. Don’t really dread being boring. Apart from this, I don’t take much from this chapter. There are other tips: “Marry Well”, writes Kleon (p. 133). If it works out for you, “marry well”. Otherwise, it is still exciting to be dull.

10. Creativity is Subtraction

Creativity comes with choosing what you leave out. Not everything is worth inculcating. Not everything is worth stealing. There are things to be left alone. You cannot hold onto limitless possibilities. There may be zillions of ways of doing things, but you need to be organised. Choose wisely.

Kleon writes: “It’s often what an artist chooses to leave out that makes the art interesting” (p. 140).

What Now?