There is no shortage of people writing about how to be creative. That is one of the curses of the internet. People who devote their creative process to creating about creative processes. It’s a strange infinite loop. Medium must be 80% posts about creativity hacks that are trying to drive newsletter subscriptions.
Austin Kleon writes about creativity, but there’s something different about what he does. It feels less thirsty. It doesn’t feel like content. It doesn’t ask for anything. It doesn’t feel like writing that is desperate to be considered important.
But when I read it, I feel like I want to make stuff. It’s inspiring in the same way that seeing a great band makes me want to go home and bang on my drumkit.
This isn’t a review of his new book. I’ve only read the first 30 pages, so I can’t write about it as a complete work. But that it drove me to open a notebook to write, and then to open a blank file to write some more, speaks volumes about what he makes.