The writer Jonathan Lethem has said that when people call something “original,” nine out of ten times they just don’t know the references or the original sources involved. What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original.

Whether or not we realize it, many of us conflate the concepts of “creativity” and “originality.” We think they’re one and the same. They’re really not. As Austin Kleon points out in Steal Like an Artist, nothing is completely original. Even the greatest artists who’ve ever lived derived some inspiration from other artists. Great authors, more often than not, have read great books. Incredible filmmakers, as you might guess, have watched a lot of terrific movies.

We emulate, borrow and — as Austin Kleon might put it — outright “steal” the work of other artists, adding our own unique touches to the work.

Dare to Be Unoriginal

If we’re free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it.

The reason why I got into blogging in the first place over 20 years ago, even though I didn’t call it blogging at the time, was because my friend Joseph Planta was doing it. I thought what he was doing was cool, so I copied him. Sort of. And it slowly (and quickly) evolved into my own thing. Beyond the Rhetoric exists due, in no small part, to the existence of The Commentary. I didn’t make something out of nothing. I embraced the influence.

Of course, we shouldn’t go around copying other people’s work and presenting it as if it were our own unique creation. That’s plagiarism and that’s bad. But, as Austin Kleon puts it in Steal Like an Artist, we shouldn’t feel bad about borrowing the bits that we like and using them as inspiration. Along with so many other YouTubers, I “stole” many ideas and techniques from Casey Neistat.

By emulating, I learned. By doing the thing, I learned. If you set out trying to do something completely unique and original right off the bat, you’ll never get anywhere. Mash up the bits of inspiration you like from everywhere you find them. Make the thing, even if your first attempt (or your 50th attempt) is trash. And then do it all over again, because you’re having fun doing it.

Creative Hobbies and Side Hustles

It’s so important to have a hobby. A hobby is something creative that’s just for you. You don’t try to make money or get famous off it, you just do it because it makes you happy. A hobby is something that gives but doesn’t take.

I feel like it’s so much harder to have a hobby these days. A real hobby, not a side hustle. Because it’s feels so easy to take almost any hobby and monetize it, we can feel like it’s a squandered opportunity if we don’t give it a shot. You take up photography and want to be an Instagram influencer. You start knitting and open up an Etsy shop.

While these are perfectly reasonable options — look at my 15-year career as a writer — there are risks involved when you turn a hobby into a business. The biggest risk is that it stops being fun. If you want a business to succeed, you have to treat it like a business. That means keeping your eyes on the bottom line.

When it’s a hobby, that doesn’t matter. With a hobby, the goal is to provide joy. It’s an opportunity to be creative, freely and without pressure.

A creative hobby is, as Austin Kleon might put it, a free pass to “steal like an artist.”

Steal Like Austin Kleon

If you enjoy Steal Like an Artist, you might like other books by Austin Kleon too. I plan on picking up Show Your Work and Keep Going soon. There’s also the Steal Like an Artist Journal, which seems pretty intriguing too. It’s basically a workbook filled with creative prompts and exercises. Are you a fan of Austin Kleon?

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