TitleContents1. 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.
Title
10 Things Nobody Told You About BeingCreative
Contents
“Art is theft.”—Pablo Picasso
It’s one of my theories that when people giveyou advice, they’re really just talking tothemselves in the past.
当人们想给你一些建议时，他们其实是在告诉过去的自己。这个太真相了，只有经过才会有经验，才能得出一些建议。
It’s one of my theories that when people giveyou advice, they’re really just talking tothemselves in the past.
1. Steal Like an Artist.
When you look at the world this way, you stopworrying about what’s “good” and what’s“bad”—there’s only stuff worth stealing, andstuff that’s not worth stealing.
All creative work builds onwhat came before. Nothing is completelyoriginal.
现在的艺术建立在之前的艺术之上，之前的艺术是从现实生活中抽象出来的，现在的艺术一方面抽象现实，另一方面借鉴之前的艺术表达形式。
All creative work builds onwhat came before. Nothing is completelyoriginal.
As the French writer André Gideput it, “Everything that needs to be said hasalready been said. But, since no one waslistening, everything must be said again.”
我总觉得天下的道理早就被说尽了，但确实它们应当被一遍遍的继续说下去。
As the French writer André Gideput it, “Everything that needs to be said hasalready been said. But, since no one waslistening, everything must be said again.”
You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life. You are the sum of your influences. The German writer Goethe said, “We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”
You’re only going to be as good asthe stuff you surround yourself with.
Your job is to collect good ideas. The more goodideas you collect, the more you can choose fromto be influenced by.
Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.”
Once you build your tree, it’s time to start your own branch.
找到一个人然后找到影响他的三个人，再不断重复，简历自己的“艺术族谱”
Once you build your tree, it’s time to start your own branch.
2. Don’t Wait Until You Know Who You Are to Get Started.
Guess what: None of us do. Ask anybody doing truly creative work, and they’ll tell you the truth: They don’t know where the good stuff comes from. They just show up to do their thing. Every day.
Fake it ’til you make it.
I love both readings—you have to dress for the job youwant, not the job you have, and you have to startdoing the work you want to be doing.
The point is: All the world’s a stage. Creative work is akind of theater.
“Start copying what you love. Copy copy copycopy. At the end of the copy you will find your self.”—Yohji Yamamoto
First, you have to figure out who to copy. Second, youhave to figure out what to copy.
Who to copy is easy. You copy your heroes—thepeople you love, the people you’re inspired by, thepeople you want to be.
成为你想成为的人
Who to copy is easy. You copy your heroes—thepeople you love, the people you’re inspired by, thepeople you want to be.
What to copy is a little bit trickier. Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. You don’t want to look like your heroes, you want to see like your heroes.
“偷”的是你的榜样看世界的方式，而不是他看到的东西。
What to copy is a little bit trickier. Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. You don’t want to look like your heroes, you want to see like your heroes.
copy你偶像的作品是为了像他一样思考，通过他的眼睛看世界，而不是为了仅仅模仿个表皮。
The reason to copy your heroes and their style is so that you mightsomehow get a glimpse into their minds. That’s what you really want—tointernalize their way of looking at the world. If you just mimic the surface ofsomebody’s work without understanding where they are coming from,your work will never be anything more than a knockoff.
“We want you to take from us. We want you, at first, to steal from us,because you can’t steal. You will take what we give you and you willput it in your own voice and that’s how you will find your voice. Andthat’s how you begin. And then one day someone will steal fromyou.”—Francis Ford Coppola
So: Copy your heroes. Examine where you fall short. What’s in there that makes you different? That’s what you should amplify and transform into your own work.
3. Write the Book You Want to Read.
Allfiction, in fact, is fan fiction.
The best advice is not to write what you know, it’s to writewhat you like. Write the kind of story you like best—write thestory you want to read. The same principle applies to your lifeand your career: Whenever you’re at a loss for what move tomake next, just ask yourself, “What would make a betterstory?”
Think about your favorite work and your creative heroes. Whatdid they miss? What didn’t they make? What could’ve beenmade better? If they were still alive, what would they be makingtoday? If all your favorite makers got together and collaborated,what would they make with you leading the crew?Go make that stuff.
The manifesto is this: Draw the art you want to see, start thebusiness you want to run, play the music you want to hear,write the books you want to read, build the products you wantto use—do the work you want to see done.
4. Use Your Hands.
The artist StanleyDonwood, who’s made all the album artwork for the bandRadiohead, says computers are alienating because they put asheet of glass between you and whatever is happening. “Younever really get to touch anything that you’re doing unlessyou print it out,” Donwood says.
电脑就像一个玻璃罩子，very形象生动。
The artist StanleyDonwood, who’s made all the album artwork for the bandRadiohead, says computers are alienating because they put asheet of glass between you and whatever is happening. “Younever really get to touch anything that you’re doing unlessyou print it out,” Donwood says.
We need to move, to feel likewe’re making something with our bodies, not just our heads.
身心合一，身体每天不动的话，脑子也会僵化。要把身体运动和工作结合起来，那不就是只能做健身教练了？我以后要是开健身房的话就让每个教练有一点运营工作，每天坐着工作两小时-四小时比较合适，剩下的时间就一直在走动。
We need to move, to feel likewe’re making something with our bodies, not just our heads.
You need to find a way to bring your body into your work.
Ournerves aren’t a one-way street—our bodies can tell our brainsas much as our brains tell our bodies. You know that phrase,“going through the motions”? That’s what’s so great aboutcreative work: If we just start going through the motions, if westrum a guitar, or shuffle sticky notes around a conferencetable, or start kneading clay, the motion kickstarts our braininto thinking.
“I have stared long enough at the glowing flat rectangles ofcomputer screens. Let us give more time for doing things inthe real world . . . plant a plant, walk the dogs, read a realbook, go to the opera.”—Edward Tufte
The computer is really good for editing your ideas, and it’sreally good for getting your ideas ready for publishing out intothe world, but it’s not really good for generating ideas.
That’show the book was made—hands first, then computer, thenhands, then computer. A kind of analog-to-digital loop.
实体的东西还是有一些不可替代的地方
That’show the book was made—hands first, then computer, thenhands, then computer. A kind of analog-to-digital loop.
I have two desks in myoffice—one is “analog” and one is “digital.”
一张桌子是手工的，一张是电子的，有点意思！
I have two desks in myoffice—one is “analog” and one is “digital.”
Try it: If you have the space, set up twoworkstations, one analog and one digital. Foryour analog station, keep out anythingelectronic.
把一块地方划定成no electronic的，这个想法不错，比互联网安息日好一些，是“互联网禁区”！
Try it: If you have the space, set up twoworkstations, one analog and one digital. Foryour analog station, keep out anythingelectronic.
5. Side Projects and Hobbies Are Important.
By side projects I mean the stuffthat you thought was just messing around. Stuff that’s justplay. That’s actually the good stuff. That’s when the magichappens.
你认为只是“胡闹”的项目，正是“奇迹”发生的地方。
By side projects I mean the stuffthat you thought was just messing around. Stuff that’s justplay. That’s actually the good stuff. That’s when the magichappens.
Take time to be bored. One time I heard a coworker say,“When I get busy, I get stupid.”
给自己时间去无聊，当人完全的忙碌起来就会失去创造力。
Take time to be bored. One time I heard a coworker say,“When I get busy, I get stupid.”
Creativepeople need time to just sit around and do nothing.
Take time to mess around. Get lost. Wander. You never knowwhere it’s going to lead you.
If you have two or three real passions, don’t feel like you haveto pick and choose between them. Don’t discard. Keep all yourpassions in your life. This is something I learned from theplaywright Steven Tomlinson.“You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can onlyconnect them looking backwards.”—Steve Jobs
如果有好几个“passion”，那就都发展一下，不必在他们之间做选择，就像我喜欢摄影喜欢健身，没必要选择一个放弃另一个，完全可以多线程发展。
If you have two or three real passions, don’t feel like you haveto pick and choose between them. Don’t discard. Keep all yourpassions in your life. This is something I learned from theplaywright Steven Tomlinson.“You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can onlyconnect them looking backwards.”—Steve Jobs
Tomlinson suggests that if you love different things, you justkeep spending time with them. “Let them talk to each other.Something will begin to happen.”
However, they’ll all tell you the same thing: Music feeds intotheir work.
爱好、兴趣，可以激发工作的灵感。
However, they’ll all tell you the same thing: Music feeds intotheir work.
It’s so important to have a hobby. A hobby is somethingcreative that’s just for you. You don’t try to make money orget famous off it, you just do it because it makes you happy.
爱好不需要赚钱，不需要出名，仅仅是因为它能带给你快乐。
It’s so important to have a hobby. A hobby is somethingcreative that’s just for you. You don’t try to make money orget famous off it, you just do it because it makes you happy.
Oneday, you’ll look back and it will all make sense.
6. The Secret: Do Good Work and Share It with People.
Soon after, you learn that most of the world doesn’tnecessarily care about what you think. It sounds harsh, but it’strue. As the writer Steven Pressfield says, “It’s not that peopleare mean or cruel, they’re just busy.”
There’s no pressurewhen you’re unknown. You can do what you want. Experiment.Do things just for the fun of it.
没人认识你太好了，这样你就可以做任何尝试，只是为了好玩儿就可以做。
There’s no pressurewhen you’re unknown. You can do what you want. Experiment.Do things just for the fun of it.
You’ll never get that freedom back again once people startpaying you attention, and especially not once they start payingyou money.
Do good work and share it with people.
其实这就是他另一本书《show your work》的主旨了，Do然后share。
Do good work and share it with people.
Step 1: Wonder at something. Step 2: Invite others to wonderwith you.
自己好奇，然后邀请别人一起好奇。
Step 1: Wonder at something. Step 2: Invite others to wonderwith you.
The more open you are about sharingyour passions, the closer people will feel to your work.
People love it when you give yoursecrets away, and sometimes, if you’re smart about it, they’llreward you by buying the things you’re selling.
Find people on the Internet who love the same things asyou and connect with them. Share things with them.
Think about what you have toshare that could be of some value to people. Share a handy tipyou’ve discovered while working. Or a link to an interestingarticle. Mention a good book you’re reading.
“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If yourideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them downpeople’s throats.”—Howard Aiken
7. Geography Is No Longer Our Master.
Surround yourself with books andobjects that you love. Tape things up on the wall. Create yourown world.
Franz Kafka wrote, “It isn’t necessary that you leave home. Sitat your desk and listen. Don’t even listen, just wait. Don’twait, be still and alone. The whole world will offer itself toyou.” And Kafka was born a century before the Internet!
世界会提供给你，你需要的一切。这话听起来好让人安心和放松。
Franz Kafka wrote, “It isn’t necessary that you leave home. Sitat your desk and listen. Don’t even listen, just wait. Don’twait, be still and alone. The whole world will offer itself toyou.” And Kafka was born a century before the Internet!
“Distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity.When we get home, home is still the same. But something inour mind has been changed, and that changes everything.”—Jonah Lehrer
去不同地方，不要老待在家。家里一成不变，会限制我们的创造力。
“Distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity.When we get home, home is still the same. But something inour mind has been changed, and that changes everything.”—Jonah Lehrer
Your brain gets too comfortable in your everyday surroundings.You need to make it uncomfortable.
Travel makes the world look new, and when the worldlooks new, our brains work harder.
Personally, I think bad weather leads to better art. You don’twant to go outside, so you stay inside and work.
哈哈哈哈哈 因为坏境恶劣所以不想出门，所以可以专心干活哈哈哈哈
Personally, I think bad weather leads to better art. You don’twant to go outside, so you stay inside and work.
8. Be Nice. (The World Is a Small Town.)
If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in theroom, you need to find another room.
如果你是房间里最talented的人，你就需要再找一个房间了。
If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in theroom, you need to find another room.
Henry Rollins has said he is both angryand curious, and that’s what keeps him moving.
So go on, get angry. But keep your mouth shut and go do yourwork.
Try it:Instead of keeping a rejection file, keep a praise file. Use itsparingly—don’t get lost in past glory—but keep it around forwhen you need the lift.
9. Be Boring. (It’s the Only Way to Get Work Done.)
The thingis: It takes a lot of energy to be creative. You don’t have thatenergy if you waste it on other stuff.
Freedom from financial stress also means freedom inyour art.
真实
Freedom from financial stress also means freedom inyour art.
A day job puts you in the path of other human beings. Learnfrom them, steal from them.
Establishing and keeping a routine can be even more importantthan having a lot of time.
The solution is really simple: Figure out what time you can carveout, what time you can steal, and stick to your routine. Do thework every day, no matter what. No holidays, no sick days.Don’t stop.
The poet Philip Larkin said thebest thing to do is “try to be utterly schizoid about it all—using each personality as a refuge from the other.”
A calendar helps you plan work, gives you concrete goals, andkeeps you on track.
Get a calendar. Fill the boxes. Don’t break the chain.
10. Creativity Is Subtraction.
It seems contradictory, but when itcomes to creative work, limitations mean freedom.
Don’t make excuses for not working—makethings with the time, space, and materials you have, right now.
In the end, creativity isn’t just the things we choose to put in,it’s the things we choose to leave out.Choose wisely.And have fun.