Not Overthinking Austin Kleon on Writing, Creativity and The Importance of Idleness
Structure Is The Hidden Engine
- Books often succeed when they offer a tight, guiding structure that takes readers on a clear journey.
- Finding the right structure usually unlocks the rest of the project and makes execution easier.
Write In Small Chunks And Sleep On It
- Prefer smaller daily writing chunks over marathon sessions to preserve life balance and creative energy.
- Sleep on manuscripts; many morning problems resolve themselves after rest.
Keep Your Many Interests
- Keep multiple interests alive instead of specializing; let them talk to each other and create a richer life.
- Build a core (e.g., writing) and layer complementary skills to increase value and options.
This is an 'inbetweenasode' and features an interview Ali did with Austin Kleon as part of his Deep Dive series last month. Austin Kleon is the bestselling author of a trilogy of books about creativity and originality in the digital age. His three books - Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work! and Keep Going - have sold millions of copies around the world and inspired thousands of people, including myself. In their conversation they talked about Austin’s books, the value of writing daily and also the important balance between idleness and creativity.
Books Mentioned
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Documentaries Mentioned
Supermensch - The Legend of Shep Gordon
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Not Overthinking is a podcast about happiness, creativity, and the human condition. We talk about things to help us think, do, and be better. Things like social interaction, lifestyle design, mental models... Things that are hard to examine, but important to explore. And hopefully, things that make for a fun and interesting chat every week.
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Taimur is a data scientist and writer, working on his own startup Causal. He writes on his blog and as a columnist for Medium. His links: Blog, Twitter, Medium, Instagram
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