Show your work - A review by DJ

Recently, my dad recommended me the book "Show Your Work" by Austin Kleon. It combined a lot of infographics and quotes in the form of newspaper poetry to give many artists and creators ideas for developing ideas and sharing them with the world. As an aspiring musical artist, this book gave me a lot of useful advice when connecting with my audience.

His main ideas are encouraging people to show their work in the form of sharing their progress and ideas, stating that maybe successful artists aren't afraid of showing their step by step process. He used examples such as a very famous ribs food truck, who described the detail of his step by step process in making his famous ribs on live television. While most artists like to "gatekeep" and keep the secrets to themselves, Austin's argument was that knowing the process is one thing, but mastering it is another. 

Austin also encourages artists to have a website and a blog where they update their audience on the projects that they are working on. He states that having a blog or a website that shows years acumulation of growth and development is something that impresses companies during job applications. Similarly to his book "Steal like an Artist", Austin says that no idea is original, and it is important to credit the people you got your ideas from, providing them with links as well. Putting your own stake of ideas on the internet is one of the best things that artists can do.

If you are hoping to be an artist of any sort in the future, and influence people with your work, I highly recommend reading this book for ideas on how you can grow your influence and audience reach.

DJ