Worth a Read

One of the regular features in my newsletter, The Scrap Basket, is 'Worth a Read.' Usually I share quite a variety of things I've found on the interwebs - techniques, photography, just stuff I find interesting and think you might too. Something I keep meaning to post about here and there are a couple of books I've read recently. Both by Austin Kleon, the first was a random gift from a friend, Steal Like An Artist. {Thanks Hillary!} Apparently I was the last crafty person to hear about this book as it made the rounds a while back, but I was intrigued from the get-go. First, the word 'steal' was in the title - not something I consider doing. But I really liked the subtitle: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative. Ok then.

Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered is the 2nd book, and I found it just as inspiring, if not more so. 

One of the great features of these little books is that the format keeps your attention. They are just plain fun to read. I spread it out, reading a chapter or so a day, highlighter in hand. The books are full of inspiring gems. One that stuck with me was the challenge to "do good work and share it with people." That I can do.

Another takeaway was "share something small every day", which I already try to do, whether it's on Instagram, facebook, or here on the blog. And there was a section about 'sharing your trade secrets' that I really appreciated . . . "Teaching people doesn't subtract value from what you do, it actually adds to it."

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this pair and they gave me much food for thought about my own creativity and the ways I share it. I'm thinking you might like them too.