This Book Changed My Writing
8 lessons from “Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon
I remember publishing my first piece of online writing. I can just picture it now: sat in some fancy ass, boujee café in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Reading through my work over and over, what must have been at least a million times, I felt terrified to press the dreaded submission button and release my work to the big wide world of the internet. I eventually plucked up the courage to press the submit button and my work was out there for every man and his dog to see. What if nobody likes it? What if everyone takes the p*** out of me? What if I’m just embarrassing myself? What if my friends and family disown me for being weird? I know, it sounds ridiculous, but these are some of the questions I gave myself as a newbie online writer before I took the plunge.
These thoughts and questions did start to quieten down quite slightly over the coming few months as I managed to post every Thursday about my weeks travel across Southeast Asia, but something felt a miss. I loved writing about my weeks travel, however I felt like I had a lot more to offer and write about. I’ll be honest I didn’t write about anything else because I was so scared of being judged. I was staying in my own very narrow, imaginary lane.
And then I read Show Your Work by Austin Kleon.
Everything within Show Your Work just hit home with me: It was almost like the book was literally whispering to me in my ear; and it all rung so true. I had been holding myself back from writing what I really wanted to write about because of fear.
If you feel like fear is holding you back from putting yourself out there, into the online world, I can’t reiterate how much you need to read Show Your Work. I guarantee, you won’t regret it!
So, here are 7 of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt from Show Your Work:
“Make stuff you love and talk about stuff you love and you’ll attract people who love that kind of stuff. It’s that simple.”
If you love something, talk about it. Put it out there. Don’t think that nobody will like your stuff, there are nearly 8 billion people in the world, meaning there is virtually a 100% guarantee that many people will enjoy what you have to say.
“The trouble with imaginative people is that we’re good at picturing the worst that could happen to us. Fear is often just the imagination taking a wrong turn.”
We are the masters at exaggerating and picturing the worst possible things what could happen to us. The truth is, that simply isn’t the case. The bad things we imagine will probably never even happen in the first place, or at least not turn out as badly as we have convinced ourselves anyways!
“If you want people to know about what you do and the things you care about, you have to share.”
A lot of us have ideas we think would be cool and worth sharing, but most of us never will go ahead and share these with others. If you want people to hear your voice, you have to speak up otherwise people will never know what you do.
“The people who get what they’re after are very often the ones who just stick around long enough.”
Just stick around even when it gets hard and demoralising. Keep going and keep persevering because eventually you will get your just rewards.
“When you find things you genuinely enjoy, don’t let anyone else make you feel bad about it. Don’t feel guilty about the pleasure you take in the things you enjoy. Celebrate them.”
If something brings you joy, embrace it. Don’t feel bad for genuinely enjoying something and don’t let other people make you feel guilty for doing so or lead you to start doubting yourself. You’re your own person, and that’s something to celebrate.
“The worst troll is the one that lives in your head.”
Be aware of the troll residing in your head. This nasty creature makes you needlessly and harshly criticise yourself. Realise when the troll is taking over, and when you do, give yourself a break, reset, and go again.
“The only way to find your voice is to use it.”
We all have a voice, it’s just up to us to use it. Don’t be shy because you’ll be surprised at how many people are genuinely interested in what you have to say.
“Your influences are all worth sharing because they clue people into who you are and what you do — sometimes even more than your own work.”
If someone influences you i.e., a certain author, artist, whoever it may be, share their work. Sharing other people’s work reflects who you are, what you do and the content you consume.
See you next time,
Yours Sincerely,
Tom
P.S. Thanks again Austin Kleon!
