#4 Show Your Work
Show your Work
I recently finished reading (*listening to) a book called Show Your Work by Austin Kleon. The book is a self-improvement/productivity book that unlike many other in that sphere is extrememly short and to the point. It makes its claims and then leaves you to sit on them or go make it happen, rather than mindlessly droning on the same points for the entirety of 200+ pages. And the points he makes are simple, achievable shifts that follow along the theme of showing your work.
Showing your work is a simple concept. Think about any math class you’ve been in. In order to get full credit for an answer your teacher likely asked you to show your work along with the answer you arrived at. Even when your answer wasn’t correct, good professors still gave partial credit for the work you showed if you had some inkling of what you were doing.
Austin Kleon translates this concept to the real world like this:
Almost all of the people I look up to and try to steal from today, regardless of their profession, have built sharing into their routine… Instead of wasting their time “networking,” they’re taking advantage of the network. By generously sharing their ideas and their knowledge, they often gain an audience that they can then leverage when they need it—for fellowship, feedback, or patronage. I wanted to create a kind of beginner’s manual for this way of operating, so here’s what I came up with: a book for people who hate the very idea of self-promotion. An alternative, if you will, to self-promotion. I’m going to try to teach you how to think about your work as a never-ending process, how to share your process in a way that attracts people who might be interested in what you do, and how to deal with the ups and downs of putting yourself and your work out in the world.
I was initially very skeptical of this (as I am of most self-help books) but this and the other two books in his series of books he writes are standouts to me (Steal Like an Artist and Keep Going) for a few reasons. First being the conciseness of his advice. I’ve tried to read a few self-help books in the past, but consistently find that the person had a truly great idea that could’ve fit in a twitter thread instead of a 200 page book. After reading the table of contents and the first chapter I feel like I’ve heard everything the author has to say about the topic becuase they’ve already repeated themselves several times from introduction to first chapter. Show Your Work respects your intelligence and time more than most books in this genre and for that reason the information is simple to digest, remember and put into use or even discard if it doesn’t apply.
The second reason is the quality of the advice given. To quote my father, he isn’t “telling you something he heard”, he’s in the process of showing his work for advice and techniques that have improved his creative productivity and focused his craft throughout his life. Throughout the 10 chapters of the book he cites masters of a craft who echo the subject of that chapter. One of my favorites comes from the “Think Process, Not Product” chapter:
“A lot of people are so used to just seeing the outcome of work. They never see the side of the work you go through to produce the outcome.” —Michael Jackson
The concept of the process is such an abstract thing for outsiders to a craft that it often seems like by magic, natural born talent, luck some combination of them that an end result is created. Understanding the importance of sharing and especially sharing the process is and will be a huge motivation for this newsletter existing. One self-deprecating trap that he extinguishes in the first chapter is “You Don’t Have to Be a Genius”. For me, this was one of the huge hurdles to overcome. I’ve had the idea of starting this newsletter for almost a year and never wrote things out of fear that I wouldn’t have anything intelligent or interesting enough to read. By overcoming that irrational fear that I wasn’t enough to write and share my process I now have the opportunity to share my unique work.
Sharing your work can manifest itself in many different ways based on the thing you do, but I’m already experiencing how valuable it is to share my work and engage my thoughts and work in this form. In two weeks time, be looking for the first (mayhaps second if you count Project Breakdown) entry of me Showing my Work.
Find Austin’s book on Libby (if you have a library card) in audiobook and e-book form, Libro.fm (as opposed to Audible), or thriftbooks (Note: the physical book is actually quite cute and has pictures+illustrations throughout. Wish I had it! *Wink Wink*)
TL;DR The 10 ways to Share your Work:
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You Don’t Have to Be a Genius.
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Think Process, Not Product.
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Share Something Small Everyday.
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Open Up Your Cabinet of Curiosities.
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Tell Good Stories.
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Teach What You Know.
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Don’t Turn Into Human Spam.
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Learn to Take a Punch.
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Sell Out.
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Stick Around.