Editor’s Picks— Top 10: Creative Writing Is About Stealing From Others

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A simple book that explains a lot about creativity — in a way that we can easily understand.

Austin Kleon’s New York Times bestseller is a quick read: Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative. (only 127 pages)

The book is full of encouraging and practical advice for new writers interested in exploring their creative side. Austin Keon’s quirkiness and humor make it an even more pleasant experience.

Are you creative, or are you struggling to be creative? Think for five seconds.

Saul Steinberg, a Romanian American cartoonist for The New Yorker, said, “What we respond to in any work of art is the artist’s struggle against his or her limitations.”

If your struggles with creativity lead you to steal ideas like a master thief, Austin Kleon says it’s okay. Picasso once said, ‘Art is theft.’

Austin’s insights match the energy of creative people:

1. Steal Like an Artist: Austin says nobody is original. Creative work always builds on what came before it. Look at all the things as either worth stealing or not worth stealing. He guides us to steal what we think can help us in making our work better. He does not mean ‘steal’ as in imitate or rip off — he says we should study, remix, transform, but we must credit the source.
2. Don’t Wait Until You Know Who You Are to Get Started: “Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. You don’t want to look like your heroes; you want to see like your heroes. The reason to copy your heroes and their style is so that you might somehow get a glimpse into their minds. That’s what you want — to internalize their way of looking at the world. If you mimic the surface of somebody’s work without understanding where they are coming from, your work will never be anything more than a knockoff, ” he says.
3. Write the Book You Want to Read: Write the story you want to read, start the novel you want to buy, pen the screenplay you want to watch — reach excellence you savor in other people’s work.
4. Use Your Hands: “Computers have robbed us of the feeling that we’re making things,” he argues. He wants us to use a pen and a piece of paper to let us feel as we write and create our honest stories.
5. Side Projects and Hobbies Are Important: “One thing I’ve learned in my brief career: It’s the side projects that take off. By side projects, I mean the stuff that you thought was messing around. Stuff that’s just play. That’s the good stuff. That’s when the magic happens, ” he writes.
6. The Secret: Do Good Work and Share It with People: It is like making yourself accountable. When you know you have to share it with some people, you want your work to be better than yesterday.
7. Geography Is No Longer Our Master: “Distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity.” We have to move out of our comfort zone. We need to feel a little uncomfortable. We have to go to different places to see the world differently. When we travel and meet new people, the world looks like a new place. When the world looks new, our brains try harder to assimilate new visions and new perspectives.
8. Be Nice — The World Is a Small Town: He says kindness is the only rule. You have to make more friends and forgive your enemies. You have to appreciate the best work of other people. You can’t be creative without being kind.
9. Be Boring — It’s the Only Way to Get Work Done: You have to quit more entertaining mediums to start writing at an exact time — even if you don’t feel like writing. You have to have a system. Even if your routine seems dull, there is no other way to be more creative than to sit and start writing.
10. Creativity Is Subtraction: You subtract infinite possibilities from your options and work with one or two options. Austin Kleon asserts, “Nothing is more paralyzing than the idea of limitless possibilities. The best way to get over creative block is to place some constraints on yourself.”
11. He explains that you have to struggle against your constraints. For example, you tell yourself to finish your first draft in one hour or two hours. Then you try to think of your best ideas, sentences, and anecdotes in that allotted time. While you struggle to write your first draft, you’ll have more motivation to improvise and innovate in the given time. You can use any constraint you want.

You must embrace your limitations and keep moving. In the end, creativity isn’t just the things we choose to put in; it’s the things we choose to leave out. ~ Austin Kleon

Take a mental note of these ten things, and you’ll find your creativity blossoming with time.

Here is the list of our top 10 writers who are creative — with or without stealing ideas:

10. I Migrated Continents At The Height Of The Pandemic

Jaivir Hans is a curious human being and a fine writer.

I had been scheming to move way before the outbreak in Wuhan. I plotted this move in 2018. Naturally, I hadn’t the slightest of clues that I’d end up moving amid a global — and growing — catastrophe.

I’ve just moved to Vancouver, Canada, from New Delhi, India. This is the story of my travel experience, shore to shore, and what I’ve learned about the fertile power of my creative imagination.

9. How Education And Cinema Can Create A Better World

Nandita Abraham is a seeker, explorer, and learner. She is an excellent writer. Her writing style is thought-provoking, deep, and highly engaging. Do check her other work.

As a society, our collective world view is built by what we see around us. What we see and what we learn influences who we are and how we behave. I have worked for the last twenty years with young people in design and media education and see that both Cinema and Education have the power to challenge and influence social constructs and how they evolve over the years. Independent Cinema makers, the world over are taking the lead. From where does that power come?

8. Like a Cavafy Poem

Rebecca Ruth Gould is a professor of Islamic World & Comparative Literatures. She is a fine writer.

Their coming together was like a Cavafy poem. When they lay in each other’s arms, time compressed into space, and space condensed into time. Every anger, every resentment wrapped them more deeply into the folds of each other’s affections, like an old sweater that feels better on the skin than a new shirt even when its rough touch wounds. When they were together, the obstacles that stood in the way of their union suddenly lifted. The walls dividing them came tumbling down.

7. Manic Panic and Velvet Ropes

Kate Lynch is a parent of an amazing atypical kid. She is a meditation coach, inclusive yoga teacher, and author. She specializes in supporting anxious parents of atypical kids.

She is an outstanding writer. She wrote this story accepting a challenge suggested by a senior editor of Illumination. Check her fine story and check the writing challenge as well.

I was out with a new friend last night who also grew up in NYC in the seventies and eighties. We had a feeling there would be a six-degrees type connection, if we just reminisced and mined our best stories over outdoor drinks for long enough. It took us a lot of circuitous humble-bragging and memory jogging before we made the connection that we had attended the same elementary school — P.S. 41. Jackpot!

I got home and saw Tree Langdon’s challenge to write a list. Fun! My memory is patchy at best, but there are a few highlights that have stuck in my mind from an unconventional, unpredictable NYC childhood.

6. 10 Reasons Why Dogs Are Better Than Humans

Helena Pedersen is a lover of dogs and yoga. She is eternally searching for ways to expand her consciousness.

She is an exceptional writer. Her style is simple, fun, and very engaging. If you are a dog lover, here are ten more reasons to love them more.

I read a meme once that said, ‘Everyone thinks they have the best dog in the world… They are all right’. It struck me that dogs are such a blessing, everyone (well most people) think they hit the jackpot with their own dog, yet understand that everyone else feels the same way.

How fab are dogs!

I have written previously about the story of my rescue dog, Lola. I was looking at her recently and decided it’s time to celebrate my top ten reasons I love having a dog so much.

5. How a Plant Helped Me Process My Grandma’s Death

Liberty Ann is trying to answer her own questions. She is an excellent writer. Her style stirs emotion, imagination, and intelligence simultaneously.

Check how a plant helped her in processing a serious trauma. You’ll love her style. Follow her, read her and wait for her next story.

On December 14, 2020, my grandmother passed away from Covid-19. Since she lived in a different country, the rule is that all deceased affected by the virus had to be cremated. She was cremated before my grandfather — who was and still is in quarantine — had the chance to kiss her goodbye one last time.

I won’t get into any more detail about the virus and my home country’s insensitive precautions, but my grandma did have underlying health issues.

My mom broke down to her knees when she told me the news. I’ve never seen her that heartbroken and distraught in my life. I consoled her while she cried enough for the both of us.

4. The 5 Most Important Social Traits To Teach In Early Childhood And How To Teach Them

Erin King is a writer and a musician. She is an outstanding writer. If you are not already following her, it is your opportunity to keep track of her future work.

Many of her stories have reached thousands of views and earned her a reputation for writing well. Do check her other work.

Toddlers are wild. They’re in a phase of social awakening that gives us a glimpse into the evolution of human socialization.

Watching them grow into and adjust to becoming part of society is like taking a trip back in time, watching how our distant ancestors evolved.

They begin as wild infants, focussed only on themselves and their animal instincts. Desperately fighting to get their needs met, they’re expected to grow into social beings able to see past their selfishness in only a few short years.

3. If Only American Exceptionalism Were True

Marlon Weems is a storyteller. His writing style is full of suspense. I hope you’ll want to know his side of the story.

I’m always surprised by the number of people that don’t realize how much of America’s origin story is a set of mythological tales.

It may surprise you to learn just how many people believe the Founding Fathers sincerely believed all men were created equal (they did not), or that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree (he didn’t), or that Abe Lincoln was a benevolent emancipator (he was not) rather than a believer in white male supremacy less concerned with freeing enslaved Africans than maintaining the nascent Union.

2. My Sexual Assailant Comes Over For Tea Every Weekend

Zee Praise says, “Most days I can be found writing direct sales copy in bed with my new puppy. I also write about copywriting, productivity & the occasional rant or two.”

She is an excellent writer. Her writing style is honest, direct, and very engaging.

If you have time to read only one story today, read this one.

Writing this piece feels like an out of body experience. I’ve also written and re-written it about 10 times so far. I don’t think I will ever be satisfied with how this turns out. But I’m not perfect and this is the best I can do.

He was my best friend and cousin. Let’s call him Aaron.

Our parents are twins and growing up, people often remarked how the two of us were as good as twins ourselves. I can still hear my mom yelling at us after we’d successfully uprooted her precious veggies in the backyard. The smiling neighborhood shopkeeper as we ran in for our favorite popsicles in the summer heat.

1. Saying Goodbye to This Mindset is a Great Way to Begin 2021

At number one today, it is Jeanette C. Espinoza. She is a mom of 2 amazing humans, author of 3 books, speaker, and activist.

Her writing style is out of this world. She beautifully arranges her thoughts and her selection of words is exquisite.

If you are not following her already, you can follow her now. You’ll learn a lot from how she takes an idea and turns it into a captivating masterpiece of writing.

Don’t miss this one.

Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change — Wayne Dyer.

The human mind is so powerful. Whatever we tell it to believe, it will grant our wish with the ease of a benevolent genie in a bottle. We are never powerless over our thoughts and because of free-will, we can simply offer up another concept to entertain if our current mindset no longer suits our needs.

Final Thoughts

If your story was selected as one of the Top 10, please share another one of your stories in the comments with a brief introduction and a short review that can convince a reader to read your piece. (Please write the review in the third person and start it with your name.)

I must have missed something today. I cannot read every story on Illumination and Illumination-Curated. Dr. Mehmet Yildiz, the Chief Editor and Founder of Illumination and Illumination-Curated read, highlighted, and applauded every story when he started his publications. He still reads almost all of the good ones. I try — and fail daily — to read all of the masterpieces.

Dr. Mehmet Yildiz has kindly allowed our top 10 series a full shelf on the front page of Illumination-Curated and Illumination:

So, help me to find and rank the best work of the writers of Illumination and Illumination-Curated.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

To improve your chances of success as a writer, read these curation guidelines.

You can read my curated stories here.

Note: The headline is inspired by Austin Kleon's book's subtitle.