Show Your Work! - Summary
Chapter 1 - You don't have to be a genius
Find a "scenius" → a scene of people supporting each other's endeavors by looking at them, contributing, etc. The internet is a great place for this since there are a lot of different groups out there... Online everyone can contribute equally.
Be an amateur → they are not afraid of making mistakes... They know that contributing something is better than nothing, so they at least try and learn from those "mistakes". Also, they offer different perspectives...
→ Find a scenius, and then start taking notes of what they're not sharing. Look for voids and share what you love. :)
You can't find your voice if you don't use it → Find your personal way of sharing your work online.
Read obituaries → "Reading about people who are dead now and did things with their lives makes me want to get up and do something decent with mine. Thinking about death every morning makes me want to live" Have the guts to then actually do what you want. Follow their example.
Chapter 2 - Think process not product
Take people behind the scenes → Not the final product really matters, but rather the creation process. Find a way to make your process visible to others and show that. That forms a bond with the audience. "People want to see how the sausage gets made.". Let go of your ego in that regard.
Become a documentarian of what you do → Document everything that you do. Not just the exceptional stuff, but also day-to-day things. But present that in the right way. Most valuable if it is difficult to share. TURN THOSE SCRAPS INTO MEDIA. "Nobody is going to give a damn about your resumée: they want to see what you've made with your own little fingers." Start a work journal, write down your thoughts somewhere, and keep a scrapbook for random scraps, that come to your mind. Take pictures of what you are working on, and take videos. "This isn't about making art, it's about simply keeping track of what's going around you." Take advantage of all of the tools around... Benefits: you see your work more clearly and feel like making progress. And when you share your final thing → You have more material to choose from.
Send out a daily dispatch → Overnight success is a myth, you rather hear those stories where the person has been working for a long time... "Once a day, after you've done your day's work, go back to your documentation and find one little piece of your process that you can share", which depends on your project stage. When you have lots of projects you can tell a lot of stories and report their status. Daily dispatch is better than a resumée/portfolio because it shows what you are working on right now... The form of this dispatch doesn't matter... Can be a blog, social media, pictures, or videos, doesn't matter. Don't worry about it being perfect, by Sturgeon's law and sheer volume you'll get something interesting out eventually... And look for time to do this, you have it, make time for it. And don't let that take precedence over actually working. If you have a hard time with that... Set a timer for 30 mins.
The "so what?" test → "The Internet is a copy machine.", ideally you want the work to be copied and spread... Post as though everyone who can read it has the power to fire you... Be open. Share imperfect and unfinished work that you want feedback on... Ask yourself "so what?" ask yourself that every time you turn in a piece of writing. It's okay to save something as a draft if you aren't sure about sharing. If you are sure you don't need it... Let it be.
Turn your flow into stock → "If you work on something a little bit every day, you end up with something that is massive.", collect and organize your different thoughts (ex. in a notebook), and then you can revisit that place... With this, you can look through and share all of that different stuff... You'll then notice themes and trends emerging in what you share and patterns in your flow. When you detect those patterns → then you can turn them into something bigger. → Turn that flow into stock.
Build a good (domain) name → social networks are great, but no one can take away your domain space... A blog is the ideal machine for turning flow into stock. One little blog post is nothing, but that can turn into a thousand blog posts and then your life's work. This blog can be everything. So go register a domain name and setup a blog. Think of it as a "self-invention" machine, not a self-promotion one... Fill it with the stuff you care about. Don't give in to social networks. Think long-term. You can do whatever you want with it. Build a good name.
Chapter 4 - Open your cabinet of curiosities
Don't be a hoarder → we all have our treasured collections (movies, CDs, etc...) Those are linked to some sort of memory (→ mental scrapbook) Our taste makes us to what we are, but it can cast a shadow over our work. In the beginning, our output isn't really good. That's when we can share our tastes into the world. (What is my inspiration? What do you read? Who do you steal your ideas from?) Your influences are worth sharing because they clue people in to who you are and what you do - sometimes even more than our own work.
No guilty pleasures → If you fucking like something, like it. All it takes to uncover hidden gems is to have a clear eye on a topic. We all love things that other people think are garbage, but we have to have the courage to keep loving your garbage because what makes us unique is the diversity and breadth of our influences, the unique ways in which we mix up the parts of culture others have deemed "high" and "low". Celebrate your guilty pleasures and own them. Don't give in to the pressure. "Do what you can do best, and link to the rest."
Credit is always due → "If you share the work from others, it's your duty to make sure that the creation of that work gets proper credit". Crediting seems like lots of effort but it's worth it. Besides knowing who the author is, you give back the opportunity to dive deeper. Great attribution → providing the context of what you share, and why should they care. Also, you can link to interesting people → good practice. If you don't include a link online, attribution is basically useless because people are lazy. Don't share something you can't properly credit. Find the credit or don't share.
Chapter 5 - Tell good stories
Work doesn't speak for itself → When you show something to someone, then the final opinion depends on the affection and what you tell them. You can make something more significant by just explaining it better. Words matter and the work doesn't speak for itself. Humans want to connect to something and personal stories help with that. Your work doesn't exist in a vacuum, everything exists in context. If you want to be more efficient when sharing something, become a better storyteller.
Storytelling is everything → The most important part of a story is its structure, most of the time life is chaotic though... Ideal structure of a story: You have a problem → then there is work done and last, there is a solution to the problem. If you are in the middle of a story still, then tell it open-ended by turning it into a pitch. Tell what the future is going to be in this case. All stories are some sort of pitch. Use also spell-check all the time! Storytelling is something we need to train for, it isn't easy, so practice.
Talk about yourself at parties → Imagine you're at a party and someone asks you "what do you do?", if you have a well-known job this is easy. If not, then you need to think of something that makes you look good. You should be able to explain it to a kindergartener or a senior citizen. But stick to the truth, if you don't make money, don't say you do i.e. Have empathy for your audience, anticipate blank stares, and be ready for more questions. Keep your bio short and sweet. Strike all of the adjectives, don't get cute, don't brag, just state the facts. Don't use terms like "ninja", "guru" or "rock star", unless you're one.
Chapter 6 - Teach what you know
Share your trade secrets → A lot of scenes and people are quite secretive about their knowledge, but they don't have to be. If you are a true expert people will try to copy you and fail (without practicing a lot) and appreciate your services a lot more. Teaching doesn't mean competition. Just because you know the master's technique doesn't mean you're going to be able to emulate it right away. But you give the opportunity to "pass on the torch" by passing the techniques while being educational and promotional. → That's great content to "draw attention" to you. So think, what are your techniques or tools. The moment you learn something, turn around and teach it to others. "Make people better at something they want to become better at". It adds value to what you do, not distract from it. You are generating more interest in your work and people feel closer to you. You can also get educated from it, and learn new stuff. People will even give you more feedback to learn from.
Chapter 7 - Don't turn into human spam
Shut up and listen → There are a lot of people out there who aren't interested in the writings/knowledge in their field but they still want to be well known in their space. These people are human spam and exist everywhere. They don't want to listen to others' ideas and just want to tell theirs. "At some point, they didn't get the memo that the world owes none of us anything." Don't be that type of ego. The forward-thinking people are looking for potential collaborators, hang out and answer questions, and ask for recommendations. "If you want fans, you have to be a fan first.". So be a good citizen. Be considerate, be an open node.
You want hearts, not eyeballs → Stop worrying about how many people follow you online and start worrying about the quality of people who follow you. Don't waste time with "useless" people. If you want followers, be someone worth following. If you want to be interesting, you have to be interested. Being good is the only thing that earns you clout. So, make stuff you love and you'll attract the people that love that stuff. Don't be creepy, don't waste everyone's time, don't ask too much.
The vampire test → Don't surround yourself with people that suck out the life/energy from you. Those vampires cannot be cured, so banish them from your life.
Identify your fellow knucklebackers → Put yourself out, and other similarly like-minded people will turn up. Those are your peers, who share your obsessions/similar missions. Nurture those relationships. Collaborate with them. Keep them as close as you can.
Meet up in meatspace → Real friendships (most of the time) happen/deepen if you meet them in real life. → meetups, Also less stressful than traditional networking. Doesnt have to be something huge. Just ask to do something, have a drink, etc. And talk about your passions and what you wanna learn etc... Meeting people online is awesome, but turning them into IRL friends is even better.
Chapter 8 - Learn to take a punch
Let 'em take their best shot → Learning to take a punch is something really important/valuable. You not only have to be ready for the good but also for bad/critical feedback. How to take: Relax and Breathe (deeply), fear is often imagination taking a wrong turn. Strengthen your neck. Practice taking hits by putting out a lot. The more you take, the less it hurts. Roll with the punches. Keep moving, everything new (criticism) is a new opportunity to improve. You can also use that hate, and make them hate it even further. It's fun. Protect your vulnerable areas. "Compulsive embarrassment is a form of suicide". Don't be overprotective with your vulnerability. Keep your valance. Your work != you. Don't take it personally.
Don't feed the trolls → The first step of critique evaluation is to analyze from whom it came. You only really want feedback from the people you care for and care for you. A troll isn't interested in improving your work, only provocations. Don't let them get in your head, then they win. Use account blocking and deletions to remove those trolls. "If someone took a dump in your living room, you wouldn't let it sit there, would you?" Maybe even turn off comments entirely. (More drastic) Most mediums (books, paintings, etc...) don't even have comments, so why do you need them? But let people contact you directly, or let people copy over your work and talk about it all they want.
Chapter 9 - Sell out
Even the renaissance had to be funded → Money has to come from somewhere, you need to live somehow. Most of our most important works were made with money in mind. (Sixtine Chapel, Many Beatles songs, etc). Only bitter people/personalities accuse you as a sellout. Don't be jealous because someone had success. Celebrate it as if it was you... So "sell out". 😉
Pass around the hat → When people are gathering around your work, you might want to turn them into patrons. Easiest way: Donate Button. Also possible: Fundraising for larger projects. (Works best if you gathered a large group of fans) But there are strings attached: patrons feel that they have a say in that project. So rather sell something that people can buy. But be aware of that. Find out the real value in that product and not your own perceived value. Putting on a price tag on your work is a leap of faith, you want to take when you're confident your work is worth something. But don't be afraid to do that, just make sure to put on a fair price.
Keep a mailing list → Even if you don't have anything to sell right now, you should always be collecting email addresses from people who come across your work and want to stay in touch. Email tends to be a pretty consistent and important format throughout the times and people tend to open and actually use it. Model: Give away great stuff on websites, collect emails, and then when you've got something remarkable to share/sell, send a mail. Never add someone's mail to your mailing list without permission. Those signed-up people will be your biggest supporters. Don't betray their trust. Build up that list and treat it with respect. It will come in handy.
Make more work for yourself → What really matters is doing good work and taking advantage of every opportunity that comes in your way. New things, projects, plans, etc. The real risk is not changing. Be ambitious. Keep yourself busy. Think bigger and don't "keep it real"/"not sellout". Try out new things, but only do more of the work you want to do, not the type of work you don't want to do.
Pay it forward → When you finally have success, then pay it forward/thank the people who helped you on your way. (Teachers, mentors, heroes, fans, family, etc...) You as a human only have a finite amount of attention though. But don't overdo it. This way you do way more work that you don't really wanna do. (i.e answering fan mail) Solution: Hold "office hours" for that kind of stuff where you make yourself available for that. "You have to be as generous as you can, but selfish enough to get your work done."
Chapter 10 - Stick around
Don't quit your show → Every career is full of ups and downs and just like with stories when you're in the middle of living out your life and career, you don't know what happens next. "There are not only second acts but also third fourth etc.". "Whatever you do, don't quit your show. Life's boring without a show". You can't plan on anything, you can only go about your work. You can't count on success, you can only leave open the possibility for it. You got to play it out until the end.
Chain-smoke → Just because you have success now, doesn't mean the next thing will be successful as well. So, ask yourself: "What now"? If you look at successful people, then they all persist and persevere, despite failures. Do your thing, over and over again. (→ Chain-Smoke) You avoid stalling out. And if you're finished, ask yourself what you can improve and do it and jump to the next project.
Go away so you can come back → Chain-smoking is a good way to keep going, but sometimes you burn out. In these cases, take a "sabbatical"/break. Of course, you need to prepare for that, have the funds, etc. Most of us don't have that kind of flexibility. But there are still places where you can "turn off your brain" and take a more practical break. Commute. Exercise. Nature. Also, separate your work from your life.
Begin Again → If you feel like you learned everything there is to learn, then move to something else. You have to become a student again. "Anyone who isn't embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn't learning enough." Have the courage to get rid of old work and rethink completely. Think of it as "beginning again" and not "starting over". And then do everything else from that book, document everything, share as you go, show your work, and pay close attention to the people.