Kleon notes that the French word ‘amateur’ means ‘lover.’ He quotes Clay Shirky:
On the spectrum of creative work, the difference between the amateur and the good is vast. Mediocrity, however is still on the spectrum; you can move from mediocre to good in increments. The real gap is between doing nothing and doing something (pp. 15-16)
-Austin Kleon, Show Your Work, pp. 15-16
An amateur is a lover. That’s not a knock. More professionals need to be amateurs. Love something.
There are a lot of destructive myths about creativity, but one of the most dangerous is the ‘lone genius’ myth…There is a healthier way of thinking about creativity that musician Brian Eno refers to as ‘scenius.’ Under this model, great ideas are often birthed by a group of creative individuals – artists, curators, thinkers, theorists, and other tastemakers – who make up an ‘ecology of talent.’ If you look back closely at history, many of the people who we think of as lone geniuses were actually part of ‘a whole scene of people who were supporting each other, looking at teaching other’s work, copying from each other, stealing ideas, and contributing ideas.’ Scenius doesn’t take away from the achievements of those great individuals; it just acknowledges that good work isn’t created in a vacuum, and that creativity is always, in some sense, a collaboration, the result of a mind connected to other minds.
-Austin Kleon, Show Your Work, pp. 9, 11
To be a part of a ‘scenius’ you have to recognize what is happening in your field and be a part of the give and take. You then have to figure out what is lacking in what is happening and see if you can contribute to fill in that gap.
You might replace the idea of scene with ‘movement.’ Folks are fond, especially within Christianity these days, of calling things movements, though I’m not really a fan of that term. The idea is to figure out the big movements, take what you can from them, and contribute what you can based on what you’ve seen to be lacking.
If your a writer or artist or even preacher, do you have a scene? Are you a part of something? Biblical theology is a major scene at the moment. Have you looked at that scene hard enough to see what’s lacking? Everyone recognizes the need for narrative-makers. What’s lacking in that? How can you take other people’s ideas and contribute what’s lacking?
The idea is that you may not, and don’t have to be, a genius. But you can be part of a scenius. You can make a big contribution if you can read the times we live in and contribute something that is needed. And you don’t have to do it alone. If there is an ‘ecology of talent,’ then adding one little thing to it can change the environment, just as adding frogs to a frogless habitat can change the environment. What can you add?
-Austin Kleon, Show Your Work
I have a lot of posts sitting in my drafts to get through before the end of the month (I hope). I have to try to do some blogging as the next few months will be frantic with work, my last semester at RTS (staring Feb. 1), seeking a church-call, graduation, etc.
I have been reading a lot of short stories (of the minimalist variety) and a lot of essays and interviews about writing. I need to write about those. But at the moment I am going to start posting some select quotes from, and thoughts about, Show Your Work by Austin Kleon.
I found this book to be extremely helpful. It scratches a major itch I’ve had for a while: how do you share what you’re doing without being a self-promoter? That’s a major question for any Christian, but especially for a preacher, and a preacher who really likes to write at that.
I have barely begun applying the ideas of the book, but writing through them will be a part of the process. If you’d like an idea of what the book is about, you can watch a talk the author gave HERE.
