Summary of "Tous les créatifs devraient avoir lu ce livre"

Summary of Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon

The video summarizes key principles from the book Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon, focusing on how creatives can build an audience and thrive in the digital age by sharing their creative process openly and generously rather than hiding their work or engaging in traditional self-promotion.

Key Artistic Techniques, Concepts, and creative processes

Shift from Secrecy to Sharing Creativity today thrives on openness rather than secrecy. Sharing ideas, progress, and failures builds an authentic audience.
Forget Self-Promotion; Embrace Generosity Instead of aggressive self-promotion, share knowledge and process generously. This creates value and builds genuine connections.
Reject the Myth of the Solitary Genius Creativity is collaborative and emerges from ecosystems of talent (the “Signus” concept by Brian Eno). Historical examples include Renaissance artists, Enlightenment philosophers, and Silicon Valley innovators.
Embrace the Amateur Spirit Being an amateur means loving your craft without pressure for fame or money. Amateurs take risks, experiment, and are less afraid of failure. Even experts benefit from maintaining an amateur mindset.
Create and Share Publicly to Find Your Voice Share what you love and learn in public to attract like-minded people. Use your authentic voice, even if it feels scary.
Use Mortality as Motivation Reflecting on death helps prioritize what matters and overcome fear of embarrassment.
Document Your Work Keep a journal, photo album, or digital log of your creative process. This helps track progress and provides content to share.
Daily Dispatch / Consistent Sharing Share small updates daily about your work-in-progress, inspirations, or learnings. This can be through blogs, social media, newsletters, or any platform you enjoy.
Be a Pioneer and Experiment with Platforms Try new platforms to find where your audience is; abandon those that don’t fit.
Find Time in Small Gaps Use short periods like commutes or breaks for creative work or sharing.
Balance Privacy and Sharing Share imperfect work but maintain boundaries; don’t overshare. Use the “So what?” test before sharing content.
Stock and Flow content strategy
- Stock: Durable, long-lasting content (e.g., tutorials, book summaries).
- Flow: Frequent, short updates that maintain audience engagement. Use flow content to build stock content over time.
Share Your Influences and Inspirations Curate and credit the work of others to build trust and community. Sharing influences helps others understand your work better.
Tell Your Story Stories add value and context to your work; they influence perception. Use simple story structures (e.g., three-act structure: past, present, future). Be honest and authentic in storytelling.
Teach What You Learn Teaching reinforces your knowledge and builds connections. Sharing tutorials, reading lists, and resources benefits both teacher and audience.
Avoid Being “Human Spam” Don’t dominate conversations with only your ideas; listen and engage with others. Be an “open knot”: give to receive, be curious and considerate.
Guard Your Energy Avoid “energy vampires” who drain you emotionally. Focus on relationships and activities that energize you.
Build and Nurture a Core Community Identify and maintain relationships with key supporters and collaborators. Share your work with them first and support their work in return.
Handle Criticism and Trolls Constructively Expect criticism as visibility grows; produce more work to build resilience. Protect sensitive work by keeping it private if needed. Delete or block trolls; maintain a healthy online environment.
Make a Living from Your Work Selling products or services transparently is a sustainable model. Build an email list early for direct communication beyond social media algorithms.
Stay Ambitious and Open to Opportunities Say yes to opportunities that align with your passion and expand your reach. Use your platform and resources to help others who helped you.
Persevere and Keep Momentum Success often comes from persistence and continuing the story. Avoid stagnation by starting new projects immediately after finishing one (the “chain smoking” method).
Take Sabbaticals to Recharge Creativity Periodic breaks or sabbaticals can renew inspiration and lead to breakthroughs.

Practical Advice and Steps

Download the free reading sheet summarizing the principles (available via video description).
Keep a daily journal or log to document your creative process and progress.