Austin kleon journal

Making time and space for your art this season

When I don’t know what to write in my diary I copy a poem by hand or with the typewriter. (I like copying prose by hand, but I like typing out poems so I can see how the lines play out cleanly on the page.) After I’ve copied the poem, I get out my paper

First, a link to what kind of notebook, because otherwise, dozens of people will ask. Then, the weighing in: This is a silly ritual, but sometimes silly rituals are all we have. Next, the selection of a guardian spirit to look over the notebook. I picked Durër’s Saint Jerome in his Study for this notebook, which

Why would anyone do this.

On Julia Cameron’s famous exercise in getting out of your own way.

Found notes to myself - Austin Kleon

Mary Karr once compared reading her own books to a dog sniffing old turds. “I’m repelled by them,” she said. “The degree to which I never read them is profound.” She doesn’t even keep copies. This, to me, seems like a perfectly healthy way to go about being a writer — the writing is alive

Like creativity, curiosity might be better thought of as a verb, not a noun.

Mary Karr once compared reading her own books to a dog sniffing old turds. “I’m repelled by them,” she said. “The degree to which I never read them is profound.” She doesn’t even keep copies. This, to me, seems like a perfectly healthy way to go about being a writer — the writing is alive

Why would anyone do this.