Read Like an Artist
How Notes Fuel Your Creativity
Rick Rubin
People don’t think of reading as creative. It’s considered passive, consumptive. Reading certainly can be those things, but it can also be highly creative if you do it the right way.
The simple key to creative reading is this: take notes. Make highlights and write notes. E-books are especially great for this and Readwise is the best tool to manage those notes. Your book highlights and notes should be part of a notes system that also includes your own notes drawn from your ideas, life, and experiences. Out of this brew of your thoughts and the thoughts of others, all sorts of ideas will appear.
Creating is so much harder if you don’t take notes. You’re perpetually stuck in the “blank page” phase, staring into the void and waiting for a lightning bolt of inspiration.
Another key to creative reading that I’ve discovered is this: timing is everything. Read the book when it’s time to read the book.
I pre-ordered Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act as soon as I saw it was coming and I was thrilled to see it pop up in my Kindle library later. Nonetheless, I didn’t dive in, I set it aside.
There are a special few books, movies, and albums that I save until it’s the right time to experience them. How do you know that moment has come? I dunno, it’s a feeling, but I think this feeling comes when the work fits within my current interests and might have a role to play.
The time for The Creative Act recently arrived and I’ve been slowly reading it over recent weeks. It’s an inspiring book regardless of how you read it, but saving it for this moment made it explosive for me. It’s inspired thousands of words of writing and many good creative insights.
The first thing it inspired came after reading this passage.
If you know what you want to do and you do it, that’s the work of a craftsman. If you begin with a question and use it to guide an adventure of discovery, that’s the work of the artist.
This idea combined with a recent conversation I had with my friend Andy Allen, then this article, “Art, Craft, and AI,” came flowing out. I think this piece is a strong insight, but it’s also an early expression and it’ll grow into something bigger and better
The Creative Act also inspired a new course idea. We’ll see what comes of that.
Because I read The Creative Act when it felt right (and made notes!), the book triggered countless ideas, many of which will continue to grow for months to come.