--- ## Highlights Many of those people want to know how art is made—all the messy details and mistakes included—because they, too, want to make art. As you put your work out there, you’ll become a source of inspiration and encouragement for them. Kleon claims this dynamic is reciprocal: ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c1adb6fe-b3dc-4362-97b7-c371368dc44b)) Kleon’s suggestion that you show what you’re doing while you’re in the process of developing your skills is an uncomfortable one for many people with a certain personality trait: perfectionism. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/7969b6eb-beed-4bee-9f85-2874e7013dc6)) Kleon offers three main reasons for why you should share your work all the way through your process. First, doing so lets you focus on developing your skills while growing your audience. Second, it’s a powerful way to make valuable connections. Third, it can enable you to live the life you want to live. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/e96bf7a2-a704-4639-900d-4f568aff5023)) How to Share Your Creative Process ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/88d88697-34a5-4841-a59a-5ca6ee8b907c)) Use your smartphone or some other device to record what you’re doing at any stage in the process ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/e9e2548f-3585-4caf-9d4f-989c10967bbf)) If you’re in the early stages of making your piece or don’t yet have any work to show, consider sharing the work of artists who’ve inspired you. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c22e3d51-febb-479f-9156-2e4ab281e4d4)) we signal what our tastes are—this is an important way humans connect with one another ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/d74a8ba2-aa93-49e5-ad0b-7f4489a5d836)) tell people about the sunrise you saw on the way to your office or the hours of research invested before finally discovering the one resource you’ve been hunting down for days. When you finally publish your book, followers may be more inclined to get a copy since they know how much labor went into it. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c2b7ca7c-92c9-465d-b007-23a148a7d610)) In his previous book, Steal Like an Artist, he encourages keeping a day job to foster your creativity. The reason for this is that having a reliable income will alleviate money worries. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/61033e36-3c50-4748-a41a-02fe225a6e7d)) In his case, much of Share Your Work started out as tweets. Over time he fleshed them out into blog posts and eventually into chapters of a published book. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/22528663-4953-4424-9af9-ecd55cecdf03))