Questions Answered

KLEON RESPONSES & QUESTION from SECTIONS 5 and 6

• pieces taken from responses

• read classmates’ ideas and reactions to give further feedback

• read questions and select one to give further feedback

—

When you open up your process and invite people in is when you learn.

I never really

appreciated this as much as I do now in my job. I have creative freedom to design in my job but

letting others in has forced me to learn and evaluate more than I have ever imagined.

— Becoming known after you are doing good work was inspiring to me.

When you aren’t

known, you can take the time to find yourself and what you enjoy, all the while practicing your

craft and improving it.

— It was also interesting to see how the internet could be an ‘incubator’ for ideas.

I have a friend from high school who kept up a blog about Star Wars for a long time. Around

Junior/Senior year, he didn’t post on it as much and kind of left it alone for awhile. Freshman

year of college, he went back to look at it and there were hundreds of entries from people.

Before, he only had a few people who followed it but when he checked it later,

his ideas had

sparked others to post and repost their own ideas.

I’ve seen the ‘incubator’ idea in action and it

was really cool to see his point of view on it.

— Kleon is telling us to take time to get bored. I have never thought about this before. We are

taught in society to always be doing something, because that it the most productive. What if

not doing anything could be productive?

Who we are when we aren’t doing anything, relaxing,

might be who we truly are and what we actually enjoy doing.

[page 76 Venn diagram: what you love, what loves you back]

—

It reminded me of something that happened just recently. After I had finished my scene

writing for this class, I happened to be slightly proud of it because I thought I had done a slightly

okay job. I ended up sending the link to my friends for them to look at. One of my friends read it

and then gave me comments on what it reminded him of and how he connected certain personal

ideas to it. Him doing this warmed my heart and I told him so which, in return, he told me my

writing warmed his heart.

— Read the title,

[Do Good Word and Share it with People],

first reaction, YES! That’s how I

did it, that’s how I got started! No one believes you can make cool things in your inner circle,

they all say things like “that’s nice, but can you really make a living with that.” I found an

online writing forum, posted daily chapters, got better with each comment and reaction, and then

finally proved my ‘skill’ as an author to everyone. I hate fake encouragement more than

anything- unrelated. Don’t go to friends and family for opinions, go to complete strangers and

they will tell you whether your work is worth a … word.

— I really took interest in the idea that your professors and classmates are in a position that

have to listen to your work and you should take advantage of it. In the beginning of college, I

was so afraid to send my professors my work because they were at such a higher level than me

and I didn’t want to embarrass myself.

I have since learned my ideas are valid and I want to

engage in conversations with intelligent people about them so I take advantage.

[Kleon re: procrastination and sharing your work]

— Kleon talked about sending your friends things and finding people on social media that

connect with you. The way I procrastinate recently has been talking to people about things in

Discord (a messaging service) that we all have similar interests in. It made me realize that doing

these things can actually be beneficial in some way

and that I’m not wasting my time over silly

stuff.

[Kleon re: procrastination]

—

As long as I’m building up ideas by the things that I see and talk about I could then draw fuel

from when I’m actually creating something.

— it is okay to have two or three passions and the idea of phantom limb pain. Personally, this

hit home for me more than I can even tell you or try to describe. As I was younger I was

interested in drama, English, sports, student government, politics, and etc. I felt like that to be

successful I needed to focus on one interest and pursue it. Around my first year in college I

started lunging into politics and literature as I felt a way to express my concerns and

frustrations was through writing. I began to feel that phantom limb pain and through this

I have

begun to understand all of the things I love and explore are what make me the artist I am and

choosing only limits me.

………………………………

Question: The big question I have is that all of these concepts are so simple and yet we as

young artists have a hard time embracing them, why is that? Why are we uncomfortable with

calling ourselves capable?

Question: I’m curious to see what everyone else thinks about the section about obscurity. Do

you agree with what Kleon has to say about how we have nothing to worry about when we are

still obscure? Do you think we should relish in obscurity while we have it?

Question: If we share our secrets, does the personal value of them decrease?

Question: Are you guys really comfortable with the idea of giving secrets away?