Gordon MacRae Blog

I’d forgotten how much I like this interview with Austin Kleon on The Great Discontent.

The interview is from 2014 (Austin is getting unaffordable!) and it has some real gems about creativity.

On finding a voice:

Steven Bauer. He was nicer to me than I probably deserved, (laughing) and he helped me discover that I’m not a serious writer. I was writing depressing stories about small-town life, trying to be a tortured artist like Hemingway or Raymond Carver. On a lark, I wrote one funny story, and Steven said, “This is better than all of your other work.” He told me that I needed to explore my comic voice.

On stability and risk-taking:

If I’ve taken risks in my life, they have been extremely calculated; I try to save the real risk for the work. My favorite quote is by Gustave Flaubert, who said, “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” That’s my favorite quote about creativity, and that is always how I’ve tried to live.

On getting people to pay attention:

It’s not that people are mean or cruel, they’re just busy.” You have to understand that it’s not about your ego; it’s about what you can do for the culture at large.

Full interview at The Great Discontent.