· By Andre Woolery
Austin Kleon, Little Things Add Up
Austin Kleon's Newspaper Blackout Poetry
Kleon started relatively small. He grabbed a newspaper, a marker, and began blacking out words to create tiny poems from existing text. Each poem took a few minutes. Just a small creative act he could easily complete.
Those quick newspaper blackout poems became a daily practice. Then they became a Tumblr blog. Then the blog caught attention from publishers. Then his micro-practice became "Newspaper Blackout," a published book. Then that book led to "Steal Like an Artist," which sold over a million copies and launched his career as a bestselling author.
Five-minute poems done consistently built creative momentum that transformed his creative life. Not because the poems were masterpieces. Because tiny consistent actions compound into unexpected opportunities.
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Steal This Ritual
Micro-practices transform everyday moments:
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Stream-of-consciousness journaling for 3 minutes
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Capture one well composed photo daily
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5 minute doodle sessions during down time
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Asking "What if?" throughout your day
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To explore the full approach behind this story, pull card #11 in the Creative Mastermind Deck
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