The Practice, Shipping Creative Work by Godin, Seth -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Epigraph Trust Your Self

1. It’s Possible 2. The Pattern and the Practice 3. Are You Searching for Something? 4. Askıda Ekmek 5. Finding a Practice 6. Learning to Juggle 7. How to Draw an Owl 8. Does It Take Courage to Be Creative? 9. This Is Art 10. Perhaps You Can Make Some Art 11. Creativity Is an Action, Not a Feeling 12. The Story (and the Choice) 13. Flow Is a Symptom 14. It’s Time to Find Your Voice 15. Finding Your Passion 16. The Process and the Outcome 17. The World’s Worst Boss 18. You Are Enough 19. An Aside about Decisions 20. To Be of Service 21. The Work and the Guarantee 22. I Feel Like an Imposter 23. Imposter Syndrome Is Real 24. Start Where You Are 25. Who You Are (and What You Do) 26. How Big Is the Discard Pile? 27. Dave Grohl’s Mom 28. Toward a Daily Practice in Service of Your Identity 29. “So Far” and “Not Yet” 30. In Defense of Magic 31. Trust, Identity, and Your Practice 32. Fly-Fishing Lessons 33. The Poverty of Our Intentions 34. The Practice Is Relentless

Generous

35. You Have the Right to Remain Silent 36. The Generous Vision 37. What Do You Sound Like when You Sound Like You? 38. Hoarding Is Toxic 39. Twenty Cents and a Soccer Ball 40. Pythagoras and the Fifth Hammer 41. When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time? 42. Sailing with the Wind at Your Back 43. The Hospitality of Discomfort 44. Diversity and Problem Solving 45. Bradley Cooper Has a Cold 46. “Here, I Made This” 47. Change-Makers in Charge 48. No Place to Hide 49. The Best Reason to Say “No” 50. Reassurance Is Futile 51. The Fear of Falling Behind 52. Confidence Is Relative 53. Resistance Is Real 54. Consider the Locksmith 55. The Generosity of the Pennies 56. Embracing (Yet) 57. Cynicism Is a Defense Mechanism 58. Practical Empathy 59. “Someone” Saved TV 60. Shun the Nonbelievers 61. But Maybe It Needs More Work 62. And Maybe You’re Trying to Do Two Things at Once 63. Three Thousand Sold 64. Three Kinds of Quality 65. Four Kinds of Good 66. The Confusion: Is a Hit Good? 67. Selling Is Difficult 68. Selling Is Where the Juice Lies 69. Enrollment 70. It’s Not for You 71. Selfish Is a Choice 72. Attachment to the Outcome 73. Attachment Is a Choice 74. The Simple Flip to “for” 75. The Two Obligations 76. The Generosity of Art 77. Asking “Why” Is Brave 78. If You Knew You Were Sure to Fail, Then What Would You Do? 79. A Punk’s Practice 80. Choose to Go There

The Professional

81. The Lifeguard Who Wasn’t Sure 82. Yes, You’re the Lifeguard 83. Worrying 84. Bicycle Problems 85. On the Hook or Off 86. Talent Is Not the Same as Skill 87. Where Is Your Hour? 88. But Not a Hack 89. It’s Not a Paradox 90. Walking Away from Being a Hack 91. Generous Doesn’t Mean Free 92. In Search of Enrollment 93. Toward Idiosyncrasy 94. Choose Your Clients, Choose Your Future 95. Where Are the Great Architects? 96. The Magic of Better Clients

Intent

97. Our Intent Matters 98. Intentional Action Is Design with Purpose 99. Intentional Action Is Also Design with Empathy 100. How Deep Does Your Empathy Run? 101. Who’s It for? 102. Who Can You Reach? 103. You Can’t Reach Everyone 104. More and More Specific, Please 105. Who’s It for? 106. Serving the Work 107. Someone, Not Everyone 108. Crossing Economic Boundaries 109. What’s It for? The Second Question . . . 110. What Engineers Know 111. Simple Example: The Receptionist 112. Welcome to the Green Mill 113. Six Simple Examples of the Question 114. Should a Word Processor Have a Save Button? 115. But Wait, What about the Dance Recital? 116. Seeking Unlimited Emotional Authority 117. Fear and the Muse and Your Work and Your Service 118. You Can See the Paradox 119. Subconscious Pre-Filtering 120. What’s It for? 121. Adopting the Design-First Mindset of Intention 122. What’s It for? 123. Toddlers Don’t Get It 124. What’s It for? 125. Authenticity Is a Trap 126. Consistency Is the Way Forward 127. Realer Than Real 128. Intentional Action Has a Few Simple Elements

No Such Thing As Writer’s Block

129. Credentialing Is a Roadblock 130. The Curse of the Famous College 131. But What a Great Excuse 132. Any Excuse Will Do 133. Fake Experts 134. Steve Ballmer Cared Too Much about Being Right 135. It’s Okay to Maintain the Status Quo 136. Writer’s Block 137. The Search for Certainty Is at the Heart of Our Block 138. Polish Is Overrated 139. Aretha’s Purse 140. Is the Narrative Working? 141. The Unblocked Architect 142. The Infinite Game 143. A Marathon Is an Infinite Game 144. Where Do We Put the Tired? 145. The Real Lesson of Improv Begins with “Yes, and . . .” 146. “Yes, and” Is Enough 147. Anchor Up 148. The Generous Critic 149. What to Say to a Generous Critic 150. The Non-Generous Critic 151. Sam Raimi and the Horror of the Boos 152. The Possibility of 1,000 True Fans 153. Sunk Costs and Your Practice 154. Sunk Costs and Defensiveness 155. Bonus: The Forty-Five Ways 156. The Option of Vulnerability 157. Abbey Ryan, Isaac Asimov, and the Power of Typing 158. Write until You’re No Longer Afraid to Write 159. Scarcity and Creativity 160. The Essential Quality of the Bogeyman 161. Chop Wood and Carry Water 162. Mise en Place Is Its Own Reward 163. But What about the Muse? 164. In Search of Desirable Difficulty 165. Batting Practice 166. Nike’s Slogan Error 167. You Don’t Need More Good Ideas, You Need More Bad Ideas 168. The Smallest Viable Breakthrough 169. The Wild Side 170. “How Do I Make This Better?” Is Different than “How Do I Make This?” 171. Proving to Yourself that Creation Isn’t Fatal 172. What Does “Good” Mean? 173. Protecting Your Perfect Idea 174. Alexander’s Theorem of Professional Exceptionalism (and the corollary: the creative’s failure narrative) 175. Genre, not Generic 176. Transformation Begins with Genre 177. How Is It Different? 178. Back On the Hook 179. Ernest Hemingway versus the Novel in Your Head 180. Meetings Might Help, but They Probably Won’t 181. A Roundup of Tips and Tricks for Creators

Make Assertions

182. An Assertion Is Not a Guarantee 183. Amanda Theodosia Jones and the Amplification of Voices 184. Egomania versus Ego Strength 185. Assertions Are Not Answers and Assertions Are Generous 186. Buzzer Management 187. Intentional Action Requires Assertion 188. An Assertion Is Generous 189. Demand Follow-Up Questions 190. It’s a Conspiracy

Earn Your Skills

191. The Truth about Getting Better 192. Look for the Cohort 193. How Many Years Is Too Many? 194. None of Us Can Be Superman 195. Your Superpower Requires Commitment 196. To Be Great Requires Embracing Neglect 197. The Best in the World 198. Earning a Skill 199. Can You Teach Indian Food? 200. Domain Knowledge: Did You Do the Reading? 201. Where Does Good Taste Come from? 202. Knowing Is a Shortcut to Skill 203. In and of Itself

Seek Out Constraints

204. Constraints Create the Possibility of Art 205. The Icon of Icons 206. Where Are the Mandolins? 207. Wiggle Room 208. You Can’t Think Outside the Box 209. Monty Python Found a Holy Grail 210. Susan Rothenberg Painted Horses 211. Some Favorite Constraints 212. Change the World Doesn’t Mean Change Everything 213. Hubris Is the Dream Killer 214. Is the Moon Covered in Dust? 215. Trust the Process 216. Elements of the Practice 217. You’re Not the Boss, but You Are In Charge 218. Tuesdays in the Anthropology Department 219. Explore the Space

Where Do Ideas Come from? If You Had Tomorrow to Do Over Again, Would You? Unquenchable Acknowledgments More from Seth Godin About the Author

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