Keep Going audiobook cover - 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad

Keep Going

10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad

Austin Kleon

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Categories:
Creativity

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Key Takeaways from Keep Going

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Keep Going

Mind Map

Keep Going
Establish a Routine+
Disconnect & Focus+
Organize & Refresh+
Protect Your Passion+
Verbs over Nouns+
Play & Observe+
Keep Life in Perspective+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 9
According to the author, what is the one aspect of creativity that you can actually control?
  • A. The emotional impact your final product has on your audience
  • B. The frequency and intensity of your creative inspiration
  • C. Whether or not you show up to do the work regardless of how you feel
  • D. The amount of financial success your creative work will generate
Question 2 of 9
What is a 'Bliss Station' as described in the text?
  • A. A sacred time or place that is kept completely free from external disturbances
  • B. A mental state achieved through deep meditation before starting work
  • C. A dedicated social media account used exclusively for sharing positive artwork
  • D. A physical folder where you store your most inspiring and joyful ideas
Question 3 of 9
What is the author's rule of thumb regarding messiness and tidying in a creative workspace?
  • A. Everything should be perfectly organized to prevent mental clutter and blockages.
  • B. Your tools should be organized, but your materials can be a jumble.
  • C. Everything should be messy because chaos is the only true source of inspiration.
  • D. Your materials should be perfectly filed, but your tools can be scattered randomly.
Question 4 of 9
Why does the author caution against turning your creative passion into your sole source of income?
  • A. It usually requires hiring a team, which dilutes your original creative vision.
  • B. Financial success inevitably leads to a state of creative complacency.
  • C. It takes too much time away from your family, friends, and personal life.
  • D. The pressure to pay the bills can destroy the joy you originally found in the work.
Question 5 of 9
What does the author mean by advising creatives to focus on 'verbs' rather than 'nouns'?
  • A. Concentrating on the act of creating rather than obsessing over an official title like 'Painter' or 'Writer'
  • B. Writing action-oriented to-do lists rather than setting passive, long-term goals
  • C. Talking about your creative process with others instead of just showing them the final product
  • D. Creating dynamic, moving art rather than static, stationary pieces
Question 6 of 9
How can adult creatives benefit from observing how young children make art?
  • A. Children naturally use brighter colors, which stimulate the brain's creative centers.
  • B. Children treat art as play and are completely detached from the final product.
  • C. Children are highly competitive, which drives them to produce more innovative work.
  • D. Children strictly follow rules, demonstrating the importance of creative constraints.
Question 7 of 9
How does the author address the belief that you need an extraordinary life to create extraordinary work?
  • A. He agrees, suggesting artists should travel frequently to find new inspiration.
  • B. He argues that extreme trauma and hardship are necessary ingredients for great art.
  • C. He suggests that artists should invent fictional personas to compensate for boring lives.
  • D. He rejects it, stating that you can find magical material by paying close attention to mundane, everyday life.
Question 8 of 9
What is the author's stance on the 'tortured artist' myth?
  • A. It is a necessary phase every artist must go through to find their true, authentic voice.
  • B. It is a dangerous myth; if creative work makes you or others miserable, you should step away from it.
  • C. It is true that darkness and addiction usually lead to more profound and meaningful masterpieces.
  • D. It is an outdated concept because modern technology has removed the struggle from creating art.
Question 9 of 9
What powerful practice does the author suggest to reconnect to your creativity uninfected by money or popularity metrics?
  • A. Entering your artwork into anonymous, unjudged competitions
  • B. Donating all of your creative earnings to a local charity
  • C. Creating something purely as a gift for someone else
  • D. Publishing your work online under a secret pseudonym

Keep Going — Full Chapter Overview

Keep Going Summary & Overview

Full of practical tips, techniques and strategies for fostering creativity, Keep Going (2019) provides readers with a wide variety of ways to persevere in the face of difficulties with their creative work. While the text is written primarily with professional and non-professional artists in mind, the ideas are applicable to anyone whose job or pastime requires creativity. 

Who Should Listen to Keep Going?

  • Artists looking for inspiration  
  • Creative professionals and hobbyists feeling stuck in a rut 
  • Teachers, entrepreneurs, activists and anyone else whose work could use a boost of creativity

About the Author: Austin Kleon

Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of Steal Like An Artist and Show Your Work! Together with Keep Going, these books form a trilogy that boasts more than a million copies in print and has been translated into more than two dozen languages. He is also a public speaker whose speaking engagements have included top-tier organizations such as Google and Pixar. In both his books and his public speaking, his work centers on promoting creativity in the modern world. 

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