Leia em português! por Maria Catherine Bortoleto

日本語訳はこちらから! by Kakeru Shibayama

Analysis of Show Your Work by Austin Kleon

For the longest time, I have wanted to start a blog. I’m not sure when the thought first came to me, but I had an idea for a sort of comparative literature blog in which I would post my analyses of anime movies, cartoons, and books that I read. Not critical reviews, but rather my own takeaways of how I relate to each piece of media. I did this throughout college for countless literary novels and articles so why not do the same thing but on my own terms?

On my way out of college, I got into freelance work and started to plan a professional website. At first I envisioned having two separate faces of the site: one professional, one personal. But as I began to brainstorm I realized that I am one person and this website could serve both functions in the single package that is “me!” So, in the spirit of literary analysis, here are my thoughts on a little something I’ve been reading lately:

Show Your Work is a short book by Austin Kleon that covers some essential tools for anyone interested in having an online presence (or just getting their name out there in general). It’s very worth it, and you’ll finish in just a few hours. It gives reasons why we should all consider having a personal website and publish our work frequently in some form. This applies to any profession though in my case it’s writing and music. For years, I felt frustrated whenever someone asked me to play something on the cello. I was pretty good at improvising, but I usually didn’t have a solo piece prepared for these occasions. The same goes for writing. Especially when I was in school, I felt that I wrote a ton for my classes, but hardly wrote on the topics I was most passionate about. In Show Your Work, Kleon proposes a solution to this.

It is the idea of a ‘daily dispatch’ which is a super brief post documenting your progress at the current stage you are on. People have this perfectionist notion that if you don’t have a complete piece of work, you have nothing to show for yourself. As a musician, my main outlet was concerts, but a performance lasts just a few hours and then it's over. All the time spent preparing, of course, is a reward on its own, but why not document your process and share with others? With today’s technology there are so many platforms available for documentation. If you think you're not ready or not good enough, simply document where you're at right now. This simple act may even inspire others who are in the same boat to put themselves out there.

In fact, I recently started following a cellist named Antonio Cortesi on Instagram. He posts lots of videos where he performs short little ditties on the cello. Most of his posts are slow and simple melodies that I suspect he comes up with on the spot. And yet, his channel has tens of thousands of subscribers. My first impression when I saw this was, 

“That's all it takes? I could do that!” 

And then I realized I really could do it. I just never considered that so many people would find value in it. But I remembered that my college dorm pals from back in the day had already proven otherwise. They loved listening to the random cello improvisations that I played from my room (well, depending on the time of day). So, I picked up my cello and bowed out a melody for about 45 seconds then posted it on Instagram.

I got an excellent reception! I felt so inspired and cared for. It never crossed my mind that people would want this kind of content. Normally I would toil for weeks or months before posting something more complete. People would love it, and then it would be over. However, this way, I can feel supported throughout my journey, getting a boost in between the larger performances. It also serves as a great portfolio, as employers want to see what you’re doing currently, not just what you did at your last job.

But whatever your craft (or new hobby) may be, here are some ideas for a daily dispatch:

• Post a short synopsis of your current project: “This week I am writing a short story about two treasure hunters largely inspired by roguelike games and magical realism.”

• Post a progress check: “Just finished draft 1!! It still needs a lot of work (nervous emoji).

• Post a tutorial video detailing your work process. Sort of like a day in the life (or a minute in the life). There’s a guy who works at an ice cream shop who does this. Whatever it is you do, just document that!

My personal master plan as of today is the following: weekly blog posts, frequent short stories, weekly cello ditties, and monthly (ish) recorded performances on cello. After a few months of this, I will have loads of content to show for, and whenever someone asks me to play for them, I actually can!

In conclusion, choosing to document my work regularly has made me more productive. By setting frequent, bite-sized goals related to my work, I produce more consistently. I’ve never been one to post much on social media, but I can see myself “showing my work” probably for the rest of my life. I’m really excited to experiment with all the different platforms and possibilities that are out there.

Here are some resources on the subject:

This is a video by Ali Abdaal on the benefits of documenting: https://youtu.be/vyVpRiqOvt4. This channel is actually where I discovered Show Your Work.

This is a link to Austin Kleon’s book page for Show Your Work https://austinkleon.com/show-your-work/