Hugh MacLeod

This was a short little book on creativity. An incredibly fast read, with anecdotes and advice sprinkled among many of MacLeod's business card cartoons, for which he's known.

I can't say I got much out of the book, unfortunately. A lot of the content seems stale, rehashed, and even preachy at times. MacLeod has a very black-and-white view of how to do creativity "right". For example, he's adamant you shouldn't quit your day job while you pursue your passion, and that sitting home alone creating art would be a nightmare. So his basic premise is that if you follow the creative path exactly as he did it, then good on you. If not, you'll likely end up a drug addict, an alcoholic, or broke and delusional on your death bed.

I wholeheartedly recommend taking MacLeod's book with a giant grain of salt. It's simply one person's experience of living a creative life, packaged as gospel. His biased preaching may resonate with you, but if it doesn't, rest assured, you're not alone.… (mere)

' "Your book has thirteen chapters,” I say. “Voilà! That’s thirteen blog posts. One chapter per blog post. Put it online, and you’ll have a book offer within six months. Trust me.” '

That quote pretty much sums up this book, except it's 40 blog posts, instead of 13.

In theory, I'm not opposed to the blog-post-listicle book, this one just didn't do it for me. Too many "I-stories" (where the pronoun "I" is used far too often), combined with obvious observations phrased as wisdom, and it just felt bland. A few of the forty were OK, but not enough to make it hit with me.… (mere)