这本巴掌大的书就像一页一页的幻灯片，一小时内能读完。以高傲的心来读你会觉得作者不过是用短促有力的句子总结了一些常识；作为正处于转折摸索期的拖延症患者，很多句子都像是专门为我准备的鞭策。这本书并不能说针对艺术家或设计领域从业者，而更像是一本个人管理的提醒书，书中既涉及思维方式和抽象概念，也不乏特别细节的小贴士。我相信每个人心中都有些创造的冲动，或者说每份工作每件事都需要创造力。所以，推荐这本书给所有努力想要活成自己喜欢的样子（却长期处于不进则退状态中）的人。
以下是我的摘抄和笔记。
很赞同作者开篇说的，每个人给的建议都带有自传性，是在给过去的自己提建议。
什么是创造力 creativity
作者的观点其实没有什么新鲜的，涉及到creativity理论中的几个说法：任何创新都是基于历史的，延续或颠覆，没有百分百的“原创”；限制(constraints)激发创新，没有限制就没有创新；创新不是异想天开“灵光乍现”，需要大量的重复性练习(meaningful repetition)夯实基本技能。我研究生的论文正是关于creativity的，所以还记得当时读过的各派理论核心观点。作者没有企图谈太多理论，完全是从“实践得真知”的角度切入。
Nothing is original.
Creativity is substraction.
Nothing is more paralyzing than the idea of limitless possibilites.
The way to get over creative block is to simply place some constraints on yourself.
如何创造
基于以上的理论基础，不难得出一些实践指导：把世间万物分为值得借鉴和不值得借鉴（文中用更为吸睛的字眼steal和copy）；大量模仿你喜欢的作品，不仅模仿它们的外表更重要的是模仿其背后的思路，了解其发展脉络；模仿的来源要有深度和广度，逐渐你就形成了自己的风格并且清楚自己在这一领域所处的历史地位。
Embrace influence.
Artists steal.
Steal from only where that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. (by Jim Jarmusch)
Seeing yourself as part of a creative lineage.
Copy what you love... copy many... Examine where you fall short and that's where you amplify and transform.
Steal also the thinking behind the style.
You don't want to look like your heros, you want to see like your heros.
Creativity研究中有不少是关于insanity, personality, etc. 就是解读大众常有的一个疑问：天才艺术家是不是都有点精神病？就像我们的固有印象中，创意领域的从业者是不是都外表清奇行为古怪很多同性恋？答案是：不能一概而论，并没有证实两者的正相关性。尤其不要误导年轻人：你如果看起来普通正常，不喜欢奇装异服在身上打洞抽烟喝酒熬夜什么的，就根本没希望成为一名优秀的创意工作者。本书作者强烈推荐健康的生活方式，稳定的工作环境——你不需要看起来很酷("Be boring. (It's the only way to get work done.)")，踏踏实实过正常人的生活才有助于你的创作。我认为这一点涉及个人的生活方式选择，作者的观点未必是唯一的真理，不过至少我很感激他提出这一点，因为我就曾经因为觉得自己既不疯癫也不富挺想好好过日子所以根本没希望踏入艺术圈或者成为一名优秀的设计师。作者显然是相信“平平淡淡才是真”“勤奋就有回报”的一派。
Neil Young sang, "It's better to burn out than to fade away." I say it's better to burn slow and see your children.
Take care of yourself. Live a good, regular life.
Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work. (by Gustave Flawbert)
Learn about money as soon as you can.
作者也不主张为了“梦想”立刻辞职专注搞艺术，而是要有一份稳定、工资不错、你不至于痛恨且不会把你掏空的工作，利用业余时间坚持创作。
A day job gives you money, a connection to the world, and a routine.
Establishing and keeping a routine can be even more important than having a lot of time.
The trick is to find a day job that pays decently, doesn't make you vomit, and leaves you with enough energy to make things in your spare time.
如何做自己喜欢的事，过上向往已久的生活
书中的大部分内容适用于任何心藏小梦想的人——你的心愿清单上有没有“写一本书”“自编自导自演一部电影”“出版自己的画册”“学一门乐器”……？你知否迟迟没有行动或者半途而废以至于越来越觉得遥不可及？列新年愿望的之前可以拿起这本书自我鞭策一下。它其实可以作为一本面向大众的productivity书籍，让我想起另一本小书：The War of Art
以下忠告我都非常赞同，在很多其他地方也听说过。
向最厉害的人学习，和比自己优秀的人在一起
You're only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with.
Stand next to the talent.
If you ever find that you're the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.
现在就开始，别等到你怎么怎么样了；别只是想，行动起来；别找借口，每天坚持
Don't wait until you know who you are to get started.
Make things. Know thyself.
Fake it 'til you make it.
Start doing the work you want to be doing.
Do the work every day, no matter what.
Don't make excuses for not working-- make things with the time, space, and materials you have, right now.
Don't worry about a grand scheme or unified vision of your work. Don't worry about unity-- what unifies your work is the fact that you made it. One day, you'll look back and it will all make sense.
这一点我深有体会。以前我总是认为要“想清楚了”再开始，整天纠结寻觅我的passion、我究竟要投身什么事业、我最擅长什么……事实证明：这些问题真的很难想清楚，光坐着想几乎没有可能得到正确答案，你得做，边做边想。例如，我说对交互设计感兴趣，以前的想法是：我得重进学校读这个专业、然后积累作品集，但是，我真的要再读书吗？钱和时间我还付得起吗？还是我先干了那个再……这样思前想后根本没什么用。实际上，我即使待在家里也可以为此做点什么：网上上课，关注知名设计师，给自己布置project做起来。我们这个时代，信息和工具都挺容易获取，所以真的有很多可以立刻着手干的事。这样也才有可能得到一些真正的洞察而不是虚幻的想象。不要光说——你为你感兴趣的事做了什么？
不是所有人都是专家型人才(specialist)，不要抛弃你的特质
承接上一条。我一直羡慕我的一些工程师朋友，他们学得专钻得精，有一个领域的核心技能，很清楚自己在做什么，人生的道路似乎比我清晰多了。所以我饱受身份焦虑：究竟我身上的标签是什么？我学的东西范，对很多事情都感兴趣，我究竟该选哪一个深扎进去呢？其实这些无意义的寻觅和焦虑的时间，不如多做几个side projects，把感兴趣的事都试一试或者融合在一起。现在也有越来越多反思的声音支持多面手的人才，例如这个TED Talk，还有这篇文章。
Don't throw any of yourself away.
If you have two or three real passions, don't feel like you have to pick and choose between them. Don't discard.
Take time to mess around.
坦然面对外界的评价，专注做事，珍惜默默无名的时间
Make friends. Ignore enemies.
So get comfortable with being misunderstood, disparaged, or ignored-- the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care.
There is a kind of fallout that happens when you leave college... Never again in your life will you have such a captive audience. Soon after, you learn that most of the world doesn't necessarily care about what you think. It sounds harsh, but it's true... This is actually a good thing, because you want attention only after you're doing really good work. There's no pressure when you're unknown. You can do what you want. Experiment. Do things just for the fun of it. You'll never get that freedom back once people start paying attention, and especially not once they start paying you money. Enjoy your obscurity while it lasts. Use it.
一些关于提高效、率激发灵感的tips
Step away from the screen.
Engage more senses.
Setup two workstations: one analog, one digital.
Carry a book, a pen, and a notepad. Enjoy solitude & temporary captivity.
Leave home. Your brains gets too comfortable in your everyday surroundings. You need to make it uncomfortable.
Get a calendar. Fill the boxes. Don't break the chain.
Keep a daily logbook of daily events.
