Being more creative
Books commenters say made them more creative, or got them making things.
Books several people mention
Ranked by how many different people say it helped. Small numbers, so the order is a hint.
A set of drawing exercises that teach beginners to see and sketch realistically.
It made me realize that I am more creatively skilled than I thought I was — a realization which has enhanced my life greatly.
A guide to overcoming procrastination and inner resistance to start and finish creative work.
framing the struggle in the way the author does can be inspirational. I have read the book two times so far, and each time it has helped me for a little while at least
A history of the early programmers and tinkerers who built the personal computer revolution.
This book inspired me greatly when I read it as a high school sophomore. After reading it, I taught myself Pascal
A guide to designing better games, using questions drawn from psychology, art, and other fields.
The paradigm he constructs for how all the elements of game design fit together helped me approach game design from angles (or lenses as he calls them) I hadn't considered before.
Building a creative mindset and habits
These readers changed how they approach creative work, from beating resistance to following curiosity and sharing more. (Theme name written by AI.)
A guide for people with many interests on building a fulfilling life without picking just one.
This book helped me fill notebooks where before I would start a notebook and throw it aside after a handful of pages.
Reflections on creativity as a way of living, drawn from a legendary music producer's experience.
Reading that book has changed my approach towards work and it has become more relaxed and I have learned to tap deeper into my intuition when engineering.
A novel about a young Black man's search for identity amid racism in America.
Really changed how I thought about books and how I approached writing.
Comic strips following a imaginative six-year-old boy and his stuffed tiger.
this is one of those things that completely changed my perspective on creativity
Practical techniques for generating new ideas on purpose, by the inventor of lateral thinking.
His book, Serious Creativity changed my mindset and taught me that creativity, the kind we use every day as opposed to artistic creativity like painting/acting etc., is something that one can practice everyday and get better at.
A guide to overcoming procrastination and inner resistance to start and finish creative work.
framing the struggle in the way the author does can be inspirational. I have read the book two times so far, and each time it has helped me for a little while at least
An argument that open-ended exploration beats fixed goals for achieving breakthroughs in work and life.
Changed the way I search for new ideas. Instead of goal setting and conquer-and-divide approach, I allow myself to be guided by what I find interesting, even if it seems to be wasting time.
An art teacher's philosophy and advice on the mindset and practice of making art.
the book helped me develop a new way to see and receive the world. I then applied that into my own life to shape what type of ideas and projects I'd go on to pursue.
Advice for sharing your creative process openly to build an audience.
It's a short book with a bias toward action that's changed how I interact with my work and share it with others.
Short profiles of how 161 artists, writers and thinkers structured their working days.
I've tried to adapt my personal schedule to match some of their habits, and have generally felt better about being able to get a limited amount of creative work done in 24 hours.
A guide to overcoming procrastination and inner resistance to start and finish creative work.
this one book really helped me deal with resistance and get stuff done.
A look at how innovation happens, as new ideas build on older ones.
Since reading the book, I've made an effort to at least consider the bad ideas and implementations. More than once there has been a nugget of creativity that I would have otherwise glossed over.
Sparking a project or business
These readers finished a book and were moved to build, code, design or start something of their own. (Theme name written by AI.)
A novel of short, dreamlike descriptions of imaginary cities, told as Marco Polo to Kublai Khan.
A couple of years ago, after reading the book, I sketched some of them on Procreate with an isometric grid, but not all 55.
A comic science fiction novel about an ordinary man swept off Earth just before its demolition.
I founded Eksi Sozluk, the most popular social platform from Turkey for the last 25+ years, partly because I was heavily inspired by Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.
A science fiction novel about humanity's last survivors meeting an evolving civilisation of intelligent spiders.
I wrote Adrian after reading it and asked for permission to build a game inspired by it and received his blessing
A geometric, diagram-rich introduction to complex analysis for undergraduate maths and science students.
Loved that book ! Got me inspired to do this visualisation after reading it
A craft kit and instructions for making woven friendship bracelets.
That book not only gave me a lifetime hobby, but it also helped me create my first business at the age of 15.
A history of the early programmers and tinkerers who built the personal computer revolution.
For me it use to be "Hackers" by Steven Levy, I will go on massive coding binges after reading that.
The story of scientists building computer-based organisms that evolve, reproduce and behave like living things.
When I was a teen I read Steven Levy's book "Artifical Life". It captured my imagination in a way that the biomorph program in a Blind Watchmaker also had. Ever since then I've played with toy alife models.
How friends, family and wider social networks influence our health, behaviour and happiness.
I was so amazed I started a company building a CRM from the ground up using graph theory. We launch in Q1 2015.
A history of the early programmers and tinkerers who built the personal computer revolution.
This book inspired me greatly when I read it as a high school sophomore. After reading it, I taught myself Pascal
Learning to draw and paint
These readers gained drawing, shading, color or painting skills, and more confidence, by following the book's exercises. (Theme name written by AI.)
A set of drawing exercises that teach beginners to see and sketch realistically.
The exercises and approach radically helped me improved my drawing.
A set of drawing exercises that teach beginners to see and sketch realistically.
in a few (two?) weeks I was able to draw still life in a way I never thought I could, and the trick of looking at objects and imagining them flattened on paper burned into my mind
A set of drawing exercises that teach beginners to see and sketch realistically.
Reading that book helped me gain a lot more confidence and understand a lot of the science behind drawing ability.
A step-by-step course that teaches beginners to draw in a month.
it definitely helped me get better at perspective and shading.
A drawing guide for designers on sketching by hand to develop and communicate ideas.
I love having some basic sketching skills to help make my thoughts come to life. When I write blog posts, I try to throw in a sketch or two now.
A painter's guide to seeing colour accurately and mixing it in paintings.
It taught me how to see color and paint it. Also how to use a palette knife which makes my paintings very different and fun.
A set of drawing exercises that teach beginners to see and sketch realistically.
It made me realize that I am more creatively skilled than I thought I was — a realization which has enhanced my life greatly.
Practical methods for making ideas
These readers picked up concrete methods or frameworks for generating ideas, designing games, taking notes and filming. (Theme name written by AI.)
All of my best ideas came from applying the method it teaches.
A note-taking system for turning reading into ideas, helping students and writers work more productively.
I’ve now written 1,075 interconnected notes, and no longer feel that I forget 80% of any non-fiction book I read.
A guide to designing better games, using questions drawn from psychology, art, and other fields.
every few pages I couldn't resist putting it down and working on my designs because I was so overwhelmed with inspiration from its amazing wisdom
A guide to designing better games, using questions drawn from psychology, art, and other fields.
The paradigm he constructs for how all the elements of game design fit together helped me approach game design from angles (or lenses as he calls them) I hadn't considered before.
A guide to the main ways startups can find and win their first customers.
the book helped me get into the sales/marketing mindset which helped generate a few ideas of my own.
A beginner-friendly guide to shooting better video with simple camera, framing and editing techniques.
helped me competently film a few videos as a volunteer for non-profits that my colleagues were very happy with.
Music, dance and performance practice
These readers rethought how they practice or perform, with better technique, less self-criticism and more play. (Theme name written by AI.)
Advice for musicians on learning and performing with less fear of mistakes and more joy.
Reading this permanently changed the way I approach learning the piano (or synth. in my case) and I my playing has vastly improved over the last couple of years because of it.
Advice for performers on overcoming tension and self-doubt to make music more freely.
really helped me with my dance & acting practice. I restructured a lot based on that book (added improvisational elements, reduced forceful drill-like elements, more self-observation, less verbal cues), and my technique and enjoyment both improved a lot
Improvisation and theatre techniques for building spontaneity, storytelling and confidence on stage.
It really helped me to become friends with my subconscious, imagination, destroy some assumptions about myself, reframe my view of children
A jazz pianist's guide to playing music freely by quieting self-criticism and fear.
Then I read a book Effortless Mastery, from which I learnt Never criticize yourself on gigs. The time for that is when you practise. And since then I never do that.