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الفنانون الحقيقيون لا يجوعون

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«لا يعلّمنا جيف غوينز كيف نكون أكثر إبداعا فحسب، بل يرينا السبيل لتحويل الفنون إلى مشاريع تجارية والعكس أيضًا، وينبغي على كل كاتب وفنان ورجل أعمال أن يقرأ هذا الكتاب وأن يدوّن منه بعض الملاحظات»

- دانيال إتش بينك

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 2017

816 people are currently reading
6231 people want to read

About the author

Jeff Goins

38 books559 followers
Jeff Goins is a writer, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur with a reputation for challenging the status quo. He is the best-selling author of five books including The Art of Work and Real Artists Don’t Starve. His award-winning blog Goinswriter.com is visited by millions of people every year, and his work has been featured in the Washington Post, USA Today, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Psychology Today, Business Insider, Time, and many others. Through his online courses, events, and coaching programs, he helps thousands of creatives succeed every year. A father of two and a guacamole aficionado, Jeff lives just outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

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5 stars
1,059 (33%)
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3 stars
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43 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 459 reviews
53 reviews4 followers
June 27, 2017
This book is useful because it helps highlight many preconceptions that people might have about what an artist is - and "artist" is used in a very general sense.

That being said, the book tends to have a lot of hot air. Don't work alone (except the people who worked alone). Find a scene. Make money from your art so you can make more money. People need a patron - OR *be your own patron*. It's a slim book, but it feels fluffed out even so.

Worth a skim, but not a must have.

453 reviews6 followers
June 21, 2017
Real Artists May Not Starve, but They May Not Get Rich

Allowing yourself the freedom to be a creative artist is something everyone should feel free to enjoy. This book offers strategies for how to get there. I completely agree with the ideas of learning your craft, being prudent and disciplined, working with others, stealing from the masters, and using old ideas in creative ways. However, I think the book is a little too much like a call to salvation. Some people will try all the suggestions and will still come up short, Unless they keep their day job, they may well starve.

There are more avenues than ever to get your creative product before the public: write a blog, publish your novel with Amazon, or Scribid, join a critique group, convince people in your area to give a book signing, talk a local gallery into hanging you paintings. The list goes on. However, a word of caution. No matter how hard you work, you may not become the next Michelangelo, or John Grisham. Some ideas catch hold and propel the artist to fame and fortune, others give satisfaction to the artist, but don’t pay the bills.

This is a book worth reading. The advice is good. If you want to be an artist, read the book and take the lessons to heart. However, a word of caution: make your goal to satisfy yourself. Creativity is about more than making money. Get your work before the public, enjoy the journey, but don’t expect to amass millions, it happens to a very few.

I received this book from Booklook Blogger for this review.
Profile Image for Marion Hill.
Author 8 books79 followers
March 25, 2018
Is the starving artist path the only accepted way in our society for an artist?

Jeff Goins answers that question in his latest book, Real Artists Don’t Starve (Timeless Strategies for Thriving in the New Creative Age). The starving artist mythos has been accepted by our culture and Goins has come up with twelve practical principles to show that an artist does not have to starve in making a living from their art.

The book is twelve chapters long with each chapter focused on a principle for the Thriving Artist. The principles are:

1) The Starving Artist believes you must be born an artist. The Thriving Artist knows you must become one.

2) The Starving Artist strives to be original. The Thriving Artist steals from his influences.

3) The Starving Artist believes he has enough talent. The Thriving Artist apprentices under a master.

4) The Starving Artist is stubborn about everything. The Thriving Artist is stubborn about the right things.

5) The Starving Artist waits to be noticed. The Thriving Artist cultivates patrons.

6) The Starving Artist believes he can be creative anywhere. The Thriving Artist goes where creative work is already happening.

7) The Starving Artist always works alone. The Thriving Artist collaborates with others.

8) The Starving Artist does his work in private. The Thriving Artist practices in public.

9) The Starving Artist works for free. The Thriving Artist always works for something.

10) The Starving Artist sells out too soon. The Thriving Artist owns his work.

11) The Starving Artist masters one craft. The Thriving Artist masters many.

12) The Starving Artist despises the need for money. The Thriving Artist makes money to make art.

Goins provides example of each Thriving Artist Principle from diverse artists like Michelangelo to Picasso to Elvis Presley to John Grisham to Dr. Dre. Real Artists Don’t Starve is a book that blows up the Starving Artist persona and its something all artists should keep a reference guide on their bookshelf.

I will admit that I disagreed with Principle 11 about the Starving Artist masters one craft and the Thriving Artist masters many. I understood the author’s perspective of an artist not being so focused one discipline to the detriment of the myriad of skills needed to make a living from one’s art. However, I found the Michael Jackson example of buying the Beatles catalog somewhat false because the singer’s business savvy and opportunistic nature did not take away from his craft of the being one of the best entertainers to have ever done it. I believe artistic geniuses master one craft and being a jack-of-all-trades does not fully bring out artistic genius.

Despite that disagreement, I totally enjoyed Real Artists Don’t Starve will recommended it for all artists who want learn some timeless principles on how to make a living from their art. I wrote in my review of Elizabeth Hyde Stevens’ Make Art Make Money that it would be my most important read of 2017. Well, I will add Real Artists Don’t Starve to that list.
Profile Image for Matthew Buscemi.
Author 15 books24 followers
September 9, 2018
About a month ago, Real Artists Don't Starve popped up on my Goodreads feed, and, based on the title, I decided to check it out. My history with the practice of an art (in my case, prose) is extensive, and although my history with the business of publishing is sordid, I also learned a ton. I was curious to see if Jeff Goins had written something that would rise above the general dredge of self-help literature and teach me something I didn't already know about managing the business aspects of art.

Sadly, it was worse than that. Not only did Goins fail to teach me anything new, his approach to discussing the topic introduces further confusion with a number of inappropriate conflations. By this I mean that Goins's frames of reference for argumentation only fit reality if you focus on a very narrow band of human experiences.

My intent in this review is to pull apart these conflations and fit their targets into frames of reference that fit broader swaths of reality. I will show that the sentiment behind the title, that "real artists don't starve," while, in a sense, true, is not true for the reasons Goins claims. On the contrary, the current state of the world is about as far from a "New Renaissance" as it could possibly be.

...

Read the full review at http://www.matthewbuscemi.com/blog/20...
Profile Image for Josiah DeGraaf.
Author 2 books427 followers
July 2, 2019
This is a truly fantastic book.

Goins expertly understands not only what it takes to succeed as a creative-minded individual in the ever-morphing digital age but also how to motivate people to pursue that path. This book left me with a lot to think about regarding practices I could better adopt as a writer to better pursue a sustainable career on that front, and also refreshed my mindset on how I ought to be pursuing this path.

I'm going to have to re-read this book on a regular basis.

Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Excellent).
Profile Image for Patrick Sherriff.
Author 97 books99 followers
July 8, 2017
The aim of this book is to dispel the myth that real artists have to suffer for their art, to starve and emerge ennobled by the experience with some damn fine, pure art that will serve as a beautiful headstone to put on their early grave. Goins paints a compelling picture that through the ages the most successful artists - from Michelangelo to Elvis - haven't starved (obviously by definition - they were successful) and he identifies 12 principles the starving artist doesn't employ, that the thriving artist does.

The 12 points, which he lists in the introduction, are:

1. The starving artist believes you must be born an artist. The thriving artist knows you must become one.
2. The starving artist strives to be original. The thriving artist steals from his influences.
3. The starving artist believes he has enough talent. The thriving artist apprentices under a master.
4. The starving artist is stubborn about everything. The thriving artist is stubborn about the right things.
5. The starving artist waits to be noticed. The thriving artist cultivates patrons.
6. The starving artist believes he can be creative anywhere. The thriving artist goes where creative work is already happening.
7. The starving artist always works alone. The thriving artist collaborates with others.
8. The starving artist does his work in private. The thriving artist practices in public.
9. The starving artist works for free. The thriving artist always works for something.
10. The starving artist sells out too soon. The thriving artist owns his own work.
11. The starving artist masters one craft. The thriving artist masters many.
12. The starving artist despises the need for money. The thriving artist makes money to make art.

Each point then becomes a chapter that Goins fills with anecdotes to prove his case with Michelangelo as the archetype of the thriving artist. My only criticism of the book is you could say Goins is guilty of cherry picking examples to suit his argument, none of us are Michelangelo after all, but that would be missing the point, which is that good art and commerce co-exist and always have. The principles and examples he develops are good, and after finishing the book today, I can say it maps out a course worth following for any creative type who wants to do good work, as I hope to do, well into a ripe old age.

Signup for my monthly book newsletter and download my starter library for free here - http://eepurl.com/bFkt0X
Profile Image for Юра Мельник.
320 reviews39 followers
January 16, 2022
Цілком в стилі мотиваційних книжечок, однак із витонченими прикладами із життя справжніх митців.
Profile Image for Nathan Albright.
4,488 reviews161 followers
June 18, 2017

[Note:  This book was provided free of charge by BookLook/Thomas Nelson Publishing.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.]

A good lesson from this book is that real douchebags shouldn't write books.  Generally speaking, it is not wise for someone to insult their targeted audience--in this case creative types--and this author demonstrates throughout this book that while he has some good points to make that he needs a bit more finishing at charm school before he is ready for the big time as a writer about the relationship between art and commerce [1].  After having read this book, I feel somewhat torn between wanting to rip into the author's total lack of empathy and understanding and his dodgy theology of the relationship of art and suffering and giving him well-deserved praise for seeking to provide a model by which artists can thrive in creating work that not only nourishes the spirit but gives encouragement to others and also serves for the benefit of the artist, so I suppose I will do a bit of both.  This is a book that has a lot to offer, if a reader can get beyond the snarky tone and relentless sales pitch of the author's approach.  Rarely has so much useful content been put in such an unpleasant and unpalatable context.

The slightly more than two-hundred pages of this book are divided into three parts.  The first part looks at the mind-set of a successful artist--knowing that it requires a great deal of effort, that it involves the appropriation and internalization of influences, that it can best be done through apprenticeship with masters, and that stubbornness has to be properly harnessed and disciplined.  The second part of the book is a look at the market for creative people, encouraging artists to cultivate patrons, join a scene, collaborate others, and practice in public (bloggers get special mention and praise here).  The third part of the book encourages artists to avoid and refuse working for free, own their own work, diversify their portfolio by acquiring many skills and developing a variety of interests, and making money in order to make art.  The book ends with an altar call of sorts for artists to join a "new renaissance" that seeks to provide a greater deal of financial security for creative people similar to the way that Renaissance artists plundered the artistic wealth of the Greco-Roman world in order to blaze a trail for greater honor and wealth for themselves.

There is a good deal to praise about this book.  The discussion is immensely practical, the revisionist history about artists and how they came to prominence through a combination of skill and opportunity is useful, and the narrative of thriving is a worthwhile counterbalance to the prevailing narrative of suffering artistry.  Nevertheless, the book itself has a certain smugness of attitude that proclaims that if an artist is suffering than they are doing something wrong, an attitude that smacks of the bad theology of Job's friends or of the prosperity gospel.  One can agree with the idea that acting appropriately and wisely ought to generally lead to thriving without taking that idea to extremes, and this author has an unfortunate tendency to get carried away by his rhetoric and led into extreme positions that are unsound even if they work as general rules.  Ultimately, for someone to avoid being led into extremes, they have to treat this book as a useful and practical guide to success at art that encourages caution and prudence, rather than listening to the overheated rhetoric of the title and occasional snarky comments of the author.  This is a book to be read, but to be read with discernment rather than uncritically.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...
Profile Image for Elisabeth.
Author 27 books193 followers
August 9, 2017
I gleaned some useful thoughts from this book, though I didn't necessarily find every chapter or line a revelation. I appreciated the big-picture concept of the book—that the bohemian-style Starving Artist is more of a romantic myth than a fact of life, and that artists don't have to live that way if they pursue their art and manage their lives intelligently—and found the illustrations from the life of Michelangelo strung through the book as the main case study quite interesting.

I didn't agree with every single point Goins makes. For instance, he places a lot of emphasis on the concept that artists are made rather than born. While many of the things he stresses as vital to success in art—practicing diligently and honing your craft, studying under masters, etc.—are entirely legitimate and important, the matter of natural gifts and talents is brushed over briefly with a token acknowledgement, and I think that can create a bit of misconception. I think perhaps the "you don't have to be born an artist" concept could be better expressed as "you don't have to be raised an artist"—i.e. that it's possible to change careers and follow the pursuits you really love even if you didn't start out that way from the beginning, which seems to be the idea Goins is trying to get across anyway. After all, if it wasn't for a natural gift and bent, the people whose stories he uses as examples—the major-league baseball player who walked away from sports because he wanted to write even more, the lawyer who switched careers to become an actress—wouldn't have felt that pull and desire for the work that they really wanted.

The chapters on drawing inspiration from other sources and sharing your work didn't really introduce any new concepts for me, as I think this ground has been already covered and covered better in Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work!. I think the part of the book I appreciated most was the third section on the business and money-managing side of the artist's life. I do think, though, that many of Goins' suggestions are more suited to visual and performing arts, like painting, music, acting and so forth, rather than writing. Some of the ideas can be adapted to a writing career, of course, but they don't always fit perfectly. For example, for a fiction writer it's a little hard to reconcile the concept of "practice in public" with "don't give your work away for free."
Profile Image for Stephen.
750 reviews2 followers
September 17, 2017
Spoiler alert: You might actually starve if you quit your day job or are not Michelangelo

I struggle to recommend this because I don't know that I learned much new insight from it, however I could imagine a starving artist getting some inspirational nuggets in this text.

Some of what is covered:
- Some artists make a great deal of money
- Creating art should be considered a noble profession
- Respect yourself and your art by charging for it
- Don't quit your day job
- Diversify your skills beyond just one artistic endeavor, its good to have business sense.
- Maintain legal control of your art so you may maintain creative control
- Don't trust that others will have your best interest at heart

In retrospect, perhaps the reason I didn't find it so helpful is that I'm not sure how to classify it. If looking for a purely inspirational book I think Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert is a better read (more inspiration to me at least), and if one is looking for more of a scientific book on pursuing your creative dreams, perhaps Grit by Angela Duckworth or Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink would be more worthwhile.

Here the author seems to have a number of stories of artists and tries to encourage artists to succeed and value their work, but asides from the many anecdotal stories, I don't recall much hard research or factual support for much of the more sweeping recommendations. One story in particular went on at length about Lisa Link changing from being an attorney to an actor, but I hadn't heard of her and had to look her up (a side note for those listening on audio book, I think the name mentioned is Tia Link, not Tia Ling, as Tia Ling is um well... lets just say googling Tia Ling will not give you the kind of actress portfolio you may be thinking and Ms. Ling despite seemingly having a number of "creative talents" does not seem to have listed a Stanford Law Degree as one of her particular accomplishments). Accordingly, since I had never before heard of Ms. Link, I don't know what I'm supposed to make of her being a shining example of thriving creatively if popularity and success in the field is the standard, although I'm sure she seems much happier and this book is not titled "Real Artists Are Happy." Another story of an astronaut turned artists didn't seem to show he has received great artistic (and financial i.e. not starving) success.
Profile Image for Essie (Sarah).
184 reviews
July 25, 2023
You know, I made it about the third of the way through and thought “eh, no thanks.” The ways this guy wants to make money and the people he looks up to are very…American male? Idk. Some books just make me feel MORE strained about money and this one did just that.
Profile Image for Nicholas Kotar.
Author 39 books367 followers
February 6, 2020
A good message, but it's the stories that make it memorable

A good message, but it's the stories that make it memorable. Well researched and earnest, if a little on the touchy-feely self-help side. Recommended for all creatives serious about both craft and the business of art
Profile Image for Jenna.
88 reviews
March 9, 2025
stupid capitalist garbage, not to mention just the written book i’ve ever read. the author clearly knows zero artists and is not one himself so instead relies on summarizing wikipedia biographies of rando artists then saying, “see? duh, i’m right!” feels like it was written by a sixth grader. filled with pretty much every fallacy imaginable- straw man, circular argument, either or, slippery slope.

as other reviewers have said, he also assumes to be a “real artist” means keeping your day job til you can make enough money and then be famous, assuming that’s everyone’s goal. and all the “day job” examples are people actually making a livable wage on wall street or major league baseball. talk abt unrealistic. finally, he uses almost exclusively white men as examples including fucking jeff bezos.

things i did like tho:
- thinking of your employer like a client to push creativity
- the idea that hunter s thompson copied pages and pages of writing he liked verbatim to feel out “what it was like to write that way”
- the phrase: “there were costs on either side” to “being/not being” an artist. i like thinking of it like a balanced choice like this.
- “But what does it mean to be a “real artist”? It means you are spending your time doing the things that matter most to you. It means you don’t need someone else’s permission to create. It means you aren’t doing your work in secret, hoping someone may discover it someday. The world is taking you seriously.”

eventually this became a hate read but 50% in, i’m done. i don’t even rmr how i found this book but anything by someone who wrote “the art of work” (what kind of capitalist bs is that) and is a wall street journal bestseller is a no from me, clearly.
137 reviews2 followers
July 2, 2017
I would give this book 3.5 out of 5, for quite a few reasons. And yet I like this book and got quite a bit from it. So, let's go through why!

{Read the Full Review here: http://viabella-thebeautifullife.blog...}

I struggle between 3 and 4 stars because of several things:

a) The title is a little misleading though there are some great pieces of advice given
b) His Facebook ad asking me to buy something from him before I have read the book
c) Some of his terminology in the book and references to an artist' life
d) Lack of connection between his artistry by example and experience and what he is saying
e) Lack of connection between concept and practicality in today's world (while it does touch on it, it is more historically founded but based on the cover, that's not what I would have expected)

Other than these things, it's a good book, honestly.
Profile Image for Suz.
2,293 reviews73 followers
October 17, 2018
2.5 stars

I started out listening to this in audio and found it inordinately redundant, so I switched over to the ebook and skimmed it. I found it repetitive and essentially just a collection of anecdotes meant to motivate you to break out of any sociologically ingrained belief you might have that all artists starve.

It's got enumerated ideas for things you can do to help break out of that mindset, but anyone whose been to any art school has already heard them.

If you need a motivation speech, validated with anecdotal evidence, about artists being worthy of making a living then this may be the book for you. If you already think it's ok to make a living with your art, and that starving is a bullshit mindset for any artist, then this may be a waste of your time.
Profile Image for Paul.
37 reviews2 followers
December 29, 2017
If you're an artist or creator of any kind, this book is for you. Real Artists Don't Starve will clear up some creative space in your heart and mind after it sweeps out the old myths of what and who gets to be an artist.
Profile Image for Ahmed Alkaabi.
715 reviews37 followers
July 18, 2023
الفكرة المنتشرة عن الفنان بشكل عام هي الجوع والكفاح الكبير في الحياة، أي أن الفنان -بطبيعته- يعاني، أي أن الفنان يخجل من أن يكون هدفه من ابداعه المال!..
الكتاب يحارب هذه الفكرة ويعطي الحلول والاقتراحات لأن تكون فنان ناجح -غير جائع- ومستفيد من ابداعك.
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- الكتاب مفيد بشكل عام، محفز لأن تستثمر ابداعك بأفضل وسيلة سواءً كنت كاتب أو رسام أو مصمم أو ممثل أو لاعب أو أي طريقة إبداع تمارسها.. فيه أفكار تساهم في التحفيز والتشجيع لتقديم الأفضل والاستمرار في السعي للنج��ح الملموس، استفدت منه بشكل عام.
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#اقتباسات
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- الإنسان لا يولد فنانًا، بل يصنع من نفسه واحدًا.
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- إذا أردت ‏أن تكون فنانًا، ‏سيكون عليك أن تكسب بعض القواعد، ‏لا أن تفعل دائمًا ما يُتوقع منك فعله. ‏في مرحلة ماء، سيتعين عليك أن تشق عن الأمر الواقع، وترسم طريقًا جديدًا، وهذا هو السبيل الأمثل لتطلق العنان لإبداعك.
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- ولكن الإبداع -في الواقع- نتاج عمل وليس سحرًا.
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- القفزات العملية تكون عبر سلسلة من الخطوات الصغيرة غالبًا.
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- اعلم انه يمكنك القيام بأشياء استثنائية عندما تكون مثابرًا، صبورًا.
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- ‏أن الخطوة الأولى للتخلي عن عقلية الفنان الجائع تتمثل في تركنا لما نعتقده عن أنفسنا وعمّا يجب أن تكونه، حتى لو لم نكن على دراية بالهوية الجديدة التي تنتظرنا. فما ينتظرنا مهما كان مخيفًا أفضل لنا من البقاء في مكاننا الحالي.
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- نحن لا نبدع بمعزل عن الآخرين، ولكن بتأثيرهم.
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- ابدأ مشوارك مقلدًا، وسينتهي بك المطاف فنانًا عظيمًا.
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- قبل أن نصبح معلمين، علينا أولًا أن نكون تلاميذ.
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- المهارة لا تكفي لشد انتباه المؤثرين، عليك أن تكون قابلًا للتعليم.
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- الفنانون الجياع عنيدون في كل شيء.. أم الفنانون الناجحون فهم عنيدون في الأمور الصحيحة.
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- يجب أن نكون عنيدين تجاه الرؤية، مرنين في تفاصيل تحقيقها.
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- ينبغي أن تجد لك جمهورًا من شخص واحد، قبل أن تخرج إلى جمهورٍ أكبر
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- يحترم الفنانون الناجحون قاعدة الراعي، ويوظفونها لصالحهم. جميع المبدعين يحتاجون إلى أشخاص مؤثرين، ليقوموا بتزكيتهم أمام الجمهور الذي لا يعلم عنهم أي شيءٍ بعد.
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- وظف بيئته والظروف المحيطة به، كوسيلة لتحقيق غايته، ومقاومة كل ما يعرقل أهدافه.
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- يقول هانك: "الدراسات العليا تساعدك على بناء شبكةٍ من العلاقات"
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- يقول ‏هانك: "‏كل الفرص العظيمة التي حصلت عليها جاءت من أصدقائي لذا يحتاج الإنسان في حياته صديقاً جيداً أو اثنين، ‏لأن وصفة النجاح تشترط وجود أشخاص يدعمونك"
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- الفنان الجائع يعتقد ‏أنه يستطيع أن يكون مبدعاً في أي مكان، ‏أما الفنان الناجح فيذهب حيث يحضر الإبداع.
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- "إن ‏أفضل طريقة لتصبح حكيماً هي أن توافق الحكماء"، ويبدو أن هذا ‏ينطبق عليك في حال أردت أن تصبح مبدعاً، ‏فنحن لا نستطيع أن نقدم أفضل ما لدينا بمعزل عن الآخرين بل نفعل ذلك بالتعاون معهم.
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- يُتم الفنان الناجح عمله بشكل سري، بينما يمارس الفنان الناجح عمله في العلن.
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- "حتى لو انتهيت من إنجاز عملك، فلن يأتي إليك -الجمهور-، إذا أردت أن يُعثر عليك فيجب أن تسهل المهمة على الجمهور. ضع عملك أمام المهتمين به"
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- الفن لا تأثير له ولا قيمة بدون جمهور.
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- ليتضح لي أن مشاركة عملك هي أفضل طريقة لتحسين أدائك، إنها الطريقة المثلى لجذب الاهتمام والنمو كفنان.
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- طلب المال يجلب الكرامة لأعمالنا.
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- إن فنك ذو قيمة، ولكن العالم لن يعترف بذلك، حتى تفعل أنت.
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- الفنان الجائع يبيع عمله لأول مشتر، أما الفنان الناجح فهو رب العمل.
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- إذا قمت يوماً ببيع عملك لناشر، أو لشركة تسجيل، أو لمستثمر، فافعلها لشروطك الخاصة ولأسباب صحيحة.
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- يمتهن الفنان الجائع حرفة واحدة، بينما يتقن الفنان الناجح كثيرًا من الحرف.
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- إن فنونك لا تبقى عالقة في شكل واحد للأبد، بل يمكنك دائمًا التغيير والتطوير فيها. وهذا ما يفعله الفنانون الناجحون عادةً
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- عندما كان بروفيسورًا بدوام جزئي؛ كان يشتري الوقت!.
Profile Image for Donna Weaver.
Author 87 books459 followers
June 29, 2017
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
For centuries, the myth of the starving artist has dominated our culture, seeping into the minds of creative people and stifling their pursuits. But the truth is that the world's most successful artists did not starve. In fact, they capitalized on the power of their creative strength. In Real Artists Don't Starve, Jeff Goins debunks the myth of the starving artist by unveiling the ideas that created it and replacing them with timeless strategies for thriving.

MY TAKE
This is a book full of information I hadn't known about artists, both old famous ones, and modern ones and they found out how to thrive as artists. It's an inspirational book, full of broad, philosophical suggestions. If you're looking for specifics in a step-by-step approach, this probably isn't the book for you. But the mindset would serve anyone well, even people not pursuing professions in the arts.

4 1/2 stars
Profile Image for Create With Joy.
682 reviews169 followers
June 6, 2017
If you are creative in any way, you need to read Jeff Goin's latest book, Real Artists Don't Starve - a wonderful follow-up to his earlier book, The Art Of Work.

In this book, Jeff debunks the myth of the starving artist and replaces it with the inspiration of the Thriving Artist, turning to Michealangelo for inspiration.

He shares that although Michaelangelo was believed to be "just another starving artists" by the historians of his day, it was later discovered by historians who dug into his bank accounts that he was actually the richest artist of the Renaissance period. If he were alive today, he would be worth $47 million dollars!

As Jeff says, we need a new Renaissance!

Through 12 Principles That Every Artist Should Live By - rules that serve both as a manifesto and as the framework for the book - Jeff inspires creative people everywhere to pursue the gifts that God endowed them with and to bring forth their vision into the world.

I highly recommend this inspiring book to you!

This review is an excerpt from the original review that is published on my blog. To read my review in its entirety, please visit Create With Joy.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own, based on my assessment of this book.
Profile Image for Casey.
90 reviews6 followers
September 17, 2023
This is a 4 Star book minus 2 Stars 😒

The content, the honesty, and the points were fairly valid. But its greatest failings for me were how it was all put together!

There is good information in this book but it didn't need over 200 pages. There were many times Jeff Goins would start me off with a great point and then beat it death by using several different stories to repeat the same thing over and over in a chapter. Every subheading basically started: "In the year X, artist X was..." followed by a short explanation of his point. Which is fine except he kept repeating the process and the point at least 5 times per chapter. It was so monotonous 😭 It really felt like someone prepared me great food, but only a bite at a time, and between each bite they kept telling me to re-chew what was in my mouth until they could get the next bite ready.

There is just so much fluff to pick through to really get to that core information. And the information is good, I just wish he would've been more straightforward, so I could've actually enjoyed the book.
Profile Image for Mark.
216 reviews11 followers
December 1, 2021
Primarily a mindset argument for creatives, this book's organization and flow are loosely Gladwell-esque. The author's claims feel valid, probably due to the helpful anecdotes about various creatives wrestling with issues including perspective, focus, persistence, resilience, strategies and tactics, learning, motivation, and such. Some of the claims track with my own experience, observations of other creatives' experiences, and readings of similar works. I found nothing particularly fresh but Goins is a good communicator. (I paid for one of his video courses and was satisfied but didn't hear anything that stood out from what similar communicators present.) It's a worthwhile read for those who are driven to create and who want to make or supplement a living from creative work.
Profile Image for F.R..
Author 37 books221 followers
January 11, 2018
Reading about other people creating, is for a creative like me, an incredibly uplifting experience. It’s like having a hug from a community, an affirmation that people can become widely successful in the life they want to live. Reading about people being valued and earning money for their work is also hugely encouraging for a writer like me who wants to do exactly that.

Jeff Goins’ book is all about how art shouldn’t necessarily be its own reward, but is there for the artist to make money from. That a writer, or musician or filmmaker (or a poet or a mime or whatever) shouldn’t feel embarrassed about monetising what they do, and should instead embrace it. What we do is intrinsically valuable, and we shouldn’t hide that fact.

To prove the point – to bash it home, in fact – there are numerous examples of artists who were brilliant at what they did but also understood the business side of the industry – the most jaw-dropping of which is Michelangelo, who died with a fortune worth in current terms about $47 million. Although since he complained in one of his later poems that art had left him “poor, old and working as a servant of others”, we can be forgiven for our erroneous belief that he was all about art for art’s sake.

Even if the central message doesn’t develop that much throughout the book, it doesn’t really matter. It’s a message that should be cheered out loud and Goins is just the right confident, chatty author to it. ‘Real Artists Don’t Starve;’ isn’t a self-help book in the normal sense of things, it’s more a warm bath of positivity and a great way to start the New Year.
Profile Image for Sneha Sinha.
19 reviews
July 29, 2024
borrowed this book from mira after we were talking about the logistics of becoming an artist in today’s world. this was a little bit of a counterintuitive read for me because it focused a lot on turning creative pursuits into one’s livelihood, while I have been struggling to stay creative just for myself. that being said, I think it was an apt read for being at a pivot in my career. I read this book more generally for someone at an inflection point rather than trying to pursue art as a career.

some takeaways I appreciated:
- “before you can create great art, you first have to create yourself”
- “let go of who we think we are or must be” (even if we don’t know what’s next)
- the importance of apprenticeships/mentors/patrons
- the value of stubborness- being “stubborn on vision, and flexible on details”
- finding your scene, cultivating groups of like minds, being open and sharing your art
- having a “leaky filter mind” to pick up new skills and continue building a portfolio
- “money is the means to making art, but it must never be the master”
Profile Image for Cynthia.
633 reviews42 followers
March 9, 2018
Going presents lots of surprisingly practical advise for creative people with abstract concepts illustrated with case study examples. The book’s focus is a synergy of how to create, how to enjoy that process but also how to create a sense of dignity by charging what art is worth. I especially enjoyed the insights he presents of famous and not so famous (should is say soon to be famous?) writers from C.S. Lewis and Tolkein’s Inkling get weekly meetings to John Grisham and Hemingway and others.

Networking with its inspiration and helpful feedback are key. Goins busts a lot of stereotypes and wrong thinking that most of us have been fed over the years. Not Starving is good advise and he does it in useable steps and with inspiration.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC.
Profile Image for Daksh Jindal.
220 reviews133 followers
January 3, 2021
This is a book which every aspiring artist should. It shows you how you can fit in as an artist in the modern era.

The books describes all the various steps you need to take by giving some very good examples of the artists who made it by believing in their artistic and by being flexible.

I really like the part about becoming an apprentice before an artist as I think that is a very important point that is missing in the artist mindset today.

The book is really good but could have been much better with the more recent examples showing some online thriving artists such as bloggers and YouTubers since the book is published very recently.

Still it’s a good read and lot of principles can be learnt from this book.
Profile Image for Kourtney.
Author 3 books242 followers
July 20, 2017
This is a thoughtful examination of the idea that real artists starve. The author uses actual examples of artists to disprove this idea and shows how artists have thrived throughout time. There are twelve principles that the thriving artist lives by, and Mr. Goins spends a chapter detailing each one. Some of his advice is easier to implement than other parts, but overall it's a refreshing take on how artists don't have to starve. I enjoyed the writing style, it was as if Mr. Goins was sitting here chatting with me. Overall, a nice addition to my personal collection, and I will likely reread some chapters to cement the strategies over time.
Profile Image for Emma Sea.
2,214 reviews1,227 followers
own-and-need-to-read
September 25, 2017
why is the paperback cheaper than the kindle edition?
11 reviews
June 11, 2022
Stories about artistic successful people
Profile Image for Erik Rostad.
422 reviews171 followers
December 16, 2018
Good, quick read that helps artists have the right mindset for first valuing their art and then figuring out ways to make money from it. The author, Jeff Goins, takes on one of the most common misconceptions about artists - that the good ones are barely scraping by. He delves into three main areas - mindset, market, and money. This is a must-read for anyone doing creative work.
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