How to Fail Successfully: Finding Your Creative Potential Through Mistakes and Challenges

by Brandon Stosuy

From Brandon Stosuy, cofounder of the Creative Independent, an interactive guide to navigating disappointments and finding happy accidents in a creative life, filled with advice from artists across disciplines.

The third in a series of three interactive guides to the practical and emotional sides of living a creative life, How to Fail Successfully tackles the inevitable challenges that come with making work and releasing it into the world. Whether you are confronting “failure” in the form of fear, imposter syndrome, or negative feedback, this book provides insights and exercises to help you reframe these vulnerabilities as vital components to your process. Working artists from all walks of life—such as musicians, authors, filmmakers, dancers, designers, and visual artists—offer their advice throughout the book, providing ample evidence that even the most accomplished among us deal with ongoing self-doubt.

Part memoir, part zine, part how-to, and part oral history, in How to Fail Successfully author and curator Brandon Stosuy taps into his own experiences and an incredible network of talent to provide diverse (and diverging) perspectives on how success and failure are intertwined. Taken as a stand-alone guide or the finale of a series (including Make Time for Creativity and Stay Inspired ), this book provides the support you need to take creative risks and make work on your terms. The book also includes quotes by Jason Reynolds (YA author), Björk (musician), Matthew Day Jackson (visual artist), Josh Fadem (comedian), Hanif Abdurraqib (poet and author), Sasha Grey (actor and DJ), Sigrid Lauren (choreographer), and many more.

Genres: Art, Writing, Nonfiction, Design, Self Help

144 pages, Paperback

Published June 21, 2022

Reviews

[Ignacio Flórez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great insights and awesome editing makes this one a pleasant surprise. I read it in only 3 hours. Would definitely recommend it for someone struggling creatively, it might just help.

Really appreciated when the author talked about his personal experience. It got pretty personal and intimate for a bit there, which I really appreciated, almost wish there had been one or two more moments like this.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of inspiration to go back to. Section 4 was my favorite and hit closest to home.

[Stéphane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bof

[Jay Koester · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gave me lots of inspiration to create! Good reading to help overcome my imposter syndrome.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I could say the book isn't for me. But some parts of it were relatable.


Highly recommended for aspiring Artists.

[Hammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking

[Aleigha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for work. It had some good leadership takeaways, but it was very focused on success in creative fields like music and production. There were a few quotes that could apply more broadly