You may have heard the term “blackout poetry.” It’s a literary process in which the author takes an existing text and modifies it by erasing some words, thereby composing a completely new (and shorter) text with a new meaning. One of the genre’s leading exponents is the bestselling author and #illustrator Austin Kleon . Having started out as a librarian and an advertising copywriter, Kleon launched a blog where he posted his poems and illustrations. He also started a weekly newsletter focused on books, which over time has grown to over 70,000 subscribers. But it was the book “Steal Like an Artist” that has turned out to be his most successful project to date. It is a collection of motto-like principles that all budding artists and writers can follow, inviting them to share their art, write the book that they’d want to read, and of course, “steal” from others (don’t worry, there are more diplomatic terms for that). Kleon regularly shares tips on ways to stay creative while making a decent living from art. On that latter point, the author obviously speaks from experience: besides “Steal Like an Artist,” several of his other books with equally exhortative titles, such as “Show Your Work!” and “Keep Going” also became New York Times bestsellers. Listen to Austin reflect on the topics of creativity and success on Padverb