This free eBook, by Hugh MacLeod, is an early version of what became his published book, Ignore Everybody. You can download the eBook here as a PDF (don't worry, he doesn't make you register to get it).
How to be Creative is a numbered list of 26 observations and pieces of advice. My favorites are:
#3, “Put the hours in,” which starts, “Doing anything worthwhile takes forever.”
#5, “You are responsible for your own experience,” which nicely captures the interior voice that thinks what you are doing is stupid but decides to “do it anyway.”
#9, “Everybody has their own private Mt Everest they were put on this earth to climb,” which is about trying, seriously trying.
#13, “Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.”
#23, “Worrying about ‘Commercial vs. Artistic’ is a complete waste of time.”
The eBook has other great nuggets about discipline, stamina, boundaries, passion, originality, and more.
Chronology:
2004: eBook made available. Over 5 million downloads since.
2009: Ignore Everybody (the book) published.
2012: “Ignoring Everybody, Eight Years On,” a fun reflection by MacLeod about both books.
2013: “'How to be Creative,’ still going strong,” another reflection where MacLeod writes that the eBook is “probably the best thing I ever wrote.”
What's your favorite piece of advice from the eBook?