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Library | Shelf Number | Material Type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Hattiesburg Library | 153.3 KORKKI | Book | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
A New York Times business journalist explains why it's important for people to pursue big creative projects, and identifies both the obstacles and the productive habits that emerge on the path to completion--including her own experience writing this book.
Whether it's the Great American Novel or a groundbreaking new app, many people want to create a Big Thing, but finding the motivation to get started, let alone complete the work, can be daunting. In The Big Thing, New York Times business writer and editor Phyllis Korkki combines real-life stories, science, and insights from her own experience to illuminate the factors that drive people to complete big creative projects--and the obstacles that threaten to derail success.
In the course of creating her own Big Thing--this book--Korkki explores the individual and collaborative projects of others: from memoirs, art installations, and musical works to theater productions, small businesses, and charities. She identifies the main aspects of a Big Thing, including meaningful goals, focus and effort, the difficulties posed by the demands of everyday life, and the high risk of failure and disappointment. Korkki also breaks down components of the creative process and the characteristics that define it, and offers her thoughts on avoiding procrastination, staying motivated, scheduling a routine, and overcoming self-doubt and the restrictions of a day job. Filled with inspiring stories, practical advice, and a refreshing dose of honesty, The Big Thing doesn't minimize the negative side of such pursuits--including the fact that big projects are hard to complete and raise difficult questions about one's self-worth.
Inspiring, wise, humorous, and good-natured, The Big Thing is a meditation on the importance of self-expression and purpose.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Spurred by an impending deadline for a column, New York Times freelance editor and reporter Korkki turned her difficulty writing the piece into the subject of this book. In it, she asks why so many creative people stall out. Moreover, how do the ones who make it keep their drive? Korkki sets out to help people approach their long-term projects with an eye toward actually getting the work done. These projects can be traditionally creative (books, paintings) or organizational (start-ups, charities). In any case, making progress on them requires tuning out the distractions of everyday life, committing wholeheartedly, and doing what one loves out of love, not for wealth and fame. In order to get to work on one's "big thing" and keep working, she recommends breathing and relaxation, concentration even through illness, taking necessary breaks, managing day jobs while working, and maintaining relationships with loved ones. More of a meditation than a prescriptive lesson, this is a helpful if not particularly fresh guide to getting one's heart's project moving. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
New York Times business editor Korkki draws on many interviews to produce her big thing, this book. Her thoroughly researched stories, intriguing interviews, and self-deprecating style create a fun, thought-provoking read. Want to know why you can't focus? Read Korkki's interview with a neuroscientist. Want to work with less fatigue? Learn how to belly breathe. Whether you learn more about posture, about the importance of letting your big thing sit for a day or even years, or become inspired by young people taking a trip and living through having an Uzi pointed at them, you'll want to keep reading. If you enjoy good journalism and want to create a big thing of your own, read this book. Readers who like Elizabeth Gilbert are sure to enjoy Korkki and, when they've finished this, may want to try Gilbert's Big Magic: Creative Living beyond Fear (2015) for another title that delves into the creative self-help realm.--McIntosh, Joyce Copyright 2016 Booklist
Library Journal Review
To overcome procrastination, a writer pens a book about the subject, but does she ever finish it? Yes! This is not a text about creativity, per se. Instead it is about setting deadlines and devising smaller, manageable tasks and figuring out what stands in the way of one finally getting going on that "big project," whether it's writing a book, producing a work of art, starting up a company, or building an app. Part self-help, part memoir, the volume provides examples of a wide variety of people and their undertakings. Korkki, assignment editor for the New York Times Sunday Business section, looks at psychological factors that hold people back and provides practical methods for making plans a reality, often trying them out on herself first. She also considers those of us who do not have this deep-seated artistic urge. Well written, in a breezy confessional style, it is an intriguing work for people in either camp. VERDICT While reading this might prompt yet another means of procrastination, it can also give readers the tips and inspiration they need to get started (or restarted) on their own "big thing." Recommended for public libraries.-Susan Hurst, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Introduction | p. ix |
| 1 The Value of the Long Arc | p. 1 |
| 2 Mind and Body | p. 19 |
| 3 In Bed with the Big Thing | p. 39 |
| 4 The intensity of Illness | p. 63 |
| 5 It's About the Experience | p. 83 |
| 6 Giving Up, for Now or Forever | p. 103 |
| 7 Through the Ages | p. 119 |
| 8 The Big Thing and Your Day Job | p. 139 |
| 9 You're Not Alone | p. 159 |
| 10 Love and Work | p. 179 |
| 11 It All Adds Up | p. 201 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 223 |
| Notes | p. 225 |