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  • The Big Thing: How to Complete Your Creative Project Even if You're a Lazy, Self-Doubting Procrastinator Like Me

The Big Thing: How to Complete Your Creative Project Even if You're a Lazy, Self-Doubting Procrastinator Like Me

Phyllis Korkki (Author), Sandy Rustin (Narrator), Harper Business (Publisher) Format: Audible Audiobook
4.1 out of 5 stars (49)

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.

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  1. Listening Length
    7 hours and 42 minutes
  2. Author
    Phyllis Korkki
  3. Narrator
    Sandy Rustin
  4. Publication date
    August 9, 2016
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Harper Business
  7. ASIN
    B01FY617T2
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
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Product details

  • Listening Length ‏ : ‎ 7 hours and 42 minutes
  • Author ‏ : ‎ Phyllis Korkki
  • Narrator ‏ : ‎ Sandy Rustin
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 9, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Business
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01FY617T2
  • Version ‏ : ‎ Unabridged
  • Program Type ‏ : ‎ Audiobook
  • Best Sellers Rank: #688,543 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 out of 5 stars (49)

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
49 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

  • KH
    5 out of 5 stars
    Buy it, read it, gift it...FANTASTIC book
    Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2016
    Format: Hardcover
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    This is a fantastic book: Well-written, engaging, valuable. Do not be fooled by the flip title. It is not really a self-help book, and it certainly is not a book full of cheesy advice. The author, a career journalist and lovely writer, examines the notion of a Big Thing and why we want to do one, how we define it, what it means to try and fail, to try and succeed, to not try, to try and realize it is the WRONG Big Thing. She consults many experts and discusses everything from brain chemistry to ergonomics/posture to collaboration among artists and lone-wolf creative types. I bought the book because a writeup in the NYTimes made it sound intriguing, but was not expecting to find such a compelling and smart book. As a middle-aged author of a reasonably successful nonfiction book myself, I was amazed at how she captured the thought process of a writer who has (for many years) nursed a vague idea of a Big Thing in book form....and then finds herself, somewhat like the dog who caught the car, having to (gulp) actually deliver. I learned a great deal about myself while reading this. It is also a rare book that speaks clearly to people along a very wide age spectrum. She makes the very valuable point that not everyone has a Big Thing in mind along the lines of a book, painting, project, software ap, etc. Their Big Thing may be family, marriage, living a fit and happy life, whatever. She does this without sounding condescending. I could rave on here, but the bottom line is -- buy this one. And give lots of copies to friends. I am.

    19 people found this helpful
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  • Victoria Vinton
    4 out of 5 stars
    Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2017
    Format: Hardcover
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    Inspiring without being condescending. A slightly new look. Thumbs up.

    2 people found this helpful
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  • Susan G.
    3 out of 5 stars
    I Wanted to Love this Book
    Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2016
    Format: Kindle
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    Phyllis Korkki has written a book that is mostly about Phyllis Korkki. It should have been a memoir. It’s not a self-help book. The scattered examples of other people who have successfully accomplished their “big thing” are interesting and done via professional interviews that were much easier for her to get than the average person who is not employed full-time by the New York Times. That Korkki is technically a good writer and editor is obvious, but that is just not enough to save this book.

    I am the perfect reader for The Big Thing, having successfully completed NaNoWriMo twice, and going on a year staring into space, beaten down, lazy and unproductive for my true BIG THING. Where’s my motivation?! How do I get back on track? Should I just give up or beat myself up? Can this BIG THING really be saved? I got no answers from Phyllis Korkki and only became motivated to write this review.

    57 people found this helpful
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  • Discerning reader
    5 out of 5 stars
    An excellent combination of a "how to," autobiographical and motivational book on creating one's magnum opus
    Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2016
    Format: Hardcover
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    Phyllis Korkki has written a book that is simultaneously deeply personal, witty, educational and inspirational about the struggles and triumphs of creating an important personal work later in life. It is especially motivational to those like myself who are on the downside of middle age and have big pent up projects inside that have not been completed as a result of fragmented activities and procrastination. Her book shows us "Hey, if I can do this, so can you!"

    She presents insights from psychologists, scientists, professors and other experts on the vagaries of human motivation, drive and achievement. She also outlines numerous fascinating biographical examples of late bloomers who create music albums, museums, and charities doing important work in the years that most people are settling into retirement. And perhaps the most interesting example is herself as she documents, with wit and humility, the obstacles she has faced in surmounting her resistance to creating this book and the tools she uses to defuse her internal resistance. Those include posture training, meditation, a breath coach and even phone calls from a woman on the West Coast who provides a motivational wake up before milking her cows.

    This is a unique book in which you will learn a lot and also come away with compassion and respect for the author's journey. I recommend this as a practical and uplifting guide to all who have great unfulfilled projects inside of themselves who yearn for them to be completed.

    3 people found this helpful
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  • Melanie
    4 out of 5 stars
    Lots of Gems Inside!
    Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2016
    Format: Kindle
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    This is the kind of book I enjoy reading from time to time. I marked it up quite a bit so I can go back later and refresh my memory on the gems I found. I'm so conditioned in my life to multitask so one of the first things that jumped out at me was her recommendation to place more value on unitasking: working steadily toward the creation of one thing. Later, she talks about how breathing properly and sleeping can help you move closer to your Big Thing. She also talks about collaborating with others which helps with accountability, and deadlines. She did a lot of research and interviewing experts and I found all of that interesting.

    In this book, the author focuses on how she achieved her Big Thing, which was writing this book. She also shares stories from the lives of others to illustrate some of her points. I generally love reading those types of examples, but there were times I found myself skimming through them. I was intrigued by this book and found plenty of great ideas and gems to take away as I work on my own Big Thing. If you're feeling stuck on your Big Thing, this is a book you will definitely want to read to get you motivated again!

    I received a copy via TLC Book Tours for an honest review. My opinion is 100% my own.

    2 people found this helpful
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  • Kathleen A. Flynn
    5 out of 5 stars
    Full of Helpful, Subtle Guidance
    Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2017
    Format: Kindle
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    I enjoyed this book a lot, as someone who recently finished a Big Thing of my own and is trying to find the courage to start another. Many of the author's struggles really resonated with me: how to establish a routine to work on a large, initially formless project, how to deal with the anxiety that the thing in reality will never be as good as it was in your imagination, how to integrate this secret life of creative work with the need to earn a living.

    Some reviewers seem to have been annoyed that this wasn't more of a step-by-step, how-to guide, or irked that the author talked too much about herself. But these objections seem to me to miss the point of the book: That no one can give you a set of instructions like that, because the only way to learn to do a thing like this is to actually do it. Korkki shows us "how" in the only possible way one can, by example.

    13 people found this helpful
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  • max
    5 out of 5 stars
    very engaging well written and the advice subtle but important
    Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2016
    Format: Hardcover
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    very engaging well written and the advice subtle but important

    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reader
    1 out of 5 stars
    It's so meta as to be unintentionally funny, but only at first.
    Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2018
    Format: Kindle
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    She basically is writing a book about how hard it is to write the book. The sole purpose seems to be to be able to say she finished something. After a while, it's like being on a long, boring road trip across the most boring landscape imaginable with a 50 y.o. in the back, kicking the seat and whining "Aren't we there yet?" every two miles.

    12 people found this helpful
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