Квест для творческого человека. 344 вопроса о том, как найти вдохновение, не сорваться и стать профи

by Stefan G. Bucher

Секрет творческого успеха не в том, чтобы знать правильные ответы, а в том, чтобы уметь задавать правильные вопросы. А каких только нет вопросов в этой маленькой книге! 344 вопроса — вот уж точно настоящий квест! Ответы на эти вопросы помогут вам определить, на каком этапе жизненного и карьерного пути вы находитесь, к чему стремитесь и как этого добиться. Надеемся, что проходя квест, вы еще и посмеетесь!

На каждом развороте этой яркой книги с уникальными иллюстрациями Стефана Бухера вы найдете по несколько вопросов. Они призваны заставить вас задуматься, начать рисовать и писать прямо в книге, где для этого отведено специальное место. Вот примеры вопросов: «Как вы опишете свою жизнь одним предложением? Думаете, вы рождены для великих дел? Чем для вас является счастье? Если вы знаете, как стать счастливым, почему не становитесь?»

Кроме авторских, в книге есть вопросы от знаменитостей — писателей, художников, музыкантов, фотографов, лауреатов «Оскара». Те делятся вопросами, которые им задавали в ходе творческого пути, и теми, которые им никто не задал, — а жаль.

Ваша жизнь точно изменится, если вы честно ответите хотя бы на половину вопросов.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Art, Psychology, Design, Philosophy, Personal Development

144 pages, Hardcover

First published May 18, 2011

Reviews

[Dimitris Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The more honest you are with yourself as you go through the book, and the more notes you make in it, the more valuable it will become to you. That's why this book is small, fexible, and doesn't cost a lot of money. I want you to take it with you when you go to woek, keep it in your bag, and scribble into it as answers occur to you. Don't keep this book clean! Mess it up! Write in it freely! Doodle! Put a rubber band around it, so that you can keep interesting articles and extra pages of notes in it. If you keep this book in mint condition, I've failed. Because a tattered, bust-up book-filled out and scribbled upon -- means you've found out new things about yourself and you're inspired to take action".

I would heartily agree, Mr. Bucher. A tattered, note-filled book is an addition to every person's fossil registry of personal story and evolution. It really is a crying shame this book does not inspire any of this. Unavoidably I must come to the heart-wrenching conclusion that you have failed.

First of all, how do you expect, no, demand from people to write on a book made entirely of glossy paper? Have you ever tried writing with a pencil on this material? I always hated my English textbooks for this very reason. Unless this is some indication that you want our answers to be set in Bic ink -- hardly the point of the book as you must have planned it Mr. Bucher, I would entertain the thought -- the selection of materials is the first poor design choice to come out of this book. I might have actually tried writing with a pen but the subconscious connections with English teachers with terrible Greek accents I so naively thought I had left far behind, ultimately overpowered me.

Then, what sort of questions are these? They gave me the feeling they were either too sterilised or trying too hard to be witty and/or innovative. Most of the book consists of questions that require you to either be extremely honest with yourself or have remarkable skills of self-knowledge to properly answer, mostly both: "What are you doing to sabotage yourself?", "What are you going to be doing in the next 60 years?", "Do you prefer your inner or your outer life?", "How do you handle too much success?", "How much can you whore yourself out?" etc. They're insightful questions, but if I were in any position to actually be able to return equally insightful answers, I wouldn't be interested in buying this book in the first place. If I could answer all these questions as easily as the book has this passive-aggressive aura about it that it's really possible, I would already be everything I want, can, have or haven't ever dreamed to be.

OK, let's say that answering the questions would actually evolve me into such an Übermensch. The auxilliary questions meant to help you on every page, along with the whole flowchart thing going on that makes no sense and if I really followed it I would never even reach half of the questions (how can you have several arrows pointing towards a box in a flowchart, but no arrows pointing outwards and still have it be workable?), are not much better than the main questions themselves. I don't know if designers use flowcharts --they probably do-- but this book would definitely be enough to drive any programmer to insanity!

Some of the less ambitious questions pack some punch and made me think as well as laugh. This is the reason this is getting 2 stars instead of only 1.

This sterilised, efficient, perfectly creative --where creative is implied here to exclude anything that cannot be represented with flowcharts--, ideal model for Westerners, best displayed in cases such as this... It scares the hell out of me, man.

[Venkatesh-Prasad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a book to revisit.

This is the strangest book that I have read to date. It is nothing but a big compilation of questions. Really, I'm not joking.

While it seems very much like a self help book, it is like none; it does not try to help by providing advice. Instead, it is a collection of macro questions accompanied by a set of related micro questions that break down the macro questions. So, the purpose of the book is for the reader to work thru a macro question and related micro questions by answering them (to uncover the answer the reader was looking for).

Besides the author, invited artists and designers contribute few question maps as well.

All said, the book is different and fresh. While I did not follow thru the purpose of the book, I do plan to revisit some bookmarks. So, I'd say it is worth a shot.

[Natalie]

Flowcharting my way to happiness.

[Janina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I randomly stumbled across this book and decided to order it and I’m glad I did. This is a book of questions geared towards designers, but applicable to everybody. There are questions in this book I’ve never asked myself and there are others that I can’t seem to stop thinking about. This book is written in interactive flowcharts, so you write your answers directly in the book. It’s extremely helpful if you’re interested in doing a life evaluation or are at a crossroads and are unsure about what to do next.

[Sarah McCully · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh. I didn't get more than 10 pages in before I lost interest. Mainly because the questions were a bit mundane and yet at times overly clever, and also, this really ticked me off, the type of paper it is printed on is so glossy you can't get your answers on to the page. Pen, pencil, neither really worked. Does this not defeat the purpose of the book? Argh.

[Elli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess this one little book that I will stay with me for a long time.

The inside of the book designed beautifully and it just contains questions; some that you have asked yourself and some that have never been close to crossing your mind. I'm still at it and I have revisited some questions already 2-3 times.

[Mike Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deceptively simple. This looks like a really quick read. In fact, the questions make you think very deeply and touch on aspects that get to the core of who you are. I found this to be overwhelming.

[Chinie Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this! Another of those books you wish you could give away to everyone. :)

[Krista Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bunch of questions to spur one thinking about how to have the best, well examined life. Primary perspective is that of graphic design, but that isn't the only reader who can benefit. I've enjoyed one set of questions since the book came out, but just finally read all of it.

[Jacqueline Nyathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fun.

[Penelope · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not as much a book as it is a journal of discovery for the creative. Stefan Bucher, with much humor and wit, posits questions and strings of questions to get you thinking about why you do (and don't do) what you do and where you might venture in the future. I laughed so hard I cried, and I showed this to everyone that I encountered when I had the book anywhere within reach. But it also made me think and question my own questions, and I'm actually considering writing in it as the author requests. It is, after all, a journal.

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing life changing is within the pages of this book, however, if you're in the midst of creative quicksand, these questions might help pull you out. 344 Questions is a book full of questions to ask yourself about your life, your career, your goals and aspirations, and prompt you to make decisions on how you're going to achieve them. Colourful, imaginative, enlightening (maybe) and designed to get you to think creatively.

[Shelley Diamond · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is too visually overwhelming. Perhaps it's OK for someone with ADD who likes the stimulation but I suspect it will not be helpful for people with anxiety. I suspect that the questions as presented are likely to trigger confusion or panic and increase fears/worries.

This book might be OK for quirky artists who read graphic novels or obsessively play video games but be careful about giving it to quiet introspective folks who are insecure and/or depressed...

A better book, in my opinion, is Mastering Creative Anxiety by Maisel...

[Nathanael Coyne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love the concept but it's poorly executed, it's messy, and nowhere near as useful as I hoped. Whilst the flowchart format is visually appealing I think a bullet list of the questions would have been better. It is nice to pick it up, flip to a page and pick out a random question to think about ... although many of the guest-contributed questions are a bit rubbish.

[NancyS · Rating 1 out of 5]

I quickly lost interest in this book so did not read the whole thing. I did flip through the rest though, and it was just more of the same. The layout of the book was extremely annoying and chaotic. The questions bored me. It is a very little book - thankfully!

[Kym Masera Taborn]

This is a fun book. I give it to all my employees when I leave or they leave. Federal employees need to be reminded about their creative and fun self and this book helps you find your inner freak flag so you can fly it.

[BML · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually go near the self-help section. Bought this as a gift, but enjoyed flipping through and following the train of all the thought-provoking questions.

[Richard B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and illuminating read which will turn into some creative activities later. Great prompts for thinking about you work, creative endeavors and life in general.

[Mary Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome. Compassionate. Wonderful.

[Kalah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever, clever, clever!

Love the visual format—profound questions for the curious creative.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of questions that teachers and writers need to have on their shelves!

[Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a humorous way to look at some in depth questions that help us in making change.

[Kris McCracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little toolkit for reflection.

[AJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great questions to get you motivated and help you along if you already know what you want to do. Not so great if you're trying to figure that out, but I think it still deserves five stars.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

beatiful

[Valeria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the visual format—profound questions for the curious creative.

[Yates Buckley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun pretext and graphics but easy to disengage with later. I still found it interesting somehow.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a fun creative exercise. It’s a good read for when you’re feeling a bit stuck.

[Oksanne Rybakoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book! Strongly recommended

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that was an invigorating read. I do plan to use quite a bit of these questions as jumping off points for journal writing and thinking about new year strategies and goals.