[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: Why do you say that the only thing that matters is practice?
John Vorhaus, Author/Speaker/Artist/Screenwriter: In my vocabulary there’s something called a useful fiction. A useful fiction is a lie that we tell ourselves in order to help ourselves do things we want to do. It’s a fiction that’s known to be a fiction but deemed to be useful just the same.
Telling myself only the practice matters is an example of useful fiction because I might have an idea in my head that what really matters is selling a painting for $10,000. But if I ever want to have a painting that’s worth selling for $10,000, if I set out to paint a $10,000 painting, I’m certain to fail because I’ll be too afraid of failing. I’ll be too afraid of screwing up a $10,000 opportunity.
If I say to myself the only thing I have to do is continue to get good and keep getting better until I’m capable of creating works that are worth selling for $10,000, that’s the only way I’m ever going to achieve that goal.
What this boils down to is when you say to yourself only practice matters, what you’re really saying is in order to achieve my goals in a sense I need to distract myself from my goals. I need to ignore my goals for the time being because if I’m too focused on achieving my goals, the focus that I put on achieving my goals will be a roadblock, which will actually keep me from achieving my goals.
I’ll give you an example. I’m writing along. I’m writing a screenplay. Everything’s going great. I’m totally grooving on the characters. I’m in my practice. I’m hitting those tab keys. I’m being funny. I’m being thoughtful. It’s going so well that the thought crosses my mind This screenplay is going to win me an Academy Award.
The minute I have that thought, I’m no longer on the page. I’m off the page. I’m in the realm of my fantasy where I’m getting an Academy Award. That might be a pretty picture but it’s not useful to me in the moment because I’m thinking about the outcome when I should be thinking about the practice.
This is why I say nothing matters but…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
BUY THE BOOK – CARTOONS FOR SMART PEOPLE: The First One Hundred https://amzn.to/4ayg8l4
BIO:
John Vorhaus is best known for his comedy-writing classic, The Comic Toolbox: How to be Funny Even if You’re Not. He has taught and trained writers in 37 countries on five continents at last count, and created TV shows of his own in Nicaragua, Romania and elsewhere. His writing credits include dozens of teleplays and screenplays, plus seven novels and some two dozen works of non-fiction. His latest book is the little book of STANDUP. Vorhaus is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and a member of the Writers Guild of America. He lives in Southern California and secretly controls the world from JohnVorhaus.com.
Advertisement – contains affiliate links
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
New book from Film Courage! – See it on Payhip here
New book from Film Courage! – See it on Payhip here
