So pleased and proud to announce that my latest book is now available. It’s called THE BOOK OF PRACTICE: How to do Better What You Want to do Well, and I’m here to tell you that whether your practice is in art or writing, business or enterprise, sports, communication, anything at all… this book will turn your head around. It’s short and straightforward, with words of wisdom that jump off every page and practical strategies you can use to improve your life right now. Don’t wait! THE BOOK OF PRACTICE is calling you now, and it’s saying, “buy me, buy me, buy me, buy me…”
News
Proud to announce that my new book, THE LITTLE BOOK OF STANDUP, is already an Amazon Bestseller, within the tightly confined ecosystem of books that I have personally written and sold. So I guess that makes it a self-defined bestsller, but is that okay? It seems like the worst sort of self-validation — “It’s a hit ’cause I say it’s a hit!” — or maybe it’s the best sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. I don’t know. I just know that I hate marketing like a cat hates baths, so anything I can do to inject a note of whimsy into the mix is a welcome addition — well, welcome to me at least.
As for the book, it’s actually already doing solid business, and that makes me happy. I had in mind to write a book that would help certain people at the exact moment that they needed certain help. I understand that in the universe of standup comics, there are some who won’t get me or aren’t ready for me, and then again there are some who are so far past me that they don’t need such help as I may offer. But then there are those in the middle — standup comic somewhere near the beginning of their practice and interested in advancing in it. Those are the peeps I’m trying to reach with THE LITTLE BOOK OF STANDUP, and if you fit that description, man, have I got a book for you.
A writer wrote to me recently asking for advice on how to finish a project. It seemed that she couldn’t bring herself to go back and edit the work on the one last pass that it needed. She felt absolutely blocked, and wondered if she shouldn’t just give up on the work and move on to other things.
Usually when there’s a block of this kind, it has to do with fear – the specific fear of finishing. Because with finishing comes judgment: now that it’s done, we (or others) will evaluate our work and (we fear) will condemn it. Rather than face this phantom critique, we simply just don’t finish. We call it procrastination or perfectionism, but it’s really just fear.
But here’s the thing about fear: it’s a natural and inevitable part of the creative process. When you acknowledge it as such, when you start to accept it and stop trying to defeat it, then you can engage with it in a healthy and productive manner.
Suppose you found yourself saying, “Okay, there’s a good chance that when I finish this thing it will suck and then I will feel like I suck, but oh well, I am driven to create, so I might as well just throw it out the window and see if it lands.” If you take this approach, then you can accept and absorb your fear without letting it slow you down or hold you back.
The consequence of this will be… of consequence: You will have gotten something done and finished a project and advanced your skills — all big wins for you.
So do it. Do those last edits. Apply the final brush strokes and call the painting done. Polish your five minutes and go up at that open mic. Whatever it is that you do that you love, just do it till it’s done. Then throw it out the window and see if it lands. This is how your practice grows.
Much more on the subject can be found in my books The Comic Toolbox, Creativity Rules and A White Belt in Art. I would post links but I fear (ha!) that people will think me a huckster.
Think positive, test negative. -jv
It’s just shocking and shameful that I haven’t updated this website in so long. I’m going to do better, I promise. Well, having posted new content exactly zero times in the past two years, I guess I’ve set a low bar for “do better.” Anyway, as some of you know, I’ve spent a good part of my Covidworld exile making portraits of myself — 100 in 100 days between April and July of 2020. Man, go figure. I can’t be bothered to update my own website, yet I can grind out 100 selfoids without missing a beat. I guess this shows us where my interests lie — in doing, not promoting. Be that as it may, below you will find all hundred heads, and soon you may even have the opportunity to get one — or all 100 — for your own. Look for an update on that in the next few weeks — or in 2022. -jv
And here is your first assignment. Write 500 words about an awesome moment of your life so far. Notice the CHOICE you get to MAKE in picking your topic. Making choices is what makes writing fun. But having too many choices can get in the way. For instance, if I didn’t give you a word limit, you wouldn’t know if you should write five words or 500 or 5,000. Around here we have a saying, “The rules don’t confine, they define.” They help us make choices sometimes.
It’s your one-stop shop for all things Vorhausian. Have a look around. Browse. Buy. I’m looking forward to signing a book and sending it to you — or smiling happily from the sidelines as you download a tasty .pdf. Not sure which read is right for you? Contact me and I’ll help you sort it out. -jv