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Audio Journal: The John Wayne Effect · The Daily Writer

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: One of my very favorite movies of all time is the 1956 movie called The Searchers.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: It starred John Wayne as a Civil War veteran who was returning home to his brother's homestead in Texas.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now the movie was actually shot in Monument Valley, or at least part of the movie, but the story takes place in Texas.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: And this movie was directed by John Ford, a guy who was very famous for directing lots and lots of westerns.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: He was one of the premier directors of his time.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, The Searchers is a famous movie for many reasons, but really it's famous because John Wayne was in it, and because John Wayne gives this amazing performance as this kind of gruffy, grizzled Civil War veteran.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: So as the story goes in the movie, he comes back to his brother's homestead, he comes home, and then a little ways into the movie, John Wayne's niece gets kidnapped by this group of savages, and he has to pull together this group of guys to go rescue her.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's why the movie's called The Searchers, because they go off searching for his niece who is named Debbie.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now, one of the other reasons, though, that this movie is famous is because of the cinematography, and in fact, it has two of the most famous shots in movie history.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: The opening shot which shows it begins in a darkened doorway and the door opens out into this vista of Monument Valley.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: But the closing shot is even way more powerful.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: The closing shot, and I'm not going to ruin the movie for you, but the closing shot shows John Wayne standing there in a doorway, as all the other people in his family and in kind of his rescue party have come home.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: He's standing there silhouetted in this doorway, and then he just turns and he walks away.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where the movie ends.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's really quite a melancholy ending to a very powerful and exciting story.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I think what the filmmakers were trying to say is that ultimately all of us live life alone.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: We all live life as an individual who begins life alone and then we end our journey alone as well.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of sad when you really think about it.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: But I do find it interesting that a lot of artists and a lot of writers actually look at their life this way.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: They look at their life as this journey that they are really ultimately traveling alone.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: And if there's a common theme that I hear among writers, as I talk to so many writers and creatives and artists, one of the most common themes that I hear is that writers feel alone.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Writers feel very alone as they create.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And if you feel alone, I want to challenge you to do something.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: I want to challenge you to counter what I call this John Wayne effect.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: The John Wayne effect is whenever people get stuck because they feel isolated and alone.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I felt the John Wayne effect before, and maybe you have felt it also.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I want you to do.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you're feeling isolated and alone, I want you to do one simple thing that will help build your community in your life.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: And it goes like this.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: You ready?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: So think of one friend who you haven't talked to for a little while.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's somebody you haven't talked to in a couple years.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's somebody you haven't talked to in a couple months.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't make any difference.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: What does matter is that you have some kind of relationship with this person and they're a they're a writing buddy.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: They're someone who's a writer.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: So think of that person.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have them in mind?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: If so, good.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now the next step is to get onto your email or get onto your phone or your text messages or WhatsApp or whatever you use to connect with this person.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to send them a message that goes something like this.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Hey so and so.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now of course you don't call them so and so so and so.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: You have to use their actual name.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, that was a little dad joke I threw in there.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Hey so-and-so, it's been a little while since we connected.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to hear how your writing is going, and I'd love to catch up.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Looking forward to chatting soon.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, obviously you put that into your own words, but that's the gist of it.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's just a quick message that says, hey, I was just wondering how you were doing, and I'd love to catch up and hear how your writing is going.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that one simple act will set you apart from 99% of other writers because you took action.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's because you did something to fight the isolation that sometimes we all feel.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: You did something to move your relationships ahead.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And most important of all, you did something to encourage another writer, which is pretty cool.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're feeling really ambitious, I want you to think of four other friends that you haven't talked to in a while and do the same thing for them.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: So if you do five in one day, you will get the gold star from me.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're feeling really ambitious, repeat this process for the next five days, and you will have reached out to at least a couple of dozen other writers.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's really, really cool.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, all of us sometimes feel isolated and alone on our writing journey.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't want you to feel that way.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: So do this really quick, simple little exercise, and if you do it for at least a few people, I bet you'll hear back from a couple people and you'll be able to reestablish those relationships and build your writing community.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: All right, that's it for this episode.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: I will see you in the next one.