Movies about Writers

I have a deep-seated love for classic movies. Anything staring Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, or Humphrey Bogart is a must see. The only thing I love more than classic movies, are movies about writers or the joys/sorrows/frustrations of writing. So, today I will share my top three favorites.

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

This movie is a gem and I was shocked (after watching it) to learn that it didn’t do so well in the box office. I love this movie because it draws attention to the fact that in an author’s mind, the characters he or she writes are real. I can’t tell you how many times while writing, the characters leap from the page and take over the show, whether I want them to or not because they truly have a mind and soul of their own. So if you want some laughs (a Will Ferrell movie is not complete without a few belly laughs in a film) and touching moments, complete with a stressed out chain-smoking writer under deadline, this is a must-see.

Finding Neverland (2004)

I cry every time I watch this movie because of the magic and beauty I experience from the beginning to the end of the film. This movie is focused around Depp’s character J.M. Barrie, the man who authored the book Peter Pan. If you want to be transported to a different world, this is a perfect movie for it. This movie is an awesome representation of the disconnect that occurs when a writer is truly immersed in his or her own world.

We all have experienced it. When the office or living room, cafeteria or coffee shop we are writing in disappears and the world we are writing down so fervently rises to the forefront, looming larger than life and reality. Writers have to go to their world, and draw upon the details that appear in the mind’s eye in order to effectively transport future readers of a publication to the same place. This movie captures that magic, that moment of “telepathy” as Stephen King puts it in his book On Writing (an excellent read by the way).

The movie also encourages the act of writing itself, no matter how old or young, or experienced one is. There is something special about putting words to paper, and this film gives a wonderful representation of that.

This is definitely one of my favorite movies of all time, even if it didn’t have a single thing to do with writing.

Whisper of the Heart

Studio Ghibli produces excellent animation movies, each with an inspiring message to leave viewers with. I was so stoked to find out that there was a movie that focused around love and writing. Shizuku is the heroine of the story. She is an avid reader and eventually her heart leads her to try writing. The film follows her as she comes to the realization that she wants to write a book, the research, the writing, the hard work she puts into it, and the result of her efforts. Shizuku’s dreams become your own, and everyone will find themselves cheering for her by the end of the movie.

Although the writing is merely a sub-plot (I exaggerate a little) it remains a large part of Shizuku’s story. This movie captures the hopes and dreams, the wonder and imagination that pulls a writer to write, displays the amount of effort and dedication that is required to really put pen to paper,  and will warm the heart of anyone who watches it writer or not (unless you have a heart of steel).

If you check out these movies, I doubt you will be disappointed. For those who have seen them, please feel free to comment upon what they have inspired in you!

 

The Smell of a Notebook

There are many things that can inspire a writer. A pretty face, a spring morning, the way the sun sparkles off the dew drops on the petals of a slowly budding rose. For me, it is notebooks. The way they look, the way the pages fall, line width, line color, cover design, the way the pages feel, what it sounds like when I open it, if it lies flat or if it refuses to stay open, what kind of pens and pencils will be used to write in it, the list goes on and on. Notebooks to me are synonymous with the revered wide-margined gilded cover publications heralded in Charles Chesnutt’s short story “Baxter’s Procrustes” (a good and entertaining read by the way, well worth the fifteen minutes it takes to read it). Baxter’s Procrustes

When I pick up a notebook, my mind whirls with all the wonderful things I can write in them. With each one I buy there is an invisible dedication inscribed on the first page (I never EVER write on the very first page, call it superstition if you want) speaking of how it will be the catalyst for the next best-selling novel. Oh if only I could make that a reality.

What actually happens is this.

I buy the notebook and carry it around with me. Should inspiration strike I am ready with my notebook and pen, free to write to my heart’s content without the limitations of setting up a computer. Eventually I put it on a shelf, caressing the spine with a promise that I will soon fill it with words just as soon as my back stops hurting from hauling around its extra weight. It ends there. An empty notebook–still inspiring–yet empty.

To date I have 45 notebooks. None of them are more than 1/4 of the way filled.

I still get giddy looking at them. Occasionally I pick one up and carry it around again, knowing that today will be the day I begin writing some epic work of literature. Honestly, I’m afraid to spoil those perfect empty pages. It is so much easier to imagine perfect little pieces of literary heaven on blank pages then sitting down to write said words. In a sick, sad little way the very thing that inspires me also keeps me from getting much writing accomplished.

I’m not afraid of a lot of things (other than spiders and things that go gurgle, scream, creak, roar, drip, tock, whistle in the dark after a scary movie) but who would have thought leaflets of bound, blank pages could be so frightening? I hear that some authors feel the same way about a blank word processing screen with the blinking vertical line and all, but at the very least you can type nonsense and then delete it. The same can’t be done so easily once you write it down. A part of me feels like this is utter foolishness, but I also feel that this is a serious issue that someone else may suffer from.

What say you?