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SONGS OF INSPIRATION
Click on a link to view an inspirational section that will revive the Writer in You!
NEW: Updated on May 27, 2006:
Click here to spend 3 minutes with Chris Goebel's Inspirational Message for You.
INSPIRATIONAL MOVIES FOR WRITERS
CHRIS GOEBEL’S INSPIRING POWERPOINT PRESENTATION: MAKING TOMORROW HAPPEN
READ ABOUT A PENCIL SHARPENER SALESMAN WHO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS AUTHORS OF ALL TIME
inspire
Click below to read Chris Goebel's inspiring PowerPoint Presentation: Making Tomorrow Happen. You need PowerPoint to view this program. Once you have uploaded the presentation, click on the page when you are ready to progress to the next page.
Ink your inspirational pen by watching movies! What an easy exercise. When I’m not inspired, I watch some of the movies below, which never fail to get my creative juices flowing. I thoroughly recommend reading a bit about all of them by scrolling down the page, but I suppose it’s okay if you click on a link to read about a specific movie:
Shakespeare in Love Finding Neverland What Dreams May Come
Finding Forrester Casablanca Don Juan de Marco
Breakfast at Tiffany's Somewhere in Time My Fair Lady Rocky
Raiders of the Lost Ark Good Will Hunting
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings
Chariots of Fire The Black Stallion
To read the American Film Institute’s List of the Top 100 Greatest Movies (over a 100-year period):
http://www.filmsite.org/afi100filmsA.html Of the movies listed on this page, Casablanca is #2; Raiders of the Lost Ark is #60; Rocky is #78; My Fair Lady is #91;
To read the American Film Institute’s List of the Top 100 Most Inspiring American Movies (scroll down the page): http://www.filmsite.org/afi300cheers.html
Shakespeare in Love (Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow) William Shakespeare meets the love of his life and she inspires him to write and act, with a heavy emphasis on the creation/performance of Romeo and Juliet. Inspiration factors: It’s about a playwright and poet! Shakespeare, well-written dialogue, originality, the stage, the Queen and forbidden love. Caveat: The loves scenes aren’t ones you’d care to share with your children, I’d bet. Quote: Queen Elizabeth: I know something of a woman in a man's profession. Yes, by God, I do know about that. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138097/
Finding Neverland (Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet) This is about the life of JM Barrie, author of Peter Pan. ‘Nuff said, because you have to believe in Peter Pan to appreciate this movie. Inspiration factors: It’s about an author! This movie reminded me of what it’s like to be a child, an important factor for authors of children’s fiction.
Quote:
J.M. Barrie: [discussing Sylvia's reluctance to accept her illness] They can see it, you know. You can't go on just pretending.
Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Just pretending? You brought pretending into this family, James. You showed us we can change things by simply believing them to be different.
J.M. Barrie: A lot of things, Sylvia. Not everything.
Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: But the things that matter. We've pretended for some time now that you're a part of this family, haven't we? You've come to mean so much to us all that now, it doesn't matter if it's true. And even if it isn't true, even if that can never be... I need to go on pretending... until the end... with you.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308644/
What Dreams May Come (Robin Williams, Annabella Sciorra, Cuba Gooding Jr.)A husband must leave Heaven and face hell to retrieve his wife. This is one of the most cinematically gorgeous movies of all time. Inspiration factors: Beauty, family, well-written and original, surprises, harsh realities, mother/father with son/daughter relationships and fantastical visual concepts of Heaven. What Dreams May Come inspires my poetic voice and imagery.
Quote: The Tracker: You were expecting physical danger ? What could it do, kill ya, huh ? No, in Hell there's real danger. Of losing your mind. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120889/
Finding Forrester (Sean Connery, Rob Brown, Busta Rhymes) An inner-city young basketball player tries to steal from a Scottish recluse (Sean Connery) who turns out to be a famous writer. After a series of circumstances, the writer, Forrester, takes the basketball player in as a student. I enjoy the tension between the young man’s college professor against both student and mentor. Inspiration factors: It’s about two authors! Learning how to write a book, well-written with memorable dialogue, rich vs. poor, interracial friendships, young/old friendships, and life lessons. This movie made me feel I can write!
Quotes: Forrester: No thinking - that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is... to write, not to think!
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Jamal: Women will sleep with you if you write a book?
Forrester: Women will sleep with you if you write a bad book.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181536/
Casablanca (Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman) Since it was written by six authors, the WWII-era movie Casablanca offers something for everyone: love, war, patriotism, intrigue, danger, life and death, altruism, etc. Rick and Elsa fell in love in Paris, but she disappeared on the day they were to leave Paris to avoid German occupation. They meet again in Casablanca, Morocco and the success of the French resistance rides on their romance. Inspiration factors: Superb dialogue, particularly with memorable one-liners, good theme music/song, patriotism (which sometimes gets me writing), good vs. bad, ethical choices, love, unique black and white lighting plays. Casablanca teaches you how great dialogue works and lasts. Caveat: The original was in black and white and great portions of the filming used the shadow to great effect. The colorized version’s not necessary.
Quotes:
Rick: I remember every detail. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.
Captain Renault: In 1935, you ran guns to Ethiopia. In 1936, you fought in Spain, on the Loyalist side.
Rick: I got well paid for it on both occasions.
Captain Renault: The winning side would have paid you much better.
Captain Renault: Rick, there are many exit visas sold in this café, but we know that you've never sold one. That is the reason we permit you to remain open.
Rick: Oh? I thought it was because I let you win at roulette.
Captain Renault: That is another reason.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/
Don Juan de Marco (Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway) This movie’s so romantic that I recommend you dedicate some time afterwards with that special someone. This isn’t your typical romance. The plot’s original and many scenes hilarious, but the humor hides something beyond. Just when we think Don Juan de Marco’s a fraud (not to mention his psychologist!), a remarkable process occurs within you. Inspiration factors: well-planned plot, memorable lyrics/music work well with the theme, hilarious plot twists, renewed faith in people/love/life. If you write to inspire others, Don Juan De Marco will inspire you!
Quote from the movie: Bill: [Clears throat] Would you, um, would you like to talk about why you attempted to kill yourself?
Don Juan: You want Don Juan de Marco, the world's greatest lover, to talk to you? What do you know of great love? Have you ever loved a woman until milk leaked from her as though she had just given birth to love itself, and now must feed it or burst? Have you ever tasted a woman until she believed that she could be satisfied only by consuming the tongue that had devoured her... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112883/
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Audrey Hepburn, a young George Peppard ) Holly Golightly simply must be a millionaire, never mind that Fred (oh what IS his real name? Paul) is the nice author, friend, and confidante. Inspiration factors: It’s about an author! Nice dialogue, music, exploration of gold diggers, very reality-based (realistic characters). Oh, and it was written by Truman Capote—yes, the very one of Capote. Caveat: The novel’s very different.
Quote:
Holly Golightly: He's all right! Aren't you, cat? Poor cat! Poor slob! Poor slob without a name! The way I see it I haven't got the right to give him one. We don't belong to each other. We just took up one day by the river. I don't want to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together. I'm not sure where that is but I know what it is like. It's like Tiffany's.
Paul Varjak: Tiffany's? You mean the jewelry store.
Holly Golightly: That's right. I'm just CRAZY about Tiffany's!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054698/
Somewhere in Time (Christopher Reeves, Jane Seymour) A look at the life of a playwright and actress whose love must transcend generations… Inspiration factors: It’s about a playwright! time travel (all the logistics), life of past actors and the love theme. I’d like to think a few people would watch this just to remember Christopher Reeves.
Quote: Elise McKenna: I am an actress, William, not a doormat. Do not attempt to wipe your boots on me.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081534/
My Fair Lady (Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison) The novel Pygmalion’s even better, but this musical still shows the battle between the sexes as the calloused and chauvinistic Professor Higgins takes a poor street Cockney girl (Eliza) in and says he can pass her off as a lady to the Queen of England—for a bet. Inspiration factors: This movie’s interest is philosophical (rich vs. poor, men vs. women) and in the humorous battle of the sexes dialogue. If you wish to create two battling characters, My Fair Lady’s a movie to watch.
Quote (a grand one!): Professor Henry Higgins: Eliza, you are to stay here for the next six months learning to speak beautifully, like a lady in a florist's shop. At the end of six months you will be taken to an embassy ball in a carriage, beautifully dressed. If the king finds out you are not a lady, you will be taken to the Tower of London, where your head will be cut off as a warning to other presumptuous flower girls! If you are not found out, you shall be given a present of... uh... seven and six to start life with in a lady's shop. If you refuse this offer, you will be the most ungrateful, wicked girl, and the angels will weep for you.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058385/
Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) If you haven’t seen this super inspiring boxing movie, chances are you’re missing part of the American experience (rags to riches). Inspiration factors: Um, Sylvester Stallone wrote it before he was famous and look what happened to him! The Rocky theme makes you want to take on the world, rags to riches, hard work pays off, love story. If you want to write action, Rocky can show you a few moves.
Quote:
Rocky: Ah come on, Adrian, it's true. I was nobody. But that don't matter either, you know? 'Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Harrison Ford) This movie spawned a trilogy, so if you haven’t seen it, Why Not?
Inspiration factors: Spielberg and Lucas!! Great one-liners in the old tradition, WWII theme, humor, romance, action, clear good vs. clear evil.
Quotes:
[Upon opening the Well of the Souls and peering down into it]
Sallah: Indy, why does the floor move?
Indiana: Give me your torch.
[Sallah does, and Indy drops it in]
Indiana: Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?
Sallah: Asps. Very dangerous. You go first.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082971/
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings (to follow with the rest of the trilogy)
I hate going to movies on crowded opening night, but not to see this one. I would’ve sat on the floor. If you appreciate fantasy fiction, or just a good, non-stop adventure, (and if you’re one of the two people in the US who haven’t seen it) watch Fellowship of the Rings now.
Quote:
Aragorn: If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword...
Legolas: ...and you have my bow...
Gimli: ...and my axe.
Boromir: You carry the fate of us all, little one.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120737/
Chariots of Fire This is a film about Olympic champions and the hard work and sacrifice men made to make dreams come true. If they can win the Olympics, you can write that novel! Based on a true story. Inspiration factors: strong musical theme, sacrifice, action.
Quote:
Eric Liddell: Then where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082158/
The Black Stallion A boy and his horse. If you haven’t loved an animal, then The Black Stallion will show you how. Remember what it’s like to be a child and experience the challenge, hard work and sacrifice of a racehorse champion. The action will show you how to add depth to your characters. Inspiration factors: Great plot, beautiful horse, action (racing), inspiring.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078872/
Good Will Hunting (Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck) A gifted MIT janitor challenges his psychologist and finds himself. Inspiration factors: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote and starred in the film! Intellectual dialogue, realistic characters, the nitty gritty about life, and surviving the past.
Quotes:
Sean: Do you have a soul mate?
Will: Define that.
Sean: Someone you can relate to, someone who opens things up for you.
Will: Sure, I got plenty.
Sean: Well, name them.
Will: Shakespeare, Nietzsche, Frost, O'Conner...
Sean: Well that's great. They're all dead.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/
If a Pencil Sharpener salesman became a famous writer, then so can You.
Read on to learn how Edgar Rice Burroughs became one of the most famous writers of all time.
Chicago native and author of Tarzan of the Apes, Edgar Rice Burroughs, convinced himself that he could write because, as he said:
I had good reason for thinking I could sell what I wrote. I had gone thoroughly through some of the all-fiction magazines and I made up my mind that if people were paid for writing such rot as I read I could write stories just as rotten. Although I had never written a story, I knew absolutely that I could write stories just as entertaining and probably a lot more so than any I chanced to read in those magazines.
Edgar Rice Burroughs
He also said, "I have often been asked how I came to write. The best answer is that I needed the money. When I started I was 35 and had failed in every enterprise I had ever attempted."
Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Science Fiction and Fantasy fiction, though some of his works were an occasional Western, Horror, Mystery and even Pirate story. Tarzana, California was named to honor his most famous character, Tarzan, and a crater on Mars was named after him, Burroughs.
Of course, Burroughs is the exact type of writer Humdinger Literary E-zine seeks: a multi-genre, vision-making writer.
Maybe you should write because, as Burroughs pointed out, you certainly can't do worse than a lot of what's published today!
Edgar Rice Burroughs' Links:
If you visit the website run by his grandson and view the illustrations, you will be able to appreciate how this one-time pencil sharpener salesman dreamed of grander and better worlds beyond his mundane life:
http://www.tarzan.com/
Read the article which provided me with most of the information on Burroughs, though many articles in other encyclopedias use the same article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Rice_Burroughs
Read Edgar Rice Burrough's "How I Wrote the Tarzan Books," at:
http://www.cswnet.com/~dbruce/erb/edgar.html
This essay contains the above quotes about why he started writing.
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