Stranger than Fiction, Indeed: How a Movie Helped my Writing

On date night last weekend we watched "Stranger than Fiction," a 2006 film directed by Marc Foster. It was my pick, but as usual I couldn't remember anything about the plot or who was in it. So we just hit "play" and sat back to watch.

After two minutes, we both thought about shutting it off, because it was a little hard to follow and quite lacking in depth. A guy (Will Farrell) brushing his teeth for five minutes, with a woman (Emma Thompson) narrating? As dull as it sounds.

Fortunately we gave it a little more time, and thirty seconds later we were both hooked. The woman narrating was the author! She was writing this character to life, and he became more and more fleshed out with each pass of the toothbrush—just like it happens on the page, when I'm getting to know a character.

It also became clear why the scene was overlaid with graphics, drawn in as if with an Etch-a-sketch. The author was sketching in the backdrop, adding details as quickly as she figured them out. Kind of like a visual interpretation of how my brain works out what a place looks like, as I'm writing about it.

Best of all, the movie didn't dwell on this character and scene building; by the time we'd figured out what was going on the story had moved on, weaving an intricate plot between several distinctive characters that could be enjoyed for its own sake. As the main character struggled to vocalize his dreams, the author tried to find a way to overcome ten years of writer's block. Meanwhile over everything, death loomed.

In the end author and character ended up helping each other grow, which made perfect sense to me. And it was also a great reminder that what seems inevitable can be changed to fit new circumstances, as long as it fits the story.

It was such a treat to see an outstanding cast explore how imagination interacts with reality, how characters become "real," and how authors can find inspiration from an apple rolling down a street. I'm sure a non-writer would not enjoy this movie the same way I did, but it's worth watching anyway—just for the great acting and story.

For more on the joys of Creating Reality, read Juliette Fay's latest post on Beyond the Margins.