Can the Movie Stranger Than Fiction Cure Writer's Block?

I don't know if I've ever seen a movie that had so many smoking scenes and I never thought I'd see Will Ferrell brush his teeth numerous times on the big screen. Nonetheless, I found Stranger Than Fiction a very inspiring movie. I was awestruck by Karen Eiffel's writing methods. Why didn't I ever think of it? Here is a list of how Karen Eiffel, played by Emma Thompson, may help you with her writing methods.

The Hospital Scene

This was perhaps my favorite scene in the movie. Karen and her assistant, Penny Escher, played by Queen Latifah, took a trip to the local hospital to observe how people were dying. At the moment, Karen was suffering from writer's block and needed some inspiration on how to kill her character off. In the movie we discover that Karen kills off all of her characters; she has written 8 books and all of the main characters are killed off for a dramatic and tragic ending.

Anyway, back to the scene, Karen and Penny are in the emergency room watching numerous people that are sick or injured. Karen realizes that none of these people are dying and approaches a nurse and asks where the dying people are. She tells the nurse that she is suffering from writer's block and needs the experience of watching someone die to influence her writing. The nurse thinks she is crazy and dismisses her.

I know you're thinking it's morbid, but let's take her method out of a hospital emergency room. I think it's a wonderful idea to visit a place or an event that you are currently writing about. It will surely give you more of an experience, making it easier to cure your writer's block and complete your story.

The Highway Scene

Once again, Karen and Penny are in search of ways to cure writer's block. They find themselves sitting in the rain watching a busy highway. Karen tells Penny that they are there to imagine car wrecks, a possible way for Karen to kill off her character, Harold Crick.

Once again, something I had never thought of. I know, once again it sounds morbid. But let's take it out of context once again. Maybe you'd never find yourself sitting on the side of a highway contemplating car crashes, but maybe you'd find yourself there to describe a traffic jam. Or maybe you'd find yourself on the side of a highway on a rainy day to describe how the cars race through the wind and rain, the splashes the tires make, or the pitter-patter of rain drops on windshields.

Karen is just once again trying to find inspiration from something she goes out and experiences. I have always thought that the inspiration will come to me if I was meant to write it. I now think completely different. Now I think, if I want to write it, I'll experience it with my own eyes.

The Desk Scene

We see Karen at the top of a building, and it almost looks like she's about to jump to her death. Then the scene flashes to her office and we see that she's really standing at the edge of her desk balancing herself. Here she is, once again, imagining a death for Harold Crick. She was standing at the edge of her desk to try to imagine the same feelings and emotions that Harold would be experiencing if he were about to jump to his death from a tall building.

I know, I know, so much death. But her methods are inspiring to me as a writer. I have discovered a new way to go about writing and overcoming any writer's block I encounter. I hope this movie can be just as inspiring to you and can help you discover new ways to experience the wonderful joys of writing.

Writers have a gift of being able to give beautiful words to events, dialog, and scenery. Yet, at times, it can be hard for a writer to give words to such instances. For inspiration when writer's block hits, I encourage you to get out of the house and explore the world. It may mean meeting new people or just watching people in their day-to-day routine. Inspiration is every where, you just have to be open to the possibilities.