Motivated Writing

There are days when you don't feel like writing. And then there are days when you flat out can't write. You know what I mean. You pull up the document or pull the blank page toward you, running your fingers over the keys or fiddling with the pen, staring into the white nothingness. And nothing comes. Nothing. It may take you five minutes, or over an hour, but eventually you admit to yourself that nothing is going to happen and surrender the fight. 

This is not good, nor should anyone make a habit of it. But, last week, I had that kind of day. Nothing seemed to go my way, and by the time I sat down to write a post, I was frustrated, bitter, and a mash-up of Grumpy the Dwarf and Oscar the Grouch. Pulling up my blog, I tried to decide on a topic. The empty post glared at me, bright whiteness hurting my eye-balls. My brain imagined the screaming taunts and jeers of the untapped keys beneath my fingers. They were all telling me the same thing: "You're stuck, and there's nothing you can do about it."

So I shut my computer, grabbed some chocolate, and graced my family with my gretzy presence. That was that. I had surrendered, and didn't want to confront the shame I felt. 

The next day, I sat down to journal, but this time had no problem putting words on the page. The difference? My new leather journal had arrived while I was at work. The beauty of the thick pages and the gorgeous reddish-brown leather made me wish to write beautiful things, and gave me the courage to put my thoughts down permanently. Later that week, when I set time aside to edit Dragonhoard, I decided to give myself an achievable goal; once that goal was reached editing-wise, I would allow myself a small reward: writing in that elegant journal.

This may sound rather childish, and even a bit stupid. I'm not saying it's right for everyone; I just know that when I hit a road-block, I need something more. I love words. The way they flow, sound, feel, and look, I love it all. But sometimes I get scared of not being able to write well. I get paralyzed. So now, instead of surrendering, I stimulate my productivity with a little shot of something special. 

Into the Woods...and out again

**WARNING: You are about to read a movie review by an amateur writer who has never done anything professionally with film, singing, or writing. All opinions below are based off of previous experience including (but not limited to), acting, a life-time of reading classics, watching older movies, and discussing modern movies with friends and family who have more credentials in this area.** 

I have a strong dislike for musicals. I don't outright hate them, but they usually aren't my first pick when discussing options for entertainment. That being said, I went to see Into the Woods with some friends yesterday. I was under the impression it was a live-action mash-up of a whole bunch of fairy-tales. At least I wasn't completely wrong. As Cinderella began singing, I turned to my friend and asked (as discreetly as possible), "Is this a musical?" Without hesitation, she grinned. "Yeah!" 

I imagine that my face at that moment looked as if I had a mouthful of sour milk. "Oh, boy. Here we go," I thought to myself. About two minutes later, I was completely engrossed, prejudices thrown to the wind. I loved it. I LOVED IT. I genuinely enjoyed a musical. What's more, I don't have any complaints about how the singing was ridiculous or over the top. (well, I will slightly amend that statement later on.) My biggest (and only), complaint was the question of morality in one song. 

In the song, "Moments in the Woods", the Baker's Wife sorts through her feelings about having a "moment" with Prince Charming. I was quite pleased that she put up a struggle against wanting to be with the prince. During their scene together she says "No, this isn't right!" after kissing him; then, during her soliloquy, she states, "There are vows, there are ties, there are needs, there are standards, there are shouldn't and shoulds," before asking, "Why not both?" This is an amazing example of how each one of us has to struggle with our own personal sins, and I found it very compelling. 

What I did not find compelling, however, was her decision to hold on to the memory of the moment after she leaves the wood. Humans need to struggle and make decisions; this is how we grow. However, if we hold on to the destructive part of our painful growing experience, we won't be able to grow. True, growing happened because the Baker's Wife struggled and overcame, but she did not reach her entire potential growth because she decided to hide away a little tidbit of the "moment" that she could pull out to admire and smile over whenever she wanted. 

Personally, I am very relieved that the character did have the struggle, because it makes her more human, and she definitely came farther and was more mature about it than many people would be. If the Baker's Wife had laughed in Prince Charming's face and just walked away, no one would be able to relate to her. I just wanted that one ounce more of commitment to her moral compass to make it perfect. But hey. I can't say anything...I've never made a movie.

Anywho, on to the rest of the movie. 

SPOILERS ALERT.

Okey-dokey. Here we go. 

All the music was absolutely delightful. Besides the wonderful orchestration, the singing was top-notch, and characterizations while singing were spot-on. Particularly wonderful were The Wolf (played by Johnny Depp), Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), and Prince Charming (Chris Pine). 

One song in particular that had me in tears (from laughing so hard), was "Agony". Sung by the two princes, this song is essentially a massive ego-boosting, heart-throbbing boast-battle between the brothers who are both lamenting their tragedy-ridden love-lives. This song is utterly ridiculous. And not in a bad way (yes, you read it right. I don't know when I will ever write that again...). What made this song so incredibly amazing was that they revealed all the cliches that have become so rampant in our society regarding good-looking guys. And how do they reveal these cliches, you ask? By using all of them waaaaay over the top. :) Just watch the video and you'll understand what I mean. I could not stop laughing. I was actually concerned that the dear older lady next to me was going to hit me with her handbag or something because I was laughing so loud. It was a one-of-a-kind experience. 

Something else that pleased me beyond all description was that most of the fairy-tales are true to their root legends all the way to the "happily ever after"...Cinderella had to call her birds to pick up the lentils, her step-sisters cut of their toes and heel to fit the slipper on, and then were blinded by Cinderella's birds. Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother were both swallowed by The Wolf and had to be cut out of his stomach. Jack traded his cow for five magic beans which his mother promptly threw away. He made friends with the giantess, but her husband wanted to eat Jack. Gold coins, a golden harp, and an egg that laid golden eggs were all stolen from the giants by Jack, and he chopped down the bean-stalk as the giant was climbing down, resulting in the giant's death. And my favorite: Rapunzel's prince was blinded by thorns from the Witch and sent wandering. The Witch then cut off Rapunzel's hair and banished her to a swamp (which is an acceptable replacement for a desert), which is where the Prince found her and her tears healed his eyes. 

The costumes. OH! The costumes! I was in heaven. The colors, the textures, designs, they were all amazing! The film is very steam-punk costume-wise. I felt that the style of the costumes was in no-way distracting and actually lent to the feeling of how fairy-tale it all was. I particularly liked the princes, the Baker's Wife (her Wood costume), The Wolf, and the Witch. The costumes spoke volumes for characterization. *Sigh* They were fantastic. 

One more thing to leave you with. There is one particular song in Into the Woods that I believe will be a boon to mankind: "On the Steps of the Palace". In the future, if ever a boy or man asks how a woman thinks, I will point him to this song. It is my opinion that "On the Steps of the Palace" catalogs the method used by most women to analyze almost every situation they find themselves in. I can directly relate to Cinderella...making a decision is difficult, and I always want to explore every option, every facet, every little bitty piece of information before settling on anything.  Watch the clip and see if you don't agree. Even if you don't agree, it's a fantastic song and you should watch it anyway. :)

As I have said above, Into the Woods is a fantastic movie, and I will definitely be forcefully recommending it to those whom I know who are so unfortunate as to not have seen it yet. I hope, if anything, that you found my review amusing. Let me know what you think of the movie!