selysrivera

This was taken from a note I left and I think you did a fantastic job in analyzing this topic. I definitely believe diversity is key because you are right, “Hollywood is an industry that reaches out to countries all over the world.” Great job. This surely needs to be noticed.

“Instead of thinking of the term to mean something else is blocking us, we need to start thinking that it is ourselves, as writers, who have created these imaginary blockades.”

I relate to this on so many levels. Every time I get writer’s block, I feel sick. Literally. It’s one of the worst feelings in the world. I realized though, like you said, that it wasn’t anything else that was blocking me. It was me. If I wanted to get out of writer’s block so much, that’s just what I needed to do. I needed to take action. I needed to get out.

So I did. Literally. I applied for a missionary internship and I got out of my hometown. I met new people. I explored. I traveled. I saw beauty and nature. And guess what happened? I was writing again. The block was gone. I was free once more.

Now I’m not saying everyone has to necessarily do something as drastic as what I did, but it’s the same concept that you’re talking about. We as writers need to get past our own writer’s block because, ultimately, we are the ones creating them. We are the ones holding ourselves back as writers. Only we can change that and get working again.

So do whatever it is you need to do. This article gives some good advice on how to get writing again, but just do it. Never stop writing.

This is a great idea! I never thought about visiting places from my favorite literary works, but I agree it is kind of mind blowing. I just went on a school trip to England last month and when we explored Bath, all I could think about was Jane Austen’s “Northanger Abbey.” It was really exciting. I definitely plan on exploring like this again, perhaps to a few of the places on this list!

I heard a professor once say that he did not understand why people compared books and their movie adaptations so much when they are really two different medias. In a way, I agree. I don’t believe books need to be literally, word for word, plot and all, copy and pasted onto the screen. However, I do admit that I get bothered when films leave out key characters, scenes, and/or lines that are essential to the overall meaning of the book. In addition, it bothers me when directors make changes without any reason.

For example, I remember the movie adaptation of “Dear John.” The director changed the relationship between Tim and Alan, who were brothers in the book and became father and son in the movie. Why? There was literally no reason to do that. Sure, it was not essential to the overall meaning, but it seemed pointless. Then there are movies like the Harry Potter series, which combine scenes for the sake of time and do so successfully without altering the main meaning of the story.

Anyways, it’s a thin line to walk, but I still enjoy movie adaptations of books. Unfortunately, I’ll still always be that person in the audience mumbling to herself, “That’s not how it went in the book.”