Just as with any other career, writers also face their own set of problems ranging from lack of money, new ideas, market for their content, unappreciative readership, or support system, aggressive publishers, writer’s block, and so on.
Some have performed so well as budding writers only to get sidetracked by other things or fail when famous and rich. In some instances, they lose their glory after being successful never to recover while some lose all they have and later make a grand comeback.
As a writer or content creator, you can identify with most if not all of the above problems, and the best thing to know is that you are not the only one facing them.
So many movies about writers have been written depicting the above problems and watching them will not only make you relate, but you will also laugh, get sad, mad, intrigued, and inspired to keep at it even when all your ducks are not in a straight row yet. Let us have a look
- Shakespeare in love
Hopeless romantics are already smiling at the title… yeah there is love somewhere in the movie and it is actually about one of the greatest playwrights who ever lived; Shakespeare. The Plot of the romantic comedy is set in the 1590s and entails cash-strapped Shakespeare who is also fresh out of ideas but then things turn around when he meets the love of his life who represents everything he has ever dreamt of in a woman. She eventually inspires him to write one of the greatest pieces of his careers, Romeo and Juliet.
- Ruby Sparks (2012)
Imagine looking for a partner and one of your characters comes to life and starts a relationship with you being what you have always idealized and desired. Nothing could go wrong right? That is what a novelist whose fictional character comes to life though. He soon finds out it is not all rosy despite him creating the character and willing her into existence. Starring Paul Dano as Calvin and Ruby Sparks as Kazan you will be treated to all the intricacies that come with relationships, the concept of idealism while also enjoying the world of fantasy. There is also gaining insight into the world of a novelist who made it early in life but cannot only regain past glory but is also struggling with relationships.
- Barton
This movie revolves around a budding Broadway playwright who makes it to the big leagues in Hollywood which means he will be earning thousands every week. At the Capitol Pictures in Hollywood, he is tasked to write a wrestling film which is an unfamiliar subject for him and thus a very difficult topic for him. Upon consultations with his producer, he does not get help from his irritated superior who refers him to another writer for help. He fails to get help and the novelist he meets later at a hotel bathroom is of no help either as he turns out to be a drunkard whose work is ghostwritten by another person. Barton later finds himself right, smack in the middle of a murder case after sleeping with a lady who eventually gets murdered by a serial killer who loves beheading his victims.
The plot is wrapped in intrigue, treachery, betrayal, murder and arson which are just enough fodder for any writer facing a difficult subject and writer’s block. Barton jumps at the chance and after he is done writing a masterpiece his boss trashes it as “a fruity movie about suffering”, then goes on to tell him that Capitol Pictures will still have him around but will not produce his work until he “grows up a little”.
The story does not end there…… Barton finds the hard way that the big leagues are not always what they are cranked up to be….The cast of John Turturr, as Barton Fink, John Goodman as Charlie Meadows, Michael Learner as Jack Lipnick, and Judy Davis as Audrey Taylor did justice to the movie and you should definitely look for it.
- Midnight in Paris
Hardcore romantics here is yet another treat; Midnight in Paris. The latter is a Woody Allen production and is set in Paris where Gil Pender, who works as a screenwriter is on a trip with a materialistic fiancée and her family. This is not just an ordinary trip for the writer as he keeps going back in time to the 1920s every night. The daily trips only serve to exaggerate the divergent goals between the two lovers….
This is a must-watch what with the cast of film stars like Owen Wilson, Rache McAdams, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Carla Bruni, Tom Hiddleston, Marion Cotillard, and Michael Sheen. Midnight in Paris premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival but it is still evergreen. Considered one of the best works by Woody Allen, it has since won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. Three other Academy Awards include Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Art Direction.
5. The Ghost Writer
Ghostwriters are just what you need when you are either too busy to finish a book, story, series of articles or memoir. This was not lost on the British Prime Minister in the movie, The Ghost Writer. When the movie’s protagonist Roman Polanski’s played by Ewan McGregor, is asked to finish the memoir of the British Prime minister, he is quite elated just as any writer would be as it is no small fete. However, the elation is short-lived when seeks information to finish the book as he soon comes to the realization that their leader has skeletons in his closet.
To add salt to injury, not only does he have to carry heavy secrets around, he has just come to the realization that his predecessor had died because of a “tragic accident”. This was after he unearthed information that linked the British leader to the CIA. This is also a must-watch as writers often have to grapple with balancing responsibility to the truth and knowing that it might actually cost your life.