Forever-Inspiring Movies in No Particular Order: The Magnificent Seven

Without question, the two best ways for a writer to improve her craft are reading and writing. You study as you read. And your practice as you write. While there's no right or wrong speed when it comes to writing - life gets in the way, after all - the people who preach that you must spend years perfecting one manuscript are blowing such smoke. Writing takes practice. Every single thing you write helps you hone your skills.

You know what else helps? Watching movies. Not just passively, but actively. Watching movies. It's a study in movement and facial expression. Film provides all these fantastic spacial references. If you can sketch a scene you want to write in your mind, apply movement, really see it, you can help your audience see it while reading. Watching movies has helped me create a database of mental artwork that I can put into words on paper. Film also gives a medium in which you can really study speech patterns; the cadence of words; the rhythms of conversation. I say, if you work in fiction, study all fiction, and put what you learn to good use.

The Magnificent Seven

 

Pics aren't mine. Don't sue me.

 

This scene, the first five minutes, are worth watching alone. Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen running the hearse up the hill is one of those moments that will continue to inspire my writing.