Good Feeling
Posted by Guest Writer in 
I recently watched Hugo (and not in 3D, bummertown), and found myself taken in by its love of old film. There was magic there, working throughout the actors and their conflicts and resolutions. The ending was a bit Hollywood-everybody-happy-
Okay, ramble aside, the point is the film left me with a good feeling. It was that type of feeling one gets by recognizing a well-made, well-told story. The type of story that inspires one to write a great story of their own. I think, from time-to-time, us creative types can get taxed by the everyday and lose some resolve or urge or energy to write/draw/film/record/etc. However, these good feeling works, for me at least, can spark that inspiration again. There’s something about the kinship and warmth a great work or piece can provide that shores up one’s spirit, gives one hope, tells one, “Hey, I can do this, I think. I feel something at least, and that stirring is motion. Motion begets other motion. That motion can be my motion.”
Before this gets away from me, too Tony Robbins style, let me ask this: what’s the last creative work you guys have been touched by? Did it give you that oomph to get creating? Does the good feeling still linger, or do you need a recharge?
Christopher Savage is a writer living in Austin. He writes poetry, short stories, non-fiction, film scripts, comic books, and one long novel, among other things. He is the founder of the Boho Coco literary zine and blog and is currently attending UT Austin as a Sociology major, English minor. He is survived by his cat Cashew.
There’s nothing better than reading a book or short story, article, poem, etc. that floors you. I consider myself floored when I reach the last line and find myself, rather than moving on immediately, sitting and thinking and dwelling in that final moment. One short story that does that to me every single time is Kevin Brockmeier’s “The Ceiling.” Another is Robert Stone’s “Helping.” Another is John Edgar Wideman’s “What We Cannot Talk About We Must Pass Over in Silence.” I could go on. These are not necessarily feel good pieces but they are affecting pieces and ones that motivate… Read more »
Haha. Those are like the opposite of “feel-good” pieces. Those are feel-bad pieces. But yeah, the idea is definitely the same.
I always feel creative when I leave a movie theater. Even if the film sucked. Which, let’s face it, it does more often than not.
I too often feel inspired when walking out of a theater, end credits reeling away while inspirational, heroic music escorts me out. There is something to be said for happy endings – uplifting Hollywood endings – when they actually pay-off.
I have to agree that reading feeds my writing, but art, in whatever format, inspires me. I also use a playlist that I listen to every time I sit down to write. Kind of Pavlovian, but it works.