Writing Inspiration

Do movies inspire you? As I mentioned in an earlier post about Tuluum, my travel plans are often inspired by movies. Sometimes reading a book does it for me, but not as consistently as a movie. I’m very visual.

Movies can be inspirational in other ways too. Perhaps they inspire you on a personal, professional, or humanitarian level?

A few months ago I watched Letters To Juliet. I knew that it was a light romantic drama and that it was filmed almost entirely in Italy. I wasn’t expecting much from the film except some gorgeous cinematography and light entertainment.

The story is about a letter written to Shakespeare’s Juliet, and found by Sophie, the heroine of the movie. The letter was written 50 years earlier, by Claire, a young English woman yearning for her Italian boyfriend who she had abandoned.

This leads Sophie to the discovery that the mythical Juliet  has secretaries who answer all of the letters written to her. Sophie  speaks of her discovery with the secretaries and decides that she should answer Claire’s letter.

Claire arrives in Verona accompanied by her son Charlie, and tells Sophie her story of love found and lost. Sophie then convinces Claire that searching for Lorenzo is a worthwhile endeavor and off they go, looking for Claire’s long lost Romeo, in the Tuscan countryside.

What I found most interesting was not that Sophie went to Italy and found love. The real story was, Sophie found  her passion in Italy, and it wasn’t Charlie. It was writing. Sophie wanted to be a writer and had been floundering in New York. In her discovery of the letter from Claire to Juliet, she found the story that would jump start her writing career.  The important part is she followed her instincts, even though the whole thing seemed impossible. Those flashes of intuition or inspiration, happiness is found when we pay attention to those moments. They show us how to fulfill our hearts desires.

I was also fascinated to discover that the secretaries of Juliet are real. They pen answers to thousands of letters from all over the world. The home of Juliet, real or not, is one of the most popular tourist sites in Italy. It doesn’t matter that the balcony is a 20th century addition to the home of Juliet. Nor that Juliet is a mythical character. For those that write the letters, she is real.

Though Letters to Juliet begins in fair Verona, most of it is shot in Tuscany. Still, I saw enough of Verona to be intrigued. I’m loosely planning a trip to Venice with a day or two in Verona. It will certainly include a visit to Juliet’s home. I want to see the courtyard and the famous wall where the letters are left. Who knows what will happen there? If I don’t follow my intuition, I will never know.

What inspires you? What are you passionate about? Do you have a special place that gets your creative energy flowing?

“True, I talk of dreams,

Which are the children of an idle brain,

Begot of nothing but vain fantasy…”

If you need an Italy fix, watch Letters to Juliet. Sit down with a bottle of wine and plate of antipasti, and feast your eyes on the gorgeous scenery. If you are a romantic sort, you’ll love the story.

Letters to Juliet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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