Writers' Block

I realised that i haven't written a blog in quite some time. It's nothing to do with not wanting to write, but i haven't had a clue what to write about! So here I am writing about not knowing what to write about, the irony is so thick you could choke on it! Apparently (according to absolutely nobody but myself) every writer, professional or recreational, suffers from writers' block at some stage in their writing throughout their life. Some people write something brilliant and when they try to follow it up....BOOM the aids that is writers block strikes! This can be seen with songwriters', authors, scriptwriters, and quite possibly....... even bloggers!(Dun Dun Duuuuuun)

Its' funny and yes a bit gay, anytime i hear the phrase "Writers' Block" the first thing I think of is.....ahem, (sigh) Natasha Bedingfields' song "Unwritten". As much as i dislike pop music in general, I thought it was pretty clever to write a number one song about not being able to write a song. Some of the lyrics include, "Staring at the blank page before you, open up the dirty window, let the sun illuminate the words that you cannot find." I know what your thinking and no I didn't have to look up the lyrics, they're permanently drilled into my head and I cant get them out. Damn you Natasha Bedingfield and your cheap, catchy yet meaningful lyrics! She must be suffering from serious writers' block at the minute haven't heard a song by her in close to five years!

So you might be wondering whats prompted my emergence from the foggy haze that is writers' block? A couple of things that i can think of:

1. Reading a good book.
Recently finished reading "The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo" if you haven't read it I cant recommend it highly enough.

2. Keeping a diary.
You can write anything in it, thoughts ideas, quotes, your dreams, doesn't all have to be "Today I made a strange noise on the toilet, should probably seek medical aid" kind of writing but hey if thats your thing I'm not here to judge...too much...

3. Watch a film that makes you think about things you normally wouldn't.
My list of films to make you think in my previous blog post could come in handy :) If romantic comedies are your thing watch a Rom/Com with a difference.

4. Listen to music.
I dont mean Katy Perry or Rihanna. Listen to people who have experienced life and have the ability to write a song about it. There's an endless list of amazing bands and singers with thought provoking songs on every aspect of life... or if you just fancy a laugh listen to The Lonely Islands "Jizz In My Pants", its hilarious :)


You can be inspired by anything these are just a few that I enjoy and get my creative juices flowing, god that just sounds wrong! :)

Anyways I kind of just started writing and kept going but I hope you enjoyed it! Feedback as always is appreciated, and if you have any ideas for a future post you'd like to see me write about let me know, thanks.

The First Of...Maybe Many, Top Fives.

My Top 5 Thought-Provoking Movies

These movies I'm about to discuss haven't necessarily literally changed my life, they may have made me see things in life differently, moved me, shocked me, scared me. But they have all stayed with me for a long time afterwards and prompted further research into them and still continue to do so. These are not my top five films, some of them might be, but they all hold great memories and pose questions to me even now and have certainly open my mind.

5: The Fountain.

This little known movie has gone on to be a cult classic. It stars Hugh Jackman and Racel Weiz in three separate timelines, the past, the present and the future. In the past Jackman plays a conquistador searching for the tree of life on a mission for his princess. In the present he plays a scientist desperately trying to find a cure for his wife. I wont spoil what he's doing in the future. This film is beautiful in every way. The theme of being willing to do anything to save the one you love is touching, the musical score by Scottish band mogwai is perfect and visually it will blow you away. The fountain will make you think about love, loss and everlasting life and needs to be watched. Just dont expect to understand everything even after multiple viewings.

4: Serendipity.

This might seem like the exact kind of movie i would'nt like(typical rom-com) but... I love it because there is nothing typical about it! It stars John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale who meet one fateful day in New York. They get on so well that they want to meet again but Beckinsales character believes when her number blows away that it's a sign its not meant to be. A firm believer in fate, she writes her name and number on a book and trades it in a second hand store and cusacks character writes his name and number on money she then spends. Thus, if they're meant to be together surely they will both find the book or the money in the future? Fast forward a couple of years , both characters are in long term relationships with other people but still cant help thinking about that person they met in new york years ago. They then set off in search of each other.

The thing i liked most about this film is the idea of fate and destiny. If something is destined to be or not and this film does it very well. It's also very funny and charming without being cheesy. Serendipity is defined as "a fortunate accident" and for me it was very serendipitous i looked past its romantic comedy facade and gave it a chance

3: Session 9

Without a doubt the creepiest one on the list. Another little known psychological thriller with little known actors (C.S.I's David Caruso the biggest name on the bill). But there is an even bigger star in this movie, the setting, a delapidated and abandoned mental asylum!

Session 9 centres on a crew of asbestos removers contracted to clean the asylum. Dark shadows, strange visions and ghostly voices torment some of the crew and the colourful past of the asylum is slowly revealed. This film is one of the most tense viewing experiences i have had. It leaves you constantly on edge and the setting is up there with "the Outlook Hotel" from The Shining as places i would least like to visit. I dont want to say too much about what this film makes you think about for fear of spoiling a truly great viewing experience but i guarantee it will leave you in deep thought and afraid to turn off the lights. The Tagline is, "Fear is a place", fear this cult psychological classic.

2: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

One word to describe this film: genius. The premise is simple but clever. What if you could erase every memory of the person that broke your heart, erasing the pain they caused and even your knowledge of their existence? Jim Carrey stars as one such person, Joel who is horrified to hear his ex -girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet in arguably her greatest role) has had him completely erased from her memory. Heartbroken, he decides to have the same procedure which forces him to relive all his memories of her, good and bad. ESOTSM manages to take a simple idea ,"Is it really better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?", explores every possibility, leaving us with this deeply moving modern masterpiece and Jim Carreys greatest performance.

1: Donnie Darko

Without a doubt the most thought provoking film i have ever had the pleasure to see, a masterful mixture of many genres and themes. It's a coming of age, sci-fi, romantic, psychological horror. It's Jake Gyllenhaals' breakthrough performance and one of the greatest films of the last twenty years.

Gyllenhaal plays teenager Donnie Darko in 1980's America. A teen who soon becomes troubled by visions of a gigantic bunny rabbit called Frank who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days. When he returns home the morning after hearing franks prophecy, he discovers a jet engine has fallen from a plane that cant be traced and landed in his room. Who or what has saved Donnie and why? As the film goes on and the supposed armageddon draws ever closer Donnie must discover whats going on and try to save the world from certain annihilation.

Donnie Darko is a film thats very hard to summarise, it just needs to be watched. After countless viewings i feel like sometime in my life i will finally understand everything writer and director Richard Kelly has woven into this masterpiece. At least i hope so!

So thats my top five thought provoking films. I'm not saying there aren't more thought provoking films out there just tht these are my favourite. Try and see them if you haven't already but do so with an open mind. Hope you enjoyed this and thanks for reading.

Be gentle...im new to this sort of thing!

Soooo...where to begin? A bit about myself perhaps... I'm a 20 year old Irish guy. I'm proud of my heritage but not so proud of the country we've become, and thats nothing to do with our economic state. I am unemployed almost two years now which is crazy the more i think about it but as it is i have more chance of marrying a three-legged ballerina than finding a job!

I attended university for a year studying english and history. I loved the english but my god was the history hard. If i had known the the job market would collapse like it did i would've worked a lot harder but i thought screw it i could walk into the forest and pluck a job off the ripest job bearing tree such was their abundance!

I think blogging could suit me because writing is already a hobby of mine. I also love movies (my biggest passion) and videogames (second biggest) but i love music books and i dare say some poetry but not all of it! Oh and of course nights out with all my pals, one of whom(hi Sinead :) ) introduced me to blogging which is only fair seeing as i introduced her to twitter!

Anyways, that's me but i'll be writing a lot more...a lot :)