One good thing about Tron

In my house, we love going to the movies, but often don't make the time. Therefore over holidays, we try to cram in as many as possible. Thanksgiving was 3 movie weekend. Christmas we managed to log in two, and hope to squeeze in another 2 over New Year. We saw The Tourist, which has a gorgeous setting, wonderful actors, dresses I would kill to wear, and an okay plot. It was fun, and more importantly, it inspired me. I could take one of the plot points from the movie and spin it an entirely different direction. It made me want to leap up from my site and jot down a new idea for a book. Or two. I'm still mulling the possibilities.

Then yesterday we went to see Tron. My husband is a huge fan of the first movie, and has been quivering with excitement over the sequel. I, on the other hand, never saw the first one, and only went to be a good wife. Disney - shockingly! - let me down this time around. It wasn't good. And I'm pretty darn easy to please. The one good thing about the movie (aside from the fact that it made my husband deliriously happy) was that it became so slow and boring in parts that my mind acidentally wandered. It wandered all the way to Chicago and the current chapter in my WIP. I let snippets from each character drift through my head, and walked away even more juiced to go and write. I was ready to get the heck out of this chapter and move on to the next. An infusion of motivation like I haven't had in weeks dripped through my brain cells.

Sure, it might have something to do with the three glowing reviews that popped up on the web this week, too. Nothing beats back a slew of agent rejections like a great review. But those only restored my confidence. Sitting through these two movies made my inner writer limber and excited about the process. Object lesson? Don't feel guilty about taking time away from your computer. Inspiration can strike almost anywhere.