Bemused or Bewitched?

As long as there have been artists, there have been "muses" inspiring them.

From Viola De Lesseps, who supposedly drove Shakespeare's creative vision and inspired "A MidSummer Night's Dream" to Beethoven's famed "Immortal Beloved," Amalie Sebald, women of beauty and grace have been the real-life impetus behind some of history's most renowned works.

And so it was that I was talking yesterday with a writer-buddy of mine who's back in LA. He's been seeing a girl for the last few months, and was telling me how she keeps finding her way into his work.

"Perfect Eyes. Its the name of the screenplay I'm working on right now. Its inspired by her flawless blue eyes. They couldn't be more perfect if they were created in a Teutonic laboratory."

I was intrigued. "So what's it about?" I asked.

"Yeah... I'm still working that out. But the main character is named after Sarah, and, of course, she has those same incredible eyes."

As he said this, I remembered that the last two screenplays I read from him both had major characters named Sarah. A mystery-thriller, and a horror flick.

I didn't have the heart to say it, but couldn't help thinking... "Dude... Sarah's not so much your muse, as she is a distraction." When you're writing a screenplay around her eyes - but that's all you know about it... well... something's not quite right.

Don't get me wrong. From everything I know about this gal, she's amazing. She's perfect for my buddy. They belong together.

But... you know. Not in his writing. At some point, personal and professional get mixed and it turns out all funky.

To be clear... there's nothing wrong with inserting real life inspiration into your writing. Heck, that's what makes it interesting. I've used many scenes that were inspired by something I really did, or saw, or heard about. And many of the characters in Siege, and the Raunchy Teen Comedy, and the unnamed Lesbian-Vampire/Charles-Bronson-Revenge/Albino-Bat-Creature script are named after friends and family. Some of you readers will be happy to see your namesakes as henchmen in Siege, if it ever makes it into production.

And going back to our original example... if William Shakespeare had never been jilted by Viola, herself forced to the New World in a loveless marriage, we'd have lost some of the greatest written works of English literature.

So... I'm not saying a "muse" for inspiration is wrong. Quite the contrary, if it leads you to the story. I'm more concerned that my buddy's putting the cart before the horse in crafting "Perfect Eyes" around nothing more than a pair of... um... perfect eyes that are attached to a chick he digs.

And he reads this blog. So dude... consider this an intervention.

BFF,

Charlie


Keywords: b movie, Siege, screenwriting, screenplay, scriptwriter, script, movies