I woke up this morning with the idea for today’s inaugural newsletter post. I’m busy this week — busy like I always am — but since last night was election night in the States, I spent the evening relaxing with some drinks and some wild Japanese horror (which I’ll get to in a moment). My best ideas always come when I’m relaxed, or at least getting as close to relaxed as my anxiety will allow. So, waking up after a night of not working with an idea for more work felt like the perfect newsletter topic.
I’m good at noticing connections that other people don’t see. I found so many similarities between April Fool’s Day, Sleepaway Camp, and Happy Birthday to Me that I wrote a two-part piece on them for Manor Vellum (I still think I could have expanded to at least double that). The most important takeaway from that article series for me, beyond the fascinating connections between those three films that gave me a deeper appreciation for all of them, was the fact that I wasn’t looking for those connections when I sat down to watch those movies. I was watching them simply for pleasure; simply because I love them and wanted to revisit them. The fact that I watched them so close together helped my brain see commonalities I had never noticed before, and I had to be in as relaxed a state as possible for my brain to be able to do that.
It sounds like trite advice, but you can’t force ideas or inspiration. You have to give yourself time for pleasure and recreation to be the best at what you do, no matter what that is. Another piece I’m very proud of (you’ll notice that I’m going to be sharing a lot of work here, because that is, after all, the point of this newsletter) is my essay for Film Cred on color and costuming in Black Christmas. That was another idea that I loved that came to me when I was just watching Bob Clark’s 1974 masterpiece for fun. I watch it at least once a year, and that year’s viewing was the lightning strike that led me to writing what I think is still some of my best work.
It’s hard to accept that your best ideas will come to you when you aren’t looking for ideas, but that seems to be the case for me. Things might work differently for you, but after speaking to other writers and creators, it unfortunately seems to be a pretty universal phenomenon. You just can’t force it. Your mind and creativity have to be open for your best ideas to flow, and taking time to watch movies or read books or do anything else just for fun is the best way I know how to do that.
I want to use part of each newsletter to talk about what I’m watching, and the topic of watching movies just for fun is the perfect opportunity for that. I’ve been having fun watching a lot of George A. Romero movies for a couple of pieces I’m working on, so keep an eye out for those (I will, of course, share them in future newsletter installments). But I wanted to get back to the wild Japanese horror I mentioned above. I watched Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell on Shudder last night, and I had a fantastic time. As I described it on Letterboxd:
An inventive low-budget ode to Evil Dead 2, with touches of Lou Ferrigno’s The Incredible Hulk and moments that presage Noroi: The Curse. Gory, goofy, and surprisingly creepy, this is a perfect party watch.
At only 62 minutes long, Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell is well worth your time. With its low-budget ingenuity, it might be the movie you need to get back into a creative mindset. But don’t go in hoping that it will jumpstart some ideas. Just enjoy it for what it is. If inspiration strikes, that’s wonderful; if not, you spent an hour with some gonzo gore and an affectionate Japanese ode to Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. Discovery for discovery’s sake, and fun for fun’s sake, are just as important for your creative life as the time you spend working, so don’t forget to have fun.
Writing Thoughts: You Can't Force It
Happy inauguration! You are so right that you can't force ideas to happen. This being NaNoWriMo time, it's hard to remember that, but so important. I was in a slump once and was able to successfully reset my brain and enjoy movies again after binging all the Resident Evils in a row. I stopped trying to analyze everything and just let the awesome wash over me.