Drivel and Crap? Maybe not so much ...

Due to computer problems and in attempt to move forwards and not back with my writing projects as of late I have been reviewing older versions of my work. I was getting a little discouraged because several of the concepts - some that I've abandoned all together and others that I've kept and allowed to evolve - though still sound I couldn't remember why I'd incorporated them (or abandoned them as the case may be). Not only that looking at a lot of my earliest endeavors while complete, I couldn't help go "wow that's nothing but drivel and crap." It left me wondering; "Am I really cut out for this?" Doubt unfortunately being the inevitable bane of most writers. So I decided that I needed to go back and look at my original inspirations. To that end I have been abusing my Netflix stream and DVD account re-watching movies that I'd pulled inspiration from as well as attempting to catch up on modern versions of classic fairy tales and folk lore.

Last night I finally received a copy of the 1987 version of Beauty and the Beast which I had seen it back in '94. At the time I had been intrigued by some of the tweaks they'd made to their story and it inspired me to incorporate them into the script I was working on for my 7th grade project. Now it's been over 15 years since I've seen it and could only remember how impressed I was at the time. 

It was a horrific let down. Watching it now the sparse script, campy dialogue, and bad singing kept me cringing for 94mins. I realized what had gotten me so worked up over this film were a few simple things; the setup of certain shots, a few lines of dialogue that in their simplicity were gems, one of the sets and few of their story tweaks. And I realized ... my 7th grade drivel and crap was WAY better than this so-called musical script! I hadn't drawn on something great and fallen short; I'd pulled inspiration from the rubble - out of coal I had made diamonds! What was even more encouraging was that the parts that I had kept and moved forward with were the ideas I'd come up with myself and they'd improved exponentially since then as the story has grown and changed. 

What was bad was that I found more usefulness in the '40ies concept which I found to be similar in concept to my own and found a path NOT to take with mine. lol

Well here's to revisiting the past and finding out you've had it right all along.