What we can learn from Writers

Think I’m crazy for creating a blog that talks about things to learn from books, movies and tv? Think again. When we are at a loss of what to do in a situation we can go to our friends, historical figures, and I believe characters in books, movies and tv.

© Photographer: Kamaga | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Great Writers either know their material or they research it thoroughly. Like Author Golden who wrote ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ after hitting a roadblock he started actually researching everything he could about the culture and the time period. And he interviewed actual living geishas. He threw away his five hundred-page manuscript and started over. He ended up writing such a realistic account that others believe he was writing about an actual living and breathing person.

Writers come up with an enormous variety of situations from normal to far extreme situations that hopefully none of us will ever have to worry about. But a key to how these characters react or pro act is the fact that writers have time to really consider and explore the outcomes these characters go through. Like Santiago, a character from ‘The Alchemist’, who has to decide between continuing down the path he is currently on and traveling down the path his heart wants to follow.

Because these actions are well thought out, oftentimes these actions are valid for the situation and makes for a valid source of guidance. This applies doubly so if a writer were to do a story based on actual events. How does President Dedmon, from ‘We Are Marshall’ convince the commission to continue the football program? How did Rudy Ruettiger, from Rudy make it into Norte Dame? Whether or not you agree with how the characters deal with a particular situation you’d still have to admit they could teach us something. But, it’s up to us as observers to learn.

So when you think you are at an impasse and looking to family and friends isn’t fruitful. Try looking to what other people in actual events did. Barring that look at what characters in similar situations did.

What do you guys think?

Featurette : Clip of the Week

If you compare this clip with the one in the theater you will that the camera was shaky to say the least, the video is grainier and the sound quality isn’t the greatest. But, I think you will also find that this clip has a hundred times more impact. It was played on the Marshall Football field for people and fans of the Thundering Herd where the events in the movie actually happened.

Start At the End and Work Backwards

As you know, I really enjoy stories, specifically ones that surround a unique protagonist. I find the whole mythos surrounding a protagonist fascinating. Take the protagonist from the last action movie I saw last weekend; ‘The Lookout’. Not a great movie, not particularly well written, or directed; but the movies plot device was something unique and useful.

The movie’s protagonist Chris Pratt received a severe head injury. He suffered a loss of certain memory functions and experienced problems with sequencing. As a result he constantly wrote down his daily tasks in his notepad in order to remember them. Chris lived with his best friend Lewis, a blind man paired with him by social services.

One day frustrated with his progress with memory sequencing, Lewis suggested that he “start at the end and work backwards”. And it is in that one characteristic that saves this movie from my circular file cabinet.

***Spoiler Warning***

Of course later in the movie he gets into deep trouble. Two ruthless men kidnap his best friend. He really thought long and hard about how he was going to get out of the situation. Then he remembered what Lewis said, “Start at the end and work backwards”. So he wrote down his main goal, “Save Lewis”. Then, he thought to himself, ok before that I have to “Kill Gary” and so on and so forth.

***Spoiler Warning***

The plot device really illustrated the importance of writing down your goals. Sounds simple, but how often have you heard the advise to write down your goals? Probably the only thing missing from that advise is to write down the sequense of steps to take you to your main goal. And after writing them down check them off one by one.

Take a lesson from Chris Pratt. Write down your main goal and work backwards. What do you think?

The Slightest Nod

“Once upon a time in China, some believe, around the year one double-aught three, head priest of the White Lotus Clan, Pai Mei was walking down the road, contemplating whatever it is that a man of Pai Mei’s infinite power contemplates — which is another way of saying “who knows” — when a Shaolin monk appeared on the road, traveling in the opposite direction. As the monk and the priest crossed paths, Pai Mei, in a practically unfathomable display of generosity, gave the monk the slightest of nods. The nod was not returned. Now, was it the intention of the Shaolin monk to insult Pai Mei, or did he just fail to see the generous social gesture? The motives of the monk remain unknown. What is known are the consequences: The next morning Pai Mei appeared at the Shaolin Temple and demanded of the Temple’s head abbot that he offer Pai Mei his neck to repay the insult. The Abbot at first tried to console Pai Mei, only to find Pai Mei was…inconsolable. So began the massacre of the Shaolin Temple and all 60 of the monks inside at the fists of the White Lotus.” – Bill, Kill Bill 2

When I was coming up with an idea for a blog I really felt it had to be something I know a lot about. Something I love to talk about. Something I wouldn’t mind doing. That ‘something’ turned out to be stories. I know a lot of stories from books, history, movies and many other sources.

But, I didn’t think I could write strictly about stories by itself. In order for people to want to read my blog I had to offer something that people would want. And I think that, everyone, including myself, wants to be more successful in various aspects of their lives.

One way to learn to be more successful in these various aspects is to learn from others. We learn from our friends and if we’re lucky we learn from really good mentors. I’ve read many books that claim the best person to learn from is a mentor someone who has been where we are now and knows how to get to where we want to go. But mentors are difficult to find. I know, I’ve searched high and low. And my search has always met with disappointment. Then one day I realized that characters in the stories found in history, books, movies and TV were unsung or forgotten mentors. These storytellers in their writing have explored, with their characters, endless situations and actions that we can learn from.

Which brings us to this blog. This blog is about finding and learning from mentors within stories, books, movies and tv. I don’t mean characters that do things perfectly all the time. These characters make mistakes too. And it’d be smart to learn from their mistakes as well.

My idea for a blog was born. But I needed to take things further and actually get my own URL and a name that would help me brand my blog. Taking a lesson from the book ‘the Purple Cow’ by Seth Godin I wanted a URL address that would be visually memorable. The word Mentor itself, to me, wasn’t very visual. My mind just didn’t picture very much when I hear the word ‘mentor’. I also wanted a blog that would be a fun place to go and a place that didn’t take itself too seriously. Mentor just sounded too stuffy and serious.

As I went through possible names one word kept standing out. That word was ‘Monk’. For the purpose of this blog, I decided to use the term monk and mentor interchangeably.

When I hear the word monk I picture a solitary monk standing on a hill overlooking a field of green grass. A scene similar to the one Douglas Adams painted in his book ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ of the electric monk. If you read the book you’d know the electric monk’s special job. A Tivo’s job is to record shows for you, a microwave’s job is to cook for you, the electric monk’s job was to believe for you.

I later added “the forgotten” as a way of differentiating our monk from others and to recognize that sometimes we forget to learn from history, books, movies and TV. The Forgotten Monk is any character in stories from history, fiction, movies and TV that through their actions and results have something to teach us. Will Rogers has been credited with saying, “”Some learn from observation, some learn from reading. The rest of us have to pee on the electric fence”. My challenge to you is to read, observe and let The Forgotten Monk’s job be to pee on the electric fence for you. Your job, if you hang in there with me, is to learn and apply what you’ve learned from The Forgotten Monk.
We use the term ‘monk’ a little differently on this blog. In this monologue given by David Carradine from the movie Kill Bill 2. Pai Mei is my forgotten monk for today, the great teacher, the mentor who went unrecognized. Because his actions went unnoticed there were severe consequences.

This blog is our acknowledgment, our recognizing of overlooked actions. It is our slightest nod in return to all the forgotten monks out there. The unsung heroes from history, books, movies and TV that we can still learn from in the hopes we can avoid severe consequences.

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