For me, Christmas shopping is an exercise in restraint. When asked “What do you want for Christmas?”, I can’t think of a darned thing. But when I’m shopping for others, all sorts of things entice me. I could break my budget buying one for her, one for me, one for him, one for me, one for… My smart daughter has figured this out, and we schedule a shopping trip together early in the season just so she can make notes, go back later and get something that caught my eye. (She thinks I don’t know this, but I roll with it. It’s actually kind of cool!)
Early this year, though, I got this idea. Wouldn’t it be great to have a collection of
DVD’s that were all about writers or writing? Yeah, another collection :). But I’d watch each and every one of them. How about your writer friends? Their wish list might not be the same as mine, so consider what they write, what they like to read.
I went to my search engine for ‘movies about writing and writers’. Simple, right?
Do you know how many there are???
After looking over the long lists, I admit there are some that seem ‘iffy’ to me. About half of what I found, I’m familiar with. Others I never heard of, but I want them because of the subjects or story. I still haven’t decided if I should just go for what I like (or THINK I’d like) or attempt the comprehensive list, which could be a daunting project. I could break it down into Dramas and Comedies; Poets, or Authors of Fiction, or Non-Fiction; or stories about the craft of writing. But some of the films overlap these distinctions. So for now I’m just going with the flow, and grabbing whatever catches my fancy.
My list begins with DREAMCHILD – a movie I never heard of, but it’s about Lewis Carroll, and Alice, so I’ve got to have it. After that it includes other biographies ( probably highly fictionalized, but there’s got to be a foundation, doesn’t there? Maybe?) and simply stories involving writing. Stranger than Fiction, for instance, is just for fun - it asks what happens when your characters come to life? (I already have this one, actually…). I liked Ms. Potter (Beatrix), and can’t leave off Finding Forrester because, well, Sean Connery, you know. Dead Poets Society kind of grows on you, so it’s on my list. Then there are some I haven’t seen, but intrigue me. I’m already figuring out how to arrange the bookshelves to accommodate them all…
I started to show you my whole starter list, but arguments might ensue. Some are good for the entertainment factor, some for esoteric or historical value, but there are no wrong answers, so I decided to plant the idea and let you run with it. (Note to family. If you run across something that’s not on my list, get it anyway. I had to stop somewhere!) 
Writers – help me out here. What would YOU put on your list? Recently, Pat Laster http://pittypatter-pittypatter.blogspot.com/ mentioned she was reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Didn’t they make that into a movie? 
Here’s a great link, with a huge list, in case you’re curious… http://christinakatz.com/free/277-movies-about-writers-and-the-writing-life/ Don’t forget the popcorn!
Gayle, Your snowflakes are pretty! Looks like we will be getting the real stuff in ice before the day is over. Brrrrr!
I don’t care so much for movies, but I’d love to receive books on writing or writers. And to this day can never figure out why my family has seldom bought books for me as a Christmas gift. I’ve received a few and have cherished them!
I just ran down that list. Lots of good movies! A couple that I’ve seen but would watch again include Hans Christian Anderson and Cross Creek. There were many others, but their titles escape this old brain just now.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (a novella, really) was supposedly someone’s 3rd choice as a good movie about writers. I didn’t find it so much about writers as I was led to believe, tho’ a writer is there. I haven’t seen the movie that I remember.
They did indeed make Breakfast at Tiffanys into a movie with Audrey Hepburn. I thought it was taken from a short story, not a book. And speaking of Truman Capote, his biographic movie Capote is a little creepy but so was he.