And the Award Goes To......

Later today, people in fabulous clothes will be accepting gold statuettes for all sorts of achievements, real and imagined. To scoop them all, here's an imaginary list of awards for storytelling achievements exhibited in a truly random sample of this year's big movies. Let's start with characters, because, why not?

Best Character in a Nifty Picture: There were a lot of unkempt, drunken men on the screen this year (Barney from Barney's Version, Rooster Cogburn in True Grit) but I really liked Johnny Depp's version of the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. Please note, all of these characters were based on literary versions of the same. As for female characters, I really liked Jennifer Lawrence's character in Winter's Bone. Vulnerable, determined, smart, and driven to carry out a chilling mission.

Best Screenplay: By a wide margin, 127 Hours. This was my favorite movie of the year. But I've said that too often. A story told using music, dreams, hallucinations, memories, journals, fake morning news -- all in a canyon crevice! Hats off.

Strangest Plot: Black Swan -- I'm still not sure what happened. I thought I went to a character drama, but it turned out to be a horror movie. Nevertheless, compelling.

Cinematography as Narrative -- I loved True Grit. As the camera followed horse and rider across the terrain, my heart overflowed. The landscape told half the story.

Costumes that Tell a Story -- The 2011 Polar Bear plunge. I liked it better than Natalie Portman's feathers. Someone even brought a portable sauna.

For a real plot twist, watch the Oscars in your bathing suit this year. You'll have way more fun.

Showdown with the Boulder

A choir of saws now hums around Henning Pond. It's 22 degrees, down to 9 with the wind chill. But men are cutting a giant hole in the ice so people can jump in. So crazy. What kind of nut would do this? (Me...?) And why....?

Along with a hundred other people, I jumped in the pond last year. I said I was celebrating a big birthday. But it's also the kind of weird ritual that makes you face fears that float below the surface of your life.

Many creative people find a nature challenge attractive because it tests your nerve and gives you an adrenalin rush. One of my favorite stories from the past year is based on a nature challenge that went awry. It's the story of Aron Ralston, a hiker who ended up trapped by a boulder in a Utah canyon. He went hiking in search of adventure and thrills. Then nearly lost his life when faced with an obstacle he never anticipated.

Ralston's life story was the basis for the movie "127 Hours". I loved the story telling techniques used in the movie and wrote a piece about it for Carbon County Magazine. While Ralston waited in the canyon, he had nothing else to do but face his deepest fears. Finally, he gathered the courage to address his gruesome situation and was totally transformed by his showdown with the evil boulder.

As writers, we are often stymied by inner obstacles that keep us from addressing topics we ought to deal with in our writing. It takes great courage to overcome those fears and escape the boulders in our path. But it is worth all the effort to emerge victorious on the other side of fear.

I'm heading out to the pond now. Not jumping this year, but I want to see who else is jumping into the cold water, swimming toward the strange freedom on the other side. Try it. Take a leap, face a fear, get away from that boulder, write.

Writing advice from....actors?

For a week or so, winter has made Pennsyl Pointe an even more perfect place to write. Snow softened the sound, cold weather made things cozy, and my new French press produced some wonderful coffee. Why then, was it so impossible to put words on paper?

I tried to limit phone and email interruptions. Still, my list of writing ideas sat abandoned and I started hating myself for not using these winter days to write something really good. Then one night, I saw a televised interview with John Cusack, the film actor. A young actor asked Cusack why it's so common to get blocked at the moment of performance. Cusack, quoting ideas from Carl Jung, said that sometimes when it's time to perform, the conscious self does not want to give up control or experience the vulnerability at the core of the creative process. The self -- or ego -- then sets up barriers to block creative expression. To defeat the ego and its blocks, an actor must make friends with the unconscious -- or shadow self -- which is the true author of creativity. The same notion can also be applied to writing.

Like most creative people, I learned this long ago. But my world had gotten a little too busy and I was treating my creative work like an item on life's grocery list. The imagination really needs room to play -- or an incentive to jump higher than the ego. Even after 10 years of professional writing, it's easy to forget this truth and think you can boss your unconscious mind around.

Taking Mr. Cusack's advice to heart, I've begun looking at each creative writing session like a theater piece. Before I raise the curtain, I offer my shadow self a little treat. Sometimes it's one of those great cups of coffee, but it's paired with a moment of silence or some music. And, okay, sometimes it might be piece of chocolate. After all, the creative self is a lot like a child. Once you coax that little imp to come out and play, the writing flows like...like...a runny nose on a winter day.

Bring Down the Bullies

Just for today, forget the heroes. Let's focus on villains. Some of literature's most memorable characters have vile habits, bad breath, and very nasty dispositions. Plus, if you read today's newspapers, larger than life bullies from Scranton to Cairo may finally be getting cut down to size.

The truth is that readers of all ages love to hate a well-crafted creep. Plot and setting take a back seat when juicy villains take the page. Consider the hold Cruella De Vil has exercised over millions of young minds -- or the many stagings of Othello still revealing shades of Iago's dark soul. Powerful memoirs have also been built around the struggle between innocent victims and true-life bullies who tried to bring them down. In his book "This Boy's Life", Tobias Wolff created the chilling portrait of a step-father whose extreme cruelty drove him from his home. By the time Wolff escaped to boarding school, he had found the strength to write a new script for his life. Today his work still sizzles with the energy he must have needed to escape that first monster.

If you are a writer who's managed to avoid contact sports with bullies, try paging through today's newspaper and you'll find many scowling back at you. There's Hosni Mubarak, with 30 years of political prisoners praying for his resignation. And one of America's most corrupt judges, who is about to stand trial in Scranton, PA. Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. spent years casually sentencing kids to long prison stays in exchange for huge cash kickbacks. Read the details of his schemes and see if it doesn't raise your temperature. Then try to bury your own favorite creep with a few strokes of your pen.