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.

Winter quiets a forest. The birds are gone or hiding and the dogs stay home. But the wind groans and trees whine as they struggle beneath their growing load of snow. Like those trees, many writers carry emotional burdens that threaten to bend and break them. But great authors, like Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe, transform the injuries of life into their best work.

Through writing about survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Oe came face to face with people who had lived through unimaginable disaster. Photos of the bombing victims are some of the most gruesome I've ever seen. Years ago, after visiting the Hiroshima Museum, I could barely think. Although Oe was able to write about these war atrocities, he continued to run away from the disaster that had scarred his own life. He only matured as a writer and father, when he found the courage to write about his brain-damaged son, instead of fleeing away "from the deformed child".

Often we flee from the deformed or wounded children within and around us. We are afraid that going back to life's most painful moments will overwhelm us, capsizing the fragile boats in which we navigate the rapids of life. The truth is that revisiting trauma is the surest way to undo its spell. What doesn't break you the first time, will not destroy you the second. Revisiting trauma helps you to appreciate your own power to withstand adversity. And it is an excellent strategy for becoming a better writer.

Inspired by Scribes

Some writers are as famous for their connections with other artists as they are for their own work. Even if you couldn’t finish “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas”, you might still admire Gertrude Stein for the salons she held with creative masters like Picasso and Hemingway. Conversations with other writers often help me refine story ideas and find fuel for solitary hours of writing. When last week’s snow nearly undid my plans to meet with other writers in New York, my Pocono life felt drained of inspiration. Fortunately, the snow drifts could not keep me out of Manhattan.

Talking with other writers reminded me that there are as many paths to a writing career as there are to happiness. Sara Neufeld, for example, spent years writing for the Baltimore Sun before widespread layoffs at big city newspapers made her consider other options. She left the Sun voluntarily and now writes for an education institute. At Caroline’s Comedy Club, I talked with Jeff Kreisler, and other comedy writers who make their living writing jokes, plays, TV skits, books, and stand-up routines. These talented people know that writing for different venues helps them create a broad platform and reach a wider audience. It’s also the best way to maintain some kind of financial stability. The issue of financial stability is really important to writer Joe Paretta. He just published a book on cutting credit card debt. To balance his own budget, he also teaches writing classes at two local colleges while working on his own books.

It was energizing to talk with so many resourceful members of a profession that offers little career guidance. Before I drove back to the woods, I even found some old school writing advice at the New York Public Library exhibit on ancient sacred texts. In addition to a large display of ornate sacred books from early Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths, the exhibit had a scriptorium where you could play with writing tools like swan feather quill pens. Two excellent quotes were painted on the scriptorium wall. One came from the Prophet Muhammad who said, “The first significant thing that God created was the pen. And he said, “Flow”, and it flows with whatever it is, until the day of resurrection.” The second news flash was offered by Cennino Cennini, a scribe who lived from 1370-1440 A.D. He said, “To enter the profession, begin with decking yourself with this attire: Enthusiasm, Reverence, Obedience, and Constancy.” Somehow his words still seem relevant to writing in the age of blogs.

Solitude on Ice

On Friday night the temperature dropped to 9 degrees Farenheit. Yet Saturday morning, there were two chairs sitting in the middle of Henning Pond. Someone had shoveled a path from the edge to the center so they could carry their chair, a saw, and a tackle box across the ice. These fishermen could easily buy trout in the local supermarket so it’s not fish they’re craving. They’re chasing that elusive ingredient sought by writers everywhere: solitude.

Once the holiday season ends and the strings of lights come down, social activity seems to evaporate fast. But December’s parties and visits can keep our minds tangled in the endless connections that bind us to other people. It’s hard to clear some mental space and begin writing again. Who wants to stop eating and dancing, just to sit alone on the banks of an empty page? Still, a stroll back to the cave of solitude promotes good writing.

Solitude doesn't just mean toiling in silence. Writers just need some time in an environment that highlights news reports from the unconscious. Too often the noise of the world drowns out the voice of originality. Each writer’s mind is a finicky chef working from a unique creative recipe. Stephen King writes to the music of AC/DC and Metallica. Michael Chabon writes in coffee shops. For me, a quiet spot and a good smell are essential. Espresso fumes, candles, or soup work well. A nice view is a plus.

January is the perfect time to write. Snow lowers the world’s static. Even in warm climates, the start of a new year is energizing. I truly understand why those fishermen sit out there on the pond. Winter walks get my creative juices flowing. But no matter how much the fish are biting, I would never, ever want to write on ice.