• I love YouTube. From watching music videos to illegally recorded songs, old tv shows and independent films, YouTube has it all. Recently I found a movie I found truly inspiring. Called Lift, the documentary takes place in an elevator in a British apartment complex. A man simply holds a camcorder up for days at a time and interacts with the residents of the area. Sounds boring, but in just 20 minutes, you find yourself enamored by these people and feel as if you truly know them. However, this movie isn't just entertaining, it is something that can give us new ideas for our own writing.

    This film first shows you a lot about characterization. Even though we're only seeing brief glimpses of each of the characters in the film, you get to truly understand them and relate to them. How does the film do this? How can we mimic this in our own writing? Is it the things the characters say, the way the old woman constantly complains about the way the complex has changed? Or is it in their actions, the way the Middle Eastern man constantly offers the filmer food?

    Another great inspiration I took from this film is the context of a story. This entire piece takes place in one location, simply rotating through the characters that frequent that place. You could do the same thing with a cafe, a table in a restaurant, a park bench. Where is there a place in your life that you find yourself at regularly? Can you make a story out of this location?

    Take from the film what you will, but start to consider these other questions for your own inspiration. How can you borrow ideas from this film to better your own writing?