Books, Movies, and Video Games: How Inspirational Are They?

Alright, so I've heard a lot about how authors draw inspiration from other books and things they've read, but is that the only source of inspiration an author has? Absolutely not! Movies and video games can also be great sources for authors to draw on to use in their own stories? How? I'll explain my opinion on it, and if you have something you want to add, please feel free!

First, lets start with movies.

There's always the argument of 'the books are better than the movies', and while I personally believe it to be true, there are a lot of movies, t.v. shows, and documentaries not based on books. But this isn't about what's better or anything like that, it's simply about appreciating what is, and being able to draw on that for inspiration to write your own subject matter.

I love to watch movies, not only for fun, but to see the story line, the plot, how the characters progress or digress through the movie, and to see how the director and screenwriter created this movie. Every movie has creative ideas when it comes to how the director puts it all together, and how they create the plot of their story. It's incredibly difficult work to be able to put everything inside your mind - where you visualize it perfectly - and make it into reality to create the world and setting needed for your story to work. That's something hands down you have to applaud when watching movies: whether or not you like it, the work that went into it is something inspiring. And it's not just the work ethic of the cast and crew that make movies so inspirational.

Being able to watch a movie that draws you in and captivates you is the best thing in the world. You get lost in the world the movie is set in, and you root for the characters to succeed. And when you see something that completely blows your mind, shocks you, makes you cry, or anything like that, it sticks with you. Rightfully so, too. Having something so vivid ingrained in your mind is a perfect image for you to adapt into your own works. Let's say you've watched BBC Sherlock, and you get to a part where it stuns you or even makes you cry (it's done both to me, to some degree). You don't forget something like that. Something you got emotionally invested in and attached to doesn't go away so easily. And that's a great thing as a writer! So you could take the scene that stood out to you the most - like someone's death - and use it in your story with your characters. Of course this doesn't mean just copy what BBC has created, but take the idea and shape it into your own, where it fits your story better and is even more impactful than before. And boom! There's a good heart-wrenching scene in your book. Movies have the unique ability of making people visualize everything that goes on. In books, you visualize it in your head, which is what makes reading so much fun, but movies can make you see something from a different perspective, and then from that you can create something new and exciting.

So then, where does that leave us with video games? Surely they don't have much to offer, right? WRONG.

There are several video games I have played over the course of my life that have given me ideas and have inspired me to write. While there are some video games that don't offer a lot of plot or actual story, there are some that do. The ones which offer plot, story lines, character development, and things like that are the games I'm talking about.

Many of you have heard of the Legend of Zelda franchise, and how popular it is. It's that popular for good reason. The different stories told in each game are so incredible and so much fun to play. It's an adventure every single time. Because these games can show so many different aspects of plot that movies and even books do, it's easy to see how you can draw inspiration from it. You want an awesome action hero who never gives up as your main character in your book? Take a look at Link, the hero who never says no. He would be an awesome inspiration to give you an idea on action sequences as well as building plot and character.

The Legend of Zelda franchise isn't the only one either. There are dozens of awesome video games out there that can be used as inspiration that I can't even list. But, to save time, I'll talk about my hands down, all-time favorite game: Tales of Symphonia.

You want to get inspiration to build a characters backstory? Look at Tales. Need a good anti-hero? Look at Tales. If you need a story filled with fighting destiny, fighting for what you believe in, never giving up, and always looking for answers? LOOK AT TALES!

I could go on and on about this game, as you could probably guess, but I won't. This game is one I played throughout my childhood and one I still play today because it's that good and it never gets old or boring. This is the game where you can look at each and every individual character and see they have their own story line, their own goals, and their own minds. To see that being created in a game with such harmony is fantastic. Some books don't even have that much depth to all of its characters. It's so easy to draw inspiration when you have a good story, a good plot, and brilliant characters to back it up.

Very similar to movies, video games visualize what is happening as you play, but they offer something even more unique and fascinating than movies do. You interact with the video game personally. The choices you make determines what happens, and sometimes deters you from the goal you need to get to. You get personally involved and thrown into these worlds that you feel as if you're part of the game. The interactivity of these types of video games draws more on your creative side of your brain, because you have to think about what could happen if you make a bad choice, or what will happen if something doesn't work out. That stimulus invites inspiration to fill our minds, and is why a lot of people often get inspired, feel adventurous, and want action because of these games. And as a writer, it's even better to have that stimulus because we can transform it into what we write.

So yes, books are an awesome source of inspiration and give authors plenty of ideas to go off of, but there are other sources as well. Movies and video games (to me especially) can shape new and exciting ideas for authors to write about because they give different outlooks on what their specific story is about. Just because it wasn't written in book format doesn't devalue the work of the story and definitely doesn't discredit what the story is all about.