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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/4246
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/4246
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

_[Misery.](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0792846443)_

ETA Allow me to explain my facetiousness. _Misery_ is a Stephen King story about Paul, a writer of a popular series set in Victorian times starring Misery Chastain. Paul finally gets tired of the character and kills her off in what he believes to be the final book of the series.

He gets into a car accident in a snowstorm and is rescued by Annie, who's a nurse, and a fan of Misery, and also rather out of her mind. Annie reads the new book, is devastated that Misery is dead, and ties Paul up (among other abuses) and forces him to write a new story — with no tricks — bringing Misery back. The novel features a typewriter which slowly disintegrates a key at a time until Paul, feverishly caught up in his own story, has to resort to longhand to finish it.

I mention the story for two reasons: one (jokingly), that when you get really devoted fans, you don't _ever_ want to piss them off. But more seriously is a quote from Annie which I still remember.

Misery is dead and buried at the end of the "last" book. When the writer resurrects her without explanation, Annie is furious. She screams at him that he's cheating, the way the filmmakers of the Saturday-morning serial movies used to reset the cliffhanger endings to allow the hero to get out of the impossible scrape by making it not impossible at the beginning of the new film.

"Misery's in the grave. You'll have to start from there," she tells him.

That line forces Paul to be creative, to really think, in ways he had allowed himself to stop doing out of laziness. It's a challenge. If you're looking for a writing prompt, that's a good one.

While I'm adding to my answer, I'll also mention the films _Dead Poets Society_ (both for its love of language and the general goad to Seize the Day) and _Shakespeare in Love,_ to watch the process of a play (a story) being built one familiar couplet at a time.

Original score: 4