Stranger Than Fiction

Last night I watched a movie, Stranger Than Fiction.
I didn't expect it to be great because Will Ferrell plays the lead, but convinced Thom we should watch it because:
a) Emma Thompson is in it and she is always great, and
b) It is about a guy who can hear Emma Thompson narrating his life... so it could be funny.
It was. Not cack-your-dacks funny, but it had some great heart-warming moments, some genuinely witty dialogue and some very clever writing.
The best bit of all was when Ferrell's character tracks-down Thompson and begs her not to kill him off.
It just reminded me of that technique authors often talk about where they interview their own characters to see how they would react in various situations. I always thought it sounded odd-yet-genious. And here it was, a simple premise that seems to have been the inciting idea for an entire movie.
I. Fucking. Loved. It.
Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and Maggie Gyllenhaal gave great performances, and I didn't even want to kill Will Ferrell.
Made me feel like writing again though. Really putting my shoulder to the wheel this time and trying to actually complete something.
It won't happen. But it might. It could. And I could have conversations with my characters.
And lay on my desk, smoking, wondering how many innocent people I've killed.
Oh yes, if I was a writer, I'd want to be as scatty as Emma Thompson.