It all started in the Shire.

A fellowship of friends set off on a quest. What better way to start a story?

The other day, I sat down with a group of friends and we had ourselves a marathon. All three "Lord of the Rings" films, extended editions, in a row. 10 AM to 10 PM almost exactly. It was lots of fun, especially when all started to get a bit punchy after sitting down for so long.

I'd like to say I came away with new insights from seeing them all back-to-back, but the truth is that I didn't really. Someone did make an observation about the multiple psuedo endings at the end of The Return of the King, though. Considering they came at the end of an eleven hour movie, basically, an extra half hour to wrap everything up isn't all that bad. Anything else would have been rushing it.

If I were to be comepletely honest, the real reason why I ever started writing was Peter Jackson's trilogy. Sure I know he didn't create the stories--JRR Tolkein did that decades ago, blah blah blah. But the truth is that those movies meant a lot to me. They showed me what imagination and creativity are capable of, and that if you have a strong enough vision, then anything is possible. Yes, I came up with stories before I saw the Fellowship of the Ring, though I mostly drew about them. I had never considered writing as a worthwhile attempt to bring my stories to life.

The instant result of seeing these movies was the creation of my epic fantasy story, which is still technically in the works. Granted, everyone and their dog jumped on the fantasy bandwagon after that, but fifteen year old me didn't really care all that much about trends and fads. I've started a couple of drafts of the story, but it's never been close to seeing the light of day and it probably won't for a very long time. Though some parts are obviously derivative (no new ideas under the sun, right?), I do feel that it has a lot of merrit and it's just waiting patiently for me to become a more mature and dedicated writer. (Gosh, that makes me sound like such a slacker, doesn't it?)

While I have moved on from my high fantasy days, I do still count those movies as one of the biggest creative inspirations of my life. As I watched all of these people (cast, crew, writers, etc) put their lives into creating the world of these movies, I thought to myself, perhaps foolishly, "I can do that." And that's what I've been doing ever since. Thanks, Mr. Jackson.

So, when does The Hobbit come out? I absolutely love the RankinBass version, but I'm excited to see what Martin Freeman does as Bilbo. I think he'll be great!