Publishing Insider News Feature: Writing Lessons Inspired by Watching Nora Ephron's New Film 'Julie & Julia' (Starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams)

One of the things I love about summer is watching movies in air-conditioned theatres. During my vacation, I saw three movies: Cold Souls with Paul Giamatti (okay), Julie & Julia (great, and the subject of my feature article today), and the latest Harry Potter, HP & The Half-Blood Prince (satisfying). The last two were scripts adapted from wonderful books!

While the days are hot, I like to go out in the evening and sit in the park with my supper and watch joggers. Everything seems easy and clear, as I'm moving slower than normal. My surroundings become the themes of my inspiration. This week I was fascinated by the depiction of two distinct eras in publishing books and how both were successful. Among other things, Julie & Julia holds lessons for writers. Read on to find out what they are!

Don't worry, I won't give away the ins and the outs of the latest Nora Ephron movie. Suffice it to say, the award-winning director optioned two memoirs and combined them to make a film about finding your way in life with food and literature--the old and the new way. Meryl Streep plays Julia Child and Amy Adams plays Julie Powell.

Julie Powell, our contemporary, created a blog about cooking her way through every single recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, preparing 564 recipes in 365 days. After reaching this goal, and attracting a following on salon.com, Julie was headhunted by agents and publishers, landing a book contract. That's one way to get a deal done right now--make a splash in the media (in her case The New York Times) and you can make a name for yourself. Blog your book!

Ironically, Julia Child once wrote her own memoir about the beginning of her cooking career My Life in France, which involved the writing of the same book that Julie Powell road tested. By adding Julia's story of being a 49-year-old woman in love with her husband and residing in France as part of the US Foreign Service community to Powell's Ephron has done a brilliant thing in her film. Julia followed her passion, went into territory that no one wanted a woman to go (haute cuisine chefing), and ended up bringing her remarkable approach to life, including her love of French food, and her insights on cooking techniques together to make excellent food accessible to home cooks in America.

It took Child eight full years to draft and redraft her manuscript for Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She had a level of patience and determination that I don't often see among modern writers (who mostly want to be famous yesterday, even if they are talentless hacks). Thank God for Julia! She literally changed the world. She was the first famous TV chef on the order of "The Food Network," relatable, knowledgeable, and original. Being an original is STILL a superb roadmap for writing and publishing nonfiction books.

Warning: If you are unaware that writing a book may change your identity thoroughly and deeply, giving you a sense of fulfillment by challenging you to rise above your fears and overcome your limitations, consider yourself forewarned. No one gets out of the process without making a few self-discoveries. That's part of the beauty of the writing life.