don't find a struggle having those two things under one roof. Norton helped me to see that the same was true of Marjorie." Steenburgen said, "The movie is about what it takes to make a writer write - it's essentially an internal struggle - and it's very hard to do that, to be that quiet. Technically, I never found a key to it, but I did understand her compulsion, her passion. She was - I don't know a pretty phrase for it - emotionally constipated, and didn't feel she could be part of anything until she proved herself as a writer." "Writing is essentially an internal process," said the star. "To try to make that external has always been a trap for actors. You tend to get self-indulgent and overly dramatic. I don't know if I licked the problem, but I don't think I make people cringe. I tried to show her passion for wanting to be the best writer she could possibly be." "I'm sure some critics will feel we haven't dramatized the creative process," said Ritt. "But that's really not what this picture is about. It's about a community and its people and their impress on Marjorie Rawlings. Fundamentally, it's about the land, because that's what inspired Marjorie and gave her a chance to fulfill herself." "I love Cross Creek," Steenburgen said. "I think it's a much more wonderful movie than what I ever expected. Some movies are like home movies to the people who participated in them, and that's what Cross Creek is like for me. I watch the scenes with Rip (Torn) and remember what it was like doing them. It's so much fun working with him. You're never quite sure what you're going to get with him. You know it's going to be something truthful. A scene was always lively when he was in on it because he was so unpredictable. You had to be ready for anything. It's a nice fright, though. The kind of fright every actor hopes for." Differences from real life The film fictionalised elements of Rawlings life: She did not leave her first husband and come to Florida to write alone; they worked for four years growing oranges in Florida before the marriage broke up. Baskin did not meet her when her car broke down and he did not fix it up. Her maid was unlike the character in the