This is Joker

[Heather Ledger as "The Joker", courtesy of viral marketing]
Not unlike football, screenwriting is a game of inches... only it's far slower and less interesting to watch...

I could spend the better part of a night combing through the equivalent of three inches on a sheet of paper. Inches are valuable real estate in a screenplay. If I can kill a widow or shave an orphan, the inches really add up. And I can spend those saved inches on the ugly bit of exposition that I need to cram in... somewhere...

To make things more annoying, I'm simultaneously (though with far less urgency) trying to write the book for a new musical. I've got a lot to do by Thursday.

Man, I could really go for some Strawberry Quick right about now... maybe when I'm done...

Horror is a strange genre. It's so popular, yet the movies never garner much critical respect. I love the genre while admitting that there aren't really that many horror movies that I truly love. I'm fascinated by the films that provoke strong reactions out of people... but I'm so desensitized, it's hard for me to get scared by a movie...

What's best about horror, though, is it makes a great entrance... for new talent... if you can pull it off...