Screwball Comedies: A Guide to Some Classics

I had a friend ask for some recommendations on good old screwball comedies. At the time, I didn't have the chance to really give a complete answer, and I thought this might be something other people would be interested in, too--so here goes. An overview to some great screwball comedies. These aren't the more obscure ones--these are bread and butter essentials of the genre. Not sure if it'll help my friend out (I don't know how many she's already seen), but they'll help YOU out, if you're a newcomer to the genre. Ready?

First of all, what is a screwball comedy? As Wikipedia puts it,

The screwball comedy is a principally American genre of comedy film that became popular during the Great Depression, originating in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s. It is characterized by fast-paced repartee, farcical situations, escapist themes, and plot lines involving courtship and marriage. Screwball comedies often depict social classes in conflict, as in It Happened One Night (1934) and My Man Godfrey (1936). Some comic plays are also described as screwball comedies.

 So we're not talking about modern comedies here. Bill Murray movies or National Lampoons don't count--they're a different beast. I happen to love this genre, and there are so many many great comedies to choose from.

• It Happened One Night--This is a classic Frank Capra movie starring Clark Gable, a reporter looking for a story, who falls in with an heiress looking to run away from her family. It won best picture, actor, actress, director, and screenplay. If you haven't seen this movie, I think there might be something wrong with you. I'm pretty sure all human beings are supposed to have seen this.
• My Man Godfrey--A hobo (William Powell) gets hired to be the butler to a wealthy family. Sometimes the premises of these movies alone is enough to demand seeing it. It also earned Oscar noms for actor, supporting actor, actress, supporting actress, director, and screenplay.
• The Awful Truth--Cary Grant was so convinced this movie wasn't working that he asked to be let out of his contract. It ended up catapulting him to stardom. A husband and wife are on the outs and try to sabotage each other during their divorce. (Possibly would have been better if they'd hired a hobo to be their butler.)
• Bringing Up Baby--Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and a pet leopard. What could go wrong? Plenty. The movie bombed at the box office and it threatened the careers of Hepburn and director Howard Hawks. Today, it's been named by EW as the 24th best picture of all time and is part of the National Film Registry.
• You Can't Take It with You--A Frank Capra classic. (Incidentally, I was in a production of this in junior high. I played the uptight father.) A rich man gets engaged to a girl from an eccentric family. Hilarity ensures. Won best picture and director.
• His Girl Friday--Howard Hawks, Cary Grant, and the world of newspapers. Based on a Broadway play and remade many times, this version is still my favorite. It brings snappy dialogue to a whole new level of Zen.
• The Philadelphia Story--George Cukor directing Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart. If that doesn't make you want to see this movie, you have no soul. One of my all time favorite movies.
• To Be or Not to Be--Ernst Lubitsch directing Jack Benny in a movie about a Polish acting troupe trying to take down the Nazi. Remade later by Mel Brooks--this is still a fun film.
• Arsenic and Old Lace--Cary Grant and Frank Capra, plus serial killing aunts. I'm telling you, these movies just make themselves, folks. I wish I could have been in some of the pitch sessions.

Really, when you get down to it, look for a few key directors: Cukor, Capra, Lubistch, Hawks, Sturges, and later on Billy Wilder (I love the lesser-known One, Two, Three--James Cagney in a comedy all about Coca Cola and Communism).

Movie Review: The Muppets

Over Thanksgiving, I went with the fam to see The Muppets. Going in to the movie, I was more than a little nervous. Why? Because so much depended on this  film, or at least that's what it felt like to me. Seriously. The movie had reached William Carlos Williams proportions in my mind. (And because an idea like that doesn't come along just every day, here's my version of the parody:)

so much depends
upon

the new Muppet
movie

Promoted so
heavily

On all social
networks.

Now that that's out of my system, allow me to explain why this film was so important. It all boils down to Muppets from Space. That movie flat out stunk, for a Muppet movie. Some of the songs were okay, but the plot was wicked weak, and the jokes were only meh. After I'd seen that movie, I wondered if there would ever be another Muppet film. If this one was only so so, then it was a done deal--especially after how much this film had been promoted. (Seriously--I'm a huge Muppet fan, but by the end, I was about as tired of all the ceaseless bludgeon-you-over-the-head-with-promos-for-the-Muppets ad as I get with political ads. (Well, maybe not THAT tired of them. At least the Muppet promos were often clever and entertaining. On purpose.) I get that Disney felt it had to make huge inroads in a new audience, but they pushed it too hard.

In any case, if this movie stunk, then that could be the end of the Muppets as we know them, and that would be sad.

Did it stink?

Not at all. I thoroughly enjoyed the film.

Was it as good as the original Muppet Movie or the sequel, The Great Muppet Caper?

No.

Why not? Because it didn't have Jim Henson. Which is really sad, but Jim's dead, and there's no getting around that fact--much in the same way I imagine Apple products will be hurt on the whole in the future. Some people (including my friend Jared Whitley, who offers an excellent counterpoint to many gushing reviews) didn't care for the film, but I feel like it all depends on what your measuring scale is. If you're stacking it up against the originals, you're bound for disappointment. In a conversation with my agent ahead of time, he'd prepared me for this--and I was happy to have the heads up. It tempered my expectations some.

Yes, the cameos could have been better. Yes, some of the original songs were relied on a tad too heavily, but in the end, this was a great Muppet movie. Not the best one. Not even the second best one. But a solid entry in the series. It wasn't a Muppets from Space, and for that, I think we can all be grateful. The Muppet movies had abandoned the original content stories in favor of retellings of familiar tales (Treasure Island, Christmas Carol, Wizard of Oz)--with Space being the one (failed) exception.

This film corrects that trajectory. Better yet, it's already made more money than Muppets from Space--even after adjusting for inflation. It doubled the opening of the next biggest Muppet opening (Treasure Island), and I'd say it's on track to easily pass all other Muppet movies except the first, in terms of total earnings in the box office.

That's great, if you're a Muppet fan--even if you're a Muppet fan who didn't care for this movie. It means more Muppets are on the way. Heck, it beat the Smurfs, and that's already been green lit for a sequel. Who knows--we might even get some new TV episodes out of this. Or at least more webisodes.

But I need to wrap this up. Should you see this movie? Yes you should. My kids loved it, I had a great time, and it's just a big ol' warm fuzzy. Three and a half stars for me.

What did you think?

Driving Back to Maine

 Me here. Still in Pennsylvania. I'm just finishing up packing, and then I have to drive eight or nine hours (depending on traffic) back to Maine. I love coming down to visit, but the drive isn't my favorite thing in the world. Still, there are perks. Audio books help (Denisa and I are "reading" Enchantment, by Orson Scott Card. Really enjoying it--and I have to say it's a whole different experience now than when I read it the first time. Then, I was just back from my mission, and I hadn't met Denisa yet. Now, I've been married to her for over ten years. My views of Russia and linguistics have really changed (go figure). When I read it the first time, I certainly had no idea that I'd end up having such a stronger connection to that part of the world.

We'll also be able to listen to Christmas music now, which is a fun way to while away the hours. Unless you're trapped in Walmart and forced to listen to it. Then, not so much.

Anyway--wish me luck, everybody.

Various Things I'm Thankful For

I'm taking off the weekend to . . . you know--have a holiday. Maybe eat too much turkey. Definitely eat too much pie. It's good to have basic goals in life, right? So you won't see any blog posts from me for the next few days. But I thought I'd take a moment today to do something similar to what it seems everyone and his brother has been blogging about all month: run down a list of some of the things I'm thankful for. There's plenty to be happy about these days.

• My wife--My life would really kind of stink without her. But if I remind her about that too much, I end up having to vacuum more often. Choosing who to marry has a drastic impact on your life--much more than you often realize when you get married. I'm really thankful that I somehow managed to con this fantastic woman into thinking I was a catch.
• My kids--TRC and DC are really some of the best behaved children I know. Obviously I'm biased, but hey--why can't a dad brag about his brood now and then? They're obedient, quiet when asked, smart, funny, and talented. They're a lot of fun to be around.
• My house--The more work I put into it, the happier I am with it. In many ways, it feels like another family relationship. Sure, it still has some issues (lots of issues), but so do I, and I'd like to think people love me in spite of those issues, the same way I love my house, drafts and all.
• Mouse traps--This is related to the house. If it weren't for mouse traps, I'd have to get a cat. And we don't want that, my precious. We hates cats. Filthy little kittenses.
• Netflix--Until this lovely invention, my life was filled with DVD purchases and overpriced rentals. Even with the increase in price, I still love this service. I've had the Kool-aid, my friends. And it is sweet.
• Snow days--I'm on vacation, but I don't have to take it as vacation. Why? Because it's snowing a foot in Maine (not where I am). And they closed campus for the day. Which means that when I get back, I'll get to take another vacation day on a day of my choosing, since I sort of have to use some vacation up before the end of the year, or I lose it. How cool is that?
• My church family--Living in Maine wouldn't be nearly as much fun as it is if it weren't for all the wicked nice people I've met since moving there. I've made some really strong friends in my church, and they've come to feel like my family up there in a way that I've never really felt about church people. We look out for each other. People ask me how I can live so far away from the rest of my family--my church is a big reason why that's possible.
• Technology--Some people would be happy living without the wonders of technology. Some people would love living the medieval life, or being in the wild west. I'll take my air conditioning, computers, fast cars, gadgets, and modern medicine.

I'm thankful for lots more, of course--but I'm running low on time, and this is getting sappy enough as it is. Have a nice long weekend, everybody. See you on the flip side!

Easy vs Good--An Official Rambling

I've had some thoughts over the past few weeks, and I wanted to get them down on paper. Virtual paper, at least. One of the nice things about being on vacation is that I have more time to think about things and then write about them. Not that I always take the time, but it's nice to know that it's there.

Today's topic? Easy vs. Good. Allow me to explain.

It seems to me that in life, we often choose to do what is easy. Take the path of least resistance. In the short term, there seems to be very few bad effects from this. Say you have to decide between cheating on an exam to get an A, or studying to get a B. Short term, cheating seems like the way to go, hands down. You have a better immediate grade, and all is well with the world. But long term, that easy choice has serious consequences. You're less prepared for the next test, and more likely to need to resort to cheating to succeed at it, too. In turn, that might set you back in an entire discipline. Cheating becomes the norm as you try to keep your grades up. And then sooner or later the real world steps in, and you stop being able to cheat.

But cheating is just a simple example to illustrate a complex problem. Let's get a bit more grandiose. How about the economic crisis facing the world?

In many ways, I think much of the cause of the crisis can be found by our tendency to go along with what is easy by default. The housing bubble caused its fair share of the troubles, for example. And in the years leading up to that crisis, I remember one of the fads of the DIY networks was all about flipping houses. Buy a crappy older home in an expensive area, put in a few thousand dollars of work, sell it for a huge profit. Easy. Simple. And why in the world did this seem like a sure fire thing that would never backfire? Housing prices were going through the roof, and all this flipping of houses certainly wasn't helping. It was inevitable that it would have to burst eventually.

People took out loans they couldn't afford. Why? Because it was easy. Get something for a little now, and who cares about the consequences in the future? The same thing happened with businesses. They wanted regulation--to make things easier. Wall Street wanted to go go go. And then everything turned south, those same people turned to someone--anyone--to look for a bailout. Why? Because it's the easy solution.

And let's go back to the personal level. The same principle applies. Maybe you're trying to decide what major to pick in college. One seems like an easy option--low credit hours, easier path to graduation--but it might have long term drawbacks (bad job outlook, poor salary). At the time, it's very easy to justify the easy choice. You're busy. It would be better to have good grades than a solid degree. Whatever the justification might be.

Say you're raising your children. You're busy. There's a lot going on. It's easier to let your kids watch TV for an hour a day, and what's the harm?

But here's the thing with easy decisions: once you make one, it's easier to make another. So you let your kids watch an hour a day. So what? And then they want to up it to two. Well, that's not a huge difference, so why not let them? And why not three?

Maybe you know a person who's overbearing and no fun to get along with. It's easier just to let that person have his way all the time. But the more you let that person have his way, the less able you'll be to make a stand when you need to.

I don't mean to be preachy here. I'm as at fault for taking the easy choices as the next guy. And what might seem like bad decisions to one person will be perfectly sound decisions to another--so ignore the specific examples in favor of seeing what I'm getting at.

The fact of the matter is that easy choices are not often good choices. Life is all about hard work. Take the idiots in Washington DC. They had a very difficult task in front of them: decide on a compromise of how to manage the debt of the nation. Work together. There was no easy answer--to get a real solution, everyone was going to have to give up something, and no one was going to be happy. But it had to be done. Trust politicians to discover an easy option: do nothing. Throw your hands up and say, "Shucks! I can't figure it out. This was too tough."

Morons.

To solve this problem--and most problems in life--you need to go beyond easy. You need to risk being unpopular and even losing your job. But them's the breaks when you decided you were fit to be one of the leaders of the country.

I suppose what I've been thinking the most about lately is how important it is to stop and look at your life now and then and see if you're doing anything just because it's easy--and if that's still the thing you should be doing. This is NOT something you should do for other people. It's very easy to see what bad decisions other people are making, and it's very easy to decide to step in and fix all of them for them.

Do not do this.

It's difficult to look at your own life and find the bad decisions--and more difficult to fix them. But remember that things that are difficult are most often the things that are also worthwhile. A happy marriage, a thriving family, a successful career, a prosperous country. None of those things appear out of nothing.

So maybe in the end, the decision actually is easy. All you have to do in a situation is look at the relative difficulty of the choices. Gravitate to the more difficult options by default. :-)

Anyone care to chime in? I'd be curious to hear some other thoughts on the matter.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Broadway Review: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Denisa and I went in to New York and had a chance to see a show while we were there. I love me some Broadway, and I don't get to go nearly as often as I'd like. (That whole "living in Maine" thing tends to make "going to Broadway" more difficult.) One of my all-time favorite musicals is How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying--mainly because of the Robert Morse movie version of the musical, which I grew up watching frequently. It also has a song all about groundhogs. Right up my alley.

So when I saw Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe was starring in the revival, I hoped I'd be able to get in sometime and see it. Then again, I was also more than a little concerned that he'd stink it up and ruin the musical. Harry Potter isn't known for his great vocals, after all. But it was worth a shot. I'd seen him perform on the Tony's after all, and he didn't do an awful job then.

I'm very pleased to be able to report that it's a wonderful production. Radcliffe threw himself into the role with gusto, even nine months into his ten month stint as the star. The musical numbers were tons of fun, and I've never seen the Groundhog number done better. The musical was hilarious. Great choreography (not quite as good as the movie, but then again, the movie reused the Bob Fosse routines, and it's hard to compete against Fosse), I loved the set and costume design--sort of a Broadway Mad Men vibe, with extra color. (Denisa noticed all sort of things with the costume design that I didn't even pick up on at all--how the colors changed based on the tone of the musical at the time. Stuff like that. Clearly I'm not that observant when it comes to costumes. But I noticed they looked nice and were . . . colorful.)

The two stand out numbers were the Groundhog one and the finale. Radcliffe's voice was pretty good. He has a tendency to sing through his nose on some of the words, but I think that might be him doing his American accent. John Larroquette (of Night Court fame) played the boss, and he really hammed it up--in a good way.

There have been times that I've seen live productions of shows that I'm already really familiar with via the film adaptations. Sometimes, the comparison is a harsh one. You can get really used to seeing things done a certain way, and when it's different, it seems worse. Not this time. I really had a blast the whole time through.

On an interesting side note, Radcliffe auctioned off his bow tie at the end of the show (for an annual Broadway charity drive). It went for $2800. (Who said there was a recession on?) It was fun to see him chit chat with the audience as he took bids.

In any case, if you're in the area and want to catch a good show, I encourage you to see this one. I might be biased because I'm a big fan of the musical to begin with, but it's just a light, enjoyable production. Very family-friendly, too.

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Finally got around to watching Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides last night, part of my wait-to-see-blockbusters-until-they're-on-video-so-I'm-not-disappointed routine. Once again, it worked like a charm. Was the movie fantastic? No. Was it an entertaining way to spend an evening? Yes. I've got the Bluray and sound system--why not trot them through their paces now and then?

The movie only got a 33% on Rottentomatoes, a 45 on Metacritic. By all rights, I should have disliked the film. It does nothing original, Jack Sparrow does his shtick, Penelope Cruz plays an unrealistic fighting pirate, and there are mermaids with serious characterization issues. Not to mention the frequent plot holes.

I still had a good time.

Mainly, I enjoyed it just because it was so much fun to watch Jack Sparrow being Jack Sparrow. In many ways, it felt a lot like a James Bond movie. There's a lot that doesn't make a ton of sense, but you're there for the ride and the character.

The effects were extremely well done. Just being able to watch them should account for something on its own. I mean, back in the day when film just came out, people would attend just to be able to see the technology at work. Forget story--the bling is worth it on its own. Same thing here.

Other than that, there's not much to say. Ian McShane did a good job as Blackbeard. The soundtrack was solid. I had a fun time. It didn't change my life, but the fourth movie in a series isn't really trying to, is it?

Three stars for me. What did you think of the movie?

The Cover for Vodnik

That's right, folks. The time has come--I'm allowed to share with you the cover for Vodnik. (No--that's not the cover at the top of this story. That's Twilight. But you knew that, didn't you? Scroll down for my cover. Which is way cooler than apples and hands.) Seeing this and having it announced over on Tu Books' site has made the book seem that much more real to me. It's nice that after all this work, everything's coming together so well. I saw the maps for the book yesterday, and they're looking great, too. This is going to be a really slick looking piece of literature. Very exciting times.

Anyway--here she be. Tomas, Trencin Castle, Lil' Reaper T-Shirt, Hands on Fire, and the Vodnik Statue hiding in the clouds. (That's my son's favorite part--he thought that was really cool once he noticed it, though I'd seen it right away.)

Having had some input on the cover as it went along, I must say I was impressed by how much work goes into it--mock ups, photo shoots, endless debate. In the end, I'm really happy with it. I think it does a great job representing a lot of what the book is about. It's exciting and mysterious, and it catches the eye. At least, I think it does.

What do you all think?

March 2012 keeps getting closer!

Subdivisions

Denisa and I had an unwelcome surprise a bit ago: a letter came in the mail. The landowners around us have decided to subdivide. Again. When we bought the house, it was sort of by itself in the middle of a wide open field. Last year, they put in a house in front of us. We've since planted some evergreens to eventually block out the house.

Now they're selling six more lots.

Sigh. Luckily, these aren't as bad as the other one. They're behind our  house, where we have a nice copes of trees already present. There's one to the side of our house, and I'm thinking about planting some more trees there now--just so we're ready when the house does go in.

I suppose it's inevitable: time marches on, and people just keep making more people, and all those people have to stay somewhere. But one of the reasons we bought the house was because we didn't want neighbors too close.

Still, they're not going to be that close. Some of you in cities are no doubt rolling your eyes at me even as you read this. But I really wish I could just buy a good 100 acres or so and put my house there, just so that I never had to see anybody.

It's not that I don't love you all. I just love my privacy more. Which is ironic, seeing how much I blog about my life. But there's a difference between people reading about it and people watching it, ya know?

Oh well. I'll stop complaining now. But I won't stop grumbling in my head.

Holiday Shopping Guide: Video Game Edition

Every year, it's the same thing: what to get the techno geeks (or growing techno geeks) in your life. (Well, assuming you have techno geeks in your life. If you don't, why don't you find one, and give him or her something this holiday season? Because tech stuff is expensive, man.) Some of you have kids who are in to the whole video game thing. Others of you who have spouses in the same boat. And there you stand in the video game store, looking at hundreds of boxes that all look sort of similar, wondering what to buy.

Wonder no more. I'm here to help you out with that. All you need to know is what video game system your techie of choice loves, and you'll be off and running. (And for you video game geeks out there, remember--this list isn't really for you. It's for people who have no idea where to begin with video games. Sort of like me in a yarn shop.) Ready? Here we go.

3DS Games
Many of you have no doubt heard of the trouble the 3DS has been having. Slow sales, bad games--all that jazz. And so you might be feeling skittish about committing to the system. Let me allay those fears. TRC has one of them, and he adores it. Flat out worships the thing. Interestingly, he doesn't care for the 3D all that much. And that seems to be a thing many people echo. But the thing is, the 3DS is a whole lot more than just being about 3D. It's a much stronger DS game system, and it plays all the DS games. I highly recommend the thing. If your loved one has a 3DS, your life just got a whole lot simpler, because they have a rash of new games coming out, all of which look or are awesome:

This one's a no-brainer. Mario Kart. Comes out December 7. Your loved one will thank you.

The second best reviewed game for the 3DS out there. If your loved one has a 3DS, they like Nintendo games. It's one of the main reasons to have the system. Play to the system's strengths. Buy Nintendo.

 The best reviewed game. A remake of one of the best games of all time. Sure to scratch that portable Zelda itch.

Cheaper than the other ones. TRC has this game and can't get enough of it. I've played it, and I can see why. Good times.

Nintendo DS
Maybe your loved one hasn't branched out into the next Nintendo system yet. Not to worry--there's some love for the DS out there, as well.

The latest iteration of Pokemon. There's a reason this game has lasted as long as it has. Another one that TRC owns and plays often.

A great one if your loved one loves puzzles. The Professor Layton games are well produced, engrossing, and fun to solve. Speaking as a puzzle lover, myself.

Nintendo Wii
No longer the huge Must Have item of the video game world, the Wii still has some solid games coming out for it. That said, the choice is pretty straightforward. The one game you should be getting for a Wii lover in your life this year has got to be:

It's getting fantastic reviews across the board. It comes out on November 20, so you know they don't have it yet. It's Zelda. What more do you need?

This one came out about a year ago, so they might already have it. But it's a great game, and it would be cheaper by now, too. Or get it used--cheaper still. Or--if they don't have the first one--get that one, instead:

$20 new. You can't go wrong. Fun for the whole family.

PS3/360
But perhaps you're not in to the whole Nintendo thing. You've got a PS3 or a 360, and you want to use it for something more than Netflix and Blurays (if you've got a PS3). I haven't played any of these systems in a while, so I can't vouch for any of these personally, but definitely look into the following: (all fairly recent releases, all solid games--though not all for kids)



And finally, maybe one of the games I personally am most interest in:

It's like Guitar Hero, except you play it with a real guitar. Not a fake one. And at the end of the day, you're learning how to play the guitar, except you're playing a game. This is a game I might have to buy. We shall see. You can get it as a standalone game, or get it bundled with a real electric guitar. Note that it will work with any electric guitar--not just the one the bundle comes with. Intriguing . . .

PC
Or maybe your loved one still plays games on an actual computer (gasp!). If that's the case, allow me to suggest one in particular:

A MMO game for Star Wars fans. Note that this is like World of Warcraft--you'll have to pay $15/month to have access to the content, and it's likely going to be wicked addicting. But maybe you're sick of talking to your tech geek, and you'd like some peace and quiet. This'll buy you some for a while. It doesn't come out until December 20th, though--so you might have to wrap it at the last minute.

Got any questions about specific games, or games I haven't mentioned? Ask away. I'm happy to help.

I'll try and do more posts for other topics--whether it's gadgets or movies or board games. We'll see how much time I have.

Writing a Novel: It's Basically Crosswords, All the Way Down

Now that I'm deeper into the second revision of Tarnhelm (46 pages done, 100 to go--but the second half of the book needs quite a bit more work than the first, which had already been revised once), I've just been surprised how each book seems to have a life of its own.

You would think writing one novel would be much like writing any other, but so far I've found that not to be the case. Oh, you still string words together and figure out plots and characterizations--that's not what I mean. What I'm getting at is more a focus on the process itself. Sitting down and solving the problems that come up during the creative process.

In some ways, it's a lot like a crossword. Maybe you're a crossword expert. You've been doing them for years, and you can blaze through easier ones with very little struggle. But those Sunday New York Times crosswords still stump you. You know all sorts of tricks, the method to solving each one is the same, but the actual process varies depending on the crossword. With one, maybe you start in the upper left corner. But then on another, that one's a complete mystery, so you end up focusing on the middle. Or the lower right, or some of the long answers that'll crack the code all at once.

There are revelations as you go. Small clues of no consequence end up being vital, since once they're in place, bigger puzzle-focusing clues come into place, and the picture gets that clearer. In the end, the result is the same: a completed crossword. And when someone asks you after the fact, you can tell them--but the steps seem awfully similar in each case. It's only by actually solving the crossword that it all makes sense.

And now, maybe I've used that analogy too much.

This is all just to say that I tend to have to overcome a good dose of inertia each time I start a new project--whether it's the first draft of a book, or a major revision of a book I've already done. In the case of the first draft, it's that blasted empty page that can scare the socks off me. For a major revision, it's knowing how much work is there and wondering "Where do I begin? How will I keep it all straight?"

But the thing is, there's always a way. You start where you can--where it makes sense--and those empty boxes start getting filled in. It's like magic. I always got a kick out of talking to some of the creative writing majors in college. There were so few of them who actually ever wrote anything (other than when an assignment was due). They'd say, "I have to wait for my muse." And to me, that's sort of like saying, "I can only do that crossword puzzle when the fancy takes me."

I write for the same reason I do crosswords: I enjoy the process. It's not something I just feel like doing now and then. I mean, I like it so much, I write a daily blog. I'm a sick, sick man. What can I say?

(And bonus points to whomever can get the connection between the movie listed and the subject matter. No, it's not that Billy Crystal is a writer in the movie.)