Checkin' In

Don't have a great deal to report tonight. Sorry.

BIG SHOUT-OUT TO REGINA!!! Hope you enjoyed the well-earned smoke! (Reowww!)

Today was work & stuff, so nothing particularly exciting about my day today, but yesterday (Sunday) was pretty fruitful!!!

I spent the first half of Sunday reading 3 chapters of --------, which means I have 5 more to go.

Then I spent the last half of yesterday catching up with an old friend... let me rephrase that, a long-time friend! (She has only celebrated her 29th birthday twice so far.) For, like, 5 hours!!! It was groovy!

And I had to get up early today, so we had to cut the conversation off at 3:00 am. (3:00 am?!!! I guess maybe we ARE getting old, huh?)

Oh, and, like, Saturday I watched WHITE NOISE, then watched it again with the director's commentary, and I had this epiphany about writing horror scenes that feel classic. You know, those scenes that say "Uh-oh! You're in trouble now!" (WARNING: Writer-Geek time...)

There are, I believe, 6 story beats within those moments.

1. Reveal that there is Danger.
2. What is the Danger?
3. Reveal the Danger.
4. Try to prevent/escape Danger.
5. Danger attacks.
6. Reveal the Aftermath.

I've read tons of theories about how to construct a scare scene, but rarely from a horror writer I know. King, Matheson, Crichton, Williamson, Romero... none of these guys have said -- to my knowledge -- "This is how to build a scare moment".

So the guys that DO tell beginning writers how to construct scare moments are basically deconstructing effective ones from past movies.

And their therories are more about psychology than function. Which doesn't work for me. I mean, I WANT the psychology, but I also need the function! I need it all.

So now I'm going to be one of those guys you've never read DEconstructing (rather than CONSTRUCTING) what I believe to be the essential beats of a classic horror moment...

But not tonight. (If I reeled ya in there, sorry!) I don't have time. But I promise to revisit this when I do. It's pretty fascinating! Michael Keaton meantioned, on the director's commentary of WHITE NOISE, two scenes that he specifically enjoyed playing because they made him "feel like" he was in a horror movie. And the second time he said it I noticed that these are the scenes I'm waiting for when I watch a horror movie.

So why is that? What is it about those scenes that make the whole movie more enjoyable for me? What makes up those scenes? And how?

So I WILL return to this, maybe tomorrow.

Meantime, PEACE!!!

OH! And fingers crossed for the Space Shuttle Discovery launch at approximately 9:39 am!!! I believe one of the things that can save us from ourselves is turning our eyes to the skies again, and being reminded just how small and petty our political arguements really are!

Not certain, but I think that was why President Kennedy was so gung-ho to get us shooting for the moon, so that we as a species could unite in pursuit of cosmic discovery... Rather than be bored enough to try to kill each other for entertainment.

So prayers for a successful and safe launch!!!