Being Meryl Streep

Writing for me is like acting, except it's all in my head where only I can see it. What I mean is, when I write a scene, I play all the parts. I am the detective, the murderer and the shifty red herring guy. I have to stay in character; feel what that particular character would feel, react the way that character would react, say what that character would say.

I can handle three, sometimes four people in a scene before my head starts to hurt. When one character talks too long, I get bored and wonder what the others are doing. Pretty soon the silent ones start fidgeting with coffee cups, or table napkins, or sharp little daggers.

Things typically take an unplanned turn about then. My characters go off on tangents of their own making; saying and doing all manner of odd things. It can get interesting.

Most often it simply ends up in a pie fight.

Status: Unchanged. Traveling.