Lunatics, authors, and getting black on white.(Reel World)

Publication: USA Today (Magazine)

Publication Date: 01-NOV-04

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COPYRIGHT 2004 Society for the Advancement of Education

I RECENTLY WAS AN INSTRUCTOR at a writers' conference. Like most authors who are not named Stephen King, I need a day job. That would be teaching film theory and history, at Ball State University, although I do the occasional writers" conference, too, as I enjoy lecturing on the subject.

Whether one scribbles screenplays, biographies, or haiku poetry, there ,are certain commonalities which go with all forms of writing. For example, I start these talks with a quote from novelist Kurt Vonnegut, most famous for the dark comedy classic, Slaughterhouse Five: "This is what I find encouraging about the writing trades: They allow mediocre people who are patient and industrious to revise their stupidity, to edit themselves into something like intelligence. They also allow lunatics to seem...

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