I hate this. How did I end up in a job where I have to write and edit website copy for my program? This was never part of my job description, and I now I do it constantly. Whatever writing that needs to be done, they give it to me. "Give it to Brenda, she'll do it." We'll just redline her to death. Aaaarrggghh!

Strange coincidence today.

I called my dental insurance to check up on the claim for my dental surgery, and the phone rep guy told me I was third person to call who had the birthday of January 24. Then he laughed and said his birthday was on January 25. How weird is that? I never hardly meet anyone who has a birthday around the same time as mine, and the phone rep guy told me the same thing, which is why he noted how many January 24 women were calling him.

After work I went to CompUSA to buy my new Palm Tungsten E. I bought a cover, some paper and a keyboard. I'm looking through my receipt at home, when I notice that the cashier never charged me for the $70 wireless Palm keyboard. I got a free keyboard. This is so strange because the guard at the exit out of CompUSA checked my receipt and bag, and let me through. Like he didn't notice it either.

So either they're giving away free $70 wireless Palm keyboards at CompUSA, or I just got a fun free gift from the universe. What does it all mean? I never knew breaking up with a guy I'm very still much in love with could be so much fun! The universe is like giving me free stuff, like maybe I did the right thing or I'm on the right path. Or maybe I'm just really really danged lucky today.

I'm tripping, I'm just totally tripping. I'm telling you, this feeling good about the world stuff is better than any drug I've ever taken because of the sheer length of the high. I'm just wondering about the crash. After every good high comes a pretty gnarly nasty crash. You know the old saying ... the higher you go the lower you fall. So I'm like waiting for the boom to fall any minute now, and wondering how bad it's going to be.

Darn! I am in such a good mood. I really have to figure out how to bottle this stuff and sell it. It's like being high but without artificial stimulants. People would kill to feel as good as I'm feeling now, I think. I would kill to feel this good 24/7. Well maybe not 24/7, but at least whenever I wanted to feel good.

The feeling is like this ... you just want throw your head back and laugh and go "wwwhhheeeee" like you're a little kid, and you're rubbing your hands together. Ahhhh, the innocence of childhood. Or like you're on top of the world, but it's so disconcerting because you've done nothing new to warrant feeling this good.

Considering that I broke up with the person I thought was the love of my life on Friday, I'm in a rockin' good mood today. The "isn't life great, whhheeee feeling" is continuing this week.

I spent all Sunday writing "Dear Soul" letters, a technique I learned in a writing class I took a long time ago. You write your soul, or some other person you consider your most trusted source, letters about things, events you're going through. Then you write yourself back as "your soul" or whomever you picked. It's an interesting way to get answers to questions you somehow can't answer yourself. I write "dear editor" letters to myself when I'm stuck on some piece of writing as well.

Well, my soul had a ton to say about Mr. Red-headed guy, most of which had to do with the future. Of course, I kept writing back and saying "what future?" but "my soul" was determined to have its way. I still don't know what to think about what "my soul" wrote back to me. I even scanned previous letters, and 80% of the time it's been correct.

But "my soul" knows I'm skeptical so it keeps saying "don't do anything, watch it all unfold" and I'm like I am so not doing anything because I don’t like the future you’re telling me I’m going to have. Then I got into this writing piece about two of unfinished novels, because they have to do with the nature of free will and choice and prophecy and destiny and how much one influences the other. I believe in both novels my characters have free will and choice, but certain events in their life are planned. What free will does is lessen or add the severity of the event. Then I got into the question of whether free will can geometrically exacerbate a good or bad event, kind of like a snowball effect on life. I never could answer my own question, and I will have to finish the novels to find out if the snowball effect is true.

And then after spending all day writing, I came to the conclusion that maybe I was asking all the wrong questions about my life, and that's why I wasn't getting good answers about what next step to take. Then I did a Q&A with myself about what certain events had to with my life, and what I wrote was mind boggling. It's so true that if you ask the write questions, you'll get the right answers to why you're life isn't working of why you're doing the things you do.

But it takes courage to ask the right questions, and I couldn't have asked these questions of myself two months ago before I met red-headed guy. I wasn't ready for the answers, and somehow red-headed guy helped me get ready somehow. But even if I am now supposedly ready to read the answers about my life, it doesn't mean I like the answers I'm getting. And even though I'm very happy about the way my life is going right now, I'm not happy about the future that supposedly "my soul" said is coming my way.

I'm like there's got to be another way, there's got be another way to go, this can't be the only future available to me. And I'm like, maybe I need to write a novel about escaping your future, your destiny. Kind of life "The Butterfly Effect", but again dealing more with choice going forward in the present. If every choice, no matter how small or large, begets a different world, then can't a different choice deliberately taken steer a person clear away from a chosen path, as long as the choice is made over and over again? I think there was a series of movies dealing with this subject called "Final Destination".

So I kind of ended it with red-headed guy on Friday. I told him he needs to take care of some things in his life before we can be together. I didn't slam the door, I left it open, and the next move is his. So whether we continue forward or not is up to him. And I'm okay about it all.

I loved being in love with red-headed guy, and in fact I'm still into him. I couldn't have picked a more perfect guy to fall for. He was so cute, the right size, so perfect in so many ways, and I believe he sincerely loved me. But he's not really ready for a relationship, he wants to be, he's looking for a way, but he has a ton of work and growing up to do before we can be together.

Maybe the role I needed to play in his life was to move him onto his next step. And if that was all, then I'm happy because I helped him to grow. And he did help me to grow and realize many things about myself. Which is really what having a relationship is about isn't it? Helping you to move on to your next step in life, helping you to grow, and doing it with as much love as is humanly possible. And we both did that I think.

If red-headed guy comes back, then he really is my true love and true love is what I really want for my next relationship. And if he doesn't come back, then he was John the Baptist preparing the way for the true one who is to come. And I'm not going to settle for anything less than true love.

But life does go on for me, so I emailed some guy I had a dream about this morning about getting together. I'm hoping he emails me back. And then there's my weekend in LA in November, which I'm so looking forward to and hoping that red-headed guy doesn't come back before then so I can enjoy my weekend in LA.

It occurred to me this morning that I have been seriously neglecting all the things that I try to do improve my screenplay and novel writing.

I’ve been very good about keeping up with my reading although I can’t seem to read more than four books a month. Thank god I can read on my commutes to and from work. I also always carry a book with me now, so I can read whenever I’m on the train and not just on the way to work. I took one screenwriting seminar, and I’m in my Film History class this semester, so training wise for screenwriting I feel good that I’ve been keeping up. I’m also going to the screenwriting convention in LA in November, and I’m very much looking forward to that weekend.

But I’ve been bad about keeping up with my movie watching, reading books about writing, and taking novel writing classes.

I try to watch at least 100 movies a year, either at home or in the theatre, which means I have to watch two or more movies per week. I’ve been sadly neglecting my movie watching, and I can feel it. I did read three screenplays last months, but it’s not the same as watching a movie for what works and to study audience reaction. And there haven’t been any classes in writing that I’ve wanted to take or that I have time for right now. I need to go back to attending one-day seminars just to keep writing always at the forefront of my consciousness.

I’m starting to realize why there were people in my screenwriting classes who were amazed I could even finish a screenplay in six weeks. Writing is like having a job, and depending on how much work you want to put into it, it could be a full or part time job.

Not only is there writing to do every day, there’s books to read, movies to watch, and seminars to take. And the time involved all adds up. And then if you have a full time job, want to work out, want to go out, have friendships, and want to have a relationship, it’s all got to fit in somehow. And it’s hard and one area has to always suffer, and for me it’s always been my relationship life.

But my life has always been this crazy. When I was younger, I was married, working full time, and I was doing a public relations gig on the side. Things were crazy back then and the ex-hubby used to complain from time to time that I spent more time on my PR gig than on him. After I got divorced, I was still working full time, working on my part time PR gig and trying to run marathons. After my marathon phase, I decided I should try climbing the corporate ladder and worked 80 hours and week and lived at the gym the rest of the time. I dated now and then, but nothing seemed to last and I was too busy working and getting promoted every year to care.

Then I got into my growth and development phase, and was in seminars endlessly, and travelling around the country attending and/or working as a volunteer at the seminars, and still working a full time job and working out. After that phase petered out, the urge to be creative struck me and I tried my hand at acting and took acting classes and was in a couple of plays. And all during that time I was dating and still nothing really lasted because I was too busy either doing my growth and development work or acting to care.

After acting my writing phase started in 1999, and then came Steve who accused me of having too busy of a life to care about him. Then Charlie who said I was too self-absorbed to ever be in a relationship and then Chris, who said I put my screenwriting ahead of my personal life which was a bad thing. And then after awhile I didn’t care about dating because I got tired of men telling me I was too busy for them and I wanted to stop feeling guilty that maybe they were right about me. And in between life happened with five job changes, 9/11, friends and family dying, and everything else that happens in one’s life over the years.

But somehow writing did happen, and I started three novels, wrote one screenplay, a bunch of short stories, got something published in SFGATE.com about 9/11, and am writing a second screenplay. And I don’t know how things get done in my life, but they do get done.

I just wish I could solve my relationship issue once and for all. I know it will be hard work to have a full time relationship with the kind of life I’ve always lead, but I know in the long run that I’ll be much happier being in a couple. And it’s not like I’m all that lonely, but it would nice to have someone to share my life with sometimes.

I did not watch the presidential debate last night because of my film history class, but I watched some of the spinmeisters last night. I love the spin because it always makes me wonder if these people all watched the same thing.

I'm sure the debate will replay over the weekend, and I'll watch it then, but from what I've been able to gather Kerry did well but did not hit a homerun out of the ballpark. Over the weekend, the predictions were that Bush pretty much had the election locked up electorally. I don't think the debate will change the numbers on the electoral college picture at this point.

One of my favorite political commentators said on Saturday that Kerry was running the "lamest" campaign he'd ever seen. Another said that Kerry was gaining steam these last weeks, but it was a day late and dollar short.

The spinmeister that made me laugh out loud last night, Joe Trippi, when he said that this debate will change the course of the election. Wasn't this the guy who ran Howard Dean's campaign and said that would win the democratic nomination? Who is this guy and why does anyone care what he says because he's obviously not very smart about politics.

I was on the train this morning sitting and reading, when a guy got on and stood in front of me and almost shoved his book in my face. When I looked up, I saw a guy who could have been my red-headed boy’s younger cuter brother staring back at me and smiling. And l’m like "OH MY GOD!" I jokingly said to red-headed guy that if things don’t work out with us, I’d love to run into his twin. And like I so did this morning, and he was just as cute, if not cuter than red-headed guy. And I’m like so tripping right now, and I was like totally freaking out as I left the train. Red-headed guy’s twin didn’t get off at my stop, and I had to stop myself from asking for his phone number. I was freaking walking to work, telling myself I couldn’t believe it, and I still can’t get the freaky feeling out of my head.

Am I bad when I say I hope I run into red-headed guy’s twin again on the train?

So my good mood is still continuing, although it's kind of fading. I'm so neurotic that I'm waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop, and wondering when it was going to get bad again. I just wish I knew why I was in such a good mood. I've been going to bed early from exhaustion, and I'm starting to wonder if the reason I'm feeling good is because I've actually been sleeping well these last two days.

But would sleep making me rub my hands together and say "wwwwweeeeee!" in a childlike squeaky voice?

So my good mood continued this morning, and it's driving me nuts on some level because I can't figure out why I'm so happy. I want to figure it out so I can reproduce the feeling again. It's like I'm a little kid and I clap my hands and say "whhheeeee!" like I'm having so much fun, and it's so darn disconcerting because I don't think I've changed anything in my life. My life is the same traumarama it was yesterday morning, except now I'm happy about it.

What the heck is going on? I want to bottle this stuff because it's an amazingly incredible feeling, like things are all going to work out and work out very well.

So I've been journaling all night long and just writing and writing about what's going on with my life, and all the things that are going on. I haven't done that in so long. And OH MY GOD, I'm like so happy again. It's wild, like so dang wild! I don't know. It feels like whatever thoughts were swirling and whirling around in my head are now out on paper, and my mind is free. And when my mind is free of chaotic thoughts, guess what? I feel happy!

I'm sitting here laughing and giggling and thinking wouldn't it be fun to wake up tomorrow and realize that every truth you ever thought about yourself was totally false, and what that would mean for your life. You could throw your whole life up in the air and see where it lands. I mean, how cool would that be, to create a totally different life from the one you already have.

I haven't done that in years. Take my life, and throw it up in the air and start over. It's a trip to start over, to start from scratch, start from zero, and recreate something way much better than what you already have. Sure it's scary as heck, but boy is it a ton of fun!

The urge to do this again is so strong. All it would take I think is to think a different way, make different choices, and once you do that, you instantly start leading a different life. I don't ever want this amazingly happy feeling to end.

It's so hard to describe. It feels like everything is going to work out. I mean, it always does for me, always, but I rarely do I ever feel this ecstatic about it. How do I make this feeling last? I want to feel like this for the rest of my life. That whatever is going to happen in my life is going to work out, and work out for the best, and that I'm being held so tightly in the palm of God's hand that I feel safe and loved and protected and happy. It's so cool!

It's really been years where I've felt like this. Where I'm just giggling for no reason, like I've won some lottery in life, when in reality nothing is my life has actually changed except maybe my attitude about it. And the only thing that I've done is write and write for hours on end, and live in the world of my own mind, my own head for a few hours.

What a great feeling, to live in your own thoughts for a few hours, and then to come out of it thinking, gosh I lead a great life. Maybe not the best life in anyone else's eyes but my own, but I wouldn't trade the happiness that I'm feeling now for anything in the world.

The whole experience is just tripping me out, and I know it's not going to last. I know I'm going to wake up tomorrow, feeling my usual sort of miserable self. But at least I'll have the memory of tonight to remember and savour and wonder about for years.

I talked for a long time to a friend of mine about my traumarama life, and she said that it's obvious I'm not ready for a serious relationship yet because if I was I wouldn't be having the problems I'm having with red-haired guy.

I think she might be right. With my job and my feeble attempts to write, I just don't have that much time and energy for a full-blown long term relationship. It wouldn't be fair to any guy, and it hasn't been in the past, to be in a relationship with me. Believe me, enough men have told me this for me to know it's the truth.

Steve said it, Charlie said, and Chris said it. So maybe it's true.

Maybe it's the full moon, but my life is one big traumarama.

Red-headed guy and I had huge fight at Gordon Biersch when he came to pick me up for lunch yesterday. What can I say about him? He's a bit of a slime, and it's a long stupid story that I'm not about to get into on this blog. He asked the waiter at Gordon Biersch for a knife to slit his wrist, and I told the waitress I lost my appetite. And I alternate between hating him and loving him, and thinking I really need to get myself back into therapy right now and break up with him.

So I pray, like I haven't been praying big time since we met, for JC to give me a sign of what to do. It's that catholic girl coming out in me; I need signs! So either the signs have been coming and I'm too blind to see them or they're not coming at all. Not quite sure which is happening. In my prayer and meditation, JC says "this is a holy relationship, a teaching relationship, and this is about surrendering to God's plan for my life." I don't know what the plan is, and from what I can tell it so doesn't make sense, and I all I can do is follow along. And JC reminds me constantly that "I've never been good ever at surrender and following his plans for my life". So maybe this is the only way he could get through to me ... I don't know.

All I know is my gut instinct tells me, screams at me, that this thing between us has to play out. Like Paul in the sci-fi series "Dune", my intuition keeps telling me "things must play out to their logical conclusion". To what conclusion I have no idea, but events have to unfold and I have to let them.

My brain however says a different thing, and my logical mind is fuming right now. My heart and body are way too involved, so they're no good.

But in the midst of the traumarama, I wrote six pages of my Texas novel last night. So maybe this has something to do with my writing, and if I can just focus on that everything else will work out.

Because my job is not the answer to making me happy; I've already been shown that. And I guess being in a relationship that heads towards marriage is not going to make me happy either, at least until I become serious about my writing.

Writing is the only thing that seems to make me happy these days, and it feels like the universe has backed me into a corner on this one. And I'm not happy about it. I'm sure JC is up there chuckling about it all, that he's got my number, that he's going to teach me a lesson in obedience, that he's the supreme ruler of my life, and that there's very little I can do about it, that he's had enough of my stubborn indepedent ways and my cunning ways of backing out of the plans he's had for me in the past.

Okay, so I'm putting an ultra spiritual spin on the messed up events of current life but there's nothing else that explains what the heck is happening right now. I get thrown for a humungous loop when events in my life unfold without making sense, and there isn't an instruction book out there for me to read from so I get it right. And I have to get it right, don't I?

So I'm back to typing up my notes for my Texas novel. I still can't get myself in the mood to write my screenplay, which is kind of annoying me. Oh well. I'm making myself work on it this week.

How sexy is this? The horse my male character is riding matches his hair colour. Oh my god, I just think that a guy riding a horse the same colour of his hair is just so darn hot! I don't know why I think it's hot, it just is. The image just seems to yummy looking! Talk about the perfect studmuffin image doubled!

Memo to guys: Take a play out of red-haired guy's play book and leave the following message on your girl's voicemail. It will melt her heart.

"You know how much I miss you? I miss you with all my heart."

Oh my god, it's soooo goofy and hokey, but so darn sweet! I just love this man!

I've in such a weird mood these last two days. Yesterday, I had low level anxiety all day. I was kind of freaked out abou the whole thing. It's like having the heebie jeebies all day, and not knowing why. I did wake up at 3 am yesterday morning, and maybe I missed my REM sleep. Who knows.

Then this morning I was a 3.5 hour conference call. That was way too long and by the end I was grinding my teeth and ready to jump out of my skin. That is just way too long to be on a conference call. And my heebie jeebies are still there. Damn!

Supposedly U2 is debuting their newest song the radio at 3 pm today, because some radio station in Croatio leaked the song internationally. The record company wanted to move the U2 play up because of the leak. Strange huh?

Just heard this in a song ...

"If Bill Gates got laid in highschool would he have started Microsoft?"

Hmmmmm .....

From LazyBoy, song title "Underwear goes on the outside of your Pants".

My LA Screenwriting Weekend Schedule:

Friday @ 1 pm
Passion into Product
Part#: EV1222
Following the model of his UCLA screenwriting seminars that have produced such writers as Pamela Gray, (A Walk On The Moon), Nicholas Griffin, (Matchstick Men) Sacha Gervasi (Terminal, starring Tom Hanks), Hal Ackerman, author of Write Screenplays That Sell...The Ackerman Way will talk about writing what you love and making it saleable.

HAL ACKERMAN has been on the UCLA Screenwriting faculty for 18 years. As a writer he has sold material to major studios, to Academy Award winning independent producers and to the major television networks. His fiction and non-fiction writing has appeared in numerous literary journals. An award-winning playwright, his work has been performed at the National Shakespeare Company. His one-man play, Blue Sundays: How Prostate Cancer Made a Man of Me, was recently introduced in Los Angeles.

Friday @ 3 pm
Character and the Nature of Conflict
Part#: EV1224
All drama is conflict. Without conflict you have no action. Without action you have no character. Without character you have no story. And without story, you have no screenplay. How can we integrate conflict into our character's lives to create maximum dramatic value? Using examples from The Pianist, Lord of the Rings, American Beauty, The Hours, and others, we'll explore various ways to integrate conflict into your characters throughline that will enhance your character's life within the parameters of your screenplay.

SYD FIELD has been acclaimed as "The guru of all screen writers" (CNN). He is regarded by many Hollywood professionals to be the leading authority in the art and craft of screenwriting in the world today. His internationally acclaimed best-selling books have established themselves as the "bibles" of the film industry, are used in more than 400 colleges and universities and have been translated into 20 languages. He is currently on faculty at the USC Master's of Professional Writing Program, and was the first inductee into the prestigious Screenwriting Hall of Fame in 2001.

Friday @ 5 pm
Evoking Emotion through Character: Crafting Complex Characters
Part#: EV1110
It isn't what happens to people on a page; it's what happens to a reader in his heart and mind. Expanding on the key element of all successful scripts, the reader's emotional experience, author Karl Iglesias will showcase techniques and tricks of the trade from highly successful screenwriters to instantly humanize a character, and achieve that elusive emotional connection. Topics will include character arcs and emotional courage, the emotional elements that create character, and the distinction between character emotion vs. reader emotion.

KARL IGLESIAS teaches at UCLA Extension Writers' Program, and is the best-selling author of The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters. A graduate of Cornell University, he has worked as a script analyst and development executive for various production companies. As a script consultant passionate about great storytelling, he specializes in reader emotional response. He can be reached through his website at www.writinghabits.com. He was a STAR Speaker of Screenwriting Expo 2.

Friday @ 7 pm
Welcome to the Dark Side
Part#: EV1288
There's an old adage that says you become what you fear. One of the great functions of story is to take us to places metaphorically where we're afraid to go in real life so that we can confront our deepest fears and expose them to the healing light of day. This course is designed to help writers gain greater insight into the symbolic value of the dark, Underworld side of nature in order to expose the life-affirming values of survival, liberation and redemption. We'll also look at the use of the dreaded duo in film: violence and sexuality. What value do they really hold, and why is our culture so afraid of them?

DARA MARKS has been consistently rated by Creative Screenwriting magazine as one of the best script consultants in the film industry. She has specialized in the analysis of the modern screenplay for the past two decades, and her clients range from top studio writers and executives to beginning screenwriters. Dara has worked for major Hollywood studios and is the author of a groundbreaking new book on her innovative, new approach to story structure and character development through a technique she calls The Inner Script. She was a STAR Speaker of the 2002 Screenwriting Expo.

Saturday @ 8 am
Stories that Touch Your Soul
Part#: EV1061
Why do some stories touch you and others don't? In this seminar, we will explore the spiritual, physiological, and psychological basis for good storytelling that transcends time, place, and cultures. And then, we will cover how you can apply these rules to make your stories resonate deeply with all audiences.

RICHARD KREVOLIN has taught at UCLA and USC Film Schools and is the author of the books, Screenwriting From The Soul, Pilot Your Life, and How To Adapt Anything Into A Screenplay. Richard has several screenplays under option and in development. He was a finalist for the $500,000 Kingman Screenwriting Award, the Chesterfield Screenwriting Contest, the Klasky-Csupo Screenwriting Contest, and the Nicholl Fellowship Screenwriting Award. In addition, he has consulted and conducts writers' workshops and seminars throughout the world. His website is www.profK.com and he can be reached at rich@profK.com. He was a STAR Speaker of Screenwriting Expo 2.

Saturday @ 10 am
Robert McKee Lecture
Part#: EV1271
Robert McKee will be presenting a new and original lecture at Screenwriting Expo 3. Details are available at www.mckeestory.com.

Saturday @ 1 pm
Writing the Dramatic Truth
Part#: EV1004
Characters come alive in stories because they seek to resolve and fulfill issues of human need as simple as good versus evil to gaining understanding and acceptance. Understanding a character's dramatic truth and creating situations that compel characters to resolve their truths offers a key to creating dynamic, passionate characters. Populating a story with characters who embody opposing dramatic truths is a natural way to create compelling conflict. This workshop is designed to help writers see into the hearts of their major characters.

BILL JOHNSON is author of A Story is a Promise, a workbook that explores how to create dramatic, engaging stories. He's web master of Essays on the Craft of Dramatic Writing (www.storyispromise.com). Bill leads workshops on writing around the United States. He is a produced playwright, optioned screenwriter, and has provided coverage for manuscript submissions for literary agents. He's the author of a science fiction novel, The Combat Poets of Maya. He was a STAR Speaker of Screenwriting Expo 2.

Saturday @ 3 pm
Claiming Your Creative Life
Part#: EV1098
All the seminars, books, and techniques in the world are of no use unless you can connect to your own creative energy. This seminar will help you awaken and develop that connection.

ALLEN D. KOEHN is a Jungian analyst with over 30 years experience working with successful writers, actors, directors, and others who seek to fulfill their creative potential. He leads several popular creative workshop/support groups. He is also available for individual creative coaching sessions.

Saturday @ 5 pm
Under the Covers and Up on the Screen: How to Write Intimate Scenes for the Movies
Part#: EV1071
Romance novels account for over 54% of paperback fiction. So how come so few of them get adapted to film? Maybe because no one knows how to craft intimacy and write credible screenplay sex. Less is more" is the focus of this workshop on bringing sizzle and sensuality to the cinema.

CHRISTINA HAMLETT is a former actress/director. She's an award-winning author and script coverage consultant whose credits include 17 books, 110 plays/musicals, 3 optioned films, multiple shorts, and columns that appear throughout the world. Her second screenwriting book, Could It Be a Movie, will be released in winter 2004 by Michael Wiese Productions.

Saturday @ 7 pm
Psychology of Subtext: How Characters Say What They Don't Mean
Part#: EV1118
My dialogue is flat. Every character sounds the same. The tone should change, but I don't know why. There's no conflict in the conversation. The exposition is obvious. The actors will take care of it, right?-These statements reveal that subtext and hidden needs might be lacking in your script, your characters' dialogue and action. Learn to write what isn't written-subtext, inner monologue, psychological action and response-from an actor and screenwriter, and how to make your characters' words and actions come to life and jump off the page.

SPENCER BEGLARIAN is a graduate of USC and Yale Drama School, and an award-winning screenwriter, actor, and educator who has been profiled in The New Yorker's "The Talk of the Town," Backstage West, and the LA Times. He recently wrote, produced, and directed a series of short comedic films for cable distribution, is in pre-production with one of his feature scripts, and is completing his documentary feature debut.

Sunday @ 10 am
Secrets of Hollywood Genres
Part#: EV1033
The first rule of the entertainment business is this: it buys and sells genres. Today's most popular movies are always at least one story form, and usually a combination of two or three. Problem: almost no one is an expert at the intricate array of beats, tricks and techniques required by the eleven most popular movie genres. Hollywood's top genre expert, John Truby, will show you some of the secrets of the most popular story forms in the entertainment business.

JOHN TRUBY is a screenwriter and author of the story software, Truby's Blockbuster. He has taught his story structure and genre courses, worldwide and online at www.truby.com, to over 20,000 students, including the writers of Shrek, The Mask Of Zorro, Sleepless In Seattle, Outbreak, Beetlejuice, and Nightmare On Elm Street. He was a STAR Speaker of Screenwriting Expo 2.

Sunday @ 1 pm
Top Ten Reasons to Write With a Partner (and Finding the Right One)
Part#: EV1059
(Qty: 1 x $4.00)
Write with a partner and double your chance for success. How? Claudia Johnson and Matt Stevens, authors of Script Partners, explore the compelling advantages of co-writing scripts. Yes, you must find the right writing partner, so Johnson and Stevens will show you how. For solo writers considering collaboration-or the merely co-curious.

It's taken me a week, but I think I finally have my schedule of classes for the Screenwriting Expo 3 in LA the weekend of November 5-7. I'm such a sucker for famous people that I've signed up for classes with all the screenwriting big honchos like Syd Field, John Truby, and of course Robert McKee. After watching McKee portrayed in "Adaptation", I just have to find out if he's as intense as the movie portrayed him. If I like McKee well enough, I'm even thinking of heading out to Vegas in December to take a three day class from him.

Some of the classes I really wanted to take are advertised as "Professional Level Seminars: appropropriate for writers who hav eat least optioned one script". And I'm like darn, I guess that's not me. Those "Pro" classes are the most intersting ones though. When I looked at my final class schedule, all of my classes are in the "Advanced Level Seminar" category, appropriate for writers who have finished at least one script.

Besides famous people, most of my classes are being taught by either people who teach screenwriting courses at UCLA or have written screenwriting books that I've heard about.

The one fun thing that I'll probably be attending instead of a class is watching Jerry Lewis receive a lifetime achievement award. I'll probably do the same thing as my roommate for the weekend, sign up for a class and then blow it off to check out Jerry Lewis. Gotta see the guy before he keels over, and besides I've always loved his movies.

My roommate warned me not to sign up for any 8 am classes, because she said last year she was up partying all night. There are some really good seminars at 8 am however, and I might just sign up for them just to see if I can make get to them. I'm sure if I don't make it, I won't be the only person missing classes that weekend.

I'm excited because it's so fun to take classes, learn new things and meet other writers who are working on their craft. I'm hoping the experience will give me perspective that the writing life isn't so lonely after all, if there's all these other people spending their nights staring at their computer screens hoping, praying, desperately pleading that the writing muse will visit them tonight.