• This Writing Journey

    Short and Punchy

    Some people probably think you go to school, or take courses, to learn how to write. While those are viable (developmental) options, I think you’re learning all the time. You learn through reading, and I used to read lots. I’d study the way the story was structured; how the punctuation functioned; the way the sentences told the story; the voice behind the story; how many characters there were, what each did, etc. TV and movies are also good educators, particularly in how structure works. And you pick up things from all sort of sources, or they influence the way you do things. When I was a kid, my writing suffered…

  • Inside Entertainment,  TrailerWatch

    TrailerWatch: The Batman

    As far as the screen goes, Batman is a saturated property: we’ve had the Adam West Batman (which borders on campy genius), Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns, Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Zack Snyder’s Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (and Batman’s cameo in Suicide Squad), and then complementing properties, like Joker, Birds of Prey (the short-lived 2002 TV show and the more-recent movie), the television series Gotham, and several animated series. With such a populated franchise, it forces every new installment to be different. That’s a good and a bad thing. Necessity compels originality. But, sometimes, a predecessor might’ve done…