I don't know about you, but in the midst of some busy days for me - writing a new book, preparing for a signing event, running rehearsals for the play I'm directing, and taking care of all my critters - I need a few jokes to relieve the stress. Next to exercise, laughter is the best stress reducer, so let's have at it. Later this month we will feature a series of posts related to screenwriting, so I thought these first two jokes I borrowed from Karyn Hollis who first posted them on the Villanova University website were most appropriate.   A screenwriter comes home to a burned down house. His sobbing and slightly-singed wife is standing outside. "What happened, honey?" the man asks. "Oh, John, it was terrible," she weeps. "I was cooking, the phone rang. It was your agent. Because I was on the phone, I didn't notice the stove was on fire. It went up in just seconds. Everything is gone. I nearly didn ' t make it out of the house. P...

Anyone who writes has been there: All your work in building three-dimensional characters, compelling settings and a taut story arc has led to a moment where your story will undergo a seismic emotional shift. You're about to build in the reward for the readers who pick this book up. It's going to be great. You have one job here, and it's one of the toughest chores writers face: You need to get out of the way. Step off the gas and cool down that prose. Wait, what? Let's think about this in cinematic terms. One of my favorite movies is Heat , the 1995 cops-and-thieves flick starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro. The crucial scene in that movie occurs when DeNiro's high-end crime team tries to take down a bank as Pacino and the LAPD bear down on them. The background music falls away. Faces get bigger in the frame. You can hear breathing amid a hail of bullets and see palpable fear. And every time I watch that scene, my pulse quickens and my nerves are set on edge. ...