Nothing's Lost Forever.

One Is Told That You're Either A Hot Writer, Or You're Finished And You're Over. But Of Course, The More You Hang Around And The More You Become Aware Not Only Of What "reputation" Is For Other Writers, But Also What Your Own Reputation Is, You Become Aware That It's Much More Complicated Than The Conventional Media Would Have You Believe.

I Try To Tighten My Heart Into A Knot, A Snarl, I Try To Learn To Live Dead, Just Numb, But Then I See Someone I Want, And It's Like A Nail, Like A Hot Spike Right Through My Chest, And I Know I'm Losing.

I Feel There's A Power In Theatre, But It's An Indirect Power. It's Like The Relationship Of The Sleeper To The Unconscious. You Discover Things You Can't Afford To Countenance In Waking Life. You Can Forget Them, Remember Them A Day Later Or Not Have Any Idea What They Are About.

The Big Influence On Me Was Robert Altman, Who, Especially In 'nashville,' Transformed My Sense Of Dramatic Structure And Showed How You Could Handle Overlapping Stories.

One Of The Things I Love About My Job As A Playwright Or As A Screenwriter Is That I Get To Do A Lot Of Research And A Lot Of Thinking And Taking A Lot Of Notes Before I Turn It In.