Decisions Are Made By Those Who Show

I'm Terribly Afraid Of Failure. When Your Identity Is Wrapped Up In Writing And You've Written Something That Doesn't Work, It's A Tough Pill To Swallow.

Humans Know When It's Not A Good Story. Unless You Do This For A Living, You May Not Know Exactly Why You Don't Like A Story, But You Can't Fool An Audience Ever. They Know When You Have It And They Know When You Don't.

People Don't Live Their Lives In A Series Of Scenes That Form A Dramatic Narrative, They Don't Speak In Dialogue, They're Not Lit By A Cinematographer Or Scored By A Composer. The Properties Of Real Life And The Properties Of Drama Have Almost Nothing To Do With Each Other. The Difference Between Writing About Reporters And Being A Reporter Is The Same As The Difference Between Drawing A Building And Building A Building.

I Wrote The Show West Wing For The Two Years Before And The Two Years After 9/11. Suddenly Everyone In The World Had Been Through Something That Our Characters Had Not Been Through; The Whole Trajectory Of The World Had Changed. Yet Our Show Took Place In A Parallel Universe. I Wasn't Really Sure What To Do About This. In No One's Wildest Dreams Did It Occur That An Event Like This Could Possibly Happen.

Tell Me What You Think And Then Tell Me What The Really Smart Person In The Room Who Disagrees With You Thinks.