I really enjoyed this article put together by IO9 from interviews with writers on well known TV series. In fact, here is the blurb straight from the website:
For this roundtable, we recruited writers and producers from all over: rookie “baby” writers like Deric A. Hughes (Warehouse 13); mid-level writer-producers like Zack Stentz (Fringe,Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles); co-executive producers like Amy Berg (Eureka,The 4400); and top-level wizards who’ve run their own shows, like Jane Espenson (Caprica, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), John Rogers (Leverage, The Jackie Chan Adventures), and Javier Grillo-Marxuach (The Middleman, Lost). And here’s what they had to say.
I loved reading this; it made me wishful and scared at the same time. How would I go in a room full of incredibly sharp story minds? Would I be clueless? Cliched? Would I be able to summon a single original thought? And more importantly … will I ever get the chance?
The answer to the latter is most likely no … which then got me thinking about changing paths in life. It takes a lot of courage to try something new as you get older, and you realise, not only your own limitations, but how much time and skill is required to even begin to be adequate at something. Or maybe its all about confidence. Certain skills must be transferrable??
I’d love to hear from anyone who has changed their profession, or changed the slant of their profession, and how they found it. Did it work? Did they bomb out? What have they learned?