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I wrote the script of Patton. I had this very bizarre opening where he stands up in front of an American flag and gives this speech. Ultimately, I was fired. When the script was done, they hired another writer and that script was forgotten.

I always wanted to find my voice and claim my tone, but I was doing it through the steps of being a TV writer. I had the executive producer title. I was running the room.

When you write for a show that's not yours, your job is to hear the voices of the characters and write as best you can for those voices.

I was nearly fired from my second job, which was writing press releases for Boston's public television station.

My scripts are possibly too talkative. Sometimes I watch a scene I've written, and occasionally I think, 'Oh, for God's sake, shut up.'

I dropped the script in the fireplace, called my agent and said, they can jail me, sue me, but I'm never acting again, unless I can do something worthwhile.

Writers have to have a knack for listening. I need to be able to hear what is being said to me by the voices I create.

People wouldn't hire me for comedies. They would say, 'Oh, he doesn't do comedy,' and now it's really all I do.

My work is literally my voice.