In the end, my reasons for moving down the timeline and introducing a new cast have more to do with keeping myself entertained, on the assumption that if I get bored, my readers are going to be even more bored.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It's a very dull thing to watch, a writer at work. So dull that whole casts of characters show up just to watch the boring writer writing.
I don't have anything saying, 'I'm going to do this many new films, and this many comedies.' But, it's always exciting for me, whenever it is a new character and something I haven't done before, and that's part of what draws me to it.
Characters can become boring. That's what's tricky about television. It goes on and on - you're playing this same character for five seasons and it gets easy to fall into just walking on the set and assuming you know how to play a scene.
I think it's more interesting to throw people into a story and let them catch up instead of explaining and feeling like you have to slow down for them. I think audiences, for the most part, they don't want to be ahead of you.
I have readers tell me that I must be bored, but that's not true. I am never bored with the characters. I like them.
Maybe I don't take myself quite as seriously as I used to, but the work has gotten better and more interesting, and I'm just having more fun. It's getting more and more fun with each role.
I just didn't want to get bored playing a character, and that's kind of the benefit of doing films; you've lived with a character for four or five months and that's it, and you walk away from that character and you feel like you told a story.
Remember that the fans want to hear inside stuff about the series; they don't want to hear gripes and grouses about your personal life. What they really want to hear is how the series gets made, and how you interact with your fellow cast members.
Because I've done so many different roles, I don't want to repeat myself. It's getting harder and harder to find something interesting. You never know - I might never make a film again.
I throw everything I have into whatever story I'm writing - and so there's something immensely gratifying about finishing one piece and then starting fresh with a new setting, time period and cast of characters, getting to see the world through a completely different lens each time.