A Friend Is Somebody Who

I Don't Want To Analyze Myself Or Anything, But I Think, In Fact I Know This To Be True, That I Enter The World Through What I Write. I Grew Up Believing, And Continue To Believe, That I Am A Screw-up, That Growing Up With My Family And Friends, I Had Nothing To Offer In Any Conversation. But When I Started Writing, Suddenly There Was Something That I Brought To The Party That Was At A High-enough Level.

Pretty Much Up Until The West Wing, Our Leaders Had Always Been Portrayed In Popular Culture As Either Machiavellian Or Dolts. But I Thought, "what If We Show A Group Of People Who Are Highly Competent, They're Going To Lose As Much As They Win, But We're Going To Understand That They Wake Up Every Morning Wanting To Do Good?" That Was Really The Spirit Behind The West Wing.

When You're Writing A Movie Or A Play And Writing Isn't Going Well, Which Is For Me The Normal Condition - It's An Exceptional Day When Suddenly I've Got Something And It's Going Well - You Can Call The Studio Or The Producer Or Whoever Is Waiting For It And Say, "i Know I Said I Was Going To Have It In By The End Of The Summer.

A News Organization Has A Much Different Responsibility. I Might Not Be Telling You The Whole Story. I Might Not Be Telling You A Story In A Manner That Is Properly Sophisticated.

My Preference Would Have Been To Not Go Back On The Air After 911, At All Until The Time Felt Right But That Wasn't An Option.