How did you become a Buffy writer?
Well, I have always written things and I graduated from college not knowing what I was going to do. I knew I wanted to either write or paint or act or be a fashion designer. [I thought] "Writing is what I get good grades at, so let’s start with that". Then [I thought] "I wish I could write and not be horribly poor, so maybe TV, where they pay salaries."
Also, as a writer, I thought something on TV has is a real structure to it, and something that I thought separated dilettantes from real writers was writing with a purpose or with a structure. I told myself it was like [the way] people used to write for newspapers - to learn how to write without being precious. Now I think people can use TV as that and it’s a really modern medium.
So, I came out to Hollywood and was a script reader. Only a few years ago I got my first job, on [the series] Freaks and Geeks. It was just starting out, so they were willing to take new writers. I loved it there and had a great time, but then it got cancelled. I was horribly depressed for about five minutes, thinking I would never work in a place as good as that. There are so few shows that I really like.
Well, one of them is Buffy, [and I was told] "Okay you can have a job at Buffy", so life is good again and depression is postponed a little while. I’m still a rookie writer in a way. I’m now being groomed for greatness.
