Last night I was lucky enough to attend the event “A Night In The Writers Room” hosted by Variety magazine. There was a comedy and a drama panel discussion featuring some of today’s hottest TV writers! It was a night full of wit, wisdom, and inspiration. And Mindy Kaling now has the title of Comedy Goddess in my book. Over the next week I’ll be sharing some tidbits of what I learned!

One of the biggest things that struck me was how much work the writers really put into a script. I know that sounds obvious, but I think as actors we often need to be reminded of it. Paraphrasing lines won’t ever feel okay again after hearing the hours these writers keep! There are no accidents. Every line is purposeful and specifically worded for a precise rhythm. Even after a writer has spent oodles of time creating a script, it is then taken into the writers room (often to a room full of 6-8 more writers) to have it deconstructed and reconfigured again. Not to mention the fact that they have to take the TV execs notes as well. I’d imagine after all that, the last thing a TV writer would want to hear is a bad paraphrase, or worse yet the dreaded, “I don’t think my character would say that.” Ummm, attention fellow actors! The writers have lived and breathed with these characters for way longer than we have!

There was also a lot of talk about the pressures on TV writers to make every episode a hit nowadays. Television really is a “buyers market” as of late. Between DVRs, Hulu Plus, and NetFlix, viewers don’t have the same pressure to commit to a weekly viewing time. We can tune in and out as we please. So the writers aim to have every episode be a brilliant piece that can stand independently on it’s own. This way if a viewer tunes in online and clicks on episode 6 of the season, they’ll still get hooked. Mindy Kaling joked about how the writing staff of “The Office” never put anything up on the walls because no show is really “safe.” In this day and age, audiences are fickle and things change on a dime. And social media outlets like Twitter put added pressure on the writers to stay on top of their games! Twitter was even compared to a modern day theater audience. Feedback to the writers work is loud and clear and immediate, for better or for worse.

Video clips from the panel will be available after Friday at: variety.com/emmycentral

Break legs,
Megan