Some people, especially literary people, they think, ‘I’ll write this original script, and it will be full of ideas. I’ll submit it, and they’ll hire me for television.’ That’s not the case. – Maria Semple
I learned that comedy is born out of strong characters. I won’t begin writing a character until I have a clear take on them. – Maria Semple
I think that everyone in Seattle, their daily existence, is enriched by all the charitable giving that is courtesy of Microsoft. – Maria Semple
It’s great to be able to just go with an idea and not have 10 people in a room telling me why I can’t write in a huge mud slide at a school function with 50 kindergartners running around. – Maria Semple
In my high-minded and naive way, I believed the only books worth reading were the classics. – Maria Semple
One reason I find all this character growth and narrative swerving so exhilarating is because I never got to do it when I wrote for TV. Our characters needed to remain consistent from week to week. – Maria Semple
I suppose I could admire all these slow Seattle drivers for their safety-mindedness, consideration for others, and peace of mind. Instead, I’m a fury of annoyance. – Maria Semple
And dialogue, I’m good at it, and it’s because it’s the only thing you have to work with in TV writing. – Maria Semple
I love epistolary novels and became wildly excited when the form presented itself to me. – Maria Semple
I keep an elaborate calendar for my characters detailing on which dates everything happens. I’m constantly revising this as I go along. It gives me the freedom to intricately plot my story, knowing it will at least hold up on a timeline. – Maria Semple
I think because I try to keep things as real as I can, or I try to start from a place of reality, I almost don’t have the imagination to write a book that’s not set where I am. – Maria Semple
I drop my kid off at school and then race home, and it’s a very limited time. I can only do really serious writing for a couple of hours. And then I always go on a walk, I do a one-to-two-hour walk; I don’t go running or hard hiking. – Maria Semple
I think a novel has to be about where you are at a given moment in time. I think it really needs to represent some specific pain you’re going through. it’s not just a story. – Maria Semple
On my walks, that’s when the good ideas come. The kind of hard, gritty work is when you’re sitting at the computer and it’s kind of intense and you’re kind of in super control of it – the walks are when you let go. That’s when the really big breakthroughs come in, and it’s very strange. – Maria Semple
My favorite kind of book is a domestic drama that’s grounded in reality yet slightly unhinged. – Maria Semple
After decades spent in rewrite rooms surrounded by other shouting writers, I discovered that I work best alone. I like being in charge of my time, working out the problems according to my own rhythms and being able to nap. – Maria Semple
I know what it’s like to feel snobby; I know what it’s like to feel anxiety; I know what it’s like to feel like busted because you’re crazy. – Maria Semple