Somewhere Warm

I've been in Los Angeles since Tuesday.  Back to NY on Saturday.  The weather's great.  I'm here for some stuff with the Anonymous Lawyer sitcom script -- my (terrific) co-writer and I are trying to punch up the script as much as possible before the network makes its decision about whether to go forward with the project and have us film the pilot.  Lots of time spent with the pages the past two days -- in meetings, around a table with some other writers, with my co-writer in front of his computer screen -- but it's all been a heck of a lot of fun.  I can't imagine there's much that could theoretically be called "work" that could be any better than this.  It's been feeling awfully nice to be able to get engaged in something, to get to spend a couple of days with other smart, creative, and decent people who also care about it, and to stare at a computer screen somewhere other than inside my apartment.

Okay, re-reading the previous paragraph, I fear I've understated what I'm trying to say.  This is really awesome, and I never think anything I'm doing is really awesome.  I don't mean the script itself -- the script is fine -- but the process.  I miss being busy, I miss being around smart people in a work context, I miss having deadlines and demands and the pressure to produce.  In a lot of ways, I miss not having to self-motivate.  I miss being part of a team.

That last one is big.  I miss being part of a team.  That's interesting.  Hmmm.

I miss having people I'm trying to impress.  I miss hearing other people complain, and watching them get frustrated.  I miss getting frustrated and having an outlet where I can direct that frustration.  I miss being impressed by other people's abilities and talents on any sort of regular basis.  I miss worrying I'll have to cancel plans because I'm busy but then finding a way to make it work.

That last one is a weird thing to miss.  But I kind of do.  Hmmm.

I don't know what I'm actually saying in this post, or trying to say.  There's a difference between working on something alone and working on something with other people.  There's a difference between a conference call and an in-person meeting.  There's a difference between liking and respecting the people you're in the foxhole with, and merely wanting to watch them so as to get material you can exaggerate for the anonymous blog you're secretly writing.

Okay, that's not what I mean, and that's not what I did.  Sort of.

I have nothing to complain about, and a lot of really awesome things that have been going on in my life.  But it's a tremendous relief to realize that I haven't completely lost the ability to feel engaged and involved and motivated and pleased with my day when I've reached the end of it.  I'm not spending my days quite right.  I've been saying this for nine months and still haven't really fixed it.  Maybe soon.

I owe you a post that's a little less abstract than this one and actually talks about the cool parts of this process.  I was less than ten feet away from David Spade at some point this afternoon.  That's pretty neat.  Right?

Comments

[Harmless Error]

Is David Spade gonna be in the show? Awesome.

Sounds like you just miss being busy and engaged in a productive/creative process. As a current job seeker, I know exactly what you mean.

[Sean M.]

Admittedly, I know next to nothing about how writing for telelvision works, but from what little I do, Jeremy, it sounds like you're happier in a "writer's room" rather than the solitary life of a novelist.

Or, at the least, having a "writing partner" to motivate you and bounce ideas off of.

At least that's my off-the-cuff reaction to this post.

[resipsacrap]

Congratulations on having garnered the interest for a sitcom. Quite a feat.

[HJones]

Cast Demetri Martin in the show if you can

[anonymous poster]

The last poster was clearly Demetri Martin

[anonymous]

I wish you would update more like you did while you were in law school.

[someguy]

You're not writing for yourself. If you were, you wouldn't publish anything. If you make a living as awriter then you're to impress an audience, whether that's your editor, publisher, me (as a member of the buying public who bought your first book) or the Polish people.