I have a lot of respect for people who are great at ad-libbing, and for writers and directors who are able to create a scene in which that works.

I consider plot a necessary intrusion on what I really want to do, which is write snappy dialogue. But when I'm writing, the way the words sound is as important to me as what they mean.

As a dramatist, you're looking for points of friction.

I'd been concerned all along that the character of the president in the West Wing pilot would throw the ensemble out of whack, that that character would simply take up all the oxygen in a room. I wanted to hold off bringing this character in until the last possible moment.

There's that process of writing it - then you come out of your room into the sunlight, and you now have to complete the circuit and make the connection finally with the audience.

If you feel that strongly about something, you have an obligation to try and change my mind.

I would love for people to think that I am as quick, clever, smart and heroic as the characters that I write, but those characters are characters.