Q: What were your responsibilities as a junior story editor in the story department?
A: I was responsible for formatting, copy editing and publishing all the scripts; taking notes; and overseeing web content and character arcs.
Q: Can you describe for our readers the process of coming up with script ideas?
A: We started the development room by brainstorming hundreds and hundreds of episode ideas. Once we figured out the season-long story arc and the character arcs for the season, we went back to the episode ideas to see if anything fit together naturally. On Fitz, most of the story ideas are character-driven.
Q: What was the process like to cultivate a new character like Dot?
A: Dot took a while to flesh out. She started off with a much smaller arc as the ultra-right-wing daughter of an evangelical preacher. Once we saw Amy Sloan’s audition tapes, her arc became bigger and bigger until it began to underpin the first half of the season.
Q: Let’s get to the juicy stuff – how do the Fitz writers come up with the infamous Fitzisms and Insults?
A: Coming up with the insults is the best part of the show! In first and second season we came up with insults individually, and one of my jobs last year was to make a spreadsheet of all the insults we’d used in order to minimize repetition. Everyone has a tendency to hang their insults on a couple of key words. Ass and cock are probably the most frequently used. This year we actually took a day during the development period to brainstorm new insults and come up with the Insult Generator. Best day ever!
Q: What was your favorite plotline of Season 2?
A: My favorite arc in Season 2 is the corruption of Larry. He’s such a pure character and I love to see him in situations where he has to struggle to rationalize his actions.
Q: Was there anything in the first few episodes that looked very different in your head than what it ended up looking like in the episode?
A: Things always turn out different from how you imagine. That’s what’s great about writing for this medium – once you’ve finished your work, everyone else brings his or her vision to it. In the end, it becomes so much more than what you could have made it on your own.
