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" Having a support system is huge for writers. My parents were always encouraging and told me they were behind me, whether or not I made it in the business. My wife was always there for my successes and failures. "

Stephen J. Cannell

Wife

Support

Parents

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" I was born in L.A. County Hospital, but I grew up in Pasadena. I married my 8th grade sweetheart, Marcia. "

" I believed in the concept of over-performing. I believe anyone can achieve their goals in life if they over-perform, and that means you have to work ten times harder than anybody you see. "

" I formed my own studio, carried my own deficits, owned one-hundred percent of my negatives, and made a lot of mistakes, but we ended up being the third largest TV studio in Hollywood. "

Stephen J. Cannell

Mistakes

Own

" I flunked three grades before I got out of high school. "

" I really hesitate to say that any of my shows influenced other writers. "

" I'm a very conservative businessman. I don't work on credit. My father was the guy who taught me how to think straight, not to delude myself and think I was larger than I was. "

Stephen J. Cannell

Father

Think

" I never waited for my Irish Cream coffee to be the right temperature, with a storm happening outside and my fireplace crackling... I wrote every day, at home, in the office, whether I felt like it or not. I just did it. "

" I've been very successful at selling my things, but I've also been getting up at 4 in the morning for 40 years. "

Stephen J. Cannell

Morning

Selling

" My dad was my best friend. I worshipped him. All of my success in life really comes from him. He believed that you get nothing from negativity. "

" Everyone starts out desperately trying to make a hit, but some people are just more mistake-prone than others. I happened to be fairly mistake-prone. Of the 40 shows I made, I'd say ten were hits, which is a pretty good average. "

" Once you put something like 'The A-Team' on the map, it does become part of the DNA of television. People grab little pieces of it. I certainly grabbed little pieces of other people's shows when I was creating my shows. "

" A lot of making TV is lightening in a bottle. "

Stephen J. Cannell

Making

Bottle

" I believe in three-act structure. When I say that to novel people, or people in the world of books, they go, 'Well, that's a film thing.' However, even a good joke has three acts. "

" The first act is the easiest to plot. The second act is always the hardest to plot. Generally a good, you know, sometimes the third act can be difficult because you can get into a rut in the third act - everybody runs to their Corvette, has a chase, and you catch the bad guy. "

" I'm generally a very happy guy because I'm doing what I want. I'm willing to tell you that there are people who are much better than I am in writing. I don't have to be the fastest gun in the West. "

" I finally get to the place where the book has matured in my mind and I can hardly wait to start writing it. Then I just sit down and I start. I hit the go button. I have an outline, which is 70 pages, but I don't look at it. I never have to look at it. "

" I love 'Dexter.' The dark sense of humor is wonderful. "

" My dad was an interior design and furniture person. I started working with him for four years before my first TV writing break. "

" I can write a book in probably three months. "