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" My dad was an interior design and furniture person. I started working with him for four years before my first TV writing break. "
Stephen J. Cannell
Design
Furniture
Him
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" 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. "
Stephen J. Cannell
Trying
People
Good
" 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. "
Stephen J. Cannell
Writing
I Am
Happy
" I really hesitate to say that any of my shows influenced other writers. "
Stephen J. Cannell
Hesitate
Say
Really
" 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. "
Stephen J. Cannell
Television
You
Creating
" 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. "
Stephen J. Cannell
Writing
Start
Place
" A lot of making TV is lightening in a bottle. "
Stephen J. Cannell
TV
Making
Bottle
" 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
Up
Morning
Selling
" 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. "
Stephen J. Cannell
Three
Believe
Good
" I love 'Dexter.' The dark sense of humor is wonderful. "
Stephen J. Cannell
Sense
Love
Humor
" 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
" 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
Me
Think
" 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. "
Stephen J. Cannell
You
Know
Always
" I can write a book in probably three months. "
Stephen J. Cannell
Write
Book
I Can
" 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. "
Stephen J. Cannell
Storm
Day
Every Day
" 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. "
Stephen J. Cannell
Work
Believe
Achieve
" I flunked three grades before I got out of high school. "
Stephen J. Cannell
School
Three
High School
" 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
TV
Mistakes
Own
" I was born in L.A. County Hospital, but I grew up in Pasadena. I married my 8th grade sweetheart, Marcia. "
Stephen J. Cannell
I Was Born
Hospital
Born
" 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. "
Stephen J. Cannell
Life
Success
Best