do you have to love the characters you write?
does it help when you love them?
for that matter, does it help when you can’t stand them?

i think it’s all of that and a few other things.  if i thought bob could do no wrong, then the fun of certain situations would be lost.  this may sound kind of out there, but i honestly don’t know what will happen when i have an idea for bob.  i don’t think about him as a squirrel… because if i did, i have immediately put constraints on my brainstorming.  once i have the core idea… which could be anything from a single word to a covered page in my notebook, that when the fun begins.  i either start riffing on that idea… take it in this direction or that… or i just stare at it.  staring can either open something up or cross something out.  some may think that creation starts when that pencil hits the bristol…in some instances that is true.  the riffing, to me, is the best part of this job.

without that riff, there can be no melody… without the melody, rhythm can’t be established… without all of these parts working together… there can be no song… just a loud unorganized jam where no one knows where anyone is.

riffing rules.  you have to riff.