Steve Coogan Quotes

I think writing in a group, even though it can be a challenge - you have to be on your toes all the time - is the way the best comedy gets written. It's very, very collaborative. A lot of comedy writers are definitely introverted nerds.

I'll think of the idea and then I'll write something down, then within that there will be a joke or two which is the original thing which I thought was funny.

Sometimes when you do a whole script, you hand it off, and it gets rewritten by a bunch of people, and people don't really get that much of a sense of how funny you can be.

A man's got to take a lot of punishment to write a really funny book.

We all know funny people who can't get it down on the page - even funny writers who can't get it down on the page.

So while it is true that I find really dark stuff funny sometimes, it's also true that as a writer of books I want to have the whole range of human emotions.

It's not uncommon to have chaotic writers' rooms.

Screenwriting is a much more collaborative effort. When you write a novel, it's just you, with input from your editor.

When you are in a room and your job is to write jokes 10 hours a day, your mind starts going to strange places.

Writing with a partner is, in some ways, an easy but odd process. Two people come into a room and look to each other for motivation. One might not be in the right mood at any given moment. And somehow, you begin; somehow, out of your exchange of thoughts, something engages both of you, and the process of collaboration begins.

Professionals don't get writer's block. I can always come up with the punch line.

You take from things that you read about in the news or things you hear about or things that happen to you, and you collectively sit in a room with everyone, and everyone decides what the funniest stories are that you've heard or thought of.

I regard the writing of humor as a supreme artistic challenge.

I'm good at coming up with wacky characters and funny dialogue.

It usually helps me write by reading - somehow the reading gear in your head turns the writing gear.

Sit down to write what you have thought, and not to think about what you shall write.

I don't have writer's block, really. I do have times when I can't get the lead, and that is the only part of the story which I have serious trouble with. I don't write a word of the article until I have the lead. It just sets the whole tone - the whole point of view.

At one point, I wrote 20 jokes a day, and I had a commitment to send them to the same three people. Now, I just write down what my husband says in his sleep. He's the funniest person, even unconscious.

Comedy is so collaborative. You're going to come up with better jokes with people you like joking around with. It just makes sense.

Partly because of the way I write - I don't work with an outline or in a straight line. I work where I can see things happening, and so I get lots and lots of little bits to start with, and I'm doing the research at the same time.

Writing with other people is absolutely delightful. It's social, which a writer doesn't usually get to do.

If I have a writing problem, the minute I step away, there's a solution.

I don't find it easy to think of good stuff to write about.

I used to write jokes with friends. We'd pick a topic and then think out loud, brainstorm.

With writing, I prefer the solo effort, but when a team is working right, as it did on 'The Grifters,' boy, it's exhilarating.