We have a wonderful head of social media and community, Danika Harrod, who has a knowledge of community that's really authentic, and she just loves connecting with people and she's very empathetic to what fans might want.
We learned that there was a super intelligent, passionate audience that wanted material that was nuanced and detailed and authentic.
We have a writing process that's very much you try to create the character in a complicated way and then you let the story lead you to discovering who the character is in a natural way.
I'm not a moral relativist, I do think at the end of the day there's right and wrong, there's good intentions, and then there's bad paths that you can go on even if you have good intentions and we believe that.
Make your work deeper and better than those before you, and eventually someone will notice. If you don't think the work is better than what you've seen, then go back until it is.
War is death. If we are to engage in war, then we should have to stare it straight in the face and call it by its rightful name.
Some guys, first pitch of the at-bat gets called a strike - maybe it's a ball off or below their knees, and it gets called a strike - and then the next two pitches, they swing at balls in the dirt, and all of a sudden, they're yelling at the umpire about that first pitch. You just swung at two balls in the dirt, buddy.
In my early work, my time in the batting cage, that's serious, and that's when I feel like I'm really working. That's where I have to lock in on my approach, make sure my mechanics are right, and make sure my mindset is right for the upcoming game. But then, when the game comes up, it's a game! You're supposed to have fun when you play games.
I think you can have a ridiculously enormous and complex data set, but if you have the right tools and methodology then it's not a problem.
In high school, my English teacher Celeste McMenamin introduced me to the great novels and Shakespeare and taught me how to write. Essays, poetry, critical analysis. Writing is a skill that was painful then but a love of mine now.
