If you lined up 10 writers and asked them to write a movie about Steve Jobs, you'd get 10 very different movies.
When I create a TV show, it's so that I can write it. I'm not an empire builder; my writing staff is usually a combination of two kinds of people - experts in the world the show is set in, and young writers who will not be unhappy if they're not writing scripts.
I think writers should create characters who are human and have a character arc of their own.
I got dumped off 'The Iron Lady' a month before they started shooting, and then they brought two new writers on. Then I was brought back on again. I'm just a bit of a rubber ball. I just bounce back.
I know what it's like to be brought up by actors and writers.
The notion of having your muse was not something that was built for women originally. That's not to say women don't have muses. I get muses in terms of actors or writers who inspire me, so I understand the concept.
My advice for writers is to get a good day job. It takes the pressure off writing if you have a job that pays the bills.
My first album after 'American Idol' I did with Desmond - we paid for it together, and we literally were together working on it every day for a year and half, just writing. We wrote in New York, Nashville, L.A., Sweden - we wrote with some other amazing songwriters like Diane Warren, too.
It really helped me as a writer to understand how other writers think.
Some people are writers and don't ever want to be on camera, some people act and not write - I like writing words for myself to say.
