Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Benjamin Sorkin is an American screenwriter, producer, and playwright. His works include the Broadway plays A Few Good Men and The Farnsworth Invention; the television series Sports Night, The West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and The Newsroom; and the films A Few Good Men, The American President, Charlie Wilson's War, The Social Network, Moneyball, and Steve Jobs...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScreenwriter
Date of Birth9 June 1961
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
There's a great tradition in storytelling that's thousands of years old, telling stories about kings and their palaces, and that's really what I wanted to do.
Humans know when it's not a good story. Unless you do this for a living, you may not know exactly why you don't like a story, but you can't fool an audience ever. They know when you have it and they know when you don't.
As an audience member, I like the sound of something that's been written - I like it to sound written. And then, of course, you can't do it without the musicians who can play it.
The downside to series television is that the schedule is ferocious. It constantly feels like you have a midterm due that you haven't started yet.
Honestly, I don't try to guess at what most people want. I don't think I'd guess right, and I just think that that's not a good recipe for storytelling. I try to write what I like, what I think my friends would like.
Just to clarify the division of labor on the show, I write the show and Alan [Poul] does everything else.
I would love for people to think that I am as quick, clever, smart and heroic as the characters that I write, but those characters are characters.
I think that if I couldn't write, I would be unemployable.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be an actor. I was acting in all the school plays. I went to school for acting. I was really sure that that's what I wanted to do.
I'm a playwright. All I care about is the play being good.
I think it's up to writers to write stuff that is compelling enough that people want to watch.
Develop your own compass, and trust it. Take risks, dare to fail, remember the first person through the wall always gets hurt.
I don't believe there are two sides to every argument. I think the facts are the center. And watching the news abandon the facts in favor of 'fairness' is what's troubling to me.
Decisions are made by those who show up. Don't ever forget that you're a citizen of this world.