I coincidentally/karmically(?) got three emails about "rules for being in a writers room" and to distract me from the threat of a dismantled democracy I'm going to share them here.

These are the rules I use in the rooms I run. YMMV, obviously.

1. Your job is to get the showrunner/show creator's show on the page. So you don't need to have THE idea. You only need to have the idea that gets them to the idea. That's a win.

2. Don't repeat someone else's pitch back to the room unless you believe that the pitch didn't get the respect it deserves. And then attribute the pitch. "I'd like to go back to Marni's idea that the girls all go on a camping trip" & then focus on why the pitch helps the show.

3. The no is just as informative as the yes and when a room is well run, you hear why the no, and not just the no. Often I'll say no because I have inside info. Or I know it is impossible to produce. My job is to say no. Yours is to pitch big.

4. Pitch the show you are on, not the show you want it to be. You are not going to make a CBS procedural into a FX horror show or vice versa.
4a. Don't deride a show you're on. Procedurals are not inherently bad, comedy isn't inherently purposeless. Love the one you're with.

5. BE SUPPORTIVE: read the notes every night no matter who is writing the episode and look for solutions. email your co-workers some love when their documents are published. be kind to your SC. speak slowly for your WA. give the support you want to get.

Wow. This is a lot of tweets. Okay last one.
6. Don't point out the problem unless you have a solution. Or at least a triage plan of attack. Remember Tom Hanks in 'Big'? It wasn't saying "I don't get it" that got him promoted. It was having a good idea.

I'm sure there are more. But I have to get back to phone banking. xoxo