http://future-sf.com/non-fiction/a-conversation-with-javier-grillo-marxuach-jose-molina/?fbclid=IwAR3g7VboOJ-jwl5qGRlpEa9TBfF8mxNPF21ljX8LLTU4lOQVVEfn07lIo80

JAVI: For me, it’s about living long enough, and keeping your head above water long enough, till you have enough credits, enough scripts, enough mastery, that you can say, “They can tell me that I can’t write their show, but they can’t tell me I can’t write.” And I feel that it’s sort of a pivotal moment in every working writer’s life, where you stop being afraid that you might be an imposter. You realize two things—one: a TV show is not a place to find whatever familial bonds you were denied as a child. Two: The people who run the TV shows that you loved, and the people who run the TV shows that you work on—whatever the press may be, are not really the geniuses you thought they were. They would not have gotten where they did, if it wasn’t for people like you beneath them doing good, solid work. And once you demystify this, that this person isn’t a genius, but he or she is very good, and once you realize there are no geniuses—it’s just whoever has been anointed as the situational genius, who is going to be right because they’re the boss… If you can stick around long enough to get to those epiphanies, you’ll probably survive the rest of your career. ... JAVI: A good survival strategy is to not compete. The show that’s going to hire you, is the show that’s going to hire you and is also the show that’s going to hire you, y’know? All you can control is whether or not your script sample is good. Do you give a good meeting? Are you charming and lovely in the room? And put a good case that people want to hang out with you for ten hours a day. You can’t compete with anyone else, because you don’t know what they’re doing every day in a meeting with the EP’s. All you can do is bring your best game. Look, staffing on shows is like being in relationships, the alchemy of who works out in a staff is so ethereal, because it’s about whether or not you can jive with those other creatives in the writer’s room.