A Surprising Writing Habit of Family Guy’s Seth MacFarlane
Plus other facts you might want to know about this multi-talented millionaire.
Seth MacFarlane is a writer, producer, actor, and director of many popular TV shows and movies.
From the award-winning animated show Family Guy to the hit comedy movie Ted, Seth MacFarlane has a real impact on comedic screenwriting.
No wonder Seth MacFarlane’s net worth is over $330 Million. He has 129 professional credits working in TV and movies according to TV Guide.
Like Leonardo DiCaprio, Seth MacFarlane is also a supporter of many social causes. In 2009, He established MacFarlane Foundation, a charitable family foundation.
He also dabbles in acting. Although, there are mixed reviews about it. In one of his popular ones, he plays Ed Mercer, the captain of a starship called USS Orville.
Additionally, Seth MacFarlane is the voice of many animated characters we love. He’s known to voice multiple characters in Family Guy alone like Peter Griffin and Glenn Quagmire.
While he is a man of many talents, Seth MacFarlane’s comedic writing skills are undeniably on the next level.
Not a lot of writers can say they made 2 classic (and still running) animated comedy TV shows. That’s right, Seth MacFarlane also made American Dad when Fox canceled Family Guy.
What’s the surprising writing habit of Seth MacFarlane?
He doesn’t have a writing routine
When asked by Dax Shepard on his podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard about being “rehearsed” as a writer, Seth Macfarlane responded with a surprising answer:
“I have nothing that I would classify as a routine. There are some days that I’ll write all day. There are other days that I will putter around and procrastinate, and then finally at 10 o’clock at night, I’ll be enormously productive.”
This was a surprise to Dax Shepard, stating that most writers he knows are creatures of habit.
Then, the two men continued talking about what they loved about writing. Nailing in on the thought that creating a story structure is harder than writing dialogues.
Both enjoy doing the latter, joking about how much easier it is to just make the puppets talk when writing a script.
Hearing this is a big relief for a freelance writer like myself who struggles with sticking to a routine, and continuously fails to do so.
In an era where everyone is telling you that the key to success is sticking to a routine, this was a fresh breeze coming from a successful creator like Seth MacFarlane.
How did Seth MacFarlane start to work for television?
Seth MacFarlane was born October 26, 1973, in Kent, Connecticut.
As a child, he always had a knack for drawing. He even brought his old drawings of The Flinstones in one of his interviews when doing press for The Orville.
His interest at such a young age landed him his first job as a newspaper cartoonist when he was only 9 years old.
Truly, Seth MacFarlane has creative talents at such a young age leading him to pursue a degree in animation. He is a proud graduate of Rhode Island School of Design.
In the latter part of his program, he made an animated show for a class that later became his calling card in Hollywood when a professor urged him to aim for the stars.
With his talents, Seth MacFarlane quickly landed a job in Hollywood writing for classic cartoon shows like Johnny Bravo, Dexter’s Laboratory, and Cow and Chicken.
His most popular show to date is undoubtedly Family Guy which started airing in 1999. Although he handed the show to his staff writers way back in 2011, he still does the voices of his characters.
Since then he’s made two unequally successful movies — Ted and A Million Ways to Die in the West. He has sung on Broadway, filmed a comedy roast, and even hosted an Oscar back in 2013.
Undoubtedly, Seth MacFarlane has done many wonderful things in his career.
So if you’re asking how can you get a job in television like Seth MacFarlane? On the same podcast with Dax Shepard, they both agreed that success in their careers involved talent and definitely luck.
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