QUESTION: Do you ever get writer's block? and if so how do you solve it? (Lyle J.)

ANSWER: When I sit down to attack a scene and look at the dynamic between the characters and the outline from the story break, I try to consider what's a fresh new way to write it that's not going to be something we've seen before. With Star Trek being a fairly formulaic show, we often see similar types of scenes, i.e. the expositional Briefing Room scene, or the Ready Room scene where Chakotay and/or Tuvok approach the Captain with concerns over a proposed course of action. When I'm confronted with one of those scenes, I take some time to look for a new spin, whether it be an interesting line or a bit of humor that sets it off in an unexpected direction. It isn't necessarily writer's block, but it does give me pause.

QUESTION: How come Voyager isn't more damaged from the years of constant attack? (Dave F.)

ANSWER: When we were breaking "Year of Hell" during the fourth season, we talked about having a multi-episode arc in which Voyager was severely damaged. Of course, in that scenario, the crew would be making constant repairs. What we decided, given the way "Year of Hell" resolved with the crew having no knowledge that any of those events ever took place, we thought it might become tedious to do a series of episodes where the ship was in disarray. That and if you take into account that our crew can manufacture shuttles lickity-split, they very well should be able to repair damaged bulkheads and seal various ruptured conduits with out too much trouble. They're a Starfleet crew and as such they wouldn't leave the ship in a state of disrepair for too long.

QUESTION: Will Harry Kim get promoted?

ANSWER: Suffice it to say, Kim will get his promotion when Captain Janeway sees fit.

QUESTION: What do you think has been Voyager's most successful season? (Ronald F.)

ANSWER: For me as an audience member, it would have to be either Season Four or Season Five. Season Six and Season Seven were and are, respectively, very consistent in the level of strong storytelling. But it's Four and Five that I would say had more high-concept, standout episodes. I look back at those seasons and can point to more personal favorites than I can in any other season. Shows like "Scorpion," "Year of Hell," "Mortal Coil," "Prey," "The Killing Game," "Living Witness," "Drone," "Timeless," "Latent Image," "Counterpoint," "Bride of Chaotica," "Course: Oblivion," and "Someone to Watch Over Me," shows that worked on so many levels in terms of character, drama, humor and good old-fashioned science-fiction.

QUESTION: Is there a storyline or character development arc that you wish you could have explored, but for whatever reason you were not able to? (John and Mary Jo T.)

ANSWER: The first thing that comes to mind is Kes' return in "Fury." I was disappointed in the way that episode turned out. Kes' motivations were unclear, the story was muddy, and the crew wasn't given the chance to interact with her in any REAL way. The original concept of that show was Kes would return and through her interactions with the crew, they'd realize that this is a very different woman than the one that left Voyager three years earlier. In the time she was gone, she had some sort of traumatic experience as she was evolving to the next phase of the Ocampan life cycle that corrupted her. Perhaps she even went a little crazy. There was no element of time travel in the original conception. What attracted me to the story was the chance to explore a character who had been so sweet only to become so nasty. It made sense to me that it would be someone like Kes, someone very naïve, that could be corrupted in that way. She was the proverbial innocent who found life on "the street" to be too harsh and unrelenting. Whatever happened to her caused her to become jaded, twisted even. It made perfect sense to me that someone like that could then turn around and blame her "mother," in this case Janeway, for encouraging her to explore all that life had to offer - especially since the life that she found was not what she expected. That really wasn't clear in the script. It was boiled down to a very rushed scene that had to compete with the Viidians invading Voyager. Also Kes' turn in Act Five wasn't believable to me. If she had become so enraged that she would plot the deaths of her former friends, there would be no way you could change her mind. I would have liked that story to end - whether it had time-travel elements or not - with Kes thwarting Janeway and escaping only to return as a recurring villain. That would have been a lot of fun.

QUESTION: Are any plans to do an episode in the mirror universe seen in [TOS] and [DS9]? (Tasha R.)

BACKGROUND: The mirror universe first seen and visited in [TOS: Mirror, Mirror] is also seen and visited in several [DS9] episodes. The mirror Tuvok is seen in [DS9: Through The Looking Glass]. In that story Tuvok was not lost (whether aboard Chakotay's Maquis raider ship or later aboard USS Voyager is not explained) but became a member of the Terran resistance battling against the Alliance, an oppressive regime of the Klingon Empire and the Cardassian Union. Tuvok, played by Tim Russ, is the only [Star Trek Voyager] character/cast member to make the 'crossover' between Star Trek series.

ANSWER: Being a fan of alternate universes and the "Mirror, Mirror" episodes, I am sad to say that there are no plans right now. Last season I was working on a story that was basically "Who's Killing the Great Voyagers of the Delta Quadrant?" Obviously, it was a spin on "Who's Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?" where we'd follow the crews of several alternate Voyagers. There was a Klingon crew with a "Mistress Jan'toch" - Captain Janeway in Klingon make-up -- that was native to a universe where the Klingon Empire conquered the Federation two hundred years ago, a holographic crew that was essentially the Doctor to the infinite power, and several others. In each of these instances, some unseen force would destroy the alternate Voyager and its crew. Ultimately, the real Captain Janeway and her posse would discover that another alternate Voyager with a twisted Chakotay in command was responsible. He was from a universe where the Maquis overthrew the Starfleet crew. He had a personal vendetta against Janeway and Voyager, and wouldn't stop until he had snuffed each and every one of them out of existence. It was a fun, broad concept and for a brief time there seemed like a possibility that we might do it, but ultimately it never came to pass.

QUESTION: Why can't Kathryn Janeway have one decent love affair? And I mean with a real man, not a hologram. (Aaron M.)

ANSWER: Captain Janeway will have a romance with a real, live, flesh and blood he-man come February sweeps. Stay tuned. (As [Counterpoint] is in Season 5 and her love affair with holo-character Sullivan mentioned by Aaron M. is in Season 6's [Fair Haven], I deduce that Bryan Fuller refers to Season 7's [#162 and #163 Workforce].)

QUESTION: When you were first starting out, did you go to film school, university, or did you just get an agent? (W.S.)

ANSWER: All of the above and more, actually. I went to USC Film School and later went on to pursue a career in acting. I was writing and performing sketch comedy at various LA-based venues like "The Groundlings" and "Beachwood Canyon Review." During one of the shows I met an agent who used to represent none other than Ronald D. Moore of TNG and DS9 fame. She sent me to a "Writing for Star Trek" seminar hosted by Ron and Brannon Braga. After the seminar, I wrote a spec script for Deep Space Nine. Once my agent submitted it through the proper channels, I was invited in to pitch and sold the story from my spec script and another story shortly after that. I had been pitching to Voyager, as well, and Brannon told me that Kes was going to be leaving the show and it might behoove me to come up with a few different ways to kill her off. One of my ideas was to have her evolve to the next phase of the Ocampan life cycle. That one seemed to stick. I was originally slated to write "The Gift," but there were some scheduling conflicts with Jennifer Lien and the episode had to be rushed into production. Joe Menosky took the reins and did a beautiful job. As a consolation, I was given the task of re-writing the story that would eventually become "The Raven." Based on my work on that story, I was given the teleplay and based on my work on that, I was hired as a staff writer. That's the long and the short of it.

QUESTION: I was wondering how much input the actors have had into the scripts for this season (Season 7). They mention in interviews what they'd like to see happen, but how much of this comes through onto the screen? (Kathryn W.)

ANSWER: How much we see in the script of the actor's input varies greatly. Sometimes it's none at all, sometimes it's very little, and sometimes it's quite a bit. Bob Picardo, Roxann Dawson, Robbie McNeil, Garrett Wang, Tim Russ, Kate Mulgrew are all people I've talked with at length regarding their characters or a specific story element. When I was writing "Barge of the Dead," Roxann and I had several conversations about B'Elanna's background and her state of mind and many of Roxann's suggestions made it into the script. I had a similar experience with Bob when I was writing "Flesh and Blood." And Kate was quite vocal about her dissatisfaction with Janeway sleeping with a hologram and we made a concerted effort to address her concerns, although not too well I'm afraid. I should also note that Roxann was very influential with the fifth season's "Extreme Risk" and Bob often suggests plot elements to the staff and has even gone as far as to sell the story for sixth season's "Lifeline." On the opposite side of the spectrum, Roxann and I talked at length about an element to the Klingon episode "Prophecy." It was a great story point and something that was very close to her, but ultimately there wasn't room for it in the final story. On a smaller scale, we're often called about line changes or additions that one of the actors would like to make, and quite frequently we make those changes because they're good suggestions. But there are times where a dialog suggestion is a little loose or uncharacteristic and we have to say no. We certainly don't dismiss any suggestion out of hand and do our best to consider everything the actors have to say because they play an integral role in the creative process, especially in those instances when they're directing the episode.

QUESTION: Even though you can't say if Voyager will get home or not (as not all the episodes in Season 7 had aired at the time of the interview), what would you choose? (Sean F.)

ANSWER: I'm torn on that question. There's a part of me that would like to see the adventures of Captain Janeway and her intrepid crew continue in the Delta Quadrant because they're in a very unique situation. There are certain stories that couldn't be done if they were just another ship in the fleet. But on the other hand, this has been a series about a Captain struggling to get her crew home. Somehow it only seems fitting that she should accomplish that goal. But my opinion is just one among many.

QUESTION: Has Season 7 been more challenging to write, if so, in what way? (Kristi, England)

ANSWER: The prospect of writing the final season of a show, especially when you know it's the final season, is a daunting task. You're bringing to a close the arcs of nine different characters, and a journey of a ship. In that aspect it's more of a challenge because you want to give the audience and each of those characters the stories and moments that they deserve. And since it is the seventh season of a series that has had three sister series before it - two with seven seasons and one with three, some one hundred and seventy episodes in total - it is a challenge to do something that hasn't been done before. But certainly not impossible.

QUESTION: Where do you get your inspiration for new stories? (Michael E., Germany)

ANSWER: It varies. Sometimes it's an image or a scene that I'll construct a story around. Other times I'll see a movie or read a book and wonder how that story would change if it were to take place in the realm of Star Trek, or how a certain Star Trek character would respond in that situation. Sometimes it's something as simple as an article in the newspaper. But if I had to point to a single source of inspiration for myself as a writer, I would have to say The Twilight Zone and the works of Rod Serling. I get very excited by the notion of reality being something tangible that can be manipulated, bent or spindled; that it isn't necessarily subject to the confines of secular science. That truly inspires me.

QUESTION: How long does it take you to write an episode for Voyager? (Shane A.)

ANSWER: Generally speaking, a writer will have an idea and compose a story document, which usually takes about a week and then anywhere from a few days to another week to rewrite and do notes. From that point we sit down and break it as a writing staff, which takes about another week. Once the story is broken and by that I mean it's "broken down" into a five-act structure, it takes about two weeks for the writer to go off and write the first draft. Then another week for notes from the head writer, in this case Ken Biller. From that point we distribute the script and have a pre-production meeting with all the department heads. Rick Berman gives another round of notes, and depending on how extensive they are, another week to churn out a final draft.

At that point, we have our production meeting and the show's on the stage. I'd have to say that the writing process, from story inception to final draft, takes about five or six weeks. Give or take a day or two. But that's an ideal situation and certainly not to say we haven't done it in much less time than that. There have been instances where we were going to production meetings with only a thread-bare outline and writing the script in a matter of days, even as it was being prepped and filming had already started. I should also note that Joe Menosky has the singular distinction of writing a complete script, "Blink of an Eye," during a long weekend and he did a fabulous job.

QUESTION: What is your most memorable moment experienced during [Star Trek Voyager]?

ANSWER: My most memorable moment would be during one of the first times I visited the set. It was while we were filming "Mortal Coil" which was my second Voyager episode, but my first as a member of the writing staff. They were rehearsing the scene in Sickbay where Neelix was pronounced dead and Seven was proposing a radical way of reviving him. Kate Mulgrew glanced at me as I walked in and at that time I didn't even realize she knew who I was. She promptly stopped what she was doing and announced "Author, Author" and she and Bob Picardo, Robert Beltran, Robbie Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips and Jeri Ryan gave me a brief round of applause. It blew me away.

QUESTION: What can you reveal about the stories in the upcoming Season 7? (interview questions by Sci-Fi Wire condensed into one)

ANSWER: We will see in the last few episodes some of the characters we've seen previously. We'll see Lt. Carey and Lt. Vorik again, who are two recurring characters on the show in previous seasons. We're going to see some Talaxians. We're going to see the hierarchy aliens again, from [Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy] We're going to thread through some familiar faces to keep the audience happy. We will see Barclay again, definitely; I'm not sure if we'll see Troi in the final two hours.

(Regarding whether Voyager reaches Earth sooner rather than later): I've got mixed feelings about it. Voyager's always been an episodic show, as opposed to a serialized one like [Deep Space Nine]. There are also plot elements threaded through the last few episodes, where we have a sense of getting to the ultimate goal, without being quite so blatant about it. So within the last few episodes, we feel it building to some sort of crescendo, ... [but] there's no serialized arc. ... I'm of the opinion that Voyager has always been about Capt. Janeway's quest to get her crew home. ... If they do get home in the final two hours, that would be the end of that story, as opposed to getting back to Earth and telling several stories after that. It would be anti-climactic. ... The story should end with them getting home or not being able to get home ever."

Behind-the-scenes: [#171 and #172 Endgame]: Cast and staff speak

Thanks to Eos Development for the page background from the set 'Traceries'.

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