There was a time when you could truly believe that Brian had potential; that he had a hidden talent he was too humble to share with everyone. Given his personality in the earlier seasons, it seems that being an intelligent writer would have been the perfect outlet for his creativity. But no. The show decided it was a better idea to make him a deluded procrastinator, perhaps for cheap laughs at the expense of whatever skills he may possess. While there are instances where he does question his own talents as a writer, he still believes he is one right down to the core. Of course there are episodes where he does manage to pump out some work. Let's examine them shall we: 'Faster Than The Speed Of Love' A novel that took him so many years to write it was a running gag for a while (even though there have been many highly-praised authors who took a very long time to write their first novel). The book was ultimately labelled as one of the worst in Quahog's history. Then there was his self-help book, 'Wish It, Want It, Do It', which he churned out in a single night through an act of bitterness rather than artistic integrity. The book was slammed on national TV by talk show host Bill Maher and turned Brian into an egotistical author with a diva complex. There was also the letter he wrote which he read during an acceptance speech for an award he was receiving. He later admitted that he'd ripped much of it off from another source. And let's not forget his mature TV script, 'House Of Payne', which executives turned into a lowbrow sitcom because Brian so desperately wanted to be famous. Being a struggling writer is hard work. Sometimes you have to pump out mediocre work or do projects you're not that into. All of Brian's body of work could easily be palmed off as the result of him coming to terms with his talents and limitations. However, given his penchant for pretentiousness, holier-than-thou world perspective and short-sightedness when it comes to his own writing, it just makes him look like an uninspiring hack.
