HBO has a habit of renewing its original series very early, which makes The Newsroom a curious case. Though Aaron Sorkin’s cable-news set drama isn’t exactly a critical darling, the show’s second season showed a steady increase in viewership and Jeff Daniels pulled a surprise Emmy win for Best Actor in a Drama Series this past Sunday. Nevertheless, the show wrapped up its second season over a week ago and we have still yet to hear official word from HBO about season three—despite Daniels jumping the gun with a tweet “confirmation.”

What we have heard is that discussions are ongoing with Sorkin about a third season, and the ball very much appears to be in his court. Now the creator says he “needs time to think” about doing another season of the show. Hit the jump for more.

Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood caught up with Sorkin at a post-Emmys party this past weekend, and the showrunner/creator admitted to Thompson that he has not yet committed to a third season of The Newsroom:

“I need time to think about it,” he said. He did not pay heed to criticism of the show’s treatment of women when writing the just-concluded second season, he said. Thinking about what people will think of his characters never works.

Sorkin has quite a full plate at the moment with a Steve Jobs biopic to write and a Broadway musical that he may or may not be creating, and the Social Network screenwriter is not exactly known for juggling multiple projects at the same time—instead he likes to focus on one task at a time. If Sorkin were to return for another season of The Newsroom on the same schedule as the past two seasons, he would have to start assembling a writers room and breaking stories in the next few months. Given his busy schedule, he might want to postpone season three of Newsroom a bit so he can devote time to some of his other projects.

On the other hand, Sorkin may just be tired of the vociferous criticism that The Newsroom has received. He admitted to Thompson that he tied up many loose ends in the season two finale of The Newsroom, and it’s not hard to see that episode also serving as a series finale given how neatly all the complicated relationships concluded. HBO clearly wants a third season, but maybe Sorkin just doesn’t think it’s worth the trouble. Whatever the case, Sorkin is unparalleled as a wordsmith and I look forward to seeing what the future holds, be it The Newsroom season three or something entirely different.