Movie Depictions of "Good" Writing
Writers are quirky, hermit-like creatures who talk weirdly and follow trains of thought off cliffs. I think we would all admit this. It's interesting, however, to see how writers are depicted in film.
Some writer-characters are hilariously accurate, with constant drafting, throwing out those drafts, and being "almost" done forever. Also with the "this is totally for my writing" excuse for literally every bizarre thing they/we do. But I want to zero in on a specific characteristic I noticed that irks me: when we get examples of how amazing their writing is, it's ridiculous. This may step on the toes of the "literary is the only quality writing" debate, but sometimes I feel like these script-writers haven't heard the other side of that argument. Because every example of a character's "great" writing is... the most over-the-top, flowery, metaphorical purple prose you've ever seen.
I'm sure I'm overgeneralizing; I do that a lot. I did recently watch a rom com (which I am wont to do) that's actually too stupid for me to admit having voluntarily seen it. And one of the characters was exactly this. So there, a sample size of at least one, in recent memory!
I do think this ties into the general misconception by non-writers (and maybe even non-genre-writers) that purple prose equals good prose. More metaphors means it's more deep; more five-dollar words means it's more intellectual. I have definitely been told off by a newbie writer for being "uncreative" since I used too many similar verbs (cough "said" cough) and not enough complex adjectives. And I've similarly seen those newbie writers with super inflated egos because all their non-writey friends are crazy impressed by their incomprehensible sentences. I'm pretty sure these are the types of people who design rom com characters that are recognized as Amazing Writers for that exact same quality of prose.
Oh well, I suppose there is already a ton to criticize about low-budget rom coms to begin with, and this is hardly the biggest of their problems. Also... at the end of the day, I still watch them. ;)
Some writer-characters are hilariously accurate, with constant drafting, throwing out those drafts, and being "almost" done forever. Also with the "this is totally for my writing" excuse for literally every bizarre thing they/we do. But I want to zero in on a specific characteristic I noticed that irks me: when we get examples of how amazing their writing is, it's ridiculous. This may step on the toes of the "literary is the only quality writing" debate, but sometimes I feel like these script-writers haven't heard the other side of that argument. Because every example of a character's "great" writing is... the most over-the-top, flowery, metaphorical purple prose you've ever seen.
I'm sure I'm overgeneralizing; I do that a lot. I did recently watch a rom com (which I am wont to do) that's actually too stupid for me to admit having voluntarily seen it. And one of the characters was exactly this. So there, a sample size of at least one, in recent memory!
I do think this ties into the general misconception by non-writers (and maybe even non-genre-writers) that purple prose equals good prose. More metaphors means it's more deep; more five-dollar words means it's more intellectual. I have definitely been told off by a newbie writer for being "uncreative" since I used too many similar verbs (cough "said" cough) and not enough complex adjectives. And I've similarly seen those newbie writers with super inflated egos because all their non-writey friends are crazy impressed by their incomprehensible sentences. I'm pretty sure these are the types of people who design rom com characters that are recognized as Amazing Writers for that exact same quality of prose.
Oh well, I suppose there is already a ton to criticize about low-budget rom coms to begin with, and this is hardly the biggest of their problems. Also... at the end of the day, I still watch them. ;)
I guess I just don't watch those movies because, although this kind of depiction would certainly bug me, this isn't my big peeve. The thing that gets me most about movie (and TV) depictions of writers is how easy they make it look. Tap off a first draft on the typewriter, drop the pages into a box, ship it off to a publisher and wait for the $$$ to roll in a few weeks later.
ReplyDeleteI guess they stick with a typewriter because it's (a) more in tune with the romantic ideal of writing, and (b) more visually appealing than attaching a document and clicking "send". But either way, I find it profoundly disrespectful of the immense hard work that is needed to get a piece of writing into a fit state to publish.
Grrrr! :)
Oh yeah, you're so right! I think I haven't seen that too often, but I agree it's super ridiculous! I've definitely seen characters leave a printed first draft laying around and some other character pick it up and read it (and then be super impressed at how amazing it is and offer them a job on the spot... or get mad about some plot thing it gave away, like a secret identity... these aren't exactly timeless classics I watch heh).
DeleteBut when you say typewriter, ALL I can think about is Misery. And now that I think about it, there are an awful lot of King characters who get frustrated over drafts and manuscripts and publishers... Maybe us writers are really living in a horror novel, and we haven't realized it yet.