Enjoying Good Writing

When I was in high school, I mistakenly believed that I wanted to go to film school to become a movie producer. I worked on the high school news show, applied and was accepted to USC, went to visit, and saw a nice dose of reality while I was there. The entry level jobs in the movie/tv industry were barely minimum wage. A good education didn’t mean much–it was the contacts you made and the people you knew. I met a girl while I was there and she commented, “I can’t watch movies any more. All I can see is the sloppy editing. I just can’t enjoy them.”

Somewhere in my second year at Notre Dame, I realized that it wasn’t the movies I wanted to make–it was the stories. I loved watching characters and plots come alive, but a part of that girl stuck with me. Many writers claim the same thing–that they can’t enjoy books in the same way any more because they see through the poor motivation, sloppy writing, etc. etc. I disagree. You’re always going to run into writers whose books you may or may not enjoy. But being a writer makes me appreciate the good authors even more.

I was watching “LOST” the other night, and the episode was very well-written. When it was finished, I had this stupid grin on my face because I caught several nuances. The show title was Psalm 23. For those of you who haven’t seen it, I won’t go into too much detail, but the writers set up so many references to the psalm, once you caught onto it, you felt like you were privileged with an insider’s view. The main character Eko was set up as a man who made some terrible choices to save his younger brother, and the younger brother ultimately becomes a priest. During the episode, we see Eko as a character who looks into the face of a smoke monster–we don’t know what this thing is, but it sure looks evil, and he faces it down– (Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil). In the smoke, there are images and visions; a woman’s face is one of them. Eko carries a staff which he’s carved Biblical inscriptions on (Thy rod and they staff, they comfort me). One of the kickers, for me, was a phrase lightly dropped in the backstory where a character accused Eko of having no soul. At the end of the show, he takes back the cross his brother carried with him, takes the path of priesthood himself, and you get the hidden message (He restoreth my soul).

I love it when a writer takes the time to add subtleties like that. JK Rowling does it in the Harry Potter books. Little things that, on the surface seem trivial, but in reality have deeper meaning.

So, what did you think of “LOST” this week? Or, if you don’t watch it, have you read any books or authors who have mastered subtle writing?