J
JAMESBJOHNSON
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Do They Serve A Useful Purpose?
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Hackney is the root word, from the 1700s. McDonalds fare is hackneyed, always the same. You don't really get it your way at Burger King.
But whats so awful about Zane Grey or Ian Fleming or John D. McDonald?
Do They Serve A Useful Purpose?
Do They Serve A Useful Purpose?
Like a dumb blonde bimbo, they are difficult to use, and serve no purpose.
...I didn't write that. Some hack did.
Off the top of my head I hear that and simply think a crappy writer.
But I see the point of it being someone who will use the same cookie cutter on all their stories.
Sad to say in a society that considers reality shows great entertainment and spends all day liking posts on facebook and tweeting anytime they fart and then telling you what it smells like?
Hacks are big these days in every field because their audience is too lazy to look for anything different.
I wouldn't consider them as hack writers. Ian Fleming didn't write enough books to be a 'hack'.
My list would include:
Edgar Wallace
Dennis Wheatley
Ellery Queen
J T Edson
All of them frequently recycled plots and characters. J T Edson even reused some of Edgar Wallace's characters.
I've always found bimbos very easy to use and they do have a purpose
Guess I didn't answer the question.
A 'hack' is someone whose success I envy and seek to denigrate.
I have a friend who owns a book store. I never can remember her last name but her first name is Wendy. I have never read one of her books. She has written the same romance story 37 times. Names, faces, countries change but the story is the same. Still her publisher keeps asking for more, she is published in 10 countries, and pulls in a solid 50k year after year. Wish I were a hack.
Someone who makes more money than I for an easy idea I had just a fraction of a second later than he.
Pulp writers are typically hacks.
I used to write for pulps.
Yeah.