I’m going to tell you a story. It isn’t about anyone you know but it will be worth your while. I’ve always wanted to begin something with that promise. It comes from Andrew Stanton of Pixar and is the implicit promise that every writer makes when they first depress a key or put pen to paper or even derma through an idea. We promise that what we are saying to you is relatable and is worth of your attention and, often, of your purchase. The promise is often true–always true to someone but sometimes true to many. The promise reaches out past the stars of our imagination to the center of our hearts where it grabs us and allows us to be suspended in a weave or words that we call story. It is an intricate and layered promise that leads to some of the most intimate relationships in our lives. As I think on the writers I have known and loved I believe that one rarely loves as deeply and thoroughly as one loves story–and by extension the writers who create them.
Remember Misery? The creation cooked up in the East coast addled brain of Stephen King sent a writer to hell. The writer wound up with a warden named Annie Wilkes who loved a writer’s work and hated the writer for what he did to it. It argued that sometimes the work becomes to property of the fans. Their investment in the outcome is based on their loves and lives and situation, which leads to visceral reaction based on how things turn out. I’ve been thinking about this especially in regards to Empire Strikes Back (best Star Wars movie EVER) and the new film, in which the originally director is not deeply invested.
I write this post to suggest that the implicit promise of story comes into play more now for writers than in recent times. We are writing to audience–especially in TV and that can lead to a creation and investment based on what audience might want–what might be worth their while–and not the story the writer feels needs be told.
I write this as a warning to the writers who come next. We are not a group who is meant to be controlled by audience. We are reflections of the society–where it is and where it should go. Lets hold on to that job… its worth it.