Hack writer

Hack writer

Hack writer is a colloquial, usually pejorative, term used to refer to a writer who is paid to write low-quality, quickly put-together articles or books "to order", often with a short deadline. In a fiction-writing context, the term is used to describe writers who are paid to churn out sensational, lower-quality "pulp" fiction such as "true crime" novels or "bodice ripping" paperbacks. In journalism, the term is used to describe a writer who is deemed to operate as a "mercenary" or "pen for hire", expressing their client's political opinions in pamphlets or newspaper articles. So-called "hack writers" are usually paid by the number of words in their book or article; as a result, hack writing has a reputation for quantity taking precedence over quality.

History

The term "hack writer" began being used in the 1700s, "...when publishing was establishing itself as a business employing writers who could produce to order." Robert Fulford. "When hacks attract: Serious artists are drawn to tales of mercenary scribes. In "The National Post", 19 August 2003. Available at: http://www.robertfulford.com/2003-08-19-hacks.html] The derivation of the term "hack" was a "...shortening of hackney, which described a horse that was easy to ride and available for hire." In 1728, Alexander Pope wrote "The Dunciad", which was a satire of "the Grub-street Race" of commercial writers who worked in Grub Street, a London district that was home to a bohemian counterculture of impoverished writers and poets. In the late 1800s, Anthony Trollope's novel "The Way We Live Now" (1875) depicts a female hack writer whose career was built on social connections rather than writing skill.

A number of writers who subsequently became famous authors had to work as low-paid hack writers early in their careers, or during a downturn in their fortunes. As a young man, Anton Chekhov had to support his family by writing short newspaper articles; Arthur Koestler penned a dubious "Dictionary of Sexuality" for the popular press; Samuel Beckett translated for the French "Reader's Digest"; and William Faulkner churned out Hollywood scripts.

A number of films have depicted hack writers, perhaps because the way these authors are "prostituting" their creative talents makes them an interesting character study. In the film adaptation of Carol Reed's "The Third Man" (1949), author Graham Greene added a hard-drinking hack writer named Holly Martins. In Jean-Luc Godard's film "Contempt" (1964), a hack screenwriter is paid to doctor a script. In the 2000s film "Adaptation.", Spike Jonze depicts an ill-educated character named Donald Kaufman who finds he has a knack for churning out cliché-filled movie scripts.

Current usage

The term "hack" has been adopted by UK journalists as a form of humorous, self-deprecating self-description. An example of the UK usage is in the media mogul/journalist character in the theatrical comedy"Restart" [http://www.komedykollective.com/id8.html Restart (the musical version)] ] by the Komedy Kollective. The term was popularized in the UK by "Private Eye", which refers to male journalists as "hacks" and female journalists as "hackettes".

ee also

*Grub Street
*Ghostwriter, a writer who is paid to write books or articles that are credited to another person
*Essay mill, a ghostwriting service that provides university students with essays and term papers for a fee

References


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hack writer — Hack Hack, a. Hackneyed; hired; mercenary. Wakefield. [1913 Webster] {Hack writer}, a hack; one who writes for hire. A vulgar hack writer. Macaulay. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hack writer — noun a mediocre and disdained writer • Syn: ↑hack, ↑literary hack • Hypernyms: ↑writer, ↑author • Member Holonyms: ↑Grub Street …   Useful english dictionary

  • hack writer — literary hack, hack …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Hack — may refer to: Contents 1 Computers and technology 2 Sports 3 Places 4 …   Wikipedia

  • Hack — Hack, a. Hackneyed; hired; mercenary. Wakefield. [1913 Webster] {Hack writer}, a hack; one who writes for hire. A vulgar hack writer. Macaulay. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hack — hack1 [hak] vt. [ME hacken < OE haccian, akin to Ger hacken < IE base * keg , peg, hook > HOOK, HATCHEL] 1. a) to chop or cut crudely, roughly, or irregularly, as with a hatchet b) to shape, trim, damage, etc. with or as with rough,… …   English World dictionary

  • hack — hack1 /hak/, v.t. 1. to cut, notch, slice, chop, or sever (something) with or as with heavy, irregular blows (often fol. by up or down): to hack meat; to hack down trees. 2. to break up the surface of (the ground). 3. to clear (a road, path,… …   Universalium

  • hack — [[t]hæ̱k[/t]] hacks, hacking, hacked 1) VERB If you hack something or hack at it, you cut it with strong, rough strokes using a sharp tool such as an axe or knife. [V n] An armed gang barged onto the train and began hacking and shooting anyone in …   English dictionary

  • hack — {{11}}hack (n.1) tool for chopping, early 14c., from HACK (Cf. hack) (v.1); Cf. Dan. hakke mattock, Ger. Hacke pickax, hatchet, hoe. Meaning an act of cutting is from 1836; figurative sense of a try, an attempt is first attested 1898. {{12}}hack… …   Etymology dictionary

  • hack — I [[t]hæk[/t]] v. t. 1) to cut, notch, slice, chop, or sever with irregular, often heavy blows (often fol. by up or down): to hack down trees[/ex] 2) to clear (a road, path, etc.) by cutting away vines, trees, or other growth 3) to damage or… …   From formal English to slang

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