Wednesday 24 June 2015

Does watching films = good writing?

So this question popped into my head after I finished my latest Movie Madness post for Jurassic World:

Does the type of films you like affect the way you write?

If you haven't realised by now, I'm a huge film fan. I love films, TV shows, books (although that should go without saying), the Sims...basically anything with a story, or that you can create a story from. I love finding out people's stories, whether I'm reading about them, watching them or listening to them - I just love any kind of story.

But I realised something over the weekend - I also love blockbuster films. There may not be much of a plot at times, and the characterisation can be a bit dodgy, but anything with an action sequence and a huge battle scene and I'm sold. I used to think I wasn't much of a blockbuster/action girl, but if I'm honest, I quite enjoy turning my brain off and just watching all the pretty men, I mean, lights for a while.


And I think this has a huge effect on my writing. I'm not just talking about my plots, although I am coming to realise that most of books/outlines do like to culminate in a huge good guys vs the villain (Avengers/Tarantino style) battle scene. It's also my writing style - I like writing short, snappy sentences. I like to keep (or try to keep) my scenes fairly fast-paced, just like any action film. I'm not very good at writing 'purple prose', or indeed elaborating any more than I think I need to, when I'm writing a description. That's just my personal taste - I don't like films that seem to have a 'higher meaning', or that are trying to make an elaborate point, and I also don't like books that waffle on about some guy's hair colour for three pages. Perhaps it's just the straight-to-the-point Northerner coming out in me, but personally, I just don't think layers upon layers of description/prose is necessary.


So does my taste in films affect the way I write? I actually think it does - hopefully not in a bad way, but then again, everyone's taste is different :). I like short dialogue, a fast pace and minimal description when reading, and I like my films that way too ;) (with the obvious exception of LOTR and GoT).

How about you? Do you think your taste in films/books affects your writing style? Is it a good or a bad thing? Or do you think I'm completely off the mark ;)?

4 comments:

  1. I've actually been thinking a lot about characterization in the shows I watch. What works and what doesn't, why I like the characters I do. I haven't thought about whether or not the types of shows I watch influence my writing, but I'm sure they do. :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Rachel :)! I've started to pick up on characterisation a bit more now - I find Game of Thrones or Orange is the new Black fascinating series in terms of plot and characters! One episode I love a character, and the next, I hate them!

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  2. You know, I've never really thought about it, but I kind of watch everything that even remotely interests me (even if it ends up crappy). I'm not sure how that effects my writing, but I'm sure it does! I like watching action movies and shutting off my brain (unless it's crazy bad and drives me to knit pick) but I also like the ones that require a watch or two to absorb it all.

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    1. I'm the same, Madilyn! I really like films that you can switch off and watch, but I know what you mean - sometimes films are just a little too thin on plot/characters and I can't make it through to the end!

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