If you follow film or literary twitter at all, then you’re feed has been filled with people debating if sex scenes are “necessary.” In the way of the internet, this has involved deranged takes such as that the censorious Hays Code was a good thing or that sex scenes might actually be immoral since
Great piece. The obsession with pseudo-professionalism and optimization is anathema to the arts. Our entire society is poisoned by it. Just chill bro, enjoy a book.
Oh, I love this... I need to go back and 'flaneur' my way through Calvino again... thank you for reminding of this on a day when I have to go convince some stooges in suits that I'm the best writer for a bloody streaming algorithm gig.
Great post. Thank you. So true. And thank for mentioning Invisible Cities, a great pleasure of a read that I had forgotten. Another great book in that genre is Imaginary Lives by Marcel Schwob, who was a secret influence on Jorge Luis Borges and Roberto Bolano. Schwob was a fascinating character in his own right. I discovered him thanks to a piece in the WSJ by Martin Riker.
I believe it was Voltaire who wrote, “The superfluous, a very necessary thing.” Indeed.
There are tons of great models from the realms of film and fiction—from Vikram Seth, responding to low offers for A SUITABLE BOY because it was too long by making it half again longer, to test screenings of THE DEER HUNTER that cut the opening sequence, an unnecessary wedding that delayed the “meat” of the movie too long, only to discover that once it was gone the audience cared not at all about what happened in Vietnam.
Anyway, well said and a point that cannot be made often enough. The snake’s hands of a story are the best part.
Thank you for saying this. As a writer who often writes what some would consider to be "unnecessary" scenes--well, I think they're necessary for the work and for the characters to say and experience as part of their lives. I have some characters that are very open about their sexuality, and others that quite firmly shut the door and are not interested in sharing those moments. Period.
But it's not just sex. I've been seeing similar comments about swearing and...nearly similar tone of voice, nearly similar arguments. Two different people; two different platforms (Facebook and Twitter). The swearing arguments are also very similar to the arguments about sex.
When it comes to literature, I blame excessive workshopping and an obsessive focus on things like the Turkey City Lexicon (does it say something that I remember when Turkey City was THE big thing?). All of this depends on the audience you're trying to reach with your creation, and writers should be able to write lush prose as well as bare bones.
I agree. I'm glad to see someone else say these things. Often thought about it myself, but thought I a was alone against the world of publishing and creative writing advice (I've never done a course or a workshop and I'm completely self taught). I write some scenes in my fiction that don't necessarily drive the plot forward. But, as you said, they show an otherwise hidden side of a character or reveal an idea that increases the atmosphere (atmosphere is one of the most important elements of my fiction), etc. I constantly see people who teach creative writing talking about how unnecessary parts ought to be cut in the edit, no matter how good they are. I'm rereading Ulysses by James Joyce at the moment and I thought about exactly this point. Can you imagine Ulysses without the unnecessary bits?
Ever read Jonathan Franzen? Books like Freedom or The Corrections? Or for that matter Ottessa Moshfegh or Zadie Smith? Brilliant writing, and TONS of random side rants that go pages and pages and pages
I ain't read ay of them. I'll have to get round to them at some point. Many of my favourite writers do scenes that don't drive plot. I reckon Lincoln is right when he talks about the commercial aspect of literature being geared toward efficiency. For me, art is foremost important and atmosphere is the intention of my writing.
“...that sex scenes might actually be immoral since fictional characters haven’t “consented”
This is ridiculous in real life as in fiction. Sex is something that generally happens organically between two adults in the heat of the moment. People don’t pause and say, Are you consenting? This is just more woke pseudo-literary babble trying to control how writers write, people speak, humans think, etc. Serious fiction has always been unsafe, transgressive, raw. Life itself isn’t cute and safe. It’s not a Twitter comment. It’s gritty, messy, nuanced, complex. We need to move away from MFA ‘program’ fiction and move back towards serious writing.
After a three-month writing workshop, I attended a few years ago, I over-revised a short story because I had the mindset still stuck in my head of removing all that was unnecessary. Unfortunately, I didn't realize how many pages I’d cut out and just how empty the story was until I finished the first revision and read it. That was the last time I revised that aggressively. But you're right, if we removed everything that was “unnecessary from film and literature, we would be left with snippets.
Thanks for the insightful essay. I'll add that part of this is the tension between people's desire to enjoy a story and their desire to avoid engaging with the actual thing the story is about. Marlon James, talking about his recent "Moon Witch Spider King," makes excellent points on this.
Audience want to see Iron Man fly around in his armor, get knocked around, and blow stuff up. But they don't want to see how much that would ruin his body and destroy people's lives through collateral damage. We want to keep the reality at arm's length.
Great piece, really enjoyed it and I totally agree with you. I’ve recently tipped a guy who never would read books, told him that a certain book would change his mind; (won’t reveal the title here because it doesn’t matter) and I have the book in my possession but I wanted him to go and buy his own copy. To my surprise he did buy the book, he read it and messaged me to say thank you! He is now loving books...
Nothing in the book was redundant according to him. I guess one should just be open and let it all sink in.
Great piece. The obsession with pseudo-professionalism and optimization is anathema to the arts. Our entire society is poisoned by it. Just chill bro, enjoy a book.
Oh, I love this... I need to go back and 'flaneur' my way through Calvino again... thank you for reminding of this on a day when I have to go convince some stooges in suits that I'm the best writer for a bloody streaming algorithm gig.
All of your posts are worth reading but this one really hit the spot today. Thanks!
Great post. Thank you. So true. And thank for mentioning Invisible Cities, a great pleasure of a read that I had forgotten. Another great book in that genre is Imaginary Lives by Marcel Schwob, who was a secret influence on Jorge Luis Borges and Roberto Bolano. Schwob was a fascinating character in his own right. I discovered him thanks to a piece in the WSJ by Martin Riker.
🫰❤️
I believe it was Voltaire who wrote, “The superfluous, a very necessary thing.” Indeed.
There are tons of great models from the realms of film and fiction—from Vikram Seth, responding to low offers for A SUITABLE BOY because it was too long by making it half again longer, to test screenings of THE DEER HUNTER that cut the opening sequence, an unnecessary wedding that delayed the “meat” of the movie too long, only to discover that once it was gone the audience cared not at all about what happened in Vietnam.
Anyway, well said and a point that cannot be made often enough. The snake’s hands of a story are the best part.
Exactly
I agree with every word you said. Thank you. Althea
Im not looking forward to having to show ID to buy/rent a book online.
I kept nodding while reading. Agreed 100% (as always).
Amen.
Thank you for saying this. As a writer who often writes what some would consider to be "unnecessary" scenes--well, I think they're necessary for the work and for the characters to say and experience as part of their lives. I have some characters that are very open about their sexuality, and others that quite firmly shut the door and are not interested in sharing those moments. Period.
But it's not just sex. I've been seeing similar comments about swearing and...nearly similar tone of voice, nearly similar arguments. Two different people; two different platforms (Facebook and Twitter). The swearing arguments are also very similar to the arguments about sex.
When it comes to literature, I blame excessive workshopping and an obsessive focus on things like the Turkey City Lexicon (does it say something that I remember when Turkey City was THE big thing?). All of this depends on the audience you're trying to reach with your creation, and writers should be able to write lush prose as well as bare bones.
I agree. I'm glad to see someone else say these things. Often thought about it myself, but thought I a was alone against the world of publishing and creative writing advice (I've never done a course or a workshop and I'm completely self taught). I write some scenes in my fiction that don't necessarily drive the plot forward. But, as you said, they show an otherwise hidden side of a character or reveal an idea that increases the atmosphere (atmosphere is one of the most important elements of my fiction), etc. I constantly see people who teach creative writing talking about how unnecessary parts ought to be cut in the edit, no matter how good they are. I'm rereading Ulysses by James Joyce at the moment and I thought about exactly this point. Can you imagine Ulysses without the unnecessary bits?
Ever read Jonathan Franzen? Books like Freedom or The Corrections? Or for that matter Ottessa Moshfegh or Zadie Smith? Brilliant writing, and TONS of random side rants that go pages and pages and pages
I ain't read ay of them. I'll have to get round to them at some point. Many of my favourite writers do scenes that don't drive plot. I reckon Lincoln is right when he talks about the commercial aspect of literature being geared toward efficiency. For me, art is foremost important and atmosphere is the intention of my writing.
“...that sex scenes might actually be immoral since fictional characters haven’t “consented”
This is ridiculous in real life as in fiction. Sex is something that generally happens organically between two adults in the heat of the moment. People don’t pause and say, Are you consenting? This is just more woke pseudo-literary babble trying to control how writers write, people speak, humans think, etc. Serious fiction has always been unsafe, transgressive, raw. Life itself isn’t cute and safe. It’s not a Twitter comment. It’s gritty, messy, nuanced, complex. We need to move away from MFA ‘program’ fiction and move back towards serious writing.
Ok. Rant over.
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
After a three-month writing workshop, I attended a few years ago, I over-revised a short story because I had the mindset still stuck in my head of removing all that was unnecessary. Unfortunately, I didn't realize how many pages I’d cut out and just how empty the story was until I finished the first revision and read it. That was the last time I revised that aggressively. But you're right, if we removed everything that was “unnecessary from film and literature, we would be left with snippets.
Down with the TL;DR ethos!
Thanks for the insightful essay. I'll add that part of this is the tension between people's desire to enjoy a story and their desire to avoid engaging with the actual thing the story is about. Marlon James, talking about his recent "Moon Witch Spider King," makes excellent points on this.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/feb/26/marlon-james-violence-is-violent-and-sex-is-sexy-you-are-supposed-to-be-appalled#:~:text=Marlon%20James%3A%20'Violence%20is%20violent,'%20%7C%20Marlon%20James%20%7C%20The%20Guardian
Audience want to see Iron Man fly around in his armor, get knocked around, and blow stuff up. But they don't want to see how much that would ruin his body and destroy people's lives through collateral damage. We want to keep the reality at arm's length.
Great piece, really enjoyed it and I totally agree with you. I’ve recently tipped a guy who never would read books, told him that a certain book would change his mind; (won’t reveal the title here because it doesn’t matter) and I have the book in my possession but I wanted him to go and buy his own copy. To my surprise he did buy the book, he read it and messaged me to say thank you! He is now loving books...
Nothing in the book was redundant according to him. I guess one should just be open and let it all sink in.