The Definition of Well Written

Hello all,

This discussion was booted off the thread for The Trip (Coogan and Brydon's latest sitcom).

There we started a debate about whether or not the show was well-written. That conversation mushroomed in such a way that pretty much everyone there formed an angry mob and like old western they ran me out of town.

So here I'd like to restart that discussion. When we say "I think that show is "well-written" what do we actually mean?

I'm looking for a conversation mostly about the writing of sitcom though I'm happy to take tangents in other forms.

I look forward to your thoughts!

Quote: JPM1 @ December 2 2010, 12:07 PM GMT

There we started a debate about whether or not the show was well-written. That conversation mushroomed in such a way that pretty much everyone there formed an angry mob and like old western they ran me out of town.

View original

I'm not sure you're doing yourself any favours with that, if you really want sincere discussion here, rather than an argument. But good luck anyway.

Well written for me implies spontaneous, original, doing the unexpected, fresh ... therefore all the things that prevents an analysis of the script into the kind of neat framework you appear to be aiming for.

Quote: JPM1 @ December 2 2010, 12:07 PM GMT

Everyone . . . formed an angry mob and like old western they ran me out of town.

View original

I find that so hard to believe.

Well-written - good writing.

Always hard to define 'good'; what makes a good person, wine, shag?

I use well-written only as an assessment of the written word.

It is a measure of how well the writer conveyed their thoughts to the reader. ('Between thought and expression lies a lifetime.')

The original idea might be dull, unoriginal and unfunny. But the piece is well-written.

Quote: zooo @ December 2 2010, 12:12 PM GMT

I'm not sure you're doing yourself any favours with that, if you really want sincere discussion here, rather than an argument. But good luck anyway.

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THat was supposed to be funny.

Clearly I failed and for that I beg your forgiveness.

So Zooo - any ideas on how to define well-written?

Quote: Wistyish @ December 2 2010, 12:16 PM GMT

Well written for me implies spontaneous, original, doing the unexpected, fresh ... therefore all the things that prevents an analysis of the script into the kind of neat framework you appear to be aiming for.

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Wisty - I'd like to pick up on an interesting adjective you use - Spontaneous. I like that as a descriptor but tell me more about how you recognize the spontaneous in something written months earlier....

Quote: JohnnyD @ December 2 2010, 12:54 PM GMT

Well-written - good writing.

Always hard to define 'good'; what makes a good person, wine, shag?

I use well-written only as an assessment of the written word.

It is a measure of how well the writer conveyed their thoughts to the reader. ('Between thought and expression lies a lifetime.')

The original idea might be dull, unoriginal and unfunny. But the piece is well-written.

View original

Johnny - your idea about how well the writer conveyed their idea is very close to something I was pushing in the other post - That was that the writer is in control of the effect they intended.

I wonder if you could give an example of of something dull and unoriginal but still well-written?

(have you seen The Trip? btw...)

Quote: JPM1 @ December 2 2010, 1:05 PM GMT

So Zooo - any ideas on how to define well-written?

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I don't come here to be assigned essay questions by random posters. You carry on without me.

So you don't want to contribute to the discussion you just want to tell people how to do it?

I'm a mod, dear.

a likely excuse...

Quote: zooo @ December 2 2010, 1:16 PM GMT

I'm a mod, dear.

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Quote: zooo @ December 2 2010, 1:16 PM GMT

I'm a mod, dear.

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That was well written.

I should point out that my (off-the-cuff) definition requires a judgement regarding the writer's intentions before assessing how well they have achieved them. I think this is where the likes of grammar, punctuation and spelling come in. They give us the confidence to believe that we have correctly gleaned the writer's purpose.

Quote: JPM1 @ December 2 2010, 1:05 PM GMT

Johnny - I wonder if you could give an example of of something dull and unoriginal but still well-written?

View original

I'll have a look in BBC/Writersroom/Scripts and get back to you.

Quote: JohnnyD @ December 2 2010, 1:22 PM GMT

I should point out that my (off-the-cuff) definition requires a judgement regarding the writer's intentions before assessing how well they achieved them.

I'll have a look in BBC/Writersroom/Scripts and get back to you.

View original

Thanks Johnny. A good point - how do we assess the writer's intentions?

Another very good question - should knowing the writer's intentions be required to determine if something is well-written.

If I look at Pinter, I see what I think is some very well-written work. He creates unique worlds each with it's own clear set of rules. Though, honestly, I'm not sure I could say what his intention is in doing so - unless his intention is simply to do that - create a unique world with rules different from our own.

Maybe he just wants to tell a good story?