Hack writer is a pejorative term for a writer who is paid to write low-quality, rushed articles or books "to order", often with a short deadline. In fiction writing, a hack writer is paid to quickly write sensational, pulp fiction such as "true crime" novels or "bodice ripping" paperbacks. In journalism, a hack writer is deemed to operate as a "mercenary" or "pen for hire", expressing their client's political opinions in pamphlets or newspaper articles. 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.
The term "hack writer" was first used in the 18th century, "when publishing was establishing itself as a business employing writers who could produce to order."[1] The derivation of the term "hack" was a "shortening of hackney, which described a horse that was easy to ride and available for hire."[1] 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 19th century, 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.[1]
Many authors who would later become famous worked 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.[1]
En varias películas se han presentado escritores mediocres, tal vez porque la forma en que estos autores "prostituyen" sus talentos creativos los convierte en un interesante estudio de personajes. En la adaptación cinematográfica de El tercer hombre (1949) de Carol Reed , el autor Graham Greene añadió a una escritora mediocre bebedora llamada Holly Martins. En la película El desprecio (1963) de Jean-Luc Godard , un guionista mediocre recibe un pago por retocar un guión. En la película Adaptation (2002), Nicolas Cage representa a un personaje mal educado llamado Donald Kaufman que descubre que tiene un don para producir guiones cinematográficos llenos de clichés. [1]
En Estados Unidos, el término "hack" se utiliza como descripción peyorativa entre escritores, periodistas, blogueros y comediantes. Se utiliza especialmente para referirse a periodistas que se perciben como partidistas.
Algunos periodistas del Reino Unido han utilizado el término "hack" como una forma de autodescripción humorística y autocrítica. El término se popularizó en el Reino Unido gracias a la revista Private Eye , que se refiere a los periodistas masculinos como "hacks" y a las periodistas femeninas como "hackettes".