James Henry's Voice

James Henry’s writing on his blog "James and the Blue Cat" is full of voice, vivid imagery, and a bit of profanity.  His profile simply says that he writes television comedy and lists “Smack the Pony,” “Green Wing,” and “Campus” as his works.  With that whole line and a half of text being said, I had to do more investigating into his writing to learn about him.  In order to do that, I worked with what was apparent in his use of voice.  The first two things I looked for were his use of links and titles- unfortunately for me, these got me nowhere.  His links are nonexistent, and his titles are typically either one word long or a question someone posed to him. So I delved even deeper and found his voice very apparent in his posts “Have you got anyproduction company addresses I could send spec scripts to?” (which, from now on, I will call “Spec Scripts” so as not to drive myself crazy) and “Pitching.”  Both posts are tidbits of advice on how to make it in the comedy writing world- specifically when it comes to dealing with higher-ups.  Here’s what I found:

First of all, on the most basic detail of voice, he’s British- an important detail about how he would sound if he were reading these posts instead of writing them, not to mention a detail that makes reading his blog much more fun for my American self.  But how do I know he’s British even though it does not say that anywhere in his biography, you ask?  Simple- he uses “u”s in foreign places and often says funny words like “chequebook” and “telly” which, as I’m typing them, my very American-influenced word processor has already underlined in red.  Colourful.

Second, he keeps the reader engaged by inserting vivid storytelling into his posts.  For example, in “Pitching,” Henry explains how pitching an idea for executives involves stripping a writer down to the basics.  He writes:

“A lone bard in a smoky hall, weaving stories out of thin air in the hope their thane won’t immediately pull out a sword and behead him because he’s realised the story is clearly Beowulf with the serial numbers filed off”

He makes the piece all that much more entertaining when taking a dull experience and turning it into something fantastic.  In that same vein, Henry inserts non-realistic stories to make his writing more entertaining such as his comment about making sure addresses are up to date in “Spec Scripts”:

“Working Title didn't update the address on their website for about a year, which caused some bewilderment last time I went for a meeting, although it did lead to a hilarious Richard Curtis-style last minute dash by taxi, which I had to share with some posh bloke whose surname was Bumme, a man with no sense of smell, and Julia Roberts. No I didn't.”

The line, although admittedly false, gives the reader an entertaining story while still teaching them a lesson.

Third, his word choice and grammar illustrate a lot about him.  He uses parenthetical statements and quotations to insert his true, comic beliefs into otherwise more serious paragraphs.  For instance, in “Spec Scripts,” Henry tells the reader what to do after they have found a television show that is similar to the show they are writing:

“IMDB it, look… for the name of the producer (don't worry about the exec producer, who usually operates on a higher spiritual plane, and often can't even see writers, on so high a level do their molecules vibrate).”

While the information he gives the reader is helpful and true, he allows his own opinions about the execs to shine through.  It is a style that allows his writing to be more conversational, as if he just thought of that as a nice morsel of beneficial information.  Also, in “Pitching” he puts the words “facts” and “science” in quotations, demonstrating his doubt on the validity of the two subjects.

In the end, his writing informs the reader and keeps their attention.  His tone remains the same throughout all of his posts, and he seems to be a funny guy- perfect for his credibility.  But the most important fact is that his blog is well written.  Whether it be his word choice, literary devices, or his punctuation, he retains all the qualities of what would be considered a good writer, which ends up being essential when writing about, well, writing.