I’m starting a new series for the very special day we know here in America as “Friday,” and because the series is about words I like and because I’m incredibly creative, I call it “Words I Like.”
I have chosen, as the series’ inaugural word, “playwright” (noun): a person who writes plays. If you were to click on that link, you’d see that the etymology of “playwright” is “play + obsolete wright maker — more at wright.” Now, I’m confident I’m far from the first one to mourn the passing of a perfectly good word such as “wright,” but dadgummit! Why in the name of all that is beautiful and gloriously specific did we let this word go?
A wright makes something. A shipwright makes ships. A wheelwright makes wheels. And a playwright makes plays.
I love this. (Perhaps I should have titled the series “Words I Love.” Oh, well. Too late.) I love the sense of craftsmanship that “playwright” implies, the sense of laboring to make a play strong, true and roadworthy. I love that making a play, according to the word “playwright,” isn’t some mystical process of downloading dialog from on high and auto-typing while in an altered state of consciousness; making a play is work.
And I wonder why we, back when “wright” was all the rage, didn’t see fit to apply this idea to other artistic endeavors. Where are all the sculptwrights, the filmwrights, the buildwrights, the novelwrights? (Tangent rant: I hate that a person who writes novels gets the same suffix as a member of Buddhism or a follower of Plato, as if writing novels is a religion or a philosophy.) I submit the possibility that, if our words for artists reflected this Old English (and more accurate) sense of craftsmanship and work, our culture would actually value art more highly and view its making as an integral part of everyday life, rather than seeing art and artists as “other.”
Imagine that: Artists as workers who make something everyone needs, every day.
Filed under: life, writing | Tagged: etymology, novelist, playwright, words I like, wright
Well, a wainwright makes music.
At least two Wainwrights make music, right? Though I think originally, a wainwright made wagons.
No, they made hilarity.
So, apparently the Wright brothers made . . . nothing?
I love of a writer/novelist/author whatever as a craftsman, a tradesman. This career rarely if ever gets that kind of respect from the general populace these days….We should unionize.
Meant to type… “I love the idea of a writer/novelist/author” ….I think I’m tired….
[...] not just a retelling. It’s a … I’m not sure. A re-narrating maybe? A re-wrighting? If you know the story well, there’s an added dimension of anticipation to watching the show. [...]
I like the word “smith.” You, Aly, are a word-smith. And yes, that does imply a great deal of work. And talent. I want to be like you when I grow up. I want to be a word-smith and a WORD-smith.
What she (Aly) said.
I need to come here more often. I miss your thinky thoughts.
Marlene – Hey, you! Thanks for stopping by. Off topic: My mom was talking to me about your communion project, and I had some thoughts on it. Email me.
June – Yes, you DO need to come here more often. I miss your thinky thoughts, too.
Alex – My suspicion is that “wrights” of various kinds might begin to garner the respect we crave if we functioned more like hardworking craftsmen, rather than cranky, entitled children. I don’t think we need recognition half so much as we need a shifted paradigm: If we understood our “industry” as just as necessary to the strength and vitality of our society as quality cars, healthy food or well-managed banks, we might be seen as indispensable.
I think “smith” is a good suffix for writers of novels and so on – the idea of a story or series of words being beaten repeatedly and heated up until they form the right shape. I’m a playwright, so I assemble components to build a wondrous experience of theatrical luminousity. Of course, that’s jjust my interpretation…Loved this post, thank you sooooo much.