About a week ago, I posted a piece of work (Missed Call continued II), that generated a lot of discussion.

In it (one section in particular)I reference popular culture a lot. Some of those who read it, seemed to think this can be dating, and perhaps alienating to those who aren't familiar with what's being written about.

In general (not neccesarily in relation to what I've written), what does everyone think about this?

How much pop culture is acceptable in a novel?
Is it irritating? Is it neccesary?

It's irritating when it's constant, so that it seems like a stream of references or worse, adverts (however innocent) for multinational corps. But also, it massively dates writing- which can be both good if it's a piece of work that becomes a classic, and bad when it passes into being very old fashioned. And how necessary is it? I'm asking the question, not making a statement.

I think how neccesary it is depends on the piece of work. One example that came up in the discussion on my piece was Alex Garland's "The Beach." I think this is a good example where pop culture is used well. If it had been cut, we'd know far less about Richard, the story's hero.

I think, for me, the line is this. Is it distracting? Does it detract from the story? Does the basic plot work without the references? If a writer can't say yes to these questions, I believe they're probably spending too much time on the packaging opposed to what's inside.

Something else has just occured to me too. Popular culture and references aren't the only culprits in ruining a story. Excessive, flowery description, unrealistic dialogue, boring exposition, these are all as damaging. I guess what I'm saying is everything in it's place.