It's not the most common trope in movies about writers, but it is common enough to be a trope. What is it? It's the bet, the wager, that an author can whip out a novel in a limited amount of time when given the proper place and the proper incentive.
One of the best examples is the star-riddled comedy murder story The House of Long Shadows. Featuring the classic horror talents of Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, and John Carradine -- as well as the teen heartthrob Desi Arnez Jr. -- it's hard to imagine it not being amazing (or at least a wink-and-a-nod, tongue-in-cheek pastiche of classic horror tropes).
Arnez plays novelist Kenneth Magee, an author of contemporary novels who feels they greatly outweigh the quality and humanity of classic Gothic literature. While discussing the idea with his publisher, they indulge in the following conversation.
Sam Allyson: When I think of Tolstoy, Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, where are they all now I ask myself?
Kenneth Magee: I think they're dead, Sam.
Sam Allyson: You know what I mean. They dealt with people, human passions on the grand scale.
Kenneth Magee: People have different behavior patterns now. They just don't go around acting like they're out of Wuthering Heights.
Sam Allyson: Are you trying to tell me that Wuthering Heights with all its brooding intensity, isn't as involving and real as a contemporary novel?
Kenneth Magee: It's over the top. I mean anyone can write one of those things. It's just a question of letting your imagination go bananas. Jesus! You want that kind of novel? I can knock it off for you in 24 hours.
Sam Allyson: That I don't believe.
Kenneth Magee: $10,000.
Sam Allyson: Oh come now.
Kenneth Magee: $10,000, I'll bet you.
Sam Allyson: Kenneth I rea...
Kenneth Magee: $20,000.
