The ART of Writing
May 31st 2009 23:15
This is how my Oxford Dictionary defines ART.
Art : a. - The expression or application of creative skill, especially through a visual medium such as painting and sculpture.
b. - Works produced in that way.
Our language development being what it is, the dictionary definition has been expanded to include writing, whether short stories, novels, poetry or whatever. This expansion is justified by the fact that writers are expressive and creative and must apply themselves to their craft. So with that in mind, where are we now ? We all write; therefore we are all artists. Our poetry, short stories, vignettes, articles etc must be works of art.
OK we'll accept that.
Works of art are subjective: by that I mean we put ourselves into our works of art either intentionally or by default, because we can't do otherwise. The art work is our opinion, stated by the words we choose to use and our unique way of putting them together to make sense to our readers.
Readers are also subject to opinions, tastes, likes and dislikes. Opinions are swayed by our upbringing, education, environment, experiences and the length of time we have been around : ie. Age. Now all writers write to be read, particularly all of us on writing sites. If we had no wish to be read our writing would be in a drawer at home, out of the public arena.
Knowing all this, we , the writers still write to be read. How do we know what to write ?
What genre, what style, what subject and so on? In truth we don't know, so we write for our own pleasure, in our own style, in our own choice of genre, with our own choice of words and sentences. How do we know what the reader wants ? Herein lies the writer's skill. Make it interesting enough and readers will come and read it, whatever form of writing it is.
Thousands of books are published every year, someone reads them. Thousand of poems are also published each year and someone reads them too. Short stories are published by the truckload in magazines every week. There is always a need for writers, for the daily newspapers, the multitude of magazines, the results of research, the nations history and so the list goes on and on.
What is the basic necessity a writer needs to be read ? Quality. By quality the writing must be :- readable in a language appropriate for the reader, interesting enough to entice the reader to read, understandable by those with average education [ the general population ]
,presented in a user friendly format and produced in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
To write quality material we writers need to know our subject material, have a good imagination, have a reasonable command of the grammer , etc, of the language we write in,
and a skin as tough as an elephant to cope with the critics, rejection slips and disappointments that are inherent in our craft.
This is not a 'how-to column', just my opinions written out. Perhaps food for thought to some and drivel to others.
May I wish all writers "Bon Chance" with your creative efforts.
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Comment by Lawrie
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Lawrie
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This is a good, informative post which I found quite interesting. It is quite correct to state that a writer needs a skin of an elephant.
As with most writers, I write because I like to do so; it's a hobby, and if I get read then that's a bonus.
I'd better get back to my home page now before I get lost.
I'll call back as and when I can.