Writing is an Art Form - Essay Example

?Writing Is An Art Form People tend to view an art form in terms of things that they can see or feel. A painting, an excellently created movie, a picture with just the right lighting effects, even a billboard advertisement, are some of the commercially and socially acceptable art forms that surround our daily lives. Writers on the other hand, those who create art that challenges the imagination and visual capacity of our brains, continue to languish in the background as little celebrated forms of art. That is a reality that most writers have come to accept even while considering that writing as an art form is almost as old as time itself. The hieroglyphs in the ancient Egyptian tombs were proven to actually be an ancient form of hand writing, the Dead Sea Scrolls and other books that make up the Bible, were written by hand in a language understandable to those of its time. These are artifacts that archeologists and social experts consider to be an ancient form of art with one significant thing in common, these were all done by hand in the most intricate form of writing possible. That type of writing art form is known as Calligraphy and yes, it is considered an art form in our modern times. Those who disagree with calling writing an art form do so on the basis that writing is something that they view more as a skill rather than an art. They argue that writing is something that can be learned in school, taught in creative writing classes, and practiced or improved upon. It is their belief that writing is more of a general purpose concept that provides a utilitarian purpose rather than an artistic one. ( For and Against “Writing is Really an Art Form”) These opponents fail to see that writing indeed is an art form because, even when used for journalistic or utilitarian purposes, it requires more that just reading the words to understand the message being conveyed in the written piece. In fact, it is far more difficult to understand a piece of journalistic work or a stanza of poetry than it is to understand the underlying factors within a photo or painting. The written art begs the reader to use his imagination in order to feel the emotions being described in the piece in order to transport the reader into a different place and time. Written art is not in your face like the commercial art forms. It does not spoon feed the minds of its readers / viewers. It begs the person to go beyond what he can see and instead, analyze what the written word is making him see, hear, and feel. That is the true magic that can only be experienced by someone who is truly an artistic writer. Writing, just like any other art form requires a tremendous amount of training, patience, and education. Just as painters go to art school and photographers go to photography school, writers go to journalism or creative writing school in order to further understand their craft. While painters learn about how the strokes of their brushes and the combination of colors on their canvass creates a picture for the viewers, writers learn that the stroke of a pen and the stringing together of just the right words can transport their readers into another place and time just as a painting would. Photographers observe the world around them and take a visual picture of what they observe to be the good and bad, the beautiful and the ugly about their surroundings. Writers on the other hand, creatively portray the situation around them, challenging their readers to decide for themselves if the picture as portrayed in words truly does justice to what their mind can see. That is what art is all about. Be it by paint brush, camera lens, or stroke of a pen, or a tap on the keyboard, these people bring their emotions to the front of their work by stirring the same emotions in their viewers and readers. This is a far more difficult task when done in the form of writing as a writer must use a perfect balance of descriptive words to bring his emotions to light. Whereas a painter or photographer merely recreates his emotions using actual materials or things in order to show their viewers the visual representation of his emotions. All three artistic persons share something in common don't you think? They all use the senses of their readers and viewers in order to bring their artistic interpretations to life. Without the use of those senses, there would be no art form, only a jumble of senseless calligraphy, roman letters, and paint splashes across a canvass. All photographs would be candid and not convey any message coming from the photographer to his viewer. Tolstoy, Poe, Christie, Cartland, Crichton, Sparks, all these names come from the world of fiction writing. All of their works are considered an art form by those who are familiar with them. Their literary work has withstood the test of time and proven that the written word is just as timeless as the paintings by Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and the other great masters. Of all of the authors previously mentioned, it is perhaps Tolstoy who had the most influence over the public during his lifetime. Tolstoy influenced the people of his era in almost Jesus like manner. He took the words of other people and gave compelling arguments in support of it, then the people became his followers instead. In fact, it was his influence over Ghandi that made Ghandi an anarchist and pacifist at the same time since like Tolstoy, he did not agree with anarchy but if it had to happen then so be it. It was Josie Gonder ( Yahoo! Voices “Writing is a Form of Art”) who said that all artists share something in common. Whether as a painter, photographer, or writer, the artists: ... hope to leave some kind of impact with their work, as do writers; to perhaps inspire others to pursue their talent or to leave them with the feeling of contentment or purpose. Each artist pursues a sense of contentment and purpose in his work. He does the work because he wants to share his emotions, his life, and his talent, with the world that he lives in. Readers of books, journals, and poetry can do this with only the help of an open and imaginative mind. Readers do not need any special training or interest in a particular subject or topic in order to enjoy what he is reading. As an art form, writing and reading go hand in hand just like two peas in a pod. Anybody can be an arm chair critic of a writer and decide upon whose work is good or bad, or suits his personal taste. Other art forms like say visual modern art works on the other hand, and I am talking here about the works of Jackson Pollock or Barnett Newman, cannot be as easily appreciated as an art form because these art forms require a person who has studied the arts themselves and its criteria in order to create a visually trained eye (Courtney “Ranting that Writing is an Art Form”). To the uneducated eye, these art works are like Monet's, pretty from afar but a mess up close. Understanding the intricacies that are involved in the creation of the visual arts makes it go against the very reason that visual arts exist. Visual arts are not inclusive by nature due to the training that is required to understand it. But a writer's work is inclusive by nature as anybody, without any special training can enjoy the well written word. Artists take great pride in saying that their work influences the lives of people more than they could ever imagine. Think back to your days of youth when you were reading Harry Potter, Nancy Drew, or any book by Judy Blume. Didn't these books inspire you in one way or another? Did it not influence the kind of people that you became in the future? Writers have an uncanny ability to influence people for the rest of their lives. Just as Michael Gleason, the writer and creator of the television series Remington Steele. The character he created, the strong and independent Laura Holt was written in such a manner that she became the epitome of the truly successful and independent women for generations to come. This was to hold true most specially when he, as a writer was once approached by a journalism student who wanted to write a thesis on the development of the Laura Holt character in reference to the growing Women's Rights movement back in the 80's. The written word influenced the outcome of a whole generation of women once again. Writing is not considered a work of art because it is created and sold to the various readers by the thousands of prints. Some say writers are only out to make a quick buck and therefore do not have any concept of art in their writing. It is merely a way for these people to make an income and nothing more. Painters and photographers are doing one man shows to show off their work of art in the hopes of selling them at an outrageously over valued amount. These people make thousands of dollars on unsuspecting patrons for works of art that may be not have any resale value at all in the future while writers, make dollars and cents off every book they write, publish, and sell. Writing is no different from any other form of art. If one wishes to be successful in this field, one must study, apprentice, and then eventually, strike out on his own. Painters and photographers can apprentice for as long as 4 or 5 years, it is double that length of time for writers because the art of writing is not one that simply requires developing an eye for the camera or the skill of the brush. Writing requires patience, research abilities, the ability to analyze information, and the skill to tell a story that shall interest a whole genre of readers to buy their book or read their newspaper / magazine article. A writer's job is never done. He is constantly revising, editing, and tooling his written word for the most accurate presentation possible. This is something that the more commercial artists do not find themselves doing. Their work is done the minute the painting on the piece is dry or the digital image is printed out in its final form. Simply judging by the work that each artist has to put into their final work, one can already deduce that the written form of art is far more demanding of its creator than any other art form. Writing is the most independent and freedom loving form of art that a person can find himself engaged in. Let us for a moment, take a look at other fields that are also considered art forms by today's standards. I speak of the film and music industry whose participants are practically considered demigods by their followers. Music has its history buried deep in the past of poetry. In fact, there was a time in history when music lyrics were actually based on the stanza and writing discipline of poetry. The only difference is that it was set to song after. Over time, songs were whittled down in order to serve the purpose of the music publisher or performer. While poems could go on for pages as an ode to love or the pain of loss, a song eventually ended up with only 3 - 4 minutes to convey their emotions through music and lyrics. (Caris, Joel “Why Writing is the Ultimate Art Form”). Music as an art form, sold out to the money that can be made from it base upon the dictates of the industry runners. It is a failed art form because it controls the movements of the composer and lyricist whereas true writers are never constrained in their bid to portray all their thoughts and emotions on paper. The longer it is, the better the publisher likes it because it means the story is well told within the written pages. Film-makers are another set of industry gods who have forgotten that they are not the heroes of the film they are creating. Rather, they are merely pawns of the writers who developed the story for the movie they are shooting. Theirs is but a visual representation of the written word. Once again, the written word rears it head in an art form that most people consider independent of the art of writing. Consider if you will, the fact that the early forms of film were silent and actions were merely shown in screen with the dialogue inserted in between. Without the dialogue, the movie would not have made any sense to the viewers. Indeed the “Silent Films” were not truly silent. They had a voice, it was just written on screen as part of the art of film. Let us not forget that the Oscars also presents awards for best story and best screenplay. Recognizing the fact that without the written word, these wonderful films that we know and love would cease to have been. For it is in the visual representation of the artistic words of the writer that these films managed to tug on the heartstrings of the viewers and burn into the unforgettable memories of the film fans. Writers and words, these are the true beginnings of movies. Without the artistry of the writers, there would be no movie industry today. Writer's are a separate breed of artists from the painters, photographers, musicians, and film makers. Those artists are expected to work within a set limitation by their peers, mentors, and sponsors. Their artistic voices can be stifled by their sponsors in an effort to keep their work more commercially appealing. Theirs is an art form that sits at the mercy of their bank rollers and audiences. Their art is only free to express itself for as long as their work falls within certain criteria. They are free to experiment to only a certain degree before the industry that controls them pulls them back and tells them to stick with the norm. That is something that can never happen to writers as artists. Writers are given the leeway by their publishers to be as creative and imaginative as possible. You never know what kind of story will sell to the reading public. Whoever thought that J.K. Rowling would become a billionaire just because she wrote a story about a fictitious wizard world? That Stephanie Meyers would write a story that would kick off our love affair with the vampire world? These are truly works of art regardless of what their critics say for it accomplishes the task that each artist sets out to create. It pulls people into an imaginary world that become a part of their consciousness. It creates new worlds and leaves the readers begging to find the answers to questions both real and imagined. It takes the readers on a whirlwind ride that only an artistically inclined writer can take them on. The aforementioned arguments should be more than enough to create a solid foundation to convince non-believers that writers and writing are true art forms. Still need more convincing? Take out your dictionary, read what it says under the definition of the word Art. According to Dictonary.com ( “Art” ) the word Art is defined as: 1. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. 2. any field using the skills or techniques of art: advertising art; industrial art. Take the words above and ponder them. Let it sit in your mind as you analyze its meaning. Isn't that what writers do when they write? By the very definition of the word Art alone we can already see that writing is truly one of the purest forms of art around us. Works Cited Caris, Joel. “Why Writing is the Ultimate Art Form”. Books. BC Books. 12 Apr.2005. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. Courtney. “Ranting That Writing is a Form of Art”. Kinda Sassy. 19 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. “Art”. Dictionary. Dictionary.com. n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. Gonder, Josie. “Writing is a Form of Art”. Art Education. Yahoo! Voices. 7 Apr. 2005. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. Read More