The art of writing is so tedious. For painting, while there is definitely structure to it, you have so much liberty to make the project what you want it to be free and clear. People looking at a painting marvel at what it could possibly mean. “How does it describe the human condition?”, “What was the artist feeling when they painted this?”. Someone could be seen as a terrible artist in their day, then after their death suddenly their art becomes priceless.
Writers aren’t so lucky. When writing, everything you do could suddenly be portrayed wrong. Writing is a literal form of story telling, of sharing emotion. If you punctuate wrong, your message will now be misinterpreted. If you use the wrong to, again the message is misconstrued. If you use too big of words some people are left out. If you’re too simplistic, some people feel you’re not educated enough.
All of this creates a challenge for the creative minds of the writers. We want to create just like the painters, with stained aprons and darkened fingers, but when people see those stains they see our mistakes, our weakness, our efforts to become what we hope to eventually be. I don’t think writers need to be perfect in every form they write in. One project can be the ultimate project, the one you look over time and time again. Other projects can be your practice rounds, you’re not looking to be perfect you’re looking to act.
As artists, we struggle breaking free from our shell, art is the expression of the soul after all. As artists it’s our job to support each other not bring each other down. So go out today, find someone’s art and show your appreciation. They need your support, even if the only support you can give is love.
Jacob Gittins 