Art of Writing
Breathing Life into the Art of Writing
“Discoveries of a painter turned writer”
by JAaronAnderson.com
Though they may seem different at first, writing and drawing possess shockingly similar approach exercises for each craft. Both of these fine arts utilize the same form strategies to bring their works to life. When drawing or writing it is always important to work from general to specifics, understand your internal structure, establish and maintain a firm base for context, and execute a balanced expression. If you exercise these strategies, your artworks, will be masterpieces.
“Teaching Architecture Students” by Zoe Ingalls presents Ms. Sue Ferguson Gussow as she shares her first strategy to her beginning students like so, “if you can do a juggling act between those two possibilities – the general and the specific – you can begin to look at things.”
In 1996 I graduated top of my class from the Art Institute of Cincinnati where I majored in Art & Design sciences. Through my background, I can share with you that I know first hand just how accurate Ms. Gussow is in stating that drawing moves from the general to specific in order to bring the subject to life. The process begins with the rough initial gross generalization of the form, then with further defining unique specifics produce a more fascinating drawing that can almost jump off the page.
When you compare this as to how the fine art of writing operates, you will quickly find that any piece of successful literature is forged in such a reflective manner. Let us call our authors “literary architects” for analogy to Ms. Gussow’s drawing students. When our “literary architects” write, they follow a critical-path process in one sole singular evolutionary direction to and through subject, to topic, to thesis, then into formulating individualized supportive details to finally culminating in a conclusion. In this movement from general subject to forging a well formed composition with specifics, I uncovered an exciting parallel to that of my drawing craft.
Furthermore other fundamental strategies are also found to be similar between the fine arts of drawing and writing. As important as following a movement from generalization to defining specifics, we also uncover another just as important strategy. Always make sure to anchor one’s skills (whether it be drawing or writing) in a firm base before you begin working.
This disciplinary key-stone separates the amateur from the master and grounds the artist to work each masterpiece one at a time. Ms. Gussow lectures on this fundamental strategy stating, “A well drawn figure, like a well designed building, must be shown resting firmly on the ground, with careful attention paid to space surrounding it.” This idea holds true for architects, artists and authors alike.
Until recently, I myself had not fully uncovered this concept in the English class even though I had realized it some time ago in the Art studio. In both of these fine arts it is paramount that in every work, a solid foundation is a required premise for context. Just as a drawing begins with “energy lines”, Ms. Gussow speaks on “the spine as an axis, an organizing principle”, all elements of writing rest on the base of a literary architect’s thesis statement.
While possessing this good base is critical, its no more important than to strategize internal structure. These well-maintained building blocks ensure what we draw or write will not collapse but keep their solidarity. Ms. Gussow calls the lack thereof “like Matisse”; where she elaborates to us, “concentrating on the outline and ignoring the internal structure, students end up with figures that look as if they had been pasted on paper, like crude copies of the cutouts of Henri Matisse”. The evidence produced from within Ms. Gussow’s stance is exactly why holding to such a structure also sets margins or limits for us too.
In drawing there is a lot of off-the-page preparation done when studying your subject. The same occurs when writing - when you plan before your write - you prepare an outline. Having a good grasp your subject’s internal structure is a critical support mechanism for all works of fine art.
Lastly, you must wield a sense of balance within both art forms. In the first minute or two of any drawing you must make decisions concerning balance such as; ”Ask yourself, How big is it, what shape is it, and where are you going to put it?” instructs Ms. Gussow. The same strategies of balance apply in writing because an unspoken responsibility exists (especially when writing to a neutral audience) for literary architects.
An author must gauge his/her topic and decide what it will take to provide the whole picture to readers, otherwise you have done your readers a disservice. For you have “painted” an unbalanced picture for them leaving them feeling “short changed”. This sense of mis-trust will almost certainly breed an undesired cancer against your reputation for future works. Be sure to follow the afore mentioned strategies to achieve a heightened success with your writing. If you do not execute a well-balanced, structured, firmly grounded and progressive work of art, believe me your “guesswork” will blatantly be apparent to the novice reader as much as any keen seasoned gallery scenic.
Inspired by the brief mention of composition earlier, dare I continue to “pen” more realizations when comparing the strategies of drawing and writing to that of music? I acquiesce at the thought and reserve it for another future essay assignment. What I can certainly say here now on this specific topic is that by now there should be reasonable amount of evidence for you, just as I, to conclude that the same principles in drawing can and will make all your writing come to life.
Poets,
screen-writers,
journalists, novelists,
and authors of all other kinds. . . best of luck,
signed the painter who would become a literary architect.
finé
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