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Is Writing art?
13 years ago
While I was at college the other day sitting among a large group of people someone made the statement "writing is a sub-par genre to art, as an artist can convey more in a picture than a writer can in 2 pages of text." Since i didn't know the person very well I simply chuckled rather than engage them. I suppose this goes to the "picture is worth a thousand words" thing. But, it lead me to ask the question. Is Writing art in the way that drawing is? Can they really be compared against each other?
Well, creative writing that is. Writing and language were originally written for a purpose, to document history, or to inform the masses. Even if writing was based on something fantastical like a mythical god the intent was not to be creative or thought stimulating. I'm not sure when creative writing really took hold, but thinking on the history of conventional literature I daresay it didn't really gain a solid footing as popular media until the 1700s and possibly didn't even exist until the renaissance.
you may think this implies that painting, or drawing, is older than creative writing. But oh-ho! Really until the renaissance, like writing, art was created to inform, as propaganda, or to celebrate a religion. As such, I think typical "art" as a whole is much younger than most people think it is.
So back to the original question. "Is writing art?" I think so, yes. However, I'm not going to put writing and drawn art up against each other and decide which is a better medium. Each has distinct advantages. Art can be perfected, details can be emphasized, an artist is constantly improving their craft and getting better. But, the same can be said of the writer. Conveying emotion through either art or writing can often take the same amount of skill. Complex scenes give both the writer and the artist trouble at times. Writing does have one advantage though. It is easier to get started. I picked up writing because I don't have the time to really dedicate myself to a craft like drawing or painting. Easier to get started, just as hard to perfect?
This is all just a morning brain exercise, so don't take anything to seriously. any thoughts?
Well, creative writing that is. Writing and language were originally written for a purpose, to document history, or to inform the masses. Even if writing was based on something fantastical like a mythical god the intent was not to be creative or thought stimulating. I'm not sure when creative writing really took hold, but thinking on the history of conventional literature I daresay it didn't really gain a solid footing as popular media until the 1700s and possibly didn't even exist until the renaissance.
you may think this implies that painting, or drawing, is older than creative writing. But oh-ho! Really until the renaissance, like writing, art was created to inform, as propaganda, or to celebrate a religion. As such, I think typical "art" as a whole is much younger than most people think it is.
So back to the original question. "Is writing art?" I think so, yes. However, I'm not going to put writing and drawn art up against each other and decide which is a better medium. Each has distinct advantages. Art can be perfected, details can be emphasized, an artist is constantly improving their craft and getting better. But, the same can be said of the writer. Conveying emotion through either art or writing can often take the same amount of skill. Complex scenes give both the writer and the artist trouble at times. Writing does have one advantage though. It is easier to get started. I picked up writing because I don't have the time to really dedicate myself to a craft like drawing or painting. Easier to get started, just as hard to perfect?
This is all just a morning brain exercise, so don't take anything to seriously. any thoughts?
The printing press, which was invented in the 15th century but truly took root across Europe in the 16th century is the cause of literacy spreading to the commoners, and made books available. At that point, there was more brain capacity capable of taking up the language arts as well as more economic incentive to do so, as 'chapbooks' and other cheap paper media of the time could be obtained by the peasantry and it became a very lucrative trade.