Being an "Author": The Bottom-Up Approach

[yowser]

Many interesting comparisons exist about the work of artists, in a variety of media, with their own specific and ingrained qualities.

Here's an intriguing observation from writer Michael Chabon (Yiddish Policeman's Union, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay) on one of the peculiar aspects of writing as art:

The thing that I believe about literature more than any other art form, is that it works by putting you into someone else’s shoes. It only works–that’s how it works–by putting you into the mind and the experience of another. When you pick up a novel, and start reading–whether it’s the character living in a time, living in a place, living in a set of circumstances that are completely alien from those that you live in, or whether the author his or herself is writing from a completely different experience–as soon as you immerse yourself in the narrative, as a reader, you are living another life, another person’s life. And there is only one way to do that that we’ve ever invented, in the whole history of the human race, and that’s through literature.

Watching a movie is different. Other art forms give you other kinds of points of view on experience not your own, but not in the same sense of that vicarious experience of another consciousness. And I do believe the more you are exposed to that experience, the greater your capacity to imagine the lives of the people around you becomes. Whether those are the people in your own immediate circumstances, or people you pass on the street who are coming from completely different experiences than yours. I think it does strengthen your imaginative muscle, and by strengthening that muscle, it then increases your capacity for empathy.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

I'll add that it has been a rollercoaster ride for me on my journey to being a part of Lit's community of published authors. Because the last thing I want is to offend anyone who has published their stories here.

You are welcome here.

 

[txblush]

@forgotmyantidepressants Thank you

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

My apologies. I should have written he's a mechanical engineer with an HVAC license. And it is my understanding that engineers in general are, (please pardon my language, sir) anally retentive when it comes to their craftsmanship or master's degree that started as an apprentice. He was a maintenance man when we met at an apartment complex where I was a leasing agent, forty-two years ago.

If anyone is anally retentive then I'm glad that an engineer is. No houses burn down and nobody dies if I'm sloppy with my work, fortunately.

And I'm pretty sure you can say 'anally retentive' on an erotica website without too much worry.

 

[txblush]

@GuiltyCowboy My husband has remodeled our kitchen. It was a collaborative effort. We've often spoken about his desire to buy a house, remodel it, and then sell it for a profit. Sadly, that's not within our budget.

 

[BellaBestia]

Whenever I feel my head swelling from that pesky self-inflated sense of pride that I’m a pretty good writer I remember what my editor once told me when I worked for a local small newspaper and had turned in what I thought was a great piece of writing: “sure it’s good, and I gunna run it, but remember that today’s newspaper will line the bottom of the birdcage or be wrapping somebody’s fish tomorrow. Do not get cocky.”

 

[txblush]

@BellaBestia My current WIP did the same thing to me, but I knew I had to get off the emotional rollercoaster ride I was on and set aside time to calm myself down and do other things. That's why I came here and took a leap of faith that I would be welcomed in this community of established writers with a lot more experience than I have, even though I've been writing off and on for eighteen years.

 

[Comshaw]

Debates often pop up in this forum about whether one is an "artist" or just a smut-teller. Or whether one is an artist or a craftsman. Or what it even means to be an "artist."

I don't think about these things at all when I write. I firmly believe that way too many authors get waylaid by pointless internal debates about whether they are really a "writer" or an "author" or an "artist," as though it's a secret society and they're not sure whether they are worthy of belonging.

My attitude is that if you write you are a writer. A great artist is a great craftsman. Rather than starting from first principles and working your way down, start by mastering, the best you can, the nuts and bolts of writing and working your way up. Read a lot. Figure out what great writing means to you by getting experience with it. Study writing and its elements. Learn what you like. Figure out how to handle dialogue and narrative and description. Figure out what the parts of speech are and how to use them in interesting ways. There's an infinite amount of guidance out there. Take advantage of it.

This approach will rub some people the wrong way, because many people seem to want to believe that art is something completely different from everything else. It's magical and mystical and deeply personal. A matter of inspiration rather than perspiration. I don't buy it. I don't think building a good story is that different from building a good chair. I don't want an inspired chair builder. I want one who knows the craft of chair building. I want the same from writers of stories I read.

Everybody would agree that Michaelangelo was a stupendous artist. But he didn't achieve his status by figuring out "what it meant to be a great artist." He started on the ground floor and worked tirelessly to master the craft of sculpture. Then, eventually, he created The David, and everybody recognizes it's great art. There's no conflict between craft and art. Be the best craftsman you can be and you will maximize your chances of creating good art.

As far as the terms, artist, author and writer, the only one I see myself as is the last one. And that only because that's exactly what I do, I write stories. To me, the term "author" connotes a person who is very accomplished at writing and makes a living at it. I don't and probably never will. I'm an unapologetic hobbist in this world of word smithing. The word "artist" doesn't fit me either. Why? Because I do not have the right to tag myself with that title. Confused? Welcome to my world! But allow me ot explain my thoughts.

Art, exactly what the hell is it? Is a painting like "Starry Night" art, but one of Elvis on black velvet, not? Is the "Piss Christ" art, but a fully restored 1968 Honda CB750, or a 1948 Indian Chief, not? Art is one of those subjective things that lies totally in the eye of the beholder. Like the example above, what one considers art, another would consider trash. Which also goes for the one making those things. Logically, if someone, anyone declares something as art in their eyes, the one making it must be labeled an artist. The one who made it doesn't get a say. It's the one on the consumer end that does. I've argued this point before: there are some who point to a story they consider trash and complain it has a high score and shouldn't have. The problem is the critic isn't the one who does or should determine that. The reader is the sole judge whether or not it gets a good score. Because it is an Elvis on black velvet doesn't mean they don't love it. To them the one who painted it is an artist, even though the critic sees it otherwise.

Your analogy of building a chair is apropos. Any accomplished craftsman starts with two things: a vision of what they are building and the skills to do it. Ideas, visions of what one wants come from many different sources. The ingredients and stimuli for them are all around us. We find them by reading, by exposing ourselves to lots of different things and people and by listening to others' ideas. The skills part of writing is the really hard part (for some of us anyway). We need to learn everything we can about the language and how to use it, assemble it into a format that people will not only be able to read but enjoy. Like a craftsman building a chair, to acquire the skills needed takes work, lots and lots and lots of work. I'm still working on it. I probably will be until I put my last word on a page.

Okay, I think I've bloviated enough for today.

TA Ya'll

Comshaw