Daydreaming about art...
I've been thinking a lot about art lately, and the way authors are often treated differently than artists in other mediums. If you publish a book that ventures too far from the norm you are often chastised and called a novice. If you create something and call it art, whether with paint or various sculpture mediums, you are considered visionary in most circles.
While I agree that authors should pride themselves in putting as near flawless version of their book out as possible. I also recognize that readers in general read at varying degrees of "grammatical" expertise and that what one person deems unreadable may by another's standards be the greatest story they've ever read.
I believe that while we all have our opinions on the worth of anything that we purchase that we should be careful viewing our opinions as anything more than that. Recently, I engaged in a discussion with another author on this subject, and she noted that perhaps the fact that books are a part of art that more people engage in buying made a difference. I think she may be right, but while we all live and breathe the internet and its circle of influence each day, the majority of readers don't. They read. They enjoy or don't, and that's it. Most don't pay reviews any attention at all.
Just like I don't like certain forms of artistic expression, I don't like certain writer's style. It doesn't mean that they can't write, or that they are any less an author than I am. It just means I don't connect with their writing as I do with others.
When it comes to the written word why do you suppose it's judged in absolutes and not abstracts?
Why do you think that the written word is judged so differently than other visual art forms?
Examples of Modern Art:
http://www.modernart.net/
Examples of More Traditional Art:
http://www.noupe.com/inspiration/35-amazing-traditional-art-paintings.html
Authors who write in a less traditional manner are often considered unintelligent or lacking in skill while their counterparts in the visual arts world garner high prices for combining things in unexpected ways.
Most would have you to believe that the written word can only be expressed in perfect English grammar and specific sentence lengths when, in reality, some readers identify with a less formal style similar to everyday speech. The arguments for and against reminds me of the similar arguments about genre fiction as compared with literary fiction. I have heard it said in the past that it's not a real book unless it's literary. Perhaps in the future we can open our minds to include more and more of these unique expressions.
While I agree that authors should pride themselves in putting as near flawless version of their book out as possible. I also recognize that readers in general read at varying degrees of "grammatical" expertise and that what one person deems unreadable may by another's standards be the greatest story they've ever read.
I believe that while we all have our opinions on the worth of anything that we purchase that we should be careful viewing our opinions as anything more than that. Recently, I engaged in a discussion with another author on this subject, and she noted that perhaps the fact that books are a part of art that more people engage in buying made a difference. I think she may be right, but while we all live and breathe the internet and its circle of influence each day, the majority of readers don't. They read. They enjoy or don't, and that's it. Most don't pay reviews any attention at all.
Just like I don't like certain forms of artistic expression, I don't like certain writer's style. It doesn't mean that they can't write, or that they are any less an author than I am. It just means I don't connect with their writing as I do with others.
When it comes to the written word why do you suppose it's judged in absolutes and not abstracts?
Why do you think that the written word is judged so differently than other visual art forms?
Examples of Modern Art:
http://www.modernart.net/
Examples of More Traditional Art:
http://www.noupe.com/inspiration/35-amazing-traditional-art-paintings.html
Authors who write in a less traditional manner are often considered unintelligent or lacking in skill while their counterparts in the visual arts world garner high prices for combining things in unexpected ways.
Most would have you to believe that the written word can only be expressed in perfect English grammar and specific sentence lengths when, in reality, some readers identify with a less formal style similar to everyday speech. The arguments for and against reminds me of the similar arguments about genre fiction as compared with literary fiction. I have heard it said in the past that it's not a real book unless it's literary. Perhaps in the future we can open our minds to include more and more of these unique expressions.
I agree with everything you said here. My book is so different, that it was repeatedly rejected as "just too different". I did not write in complete sentences because I did not WANT to write complete sentences. The spacing is erratic...spaced in such a way to convey emotion. Indeed a single word on a single line may be all that I wanted to write in order to convey a stark emotion.
ReplyDeleteI tip my hat to all who write in same manner.