Wordcrafting has always been my chosen course of study. From a young age, I would stay up late into the night carving fantasy worlds from the bedrock of imagination and transforming them with each stroke of the keypad into words on a computer screen. There are few things more satisfying that untangling the knotted mass of plot threads in your head and slowly unraveling them on the page in just the right order . . . so when you look back, you can see the many colored strands drawing you to the glorious resolution on the final page. I love the written word. And yet, although nothing could ever make me wish myself free of the call of the pen, there are times when I’m heartily—woefully—jealous of a completely different talent. I wish I was an artist. There are so many incredibly talented people out there who can take the images in their heads and faithfully reproduce them in magnificent explosions of color and ink. Beautiful. Orderly. Breathtaking. My own attempts frequently resemble explosions of a far less pleasing sort.
I am in awe of the artist’s ability. It’s a talent all its own. Oh I can get by with a sketch pad and pencil … and a horde of erasers at my beck and call. Whenever the mood takes me, I’ll pluck out my old sketchpad and work to keep my hand and eye in “practice.” Mainly characters or scenes that I’m working on. This past week, in a fit of mad courage, I started experimenting with watercolors. And amidst the wild mass of colors and scattered brushes and splattered paint, I realized at last … That I am an artist. Oh I may not possess the skill with a paint and brush that some do … nor the ability to capture life on a pad with a few strokes of a pen. Nor can I compose melodies or lyrics that will set your heart on fire and your soul yearning for what is to come. I am an artist of a different sort. Words are my paint and my song. As a writer, I etch a little piece of my heart into every page. I strive to capture both beauty and truth, reality and hope in print. 
Books are so much more than rigid lines of black and white ink marching endlessly across the pages. They are things of wondrous color and beauty. The wildest dreams of a wild imagination … grounded in reality.
Whenever I think of the writing process, I cannot help recalling this scene from William Goldman’s The Princess Bride about artistry at work:
Domingo slept only when he dropped from exhaustion. He ate only when Inigo forced him to. He studied, fretted, complained. He never should have taken the job; it was impossible.
The next day he would be flying; he never should have taken the job; it was to simple to be worth his labors.
Joy to despair, joy to despair, day to day, hour to hour …
One night Inigo woke to find his father seated. Staring. Calm. Inigo followed the stare. The six fingered sword was done. Even in the hut’s darkness, it glistened.
“At last,” Domingo whispered. He could not take his eyes from the glory of the sword. “After a liftetime. Inigo. Inigo. I am an artist.”
I may not have reached the level of artistry Domingo reached when he created the six fingered sword. But if nothing else, I am an artist in the making, and I can be content with that. How about you? Do consider yourself an artist, whether you paint with words or a brush, or create music with lyrics or instrument?
Indeed you are! Your way with words is simply beautiful!
Thanks, Hannah! I'm not there yet … wherever that mystical "there" is … but I've learned that comparing my talent to another's – whether it's the same talent or a different one altogether – isn't healthy. My "art" certainly won't look or sound like anyone else's. And that's all right, because if it did, it wouldn't be "art," it would be imitation.
You're a good writer, Gillian. Perhaps very good.
But you meant to say "six fingered sword" instead of "six handed sword." Though I like the latter as well. Maybe an alien creature or a monster generated by a wizard would have enough hands to yield a six handed sword…(sounds fearsome :)
I know what you mean about the other. I can't draw or paint well, but I am an artist, too…
But imagine the artistry required to create a six handed sword instead of a six fingered sword!
Ah well, this is what happens when one stays up unthinkably late …
That's just it though. I definitely CAN imagine a six-handed sword. It would be awesome! (And really big.) So your mental slips apparently add to your artistry :)
And I just realized I meant to say "wield" but said "yield" instead…oops…
Sometimes I think I'm an artist with words… and then I see people like you painting so lyrically with your own words and feel woefully inadequate. ;) You're indeed an artist with words — an amazing one!
I agree about not comparing though — so I try not to. I guess we all have our own styles. If everyone wrote the same way I suppose none of it would be beautiful or original anymore?
Loved the Princess Bride reference — so true. Nice post! :)
No, none of it would be beautiful or original. It would just be dull, ordinary sameness. And how boring would that be! :)
*grin* I love the Princess Bride! The movie is so quotable and awesome … and the book is one of those quick reads that I'll snatch off my shelf whenever I'm in a hurry and want something to read while eating lunch.
Right there with ya. My sister in love is an artist, and can paint amazing detail with water color (though her favorite medium is oil on acrylic… or something like that), and my sister is a singer/songwriter with an amazing voice, and the ability to teach herself any instrument… it's incredible.
Often, I do envy them their talents. But for me, it's not so much that I wish I could paint or sing (I do), but more because they can "perform" so much more easily. If someone wants my sister to play a song, all she has to do is whip out her guitar and give them a 3-5 minute performance. Angelina can pull out a framed painting or show people her studio and it takes only a few minutes to truly appreciate the masterpieces she's put together.
For us writers, however, someone has to be willing to sit down for several hours in order to "see" our art. It just seems so much harder to "showcase" the talent of writing – particularly novel-writing. It's not something you can take to a talent show, really.
You know, I hadn't ever thought of it like that, Jenelle. But it's quite true. True "wordsmanship" requires a time commitment in order to be appreciated, whereas many of the other forms of art do not. At least not to the same extent. :)
I was reading through the first half of this post and thinking "But, Gillian, writers are artists, too!" And then you came to that realization, making me cheer internally. :) Art is a creation, whether it be with words, paint, music, or, sometimes, even something like computer code. Art is a way of transferring the emotion in our hearts into something concrete. Beautiful post, Gillian!
I love the way you put it, Bluebelle. "Are is a way of transferring the emotion in our hearts into something concrete." A very apt description.
I'm slightly embarrassed it took me so long to come to the conclusion! And I won't deny there's still a big part of me that would love to possess some skill with paints or a sketchpad, but nonetheless I am grateful for the chance to pursue the life of an artist with words! :)
Your thoughts of artistry seem to follow a very similar pattern to mine… When I was younger, I wanted to do it all. I would write a story! I would illustrate it! I would compose a soundtrack for it! I would be the voice of the heroine in a dramatic audio production of it! Maybe, if I were lucky, I would even act the part of the heroine in a film of it!
At this point, I'm quite content to consider myself a word-artist, to dabble in the other arts as the mood straights, and to delight in the talent of other types of artists. If I knew it all, and could be it all, I wouldn't be able to network with so many other talented artists of all types!