myheartisinohio
 
...I call writing "my work." As in "I don't know if I'm ready to show people my work," or "Thank you for taking the time to comment on my work."
Isn't writing supposed to be art? Shouldn't I be saying "I don't know if I'm ready to show people my art" instead?
Sometimes I think  I view writing the way television writers view writing their soap operas. There's a story arc, of course. And you try to keep everything in character and on track. But every single section of it - every episode, every chapter - is its own bit.
I don't write write write and then divide it up later. I sit down, I think about how this chapter will begin, how this chapter will end. Then I post it, and I forget about it for a few weeks. I don't write it as one cohesive story. I don't 
 


Comments

Paige

Sat, 03 Apr 2010 09:53:29

i think that calling it your work is something that a lot of people do. i know i do it sometimes (though i usually say my 'doodles' or my 'art' or my 'thing i've been working on')
it's pretty natural, i think... and i mean, if you want to write for a living? that would totally make sense, then, to call everything you write a piece of work. -shrug-

 

Xephia

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:59:32

Hmm... I consider my drawings and painting to be 'work' as well, and often refer to it as my work rather than my art. I suppose writing and drawing are both work and art.

Definition of art;
the products of human creativity

Definition of work;
Something that one is doing, making, or performing

I think the biggest reason why a lot of authors and painters refer to their art as work instead of art is because they feel that it's too presumptuous to call their own work art? I never refer to my work as art when I'm speaking about it because, while I'm passionate about it and think I'm really improving, I don't feel comfortable calling myself an artist yet.

Another way of thinking is that art is something that you consider complete, and work is something you're still working on. A chapter could be a piece of art, but the overall story could still be considered 'work'.

 



Leave a Reply