The Soul of Art
By KL Burd | January 27, 2021 |
Please join us in welcoming WU’s newest contributor, KL Burd! You might remember KL from his guest post this past fall, 7 Ways to Make Early Morning Writing a Reality. “Believing that words have the power to bring about healing and change, KL Burd’s work focuses on the intersection of race, equity, and hope for the future. ” Learn more about KL on his bio page. Welcome, KL!
“One writes out of one thing only—one’s own experience. Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give. This is the only real concern of the artist, to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art.” — James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son
What is art? For so many people, art is relegated to paintings that capture their attention or stoke their imagination. Art can be a twisted sculpture that draws your eyes to sharp edges and jagged concrete, or it can be a photo that begs the viewer to step into the life of a captured scene. Art can be many things, but can it be writing? Or the better question, can writing be art?
The Oxford dictionary has a definition of art that states:
The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
I love their definition, although I would argue that they are leading us towards a specific view of art when they say typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture. Let’s remove those leading words and look at it again.
Art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
How many of us would like our writing to be viewed this way—as an application of human creative skill and imagination? I for one, would love this. We study our craft and improve on our form so that our creative skill can be best expressed on paper. We endeavor to work magic—not unlike the blues artist who has spent 15 years getting her guitar to sing every note it produces with the same tone and timbre that dances across her mind. And—in the case of the blues, along with many other art forms—this expression of creativity, of skill, of emotion is brought to life through the person delivering the experience.
Imagine with me two different artists.
The first one plays the right chords, hits the solos, and sings the notes flawlessly. They did well and you applaud their rendition.
Then you get the second artist.
She plays the same chords, hits the same solos, and sings the same notes flawlessly. But something is drastically different. This one rocks you to the core. This one gives you goosebumps. This one sends you into a spiral of relentlessly searching for everything that artist has to offer. Sure, the second artist sang the same notes and played the same chords as the first but they added something that the first one didn’t: They put their soul into it.
We can all recognize those moments, the moments that draw you in and make you want to share that art with someone else. If we let it, writing can be the same way. One person can take the outline to one of my novels and produce a completely different book that doesn’t look, feel, or taste the same as my own. So what’s the difference? What’s the thing that separates writing from art? The difference is you—and that is because we are the sum of our experiences.
These experiences not only make us unique but give us the elixir by which we cast a spell and bring the reader into our world. A world that they not only recognize but can relate to. There’s something in the way that Ta-Nehisi Coates writes that can only be described as magical. It’s not just the choice of words but the arrangement of those words. It’s not just the depth of thought but the connection to the innermost being that creates tension between what is and what ought to be. What we have and what we hope for. What we desire and what we may never have. It’s birthed out of experience, transferred by letters on a page, and affixed to the soul as an homage to solidarity. It’s a voice that whispers, “You are not alone.”
There is a trap out there though—one we can easily fall into if we aren’t careful. If we fix our eyes on certain people, we’ll see and emulate writers who only put pen to paper because they own a mastery of the English language—a mastery that enables them to get paid for their work. But verbosity alone is insufficient.
The art is in creating order from disorder. The art is in connecting with the heart and soul of the reader. You must do as James Baldwin said and relentlessly pour every last drop, sweet or bitter, into your work. That way you produce something incredible that is wholly yours and wholly others’. You produce a legacy that will stand the test of time.
What does art in story mean to you, both as a writer and a consumer of fiction? We’d love to hear your perspective, and your favorite example(s). The floor is yours.
KL Burd (he/him) is a YA Speculative Fiction Author and Educator living in Austin, Texas with his wonderful wife and two amazing boys. As a former teacher and coach, KL thrives on helping individuals reach their full potential, especially young and upcoming writers. Sign up for his newsletter to connect on all things writing. KL writes fiction so that underrepresented kids, especially young Black boys and girls, can see themselves in every type of story imaginable.
It’s great to have you here at Writer Unboxed, Keivon! Welcome to the fold. It’s a special community. :)
Your post is so right-on. I particularly loved this gorgeous paragraph:
“These experiences not only make us unique but give us the elixir by which we cast a spell and bring the reader into our world. A world that they not only recognize but can relate to. There’s something in the way that Ta-Nehisi Coates writes that can only be described as magical. It’s not just the choice of words but the arrangement of those words. It’s not just the depth of thought but the connection to the innermost being that creates tension between what is and what ought to be. What we have and what we hope for. What we desire and what we may never have. It’s birthed out of experience, transferred by letters on a page, and affixed to the soul as an homage to solidarity. It’s a voice that whispers, “You are not alone.””
This sort of driving desire, depth of thought, experience and search for commonality (you are not alone!) is precisely what our characters must do on the page as well. Search, strive, struggle. I think this is exactly why putting our soul into our works reaches readers–a character’s journey should mirror our own.
Thanks for the inspiration this morning! I’m working on a short piece that I’m having trouble tunneling into at the moment, and this is great food for thought.
Thank you for your kind words, Heather! I’m so excited to interact with everyone here. Good luck on your piece! Hope we get to see it one day!
Welcome! And you are so right! Stories resonate when we dig deep and share our truth! When I first started writing, I was reticent to pour the emotion all over the page. I grew up in the south–Texas, actually–and nobody wanted to hear what we thought or felt. Yes, I’m part of the ‘Be seen and not heard’ generation. A devilishly difficult cloak to throw off. But, I learned to find the power in emotional depth. If we don’t share our hearts how can others see them and understand? Thank you for this lovely reminder today.
If we don’t share our hearts, how can other see and understand… So good. Thank you for the welcome, from one Texan to another :-)
Love this. What great inspiration for today. I especially connected with this statement:
“You must do as James Baldwin said and relentlessly pour every last drop, sweet or bitter, into your work. That way you produce something incredible that is wholly yours and wholly others. ”
And now I’m off to look for the quote itself…
Found it:
“One writes out of one thing only – one’s own experience. Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give. This is the only real concern of the artist, to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art.”
James A. Baldwin, from Notes of a Native Son, 1955
And another I found while on my search:
“Any writer, I suppose, feels that the world into which he was born is nothing less than a conspiracy against the cultivation of his talent.”
From the same book. This one made me smile. Because it is so true, isn’t it. :)
Erin, thanks for the full quote.
Thank you, Erin!
You are not alone. Yes. It’s funny that in stories we tend to isolate protagonists. It’s how we feel, the human condition, but we do connect up. In stories. And right here. Welcome, KL.
Thank you, Benjamin!
Welcome to WU from a fellow Austinite! Lovely post. “The art is in connecting with the heart and soul of the reader.” Nuff said. Thank you!
Excited to be here! There’s a few Austinites here!
Hello Keivon. Thank you for focusing on an elusive topic: what is the essence of art? Your quote from James Baldwin is very apt: writers write out of one thing only, their experience. How could that not be true? The individual consciousness is the filter through which passes everything experienced (directly or indirectly, through research, films, etc), and some of it demands our attention as writers.
I don’t like the OED’s definition of art either. Not only do they narrowly define “art,” but the dictionary speaks of the “application” of creativity. Art that moves me is the result of something that can’t be “applied” like hand lotion or paint. It is an outcome, a consequence of mind and emotion driven together by need. In other words, a consequence of passion.
Other projects are the result of technique applied to templates, and in fiction the templates take the form of genres. There’s nothing wrong with this work, just as there’s nothing wrong with commercial art. When well done, we remember it, it amuses and diverts us. But to varying degrees, it’s less art than commerce. The most obvious successful examples might be called by Donald Trump The Art of the Deal.
Your post today has made me ponder my perception of art in my writing – like, really stop and think about my definition of what makes writing an artistic endeavor. I’ve come to the conclusion you are 100% right and writing is artistic when it goes beyond skill with words and reaches for the depth of experience and character that Barbara Linn Prost wrote about in her post a couple of days ago. I read and write genre, so action and plot are very important to me, but when a writer is able to tap into the human experience so that I forget I’m reading and at the end I’m truly touched, that’s just magical. The Clone Wars television series is a recent example for me. I think about Darth Vader now and feel a pain in my heart every time. The Mandalorian, too. (Dave Filoni is amazing.) Black Panther movie. The end of a James Rollins thriller that made me sob because it was both beautiful and tragic. Tasha Alexander’s Lady Emily series-which is as much about the characters as it is about the mysteries solved. I just sit back and admire. :D
I messed up Barbara Linn ProBst’s name! Sorry!
Thank you so much for this, Lara. I bet so many of us are creating art yet we are simply unaware.
Lovely essay, Keivon. For me, Art = Beauty.
Thank you, Vijaya!
Lovely post, Keivon. I’ll look forward to seeing more of you on WU. (Also, hi, fellow Austinite!)
Thank you Tiffany! We need to have an Austin gathering when this is all over!
Wonderful words, Keivon, and isn’t it for writers the art of their placement, the arrangement, how they knock against each other. That’s our art, those the colors and pictures that we paint. And style. You mention Ta-Nehisi Coates. I read everything he creates and cherish his voice. Not unlike being pulled into another time reading the Brontes or Jane Austin. Words and worlds pull us together, bring decades to the present so that we can share our humanity, in all its sorrowful, wonderful and amazing elements. Welcome.
Thank you for the welcome Beth! Those are amazing authors who I aspire to write like one day! They make me continually perfect the craft and aim higher.
Keivon, I love your post and your writing adventures. Art for me is something that grips the heart and soul. When you experience it, you might not even be able to explain why it has touched a deep chord within you. Ironically, an explanation isn’t always necessary. You like a song, a specific note, and you might not even know why. You can’t stop rereading a piece of writing and you might not know why. You can’t forget a scene and it can replay in your mind for years. You taste a dish that explodes on your taste buds with all kinds of emotions. The list goes on. Art has touched your inner being. You hold on to that moment, that experience, and that’s enough- isn’t that something? :)
Thank you, Jeanette! You’re so right — art has touched your inner being. It speaks to your soul. :-)
Love this Keivon! Thanks for reminding me about bringing the passion to my work. I get so tired focusing on word counts, revisions… I forget about the zsa-zsa-zoo.
Thank you, Kristin! And you’re welcome! I totally get it. I’m in the middle of editing and lowering my word count now and I have to remember to not cut out the soul of the work.