Blogging as an Art Form
Ask me anything - Do you consider blogging to be an art form?
One thing I absolutely despise is elitism is any form, followed closely by gatekeeping. Sure, people have varying degrees of talent, but I prefer an open society that encourages folks to try their hand at things. It is much better than one that acts like the plebes should stay on the sidelines while the real pros do their thing. That's why I don't find it the least bit pretentious when anyone describes themselves as an artist, regardless of the form they choose. I smile when I see anyone present a drawing or a poem or a landscape photo to the world. It's an attempt to bring something conjured in one's creative spirit to life, shared with the hope that it will spark a feeling in others.
When I look at the effort it takes to write regularly, I know that it takes a muse of some sort. It takes real effort to come up with an idea, flesh it out, polish it and present it. I give bonus points when someone's post contains a hint of vulnerability, a confession that not everything in life is easy. "Hey world! I have a wart! Want to see it?" Laugh if you want to, that's a thing an artist would say. Let's face it, it's hard to come up with something original in a world filled with people who can say whatever they want, whenever they want. Just the act of trying conveys a certain sense of bravery.
Emily Dickinson never saw one of her poems published, yet she continued to write breathtaking poetry for the entirety of her life. Stieg Larsson wrote the entirety of the Millennium Trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and died before it was published and became an international bestseller. There are many other examples like them. Artists write because they have something to say, something they have to get out. It's not about being recognized or lauded as much as it is about creating because doing so is a representation of our own humanity. When Og, the cave man, was drawing on the walls of his home all those years ago, he had no concept of received admiration. HE just had something inside himself that he wanted to get out.
Most of us have bloggers we admire. I told Keenan last week that I wasn't jealous. I just wished I could write the way they write. They responded kindly, saying, "I like the way that you write like you." What an affirmation. To me it means I've practiced my own art form enough to have developed my own style, something recognizable. That's the thing about almost any skill. When you practice, you get better. Malcolm Gladwell famously wrote about the 10,000-hour rule, where he proposed that The Beatles, Bill Gates and other successful people reached the heights they did because of how much they practiced, how much experience they had. That's why I write every day without fail. This is my art form and I want to get better at it.
That's why I don't give any credence to the criticism of blogging challenges. Writing every day isn't a gimmick. It isn't forced, necessarily. It is learned behavior and discipline. Writing is just taking what your thinking and putting the words down on record. If you think every day, and you do, then you can write every day. No one said making art was supposed to be easy. Picasso probably had days when he asked himself, "What the hell am I going to draw today?"
To all my fellow artists, do your thing! Do it often. Do it for yourself, and to hell with the rest of the world. Internal validation is the best validation.
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