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Is Writing an Art or a Craft?

By Sharon Hurley Hall

I first wrote about this issue a couple of years ago, after attending an arts workshop in which writing was definitely the poor relation. The room was full of people who drew, painted, sculpted and made beautiful things, but they saw writing as something alien to that. They just didn’t get it.

At that point I began to consider whether writing was really an art or a craft. Here are some of the considerations.

Writing As Craft

First of all, let’s think about the definition of craft. A quick trawl through the dictionaries reveals one of my favorite definitions. Princeton Wordnet describes craft as ‘the skilled practice of a practical occupation’. It’s a trade, with skills that can be learned, refined and passed on.

I have no argument with that. Just as I learned how to write news stories, feature articles, blog posts and ebooks, so can anyone else. There are rules that you can follow to turn out a competent piece of writing, whether you are writing a novel or a sales letter.

It takes skill to create a piece of writing one word after another and one sentence after another. It takes skill to put the whole together in a way that makes people want to read. It takes skill to paint a verbal picture or create a particular atmosphere with your words.

Writing As Art

However, some of those same qualities also contribute to the artistic nature of writing. Going back to Wordnet, we see that art involves ‘the creation of beautiful or significant things’. Painting a picture or creating an atmosphere is as much artistic as it is skilful.

When we think about the things that move us, that stir us emotionally, many of these are pieces of writing. Even if these are hundreds of years old, they still have the power to elicit a powerful, even visceral response.

Think of any of Shakespeare’s sonnets, the Declaration of Independence, Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech. Those words are no less powerful today than the day they were first heard - and there are hundreds of similar examples. Some are beautiful, some are significant, some are both; all are art.

Making A Choice

Luckily, we don’t always have to choose. I’m not saying that every piece I write is a work of art (I should be so lucky); but from time to time I write a piece that really strikes a chord with people, and I think most writers could say the same. That’s why I think writing is both an art and a craft.

What’s your view?

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About the author: Sharon Hurley Hall is a born again blogger who has been writing for more than 20 years. She is a freelance writer and ghostwriter who specializes in ebooks, SEO articles and blog posts. Sharon runs the freelance mentoring blog, Get Paid To Write Online.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 5:21 am and is filed under Freelance Writing, Writing White Papers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  • as an Art it requires motivation,a facility with word a dash of creativity and just enough attribution to add spices and to suggest to the reader that the author actually reads the works of another author..
  • hello..its a good point .writing is really both a art and craft.actually it depends how to define your art and craft so i m agree to this point. my brother have this skills he has so much attractive and good writing so but obvious its a art and craft.so i think so good writing is both a art and craft so its a very nice talent. i would like to thanks to u
  • I think good writing is both a art and craft, because it needs some basic skills and inspiration.
  • I like any turn of phrase -- word play of any kind is art to me, whether it is Hamlet or a Big Ed's Discount Stereo Boutique and Emporium commercial. There is certainly more art in a novel than an ad, but I like to think that I put some art into my corporate copywriting...

    Definitely agree that the definition of art is highly subjective. I think we're proving that here.

    As for the loud music, looking rebel, and getting drunk -- Fitzgerald and Hemingway would have called that "performance art" if the term had been coined at the time. In fact Fitzgerald illustrated drunkeness as an artform quite well in his short story "May Day" with Mr. In and Mr. Out.

    ~Graham
  • @ Graham - All debate is welcome and appreciated. I've also been known to change my mind and point of view with appropriately convincing arguments. And I'm not sensitive, so it's all good ;)

    I think fiction writing or that sort of thing is much more of an art than web content writing or sales copywriting. Hard to see much art in the "BUY NOW OR YOU'LL DIE!" kind of pitch, unless it's the art of manipulation (which isn't the same as the art of writing). There's more art in poetry or a good fantasy novel, I think.

    So perhaps it depends on the type of writing. And perhaps it depends on the definition of art, too, which is highly subjective to individual preference. Not sure if individual expression can be considered art, either... I like rock n' roll, leather jackets and red wine. Expressing those through loud music, looking rebel and getting drunk wouldn't be art, now, would it?
  • Hey James,

    Actually I did read it, but (respectively) I'm not sure I agree.

    First of all, the definition of trade and craft you posted describes both trade and craft as a "practical occupation" -- again, which strictly speaking refers to using one's hands. So when you boil down the words to their original meanings, you it's impossible to fit writing into the category of trade or craft. Metaphorically, yes. But if you are whipping out dictionaries, then no.

    Secondly, I lean more towards the other side of the spectrum when it comes to art. I see art in all parts of life: how you drive, how you dress, even how you do dishes. Indeed, I find injecting a little "art" into mundane activities as a way of having a bit of fun with it.

    I do agree with you that Shakespeare, Da Vinci, et al. are much better artists than the average joe. But what is art if not an expression of yourself? Some people just express themselves better than others.

    When it comes specifically to writing, I feel that it is both art and craft (using the metaphorical meaning). It's like the whole nature/nurture debate: the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Sharon, you called this "sitting on the fence" but I don't think that's true. It is just realizing that it takes both art and craft to put together a coherent sentence (paragraph, article, book...). Art without craft is lilly dewed sunsets aligned pressure stones.

    Again James I stress that I don't reject your idea of art and craft. You did a great job of proving your case. It's just not a viewpoint that I can embrace.

    Either way though, it makes for a great discussion!

    ~Graham
  • @ Graham - You may want to check out my own post on "Is Writing an Art or a Trade" (see the link to my post in the first comment of this thread). I did some research on definitions and I fully believe writing is a trade (or craft).
  • Sharon Hurley Hall
    Hi Graham

    Thanks for your well thought out comment. Having taught journalism I know you're right both about the learned practice of writing (the craft) and the extra touches (the art).
  • It depends how you define craft. By using its original meaning, a craft by definition is something you do with your hands -- and that doesn't mean putting pen to paper or fingers to keys, which is incidental to the actual act of writing. So in this case it cannot be a craft.

    On the other hand, craft has come to mean several things. Within writing itself, we speak of "crafting a business letter" or "crafting a short story". It is a metaphor strictly speaking, but like most metaphors it is quite apt.

    In my mind, the best way to describe it is to use the journalism "inverted pyramid" model. This method has an exact blueprint, and almost anyone can be taught how to place events in order of importance (as evidenced in your average highschool writing class). This, using the metaphor definition, would be the "craft" part.

    However, some people can do this even better than others (also evidenced in your average highschool writing class). This would be the "art" side of writing.

    This is a very simplistic view and doesn't encompass everything (for example, talent can and needs to be improved upon with practice -- is that considered craft?) but hopefully illustrates my view on the subject!

    ~Graham
  • Sharon Hurley Hall
    That's one way of looking at it, Yuwanda., although I also think giving some thought to defining what you do is important.

    Thanks for the kind words, Sue.
  • Great post Sharon. I actually touched on this subject here but didn't make such a good job of it.

    suejeff
  • Sharon:

    Writing is an artsy craft!

    Seriously, both terms are so open to interpretation, it can be difficult to say. As long as the scribe fulfills its purpose, then what it's called is not important, no?

    Sincerely,
    Yuwanda Black, Publisher
  • Thanks, Jeff. I think you've given a great explanation of the two sides of any craft. Just as every art has a learning aspect, most crafts can be elevated to art by those who bring an extra something to the creation of a piece of work.
  • This is a great post that illuminates both sides of the fence and concisely shows your point. At the same time, I would like to claim that every art is also a craft, making writing really just an art. This is not to say that all pieces of writing are art! Ugh, how confusing. Musicians cannot express their art without learning to play first (i.e. music is an art, but practicing is not -- even though the content is the same in both). Painters cannot create a beautiful picture before knowing how to paint. And writers cannot write before learning a language (and all the things listed in your post). Every art has a learning aspect to it, and this is the craft. I'm not disagreeing with you; in fact, I'm 100% agreeing. Writing is both an art and a craft, but it just seems to me there is no way to eliminate the craft from art. Great post!
  • That's a good point, Sean - and the artistic side can be more elusive. It's easy to produce a well crafted piece, but you can't always tap into that artistic flow, though Connie is right when she says it becomes easier to achieve when you have a passion for a subject.
  • I agree that writing is both an art and a craft. I teach people how to write and in the beginning it is all about crafting their articles and blog posts. A they become more confident and experienced by writing every day, they finally relax and the art begins to flow. It doesn't happen every time but when you are writing about something you have a passion for it can be a zen-like experience.
  • Hi Sharon - Anyone who is honest has to admit that writing is both a craft and an art.

    All students today are taught to view writing as a process, and most people can learn a process, and understand the rules of style and usage, well enough to complete a writing assignment of reasonable quality. That is, they can learn the craft side of writing if they are willing to put in the work.

    But when it comes to the artistic side, the number of true artists is far less than the number of writers out there. This is the writer who knows when to ignore the rules, knows when to use a certain word or phrase, or knows how to use just the right metaphor so that the piece doesn't simply communicate -- it moves people. That is an art.

    And good writing, even good commercial writing, can do that just as well as a painting or a sculpture.
  • Good post, James, and nice that you can have that debate in a single post. Maybe it's sitting on the fence to think that it's both, but that's definitely where I sit. :)
  • This post is amazingly close to one we wrote a few weeks ago: Is Writing an Art or a Trade?

    Have a read - you'll see where Harry and I both stand on the matter of art or craft :)
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