Creating art

There's a question I ask myself about atleast once a day. How to be better at writing? It often changes by topic to "how to take better pictures" or "how to draw better" or something else entirely. The heart of the question remains, however. How can I make my art better? How can I make my art resemble me, the world or the people and things around me more?

I'm gonna line up with the medium I currently use the most, what with the self-enforced everyday-clause. So, how to be better at writing? There's a simple six-step plan that I've found works pretty damn well: read, read, read. write, write, write. This little plan can be fanned out to cover all the arts: you get better at something by doing it. You can study the human physique for ages and ages again, but only by drawing people will you learn the curvature of the lines: the sharp and soft places and the gentle shadowing. You can read on photography techniques, exposures and shutter values but you'll never learn what they mean on film before you take hundreds of pictures. You can read every cookbook and food blog out there, but you'll only really learn how to cook by, well, cooking. And yes, I'm implying that food is art. It is.

This technique has a flaw, however: everyone is blind to their own mistakes. This notion hit me in the face exeptionally hard when I read the feedback a friend of mine gave on my bachelor's thesis: she had noted stuff that was plain stupid, unexplained or fuzzy on the edges that I had simply skimmed over as "ok". Things you might think are new and awesome might just be old and foolish and make no sense to anyone else. While writing, you will make mistakes and you won't notice them all yourself. This is why we have proofreading. This goes for all the other arts as well. There will be mistakes, and you should have someone that is prepared to point them out.

Then there's of course a few things you should simply know before you start creating: things they might not tell you but that are out there to see. Checkov's rule. Likable characters (or totally unlikable characters. Something to rope the readers in, anyway). Hook at the start. Finish what you start. Grammar. There's a lot of stuff that should happen in a text for it to be really, really good. Not all these rules are meant to be followed blindly, and actually arbitrary pedantry will swamp you down and stop you from ever reaching your full potential. Complete overlooking of all the rules will probably make what you write utter crap as well, though, so it's a fine line you need to walk.

I'm no genius with any of my arts, and might probably never be. But I strive to be better, and to enbetter those around me if possible. Art is a channel to the soul (or whatever cognitive center of non-linear thought and emotion you wish to believe in) and should be couraged. Do what you're good at, and make it an art. And try not to be an ass about it. I promise I will try.