I am an Artist

2013

My name is Abby Lawless, 
I am an artist.
I don't have a fancy sketchbook,
Or instrument.
But I have my pens,
My pencils, 
And my lined paper. 

I won't let anyone tell me,
Writing isn't an art,
Because it is.
To put something in words,
And create a whole other world, 
Are the things I dream about.

To make someone laugh,
Cry,
Even angry at the characters I've brought to life,
On the pages.
To bring great adventures,
Love stories,
Magic and more.

I think that,
Is my art.
I don't need any fancy paintbrush,
All I need is me.
And that's exactly who I'll be,
Me.

Author's Note

Put my real name in there since my pen name back in 2013 was different from today xD I just prefer to be called Pedle or Riv over the internet ^^ Really liked this poem.

I'll stop spamming now lol, I'll upload some more old poems later.

Reviews

[S. von Glaubitz]

Damn straight.

This sounds like you were perhaps prompted to write this based on some judgment you received. Did someone disparage writing as an artform to you? I had a similar experience when someone told me writing fiction was taking the easy way out, and I responded by writing an angry poem.

This is great, though. Thank you for sharing it.

[JBoone]

This is really good. An anthem. A trump to announce you are you!!! I like it.

[Richard🖌]

Hi, Abbey Dear! 😃
It's just Richard here, come to enjoy another of your skillfully lain pieces.
This is simply a beautifully-written work of passionate homage to your chosen art, and it speaks so concisely and vibrantly to my own ideals and sentiments.
I think we are more alike than unlike in our passions,, emotions, desires, all that we write, dream, and express, etc; and it is marvelous to be able to relate to another artist in such wondrous ways, eh?
I love this for so many poetical, life-gifting, and lifting reasons, but most of all, because I deeply and completely understand You!
Warmest, most grateful, and happy hug of thanks to You, Little Poetess✨ ⁓ Richard

[zunie frost]

I love it . I must say you are if the best writer her on writerscafe !!!
Your work is out standing

[JayG]

Breaking an essay into individual line isn't creating poetry, because poetry, in addition to the ideas that stimulate the mind, is meant to be read aloud, for the flow of words, their feel on the tongue, and the rhythm of them. But this is a blog entry—an essay on your views on writing. And as such, I have to comment on the thoughts.

• I won't let anyone tell me writing isn't an art,

Yes, writing, as a field, is one of the arts. But so are many things. A specific piece of writing is art only if the reader declares it so.

So while we practice an art, we are not artists, just writers. Never forget that anyone can write. But not everyone does it well. And only those who, through demonstration, do it well, have earned the title, artist. I'd settle for, "He's a pretty good writer."

• To make someone laugh, cry...

The task is made more difficult by the fact that your reader doesn't see the world as you do. Their background differs, as do local speech and word meanings, and norms of looking at the world. plus, they're probably of a different age group and even gender. And you must make each reader react emotionally through THEIR perception of the meaning of your words. No easy task, and not one that magically comes to a few chosen people. In fact, given that talent is potential, and contributes nothing when untrained, we won't even know if we have any until we begin to train it.

My point? No way can the general, nonfiction writing skills we all learn in school handle the task of writing poetry of stories that please the reader. And trying to entertain with skills meant to inform is what kills over 95% of all attempts to be a successful writer or poet. Desire isn't enough, nor is perseverance. Just as we learned the skills of writing a book report we must learn the skills of writing the book and the poem.

I'm not talking about rules that we follow slavishly. Just as we can't design a bridge without solid knowledge of things like structural analysis, we can't write poetry without knowing what prosody contributes, and how to manage the various elements.

For poetry what I often recommend is the Amazon excerpt from Stephen Fry's, The Ode Less Traveled. I've written poetry, but my son is the poet in the family. But I was so impressed on reading it that I bought a copy for all of my kids.

Sorry my news isn't better. But you did ask ;)

[Centipedle]

Not bad news at all xD I don't think I'll return to this old poem since I have better ones. I have a lot more older ones that I'm far more proud of ^^ Thank you for your insight.

[I Am Svetlana]

I think that is why I love so much about being a writer: you can freely use your imagination to create stories, poems and anything else. Having feelings to fuel my pen and make magic onto a page. It's crazy what one is able to create when they are able to sit down & let their mind go. The fact that writers can describe things in many different ways and that others can have their own interpretation of it. Poems can have many different meanings. Writing truly sets me free when I feel so stuck in life or have a bad day...I can write about real things or make up fiction and it turns out beautiful. The fact that writing has inspired so many people and seeing its impact on people's lives just makes me want to keep writing. We just have to do what makes us happy, never doubt your talent or who you are. Embrace your talent & see where you end up.

[Coyote Poetry]

Good to know who you are and what you need. I liked the honest thoughts and I liked the ending. Thank you for sharing your poetry and your thoughts. And I agree.
Coyote

[AliciaB]

I love this so much! I really relate to the idea of creating worlds and characters and beautiful stories through words. A lot of people (including me before I started seriously writing) don't really appreciate how much work goes into crafting literally EVERY WORD of a story or poem... this is a minor vent from those times when I've being working for ten to fifteen minutes and gotten maybe a sentence of my story written. :) I absolutely love the third stanza, the one about making people react emotionally to your characters. When you start loving the people you've created as if they were real... that's when you know. :) Thank you so much for sharing this. It is a beautiful expression of what it is to be a writer. Excellent work!

[LastMonth]

Well. Writing is definetly a form of art.
But there's nothing wrong with paintbrushes or anything of that sort!

The poem is generally fine,
But it seems undecided.

Sometimes it rhymes, sometimes it does not.
Can't help but wonder how it's meant to be read,
I liked it, especially the meaning, but I think it could use some ironing.