What Happened To Writing For The Sake Of Art?
Hello, 911. I think my favourite form of art is dying.
I’m kind of afraid that the practice of writing for the sake of art is dying out.
Look at any article about how to write online — in essence, it will tell you that you need to deliver value.
Good ol’fashioned, transactional, business-style value.
It’s all about the:
- 10 Lessons From Your 30s You Should Be Learning
- The 4 Subtle Mistakes You Didn’t Realise You Were Making
- The $762.59 You Could Be Earning
- The 6 Steps For A Healthier Life That You Need To Be Following
- Or [insert a proven click-worthy header template here].
Don’t get me wrong, I grow so much thanks to articles that deliver value like this. I read them all the time and I become a better person because of them.
But maybe I’m a grizzly old thankless soul on the inside because I’m tired of reading only self-improvement-related content. All. The. Damn. Time.
It feels like I’m eating all these bite-sized nutrition bars when what I really want is a fat slab of sizzling steak.
Honey, I don’t want another listicle at this point. Shoo, I don’t want to learn how to change my life.
I want to read about how you found the love of your life.
I want the quirky side of you. I want to read a passionate case for why you genuinely and wholeheartedly believe I need to buy lotion and how it will change my life.
I want the true, vulnerable, shy parts of you. I wanna hear how you got naked physically and emotionally and not feel like I read a shameless piece of clickbait.
Maybe I’m a princess but I also want to be spoiled with fanciful fiction and read a story that holds my heart and undivided attention until I reach the end and can barely read the words or even think clearly anymore because there are too many tears flowing down my face.
You can write it however you’d like. Break all the rules you want. I especially don’t care if your article is vaguely named something like “Paper Planes” which tells me nothing about the piece, but the moment I click on the link, I am hooked and I find myself growing numb and empty when I realise I’ve scrolled to the end and I’m all out of story.
I don’t care if your story has no practical value. If it has soul, I will support your story with all my heart and all my 50 claps.
Then I will tell all my friends who get it to check it out and why it’s so great. I may even engrave it into a tiny corner of my brain, filing it away for parties with other creative friends so I can tell them about this one amazing story I read this one time.
I know it’s silly, I know a story written for the sake of art doesn’t solve problems or deliver ‘real’ value. It won’t improve my life drastically. And I might even forget the story after a week.
But I will never forget how it made me feel, and it will always have a place in my heart and in my ‘Favourites’ list, waiting to be recommended to the next kindred soul I meet.
