How to read a difficult novel

You’re stuck with a difficult novel, either because you wish to improve yourself or because your university or school requires you to read it? Follow these tips to get to grips with it!

When reading classical literature, it’s often the casethat a particular text may feel impenetrable. The language may be old-fashioned, the syntax complex, or it may be particularly heavy onrhetorical devices which might make it difficult for you to understand. Perhapseven the subject matter feels completely remote and boring to you.

The thing is, you know that you probably should read them, or if not, they’re almost always part of the required reading at school or university. Whether Joyce’s Ulysses, Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury or Woolf’sMrs Dalloway, you’re sure to struggle at some point in your life.

But it needn’t be that way. We’ve all been there, and chances are you’ll always stumble across another difficult novel at some point in your life after you’ve completed the one you’re currently brooding over.With the right tips, however, you can at least ensure that you understand mostof it – and perhaps even find it enjoyable.

Prepare the reading

A lot of the authors who wrote the ‘classics’ we read lived in very different times and in very different circumstances. Having but a basic understanding of the cultural context of your novel is therefore very important and may give you a leeway into the novel. Read up on the author on Wikipedia ordo some research on his or her ‘school’ of literature. Historical context is also very important. Knowing a little bit about the psychological aftermath of WWI before tackling Mrs Dalloway, forinstance, can go a long way.

Most importantly, however, read up on the novel itself. Things such as its publication date, its background, how the ideas came about, what the novel’s themes are, can all help. If you don’t mind spoilers too much you might even wish to read a brief synopsis, enabling you to know roughly what’s going on while reading. I probably needn’t mention that this is not a replacement for actually reading it.

Don’t look up every word you don’t understand

Although it may seem counterintuitive to understanding a difficult text, do try to avoid looking up each and every word you don’t understand. It severely breaks the flow of your reading process and may end updemotivating you until you give up. Instead, try to gather its meaning from thecontext of the text, or else just skip it – chances are it’s not that importantin the long run anyway.

However, do look up words which are important – such as when they’re mentioned several times throughout the novel, for instance. If you skip one which turns out to be important later, you can always return to it. But the main thing is to keep yourself motivated and keep going – on firstreading you’re trying to get the wider picture, not the minor details.

Mark important passages

Use either a text marker or, if you don’t want to ruin the book, place small bookmarks (sticky notes are ideal) throughout the novel at locations you wish to reread either because you think they’re important or because you just enjoy them. Even the most difficult classic usually contains at least some passages which speak to you or amuse you and which are well worth re-reading.

That way you’ll also gather a sense of the scope of the book and remember where what happened and when – aside from starting to determine some passages which may be useful in an essay later on. Appreciate the novel for what it is and do this as often as necessary – or as often as you see fit.

Try not to skim the text

Unlike individual words, which you should feel free to skip when necessary, try to avoid doing the same for larger chunks of text. Novels build up, after all, and chances are you’ll want to retain everything to make sure you’re keeping up with the plot, characters, and the underlying subject matter. Skimming the texts means that you risk of missing the juicy bits.

Of course, you may find this difficult at first, especially if you read a particularly difficult text or if you don’t usually read classical novels. If it helps, try doing short bits at one point at a time and then return back after a short break of a few minutes. Nobody will kill you for taking your time with a difficult novel, and if you’re at school chances are you’ll have plenty of time anyway for each text.

it is a particularly difficult text or if you’re not used to reading classical novels. If it helps, try doing short bits at one point at a time and then return back after a short break of a few minutes. Nobody will kill you for taking your time with a difficult novel, and if you’re at school chances are you’ll have plenty of time anyway for each text.

Try to enjoy it

Last – and most important – try to enjoy the text. Treat it like you would any other novel. After all, as works of art they’re primarily meant to be enjoyed, in some form or other. Don’t worry too much about analysing it when reading it for the first time, but just try to flow with the sound of the words, the imagery and the plotline – as a timeless classic, it’s most likely full to the brim with great stuff.

The primary reason you may find yourself not enjoying a novel is because of the archaic language. Even novels written in the early 20^thcentury can feel very foreign to us now. But if you stick with it and read it at your leisure – while maintaining an open mind – chances are you’ll grow used to the language and enjoy the novel consequently. What’s even better: the more often you practice, the more likely it is you’ll relish the next novel even more.

Closing thoughts

Of course, there’s never a guarantee you’ll like a novel, even if you do manage to understand everything. It may just not be to your personal taste in terms of writing, or the plot may be too far from your personal experiences for it to speak to you in any way. But by following these tips, you’ll at least have the means at your disposal to approach it.

Did you find these tips helpful? Anything to add? Then please leave a comment. Otherwise, why not share it on social media? Then click on one of the tender buttons below.

It’s How You Say It: Top Essay Writing Tips

Writing an essay on a given topic – whether for school, university, or for any other reason – can often feel overwhelming. There are just too many things to keep in mind; too many things to pay attention to. These tips should give you a head-start in kicking off your next essay project.

So, you’ve figured out how to read poetry. You’ve understood the ins and outs of metre. You might even have considered a range of material to write about. But the idea of turning everything into a fluent essay immediately stops you in your tracks. What to do?

It’s true that many students see essay-writing as a stain on their experience at university. As that one annoying thing they have to do besides reading and enjoying themselves. To them, it often just seems like the necessary evil on the pathway towards a degree.

And it’s completely understandable. After all, anything which is assessed and can mean either pass or failure is sure to paralyse anyone’s enthusiasm. But it doesn’t have to be that way. To assist you in your essay-writing endeavours, I’ve compiled a list with several tips you can do to ensure you not only succeed in writing good essays but perhaps even enjoy writing them.

Why not a step-by-step guide?

The problem with step-by-step guides is twofold. First, every writer works differently, and second, every topic is different. Exact guidelines on how to approach each essay are therefore not only less useful than you might think, but can even be rather counter-productive.

In terms of student individuality, some people like to do complete their research entirely before writing. Others like to write while researching. Others write a complete draft just containing their own ideas before they then fit the research around it. A step-by-step guide would assume that you work exactly the way I do.

In terms of topic individuality, there are also huge differences. When writing on poetry, for instance, you might wish to focus largely on a close reading of the text. When discussing primarily (literary) theory, the amount of secondary literature might be greater. Again, a concise guide on how to write an essay might not take differences into account.

Use guidebooks – but very sparingly

If you’re a particularly industrious student, you may consider buying some guidebooks to help you in your essay-writing endeavours. After all, why not? There are many good ones out there, such as How to Get a First, First Class Essays or the Study Skills Handbook.

But after having read some of them myself, I would strongly urge you to limit yourself to one or two at the most. They often contain some really good general advice, but other than that, a lot of their general material is just common sense – such as grammar rules, common mistakes, and yes, often step-by-step guides.

Ideally, you should pick up a lot from these books during the first year at university, and just buy one for reference. It’s probably wiser investing your time in trial-and-error, rather than reading more or less the same material over and over again.

Select the right topic

If you’re at school, you may think this is a bit of a downer. One of the big differences between A-levels and university is the privilege of being able to choose your own topic. But even if you don’t have that liberty, it’s no reason to despair – most topics do actually get more interesting than they seem to be at first sight, and teachers try to nudge you towards a better understanding. Looking into your essay diligently and researching well may put you leaps ahead of everyone else, allowing you to understand really difficult stuff and enjoy the work a lot more.

If you do have the privilege, you may find that, without a doubt, selecting the correct essay topic or question is the single most important thing to do before you start. It takes a lot more responsibility since you’re in charge of your own degree of understanding the subject matter. No matter what you think your lecturer would like to read most, there’s actually only one way to go about it: choose something you enjoy.

It seems to be a fundamental psychological issue. Work unrelated to our own interests generally doesn’t motivate us, so only by writing about something you actually enjoy will you be able to motivate yourself, in the long run, to do well. After all, you’ll be spending a great deal of time researching your topic. If it puts you to sleep, how can you expect to be concentrated all the time?

The same thing can be said for the selection of your essay question. If it’s bland, obvious or has been done before, you may struggle to work with it efficiently. Instead, choose an interesting one and mould it in the direction you wish to go. At university level, most questions are posed in a way which allows you to alter them ever so slightly and do what you’ll enjoy.

Flow with your guts, not with the stream. Your teacher is more likely to give you a good mark if you’ve done your own topic well than if you half-heartedly produced something which happens to take the currently popular perspective on any given text. Do what feels right to you, not what academia currently considers ‘in’.

Know where to find research material

You’d be surprised how many students struggle to find the right material. But in our day and age, that needn’t be the case. Libraries, as I noted elsewhere, are an excellent go-to place for books. For academic purposes, obviously use academic libraries (such as the Senate House in London).

But with the internet, you may not even have to leave your room to do your research. You should probably be able to find most things online if you know where to look. Academic indexes are the best resource you have since they often provide material from journals for free (provided you have academic access from your university).

Google Scholar is an obvious one. Personally, I’m also a great fan of JSTOR and muse. DOAJ is probably the most advanced open access index out there with a focus on research journals, and OAPEN has an excellent open access book collection. It may take you some time to work out the best way to find the most useful texts, but once you’ve mastered your index of choice, you will find an almost limitless supply of essay inspiration.

There are, of course, many more, and some subject-specific ones (PMC for medicine or PsycINFO for psychology, for instance). It’s always good to be aware of any indexes out there and to figure out how to use them. When in doubt, ask your lecturer which services they tend to use.

Work efficiently and reward yourself

You probably know the type. Or are of the type yourself? Those who are so undisciplined that they force themselves to go to the library each day – and end up spending their time there watching YouTube videos or browsing social media.

The truth is, many students work inefficiently and just go to the library to calm their conscience and to claim they’re working all the time. In reality, it shouldn’t matter too much where you work, as long as you are actually working. Of course, this is difficult to do.

Try to set up your own work-reward system. Promise yourself a reward if you work concentrated for a certain amount of time. Don’t reward yourself if you don’t meet your goal. And take regular breaks in-between to maintain concentration – say, one hour of concentrated reading and then 10 minutes of social media as a reward.

Don’t start too late

There’s no excuse for this one. You know the reading list in advance and the questions are usually handed out just after reading week. The number of students who still don’t start work on their essays until much later – around Christmas or Easter – is insane.

By (efficiently) working on essays you’re already studying better than you would when just looking over your notes repeatedly, so why not use your ‘regular’ revision time for essay work? That way you won’t end up with too little time and have more time to enjoy yourself during the holidays.

Also, that way you’re motivating yourself because you begin to accumulate tangible results during the ongoing academic year. Not to mention that your nerves will thank you as well since you avoid the stress of last-minute essay-writing entirely.

Look after yourself

If you follow the advice of the previous two points, you’ll end up with much more time for personal pleasure than before – so use it to look after yourself. No more overnight work for last-minute essays. You’ll have plenty of time to sleep soundly and eat healthily.

You’ll also have a better conscience when enjoying yourself. Worked hard all week? Then there’s no reason not to go to a club, to a concert, to play a game, to read a book for pleasure. If you work efficiently and look after yourself, you’ll have a much better work-life balance.

Write well

There’s nothing more annoying than yet another essay which is written in essaynese rather than English. It’s a dreadful trend – all of the conventions in essay-writing stifle any form of creativity the medium ought to have. Anything along the lines of stupid phrases (‘In this essay, I would like to…’) to unnecessarily complex words fall under this category.

Why not, instead, try to write well? Obviously not with colloquial language, but good language which you’d still not be afraid to use every day. Write clearly, concisely, and try to make sense in what you write. Never go overboard with words nobody would ever use. A well-researched essay doesn’t need them, and it might even leave the impression that you’re hiding a bad argument behind confusing language.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use technical terms correctly – of course you should. But it does mean that you should avoid stifling your own expressive power by writing in a way which just seems to scream ‘I’m clever’ and more likely than not will annoy your examiner.

Think

In-between all the research, planning and writing, it’s surprising how many students forget to take their time to think actively about their project. But it’s during active thinking that many of the best ideas come about, so actually putting time aside for this is a great way to push forward your argument.

I think the reason so many fail to do so may be related to the feeling of not doing anything. You’re not jotting down notes, you’re not putting pen to paper – so it seems like a waste of time. But in reality, without actually stopping to grasp what your thoughts on your topic are, chances are you’ll just reproduce the ideas from secondary sources.

Consequently, I’d recommend that you really do take it slowly and think actively about what you’ve just read, what you’ve just written, and look closely at the text you’re analysing – ideally word for word if you’re hooked enough to do so.

Structure your essay, but be flexible

If you’re still at school, you sadly will have rather clear-cut structures when it comes to your essays. At university, you definitely shouldn’t maintain the formulaic methods you learned at school, but you do still need to have some structure (and if it’s the result of inventing one of your own). Anything goes, really. The thing is, it has to make sense for your topic.

In the end, an essay has to make one central argument. And to convince your readers of your argument, your essay needs a structure which builds towards it. Everything should add to the argument and demonstrate that you’ve thought it through.

But also don’t be afraid to be flexible. If things aren’t working out the way you thought they would, add a different point, or cut something out. Or shift things around a bit. The trick is to find the ideal structure for the topic at hand that you’re working on.

Closing thoughts

These are just some of the general pieces of advice I’ve picked up after 4 years of studying a subject in the Arts & Humanities. No doubt there is much more to learn, but that’s essentially why you’re at school or university– to perfect the art of writing an essay.

Can you think of any other tips one might add? Anything you disagree with? Then please leave a comment. Otherwise, if you enjoyed this post, why not share it on the social media of your choice? Then click on one of the tender buttons below.

To All Bookworms: Where To Get Your Next Fix

Is there anything better than the thrill of finding the next book that is going to engage your fantasy, teach you something new, or simply make your dull commute a bit more enjoyable?

While reading is hardly the most expensive hobby out there, it certainly can feel rather costly if you buy the newest bestseller every other week and fight your way through it within just a few days. And then there is the insane satisfaction of leafing through beautiful, lovely smelling books at your local book store and leaving with a heavy literary load but a considerably lighter wallet. Within just a few months you might realise that you’ve spent hundreds of pounds on books.

But it doesn’t have to be like that. There are many locations people can go to find great deals on cheap books, or even get books for free. And with the internet, there are plenty of other possibilities to get affordable reading material which should serve you for years to come.

So without much further ado, here’s a list of some of the best ways to get a free or cheap book in 2018.

Libraries

Yes, libraries are the good old-fashioned way to go about getting free books. Not to keep, of course, but you can often extend the duration of your loan and they usually have a beautiful collection which are sorted according to different categories, neatly ordered and only waiting for you to grab them.

Libraries are a wonderful place. It’s all about sharing the written word: returning the books when you no longer need them so that somebody else can read. Most libraries also accept donations, so if you have a heap of books you no longer need, do make the best use of this service.

Of course, you may think of libraries as a rather dusty and dull place. However, many of them have gone with the times. Nowadays many of them are done up really nicely, are clean, well-ordered and well worth spending time at.

While some are struggling, you’re more likely than not to have one in your home town. If you’re lucky enough to live in a city like London, there are more libraries than the eye can see – from small ones such as the Camberwell Library to the British Library (the largest one in the world!), there’s something for everyone.

The larger libraries often also host other types of events. The British Library features frequent exhibitions and various talks on book-related topics. Smaller libraries, too, offer things such as readings and related smaller events. So there’s really no reason not to make use of this resource – it may be old-fashioned, but it’s still highly usable.

2nd-hand bookshops

If you really feel you must own a book, but want to avoid the strain on your wallet, then 2nd-hand bookshops are your option. Most towns in the UK have one, and again, if you live in London there are literally hundreds to choose from – and many of them are absolutely delightful. Charing Cross Road alone features so many that you could spend hours browsing through old copies of your favourite books.

Like libraries, many 2nd-hand bookshops also accept donations, so if you’d like your old friends to find a more private and immediate home than a library, then this is another good option to go for. There are really worse things to do than to support an important, but small trade.

There’s something touching and sweet about 2nd-hand books. They have their own peculiar smell and you know the book you’ve bought for just £2 or £3 received much love before. It’s really a great way to save money and will serve you well for many years to come.

Lastly, the atmosphere in 2nd-hand bookshops feels a lot more homely than in traditional book stores. You may meet interesting people who share your love of the written word. The shopkeepers are usually truly passionate about what they do, and chances are you’ll discover a volume that has been out of print for many years, making a trip to one a unique experience.

Gutenberg

If you don’t mind using e-books and read primarily classics (for whatever reason), then gutenberg.org is the go-to place for you! Featuring tens of thousands of free e-books, this website serves to spread the accessibility of reading material which no longer has a copyright.

Run by a host of volunteers who do all the digitalisation, proofreading and conversion to other formats, Gutenberg is an amazing project which lives on donations. There are no charges and the books are available in a variety of formats: kindle, mobi, epub, html and more.

Chances are you’ll discover a huge range of reading material you’d never have considered before, and as an ongoing project, you can even easily get involved by digitalising more books, offering translations or donating a little to help them with their online presence.

E-book stores

If you’re not too fond of classics but still don’t mind reading e-books, most large book chains feature online stores to help you in that regard. E-books are usually cheaper than print versions (since there are no printing costs), so you’ll be able to find a good deal on most of the recent bestsellers.

Amazon Kindle Store is probably the largest with the lowest prices on e-books and thus worthy a recommendation. Just note that they only sell books in their own in-house format, rather than the industry standard epub. Also note that rumours speak of Amazon’s shady business practices, so if you’d rather not support that, go for another option.

Other large e-book stores are Kobo Books, Google Play, eBooks.com and Waterstone’s – Waterstone’s own personal brand. Many of them also feature free or very low priced books for the classics, which is another good reason to use them.

Of course, an e-book robs you of the wonderful experience of smelling and feeling the printed page and you won’t be able to add another treasure to your bookshelf, but they are a brilliant way of having a number of books with you wherever you go – and can in fact be quite addictive.

For poetry lovers: Poetry Foundation

Of course, all above sources are perfectly usable for poetry lovers. But if you’re into poetry, the Poetry Foundation is an additional resource to access free material. The advantage? Sometimes you just want to read one poem rather than browse through a whole volume.

The Poetry Foundation features a huge amount of free pieces, sorted by theme, poet or school of poetry, making it very intuitive to navigate through. And the poems are all featured on their own website, so just navigate to the poet you’d like to read, select one – and there you go!

Since poetry doesn’t particularly adhere to the industry, it’s also possible to find a range of poetry on there which is still copyrighted – even a select few contemporary poets. With frequent updates and the occasional essay, the Poetry Foundation is a definite website to bookmark.

Closing thoughts

If you use just one or several of these resources, you should probably never fall short of having something to read again. In 2018, reading material is more accessible than it has ever been before – so why not make the best use of it?

Can you think of any other sources I might have featured in this list? Anything to add? And what are your thoughts on classical vs e-books? Then please leave a comment below. Otherwise, why not share this post on the social media of your choice? If you desire to do so, please click on one of the tender buttons below.

What is inspiration?

Even though this might not be the most inspired of blog entries itself, I feel as though a few things need to be said about this topic, if just to clarify some of the most common tips on writing we read every day.

We all know the contrast between the common misconception of the artist’s work – ‘you need to be inspired’; ‘it just comes to you’ – and the general advice on how to become a published writer – ‘don’t wait for inspiration’; ‘just do it’.

Of course, the latter is sound advice. We are long beyond the Romantics and the conception of the individual genius to whom inspiration just happens to come. It has never been true in history, no matter how talented the individual might be. Indeed, they, too, had to achieve an education, went through years of learning, writing, re-writing, editing, getting feedback, etc. They didn’t wait for inspiration – they just worked. They just wrote. They got shit done.

This does raise the question of where inspiration comes from. Or even more fundamentally, it raises the question what inspiration even is.

I suppose the type of inspiration which non-artists expect writers to have is synonymous with the ‘Eureka-feeling’, the feeling of enjoying a nice cup of tea or a bath and suddenly having a lightning strike your brain. You suddenly have the perfect idea, and from then on, it’s just about writing it down.

The thing is, this just doesn’t happen. The Eureka-feeling never strikes those who haven’t put in any effort. It’s a by-product of hard work. From my own academic and creative experience, I know that I put a lot of research and thinking into a project, and then, through conscious and subconscious musings about the project, I might be struck with a small Eureka-moment in form of the perfect formulation for a specific sentence, paragraph or argument. I don’t know of anyone who just ‘happened’ to get the same feeling without trying.

Of course, this might just be me, but, as I said, I don’t know any examples of the contrary. It shows us that the work comes first, and the Eureka-moment later. But what is inspiration, then? Possibly not much more than the amount of work and time you put into your creativity.

If you’re writing creatively, rather than academically, the need for work still applies. But it takes on a different form. You read material on how to write (improving your writing concretely), and you read novels, poems, short stories etc. from other writers (inspiring you with their writing and ideas). At the same time, you are musing – consciously and subconsciously – about your own writing, leading you one day to the desired feeling of Eureka. That’s why accomplished writers seem to have a never-ending stream of good ideas: they’re constantly thinking about their writing, consciously and subconsciously; everything they do goes into their writing, and, consequently, the Eureka-moments stack up.

In other words, inspiration is nothing more or less than the work you put in which will lead to the final product of your creative effort. This is probably why we always advise novice writers to read. Not only because, to be a writer, you start out as a reader, and certainly not because we advise them to copy & paste ideas, but just because it’s work which will ‘inspire’ them in some way.

Of course, the precise way it inspires you can take on many different forms. In poetry it’s easy to see: so many discoveries and developments have taken place throughout the course of literary history that to assume a person can become great without a huge amount of effort is about as likely to succeed as placing a child in front of a piano and hoping for it to become the next Lang Lang without training. Poets become good because they work at their craft, not because they have some mystical, otherworldly power.

In fiction, the same applies. You might not read much because of time constraints, but just reading good, published sentences, well-structured plots, well-constructed worlds etc. will necessarily influence you in beneficial ways.

And, as artists, we can take inspiration from elsewhere as well. It’s no secret that we are all inspired by a great deal – music we hear (just google for ‘best inspiration music for artists/ writers/’ – whatever), paintings we see, conversations we overhear (or hopefully lead ourselves), or life events which we deem worthy to be put into a novel. Everything is – or can become – inspiration.

Hell, I discovered recently that I can even find an ugly, run-down and abandoned industrial building inspiring. The blog post itself is creative and might very well ‘inspire’ me to write about it in another form – a poem, a short story – by using the sentiments I came up with in the report. Indeed, this is the reason I started my blog in the first place: not to spread my work, but to inspire myself and to help others be inspired (also part of the reason why there are more guides and tips on here than examples of my own writing).

In summary? The advice, ‘don’t wait for inspiration’ is excellent for anyone serious about wanting to become an artist. But it is only half of the message. It doesn’t just mean that you should get off your butt and start writing, but it also means that you can easily take all aspects of your day to day life and use them as inspiration for your art. In short, the advice ‘inspires’ you to do two things: start writing, and start living consciously.

A Brief Note on Talent

You’re probably wondering by now – and quite rightly so – what I think about talent. It’s true: some people seem to slave away the way I described above, and still don’t manage to achieve anything. Others seem to work a lot less and still come up with great pieces of art. So yes, I do agree that talent has a major part to play in the creation of something beautiful. The problem is: it’s almost impossible to quantify.

Consider this: most people don’t work effectively. They may deceive themselves into thinking that they are working five hours straight on their novel, but in many cases, they are working at around 5% efficiency. Others might put in fewer hours but work at closer to 50% efficiency. Discipline is a separate skill to work at, I’m afraid.

The same can be said of the learning process. Some people just haven’t developed their learning capabilities, resulting in them spending hours doing the same mistakes over and over again, whereas others learn effectively, making it seem as though they develop quicker than others.

In other words, many cases of talent versus no talent might just be down to an inefficient use of the time you invest. Someone with a lot of talent who never works will not become a good writer. Someone with no talent who works a lot might also not become a good writer. But someone who puts in a lot of effective work and has some talent will at least become a decent writer.

Do you disagree? Something to add? Then please leave a comment! Otherwise, please do share it on the social media of your choice by clicking on one of the tender buttons below.

Why the Artist doesn’t Matter

Thinking about this topic as the foundation for another post, I was wondering where to start. It could end up being annoyingly ‘academic’ – especially considering big names such as Roland Barthes (The Death of the Author) or Michel Foucault (What is an Author) dominate the discussion.

But I don’t want to bore you. Or myself for that matter. After all, this blog is not about academic debates; it’s about the arts. And much can be said about this topic for people who are seeking pure enjoyment without referring to critical theory.

To put it quite bluntly: when you’re looking at a work of art for pleasure, often the artist just doesn’t matter too much when trying to understand or enjoy it. It works the other way, as well: if you’re an artist, the artwork is often more than just a mirror of your personality. You’re a creator, after all.

So here I list several reasons why I believe this to be the case. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t appreciate the artist who created a piece you enjoy; if you’re an artist it certainly doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t put a piece of yourself in your darlings. But it does mean that you should separate the text from its author.

Reasons for viewers of the art

The personality of the artist might not be in the art

A work of art is a complicated construction, a product of many hours (days, months, years…) of intense effort in making something new and interesting. In the process, part of the personality of the artist may become part of the work of art – but never the whole personality. On top of that, sometimes the work might not include aspects of the artist’s personality at all, but be entirely fictional, based on something the artist made up or researched.

The more complicated the work of art, the more difficult it becomes to see exactly where the artist’s personality shines through. Art is often too complex to be just a reflection of its author, even if the personality is partly or wholly contained within.

Artists often work on a subconscious level

Many artists will tell you that, while they put a huge amount of effort into their work, much of it is done on a subconscious level. It might involve a memory they’re not entirely sure of, a belief they don’t consciously know they hold, or a form of technical finesse which flows into the art without awareness. For this reason, equating the artist’s intention with the finished work of art is not always possible.

Lives are complicated

If you think about your own life and realise how complicated it is, it doesn’t take much of a leap of faith to realise that the artist’s life is probably just as complicated. Therefore, to see some part of the text, painting or music as the same as an event in the artist’s life is futile; it might just be a coincidence.

Art is often selective; artists pick key details to bring their point/ feeling across – a single painting, an aria which lasts for five minutes, or a poem which contains 50 lines probably won’t contain the entire revelation of a complicated personality.

Of course, art can be complex, but lives are too complicated to be incorporated entirely in a single work of art.

Artists often put on masks

In many cases, especially in the literary arts, artists put on masks to explore a topic or feeling from a different point of view than their own. They seek to evoke the sensibility of the character they are speaking through, not to proclaim their own thoughts and emotions.

In such cases, any given interpretation of the art might be completely different to the one the artist has in mind, or it might explore a view contrary to the artist’s opinion – just based on the artist’s interest in the portrayed persona.

Reasons for the artist

You’re creating a work of art, not an opinion piece

So, you have a philosophical theory which will change the way we think forever? An idea which will improve our lives? Wonderful! Then write an essay. You might very well include it in your artwork, but if your aim is to convince people of something, you might want to write in a medium which is suitable to convince, rather than one which is often used to make people feel a certain way.

In the end, the only thing which matters is what people see in the work of art. They can’t read your mind and guess what arguments led you to your conclusion, and they usually approach art form a different angle than, for example, an essay.

The reverse is also true: if you include a whole range of arguments in the artwork, it probably feels more like an essay and will be treated accordingly. It doesn’t mean that your opinions don’t matter – but it does mean that if your artwork doesn’t include the entirety of an argument, your underlying ideas don’t matter to what you’ve put on the paper, canvas, or in the music. Only what your text actually says reaches the reader.

Your private life may be fascinating – but it doesn’t make the art good

You might have had the most fascinating life. The most tragic of love affairs. The most hilarious of comedic occurrences. Great! But if it isn’t presented in the work of art, it just isn’t relevant.

If you have someone read your poem, listen to your instrumental piece, or see your abstract painting, it just doesn’t matter what you experienced – only what the art says is contained within the art.

It’s always great when something inspires you profoundly, but don’t assume that the weight of your experience automatically makes your art good; you still need to present the end-product well. Which, in the end, sadly means that your personal life doesn’t matter to the viewer of your art (unless the art is a biography, I suppose).

Your intentions may be fascinating – but they don’t make the art good, either

This is, essentially, the same point as the previous one. You might have noble intentions with your work, a brilliant idea, an intoxicating experience you wish to transmute to your reader. Great!

But your intentions and ideas must be contained within the art. If your art only works with additional explanations to outline the intentions, it has failed as art. Only what the viewer can see, read, or hear directly is important; everything else can only add minutely to the understanding of what’s being seen. Nothing that can be written about art should be more interesting than looking at the art.

Art is creative and thus involves creation

Use your imagination – you are more than the sum of your life experiences. There is little in this world which is more complicated than human existence, and we are capable of learning new things, reading and listening to others, and combining this input in creative works to synthesise something new which touches the viewer in some way.

Therefore, you are not limited to your immediate experience. Artists have written about things not immediately personal forever. It does mean that you must go through the pesky process of creating something good, of course, which is self-contained and capable of evoking the emotions when you’re not present and the viewer knows absolutely nothing about you.

Perhaps the title of this post is unfair: the artist matters a great deal! Without the artist, there is no work of art, plain and simple. You are capable of combining the whole range of all parts of your identity and transforming it into something which moves others in some way – take pride in that! But don’t be a helicopter artist; allow your audience to live on their own, develop, and dare to speak even when you’re not there.

Closing words

Inspiration is a great thing, and it is fascinating to see where an artist comes from, but it doesn’t provide us with immediate information on how to interpret or understand the text. The artist might be exploring the same themes he or she experienced in life, but they are not to be taken to be the same thing.

If you are viewing art and equate x from the art with y from the artist, you are doing both an injustice – a lot more work and effort might very well have gone and probably did go into the construction of the piece you are witnessing. Therefore, most ‘I’s in a poem are not just the poet, not all depictions of suffering in a painting are identical to the artist’s experience, and not all tortured moments of tension within music are based on the personal suffering of the composer. They’re probably related, yes – but they might also be more than the pure expression of the artist’s personality. The artist isn’t his or her art, and the art isn’t the artist – both can be so much more than merely a part of each other! Because the artist can give the audience more room to tickle out those differences is precisely why he or she does matter.

Do you agree or disagree? Is there anything else I didn’t think about which should be added to the post? Then please leave me a comment and we can start a dialogue. Otherwise, please share it on social media by clicking on one of the tender buttons below.