Feb 21

Feb 21 Writing: putting your artistic pen to paper

Episode 19: While not every artist is a published writer, the job does mean you’ll have to do a little writing from time to time. In this episode Laura and Peter discuss some basic rules about writing about art, whether that’s a book, a leaflet or a social media post!

Laura and Peter discuss how writing is an important skill that is well worth learning and how through writing they both benefit in a myriad of other ways.

Making art for an artist is very rarely enough to get you to the point where you are selling art. Nearly everyone in the creative sphere will also need to communicate too and in this week's podcast Laura and Peter discuss how writing is an important skill that is well worth learning. Both of them write for magazines, both have written books, both write for their social media - they are both earning some of their living from writing and through writing they both benefit in a myriad of other ways.

In this episode…

Writing comes with the territory; all artists need to be able to write about their work in some way. Accept that there will be some writing to be done, but don’t overthink things. Your simple honest voice as the artist is what’s needed, not a fancy literary style or, as Peter says, any arty bollocks!
No need to go after writing a book, or pitch to write articles for publications unless you actually enjoy it. Writing professionally for money comes with responsibilities like deadlines, word counts and fact checking, so be sure you are up for the business responsibilities as well as the creativity if you choose this path.
Everything you publish (website, social media, leaflets, marketing mails) represents your brand, so be consistent and professional. Friendly, simple and engaging are the virtues to aim for in your writing. Don’t use jargon, unless it’s a specific term for your technique and you have the space to explain. Never be tempted to plagiarise another artist’s writing.
Marketing material calls for clear, brief and up to date information. Forego descriptive writing in favour of clear, colourful photographs and make sure contact details, website etc are current. Bin out of date leaflets and get new ones when needed; saving on waste is always good, but in this instance old stock will just make you look unprofessional.
Stories engage and sell, please make use of entertaining stories when you can. We are hard wired to learn through storytelling so never be afraid to share a tale or two when writing. Do keep stories brief, entertaining and relevant - unless you are writing a proper shaggy dog story!
Always take the time to go back, reread and edit work. Reading out loud is a good way to check everything is correctly spelt and that the wording flows. Once you have edited the work, try and get it checked by someone else for a second opinion. A good rule of thumb is that the longer and more complex the writing, the more you will need to edit it and the more people should be involved in its proof reading.