Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

The Dust from whence it Came or The Song of their Spirits

The Dust from Whence it came... or the Song of their Spirits

I have written before about the science and art of writing. In school most all the emphasis is placed on the science. This is to say that you learn about vocabulary, grammar, spelling and structure. Those who learn best how to follow the rules get the good grades and so on. For those who have an affinity for the science of writing the system tells them, you have a talent for writing and are a budding master of the form.

What you are not told is that the science of writing is like the ante in a poker game. When you have a manuscript you feel is worthy of publication and send it in to a publisher, the science part is taken for granted. If there are issues with the science the manuscript is thrown in the discard heap.

For those who aspire to become published the science must come first before the art has any hope of lifting the manuscript to the next level. For example say a publisher gets one hundred submissions. Half of these fail the science test. The other half then is evaluated using the “Art” criteria. Of the fifty remaining maybe 5 will pass this subjective hurdle.

This is why getting published is so hard. Most aspiring authors can’t pass the science test and only a handful of those have the artistic potential to make the second cut. By this I mean you might have gotten straight “A’s and have a closet full of masters degree’s and know the science backwards and forwards but if you have no talent, if your writing is deficient in art, the publisher will throw your manuscript into pile number two.

What is art? begs the question….Art is my watercolor teacher painting five leaves in ten seconds, with a light touch of her brush that I could attempt to duplicate for a hundred years and never come close. It is a gift from our creator. If you love writing and are a master of the science there is a place for you in academia, or perhaps technical writing, maybe as a critic, but in the creative field of the craft I tell you, it’s a whole new ball game.

So to reach the highest rung you need to first know the science of the craft… That will get you a few rungs up the ladder. Indeed you can have all the talent in the world and if you have a poor grasp of the science it is all for naught. But science alone won’t get you there. What gets you there can’t be defined…it is subjective and murky soup, but you know what? A reader, an audience and a successful publisher usually knows it when they see it...' Incline thier ear when they hear it. They might not be able to produce it but when it materializes before their eyes or resonates in thier ears, they say “Ah Hah….there it is…".like a fragrance wafting in the air they smell it, like the glimpse of a shadow that flickers on a wall they see it in the heartbeat of a fleeting nstant and experience the glow that sings the music of the “The Real Deal.” song.

In my one act play class, I have students that are deficient in the science of the craft but who have artistic talent. One of my worst technicians was one of my best artists. If I were a publisher I wouldn’t even take the time to read what she wrote. But in my class I often see the art of these bumbling technicians. Usually they become disheartened convinced that they have no talent…that they are artless because they have little command of the science… One of my students is definitely in this category.

In Appalachia I have seen people who could not spell their names, pick up a fiddle and make the instrument come to life. I have seen curb side art that cried out for recognition. I am discouraged by the certainty of the presence of many great writers out there who will never get to first base in expressing the germ of their talent... because they can't turn the wrenches of the craft. This is the way life is. If a person is truly gifted in the art of a genre,,, the chances of being discovered are slim indeed. First they have to learn the science, then they have to be discovered and finally they have to resist the corrosive forces that seek to return the song of their spirit to the dust from whence it came.