Muse and Mischief

So I was an artist before I was a writer. Well, I was trying to be a professional artist before a professional author. There is a distinction. In truth I have been creating stories since I was in grade school. I just didn’t start really buckling down and learning my craft until the mid 2000s when my cousin got me into screenwriting. That is where I really started learning about story structure and plotting. 

I read all the books I could get my hand on from Linda Seger, Phil McKee, Syd Field, and Blake Snyder. I wrote several screenplays and submitted to some competitions before life got in the way and I stopped writing consistently. 

One thing I think that helped me get better in my writing was what I learned as a visual artist. When I first started drawing and painting I started out trying to make the finished product. Another way to say it is that I started with the details before the structure. 

It wasn’t until I went to art school that I really learned about the importance of structure and the concept of layering. There is a reason why artists will start with sticks, then shapes, and then move on to detail. It is to build a solid structure before you start putting in the finer details. 

If you start drawing a person by drawing their body with all the clothes, creases, and minute details by the time to go from the arms to the legs you might find your proportions are off and have to erase a bunch of work or start over. 

But by starting with a stick figure you can get a good estimate of the proportions, body posing, and the flow of the form before you start putting some meat on those bones. 

Then I start putting in the masses like the skull, the torso, waist, upper and lowers legs/arms. Once you have the dimensions of the body figured out then you start filling in the face, clothes, and finer details. 

It may seem like more work, more steps, but it actually saves a lot of time spent on rework and frustration. 

I found that the same concept applies to writing. I start with the initial idea or a gesture sketch. Then I start working on a basic plot and general character ideas or the stick figure. Once I get a handle on that I start expanding into character back stories and arcs, story structure, and theme. After all of that foundation then I can actually start writing the story or filling in dimensions and finer details. 

Through my practice of visual art I gained a better appreciation for the extra steps I need to take in building the solid foundation for my story. I guess I have more patience for it because of my experience in visual art. 

How about y’all? Are there any other artists who play in visual and written artforms? What benefits have you found in your work on one from your time with the other?