Writing: A process or an art?

I'm posting this out of curiosity. In English class (which I hate), we are forced into writing essays. I've only ever received two creative writing assignments in my life, one in fifth grade(I'm a United Statesian, so no "years" or whatever you call them here ), and the other in ninth. Why is this so devalued? Along with other things like how to write letters/emails and things about communication? But that stuff aside, my teachers always refer to writing as a process. And now, yes, you could say it is both a process and an art(whatever an "art" is; math is a process, and IMO, an "art").

So my point here is, what IS writing? Is it something that we should work methodically through and teach it like that? The things that I feel have always helped me the most in improving is analyzing not the themes or the symbolism in a book, but the implementation of these things. Writing is taught in this birds eye view, that "good writers do x," and that "this way is wrong." It's the little things that make a piece great. What do others think about how it's taught/how it should be? My question here is to know what others think about writing; what is the most important part; what is your process, and is there a right way; is there one specific process we allow subconsciously follow?

The title's a little misleading, but this isn't really supposed to be a holy war about "what is an art; and is writing one?" It just sounds good.

PS: You may also rage about why you hate your English class. That helps a lot too, especially if you can't quite get your point into non-rage words.

--ShadowKnight

I basically think that writing is an art. You might argue otherwise, for it requires knowledge of how to write, but painting also requires knowledge, and it is certainly an art. Whether you are writing a creative essay or a tiresome document, there is still art involved, for there are many different ways to use language to convey your point.

I think that creative writing should be taught more, for it teaches us how to write in other formats also. It increases a person's creativity and is also a little fun and educational. It is what gave inspired me to become interested in learning advanced English.

In my English class, 50% of what we write are notes. We read poetry, Shakespeare, How Many Miles To Babylon, and were even required to watch and analyse Children of Men, but in the end we had to take down notes on all of it, as well as answer what appear to be rhetorical questions. Although it is sometimes interesting, I do not enjoy most of it. When we actually do creative writing, the topic is usually pre-defined for us, so there is not that much creativity involved.

I think every artist has a process for his/her own style. No painter just sits down and randomly starts swirling paint on a canvas. He knows what colour creates certain effects and what brush strokes would make his painting come alive. Writers are the same way. Through experimentation, we discover the connotations of different words, how to linguistically describe images we have either seen in person or in imagination.
My English department teaches us the process of writing good essays that clearly make a point in an organized fashion. We also learn how to use rhetorical devices and figurative language and varying sentence structure and good diction. We are expected to take those skills and apply it to all different styles of writing (which is sort of silly, if you ask me. Just because you know how to ride a bike well doesn't mean you can ride a motorcycle just because they sort of look similar).

On a sort of side note, we were discussing the banning of books in English last year, and we read "In the Night Kitchen" by Maurice Sendak, a children's book in which the main character is illustrated completely naked. My teacher's point was that "The David" is nude, and they haven't removed it from public view. And then one girl decides she wants to make me hater her, so she says, "Yes, but there's a difference between art and children's books." Lucky for her, the bell rang right before I bit off her head. Long response shortened, writing is an art just like painting or drawing or sculpting. We use images in our heads and transfer them to other people through different mediums: paint, pencil, clay, words. But there is a process we all go through before we present our art to other people to make it understandable for someone who doesn't live in our brain. I don't know of many authors that have written a rough draft without reading over it or making any edits and published it.

-Sea-

Searria H., I agree that there is some process that we probably all follow, but I was disappointed when your post ended so abruptly. Would you mind elaborating on what that process is, to you? Is there more than just "make draft", "read it", "fix it", "publish!"?

--ShadowKnight

You know, everything that is art is a process. Everything has a method. To paint, you need to know what brushes create which textures, what strokes hold what effect, what colours bring out the beauty and what colours wash it out. Music requires a knowledge of notes; what to hit, when to hit it and how to hit it. It requires a knowledge of rhythm. Patterns that need to be followed.

Writing is the same.

You need to know about metaphor, and when to use it and when not to use it. You need to know how to structure your sentences, where to put your punctuation. It requires knowledge of your language, spelling, grammar. You have to know how to make progress with a character. It's a process. It requires method.

Then come the outlines, the rough drafts, the good drafts, the proofreading, the editing. And yes, to be a successful writer, all of that is necessary, regardless of what you're writing. Be it poetry, short stories, novels or prose, if you want it to be the best you can be, it's best to plan it out. My outlines are all in my head- I rarely actually write them out. But rough drafts, proofreading, editing- the works.

Essays are just as much an art as a story, so long as they're done with the same care. The same passion. Articles are an art. They teach organization. How to research a project. Non-fiction is just a beautiful as fiction, and neither of the two should ever be considered less than the other.

Art requires time.

It requires method.

It requires knowledge.

It requires creativity.

It requires practice.

Art is a process, and therefore, writing is also a process, because writing is an art.

writing is an art with words.

Art is taking simple things, such as paints, pens, ink, words and making them into an idea, a feeling, a story in physical form. There is no defined process. some writers come up with characters then story ideas, then worlds. or world than characters then plot, and all sorts of mix-matched ways. Although the litereal 'how' we make stories may be called a process, writing is an art.

Unless you are diedara. Then art is an explosion ^^

Sorry, ShadowKnight, I had a rehearsal to get to and was a little rushed. *lowers head in shame*
As KatKage said, there is no defined process to writing - each writer must evolve his/her own and it may never be the same twice. Two different writers have completely different approaches to their art.
I have a different process for different genres of writing. An essay is different from a newspaper article or a creative work. If you want my personal process for creative stuff, here it (sometimes) is:

Everything has to start from an idea, which usually comes from a dream in my case. (My dreams rock. ) I get that idea down somewhere as fast as I can. I usually have "Stickies" open on my computer because that's the fastest way I can get things down. Other times I have things written on gum wrappers, napkins, math papers, or whatever else I have at hand.
Then after that I don't really have a structure for a while. If I'm ready to start freewriting, I will. If I'm having trouble getting started, I'll turn to something a little different: character development. There are several sheets online ( here is the first one that came up in my search) to help give you a direction for this. Once I have backstories for the majority of characters, I usually have a better chance at actually writing the piece. However, most of what I put on these character sheets eventually changes depending on how the character develops as I keep writing. Sometimes I'll write simple conversations between characters that never actually happen in the work itself, but are just fun. I'll write a diary entry from one character or write the same scene several times from each character's perspective. I pretty much mess around until I find something that works and that I like.
Once I have a rough draft, I'll read over it a few times, maybe send it to my sister and writing buddy. Then I like to leave it for a week or two and come back so I can read it with a little different perspective. I'm constantly editing for flow, sentence variation, and other nit-picky things. And then I'll read it again with certain points in mind like imagery, dialogue, character consistency, etc. I'm a little obsessive compulsive, so I have to be careful not to edit so much that my writing becomes a formula. Being so analytical can work to a certain degree, but it eventually starts taking away from the magic of the piece of the whole.
Now I HATE (excuse the all caps) it when our English teachers tell us to edit for figurative language and use this many similes and this many metaphors, blah, blah, blah. When I read my work, I don't think in terms of "this paragraph needs a simile, and this paragraph needs a polysyndeton." I simply don't, nor do I want to, think that way. I read it as "Am I conveying the images and feeling I intended?" I'll look at my descriptions and think "how can I make this more vivid without being incredibly purple?" Maybe a comparison will happen to pop into my head, or maybe it's better just to describe it in terms of sensory details.
I've never published anything, but up to that point, this is my process. As you can see, it doesn't have a permanent structure, but I also put a lot of thought into the work. Art is something you create and mold, it's not a straightforward as plugging numbers in and producing a product immediately.
I hope this was a little more satisfactory. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
-Sea-

It still appears, as Isha, points out, that it is a process. But, is it an unorthodox process? Does a process have a specific order? Or is it merely a guideline of requirements? Now, it's probably better to make this an argument that doesn't revolve around semantics... and I think it's obvious everyone here will call it an "Art." (Whatever that is! ) Any comments, disagreements? I guess the premise of the post I missed (not quite sure myself what it's supposed to be). So.... Lol. If anyone else has comments, they're always welcome (SEMANTICS ANYONE? Hazah!).

Most writing is art and all writing is process. I will say this. Fiction I approach as more an art, but if I'm writing say, a persuasive essay it will be pure process.

I hope I don't sound like an ass for saying this, but this question is a result of conceptual confusion. A thing is not either a "process" or an "art". The creation of all art involves a process- is a process, in fact. Art, and in this case writing, is the result of that process.

Let's be clear. A "process" is the series of actions that goes into the creation/alteration of something. Note, a series of actions. Writing, therefore, can't be a process, because it is one action, not a series. It may involve a process (the process of sitting down, picking up a pen, etc), and it may be a part of a process (the process of putting together a book: writing, editing, publishing, etc) but it is not one itself.

Art, on the other hand, is the result of the process involved in its creation. In other words, art is what is made after you've done everything involved in making it- sitting down, picking up your pen, thinking, writing, learning new techniques, editing, etc. The result of this process is the artwork: the piece of writing.

So, in short, we can say this: the act of writing is part of a process. A piece of writing is art.

TheModernLeper wrote:...[omitted]
So, in short, we can say this: the act of writing is part of a process. A piece of writing is art.

I like this a lot, well said.

I'd just like to address the point here of how you asked Creative Writing should be taught. Firstly, you're forgetting one of the greatest unwritten rules obeyed by the greatest writers who ever lived:
You cannot be a good writer without being a good reader.
Reading is how we source our inspiration, train our imagination and so on. I agree with the user who said that writing is a process and the finished piece is the art, yes, sure, but the process will not work as well if you're taught to follow a teacher's "guidelines" and such.
The process comes from your urge to write and explore your imagination - and as in physical visual art, the result is something of expression, something which people can interpret and enjoy in numerous ways. This desire to endeavour into your own mind is inspired by day-to-day life, and what you read, or watch, or hear. The thing that inspires style, writing structure and the nitty gritty little things that make literature great come from your own wider reading of other literature. I guarantee to you that the more you read the better a writer you shall be.