5 Ways To Improve Your Art Writing in 5 Minutes
by Thea Fiore Bloom, PhD
Your art buzzes with creativity; what about your art writing?
Great art writing is painless to read.
It’s the kind of writing you want to create for your website, blog or social media feed.
And it’s the kind of writing you’re capable of.
Here’s why.
Hoity-toity art writing includes long sentences filled with stacks of syllables and art jargon.
But great art writing lets go of all that.
Great art writing shares a branch or leaf of the writer’s authentic self with the reader.
We’re all capable of sharing a little leaf right? So tip one…
Art Writing Tip 1.
Allow Your Heart To Shine Out
“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.” – Hafiz (Sufi poet and mystic)
Allow one ray of the real you to shine out in each piece of writing you post.
Readers sense when you share something meaningful.
Writing as the real you is key to helping you better attract your ideal clients, supportive readers, and to just feel proud of your work.
But just how does one go about opening up and giving readers something enjoyable and helpful to read?
There is no fail-safe plan but tips 2 through 5 are a few ways I’ve stumbled upon.
Art Writing Tip 2.
Be a Better Writer: Allow Yourself To Be Funny Already
Most artists and writers I meet or interview have vivid imaginations and super senses of humor.
Yet when we write about our art we often kick our passion and playfulness right under the desk and turn out material as serious as a heart attack.
If you’ve got a funny bone, wave it around a bit.
(If you think you don’t have one, or you’re shy, that’s okay. Engage your reader with shorter sentences. Read how to do that in my post Improve Your Art Writing Overnight by Forbidding Yourself To Do 2 Things.)
Now, not everyone will think you’re a riot. But you are not aiming for EVERYONE.
You’re not Colgate-Palmolive. Your goal isn’t to have your toothpaste in every bathroom in America.
You’re a creative who needs a few of the right kind of folks to get you and your creations at the level of essence.
Art Writing Tip 3.
Great Art Writers Share Their Work Secrets
Want to gain someone’s trust?
Share a small work secret.
You can engage and support readers without being the world’s biggest authority on a topic.
Australian painter Sara Paxton’s art blog is one of the most visited in the world.
What was the topic of her most popular post thus far?
“Oddly enough, my most popular post was an article I wrote on how to get oil paint to dry quicker,” Paxton said.
“It was in response to a reader question. Eventually, you figure out to just ask people to email you and tell you what they want to learn.”
Oh, and Use Examples Often
I included the example of Paxton’s experience of the paint drying post because it helps readers better understand my point about sharing work secrets.
Examples give your writing a strong spine. Use one in every post.
After you make the main point in a post try including a mini-story that illustrates what you’re talking about.
It will increase the chances of your readers having a light bulb moment to apply to their own lives or art practice.
(Need more help beefing up your art blog? Read The Charmed Studio Post Blog Tool Kit for Artists.)
Art Writing Tip 4.
Improve Your Art Writing: Use More Visuals
“The soul speaks in images.” — Aristotle
Do you include enough beautiful or interesting images in your promotional writing?
Are you sure you include enough images of your own work?
Or images of you at work in your studio?
Or have you ever considered captivating readers by using your own simple drawings or illustrations in your written marketing?
Blogs on my own site have an average of 5-10 images per post.
I was hesitant to use this many at first. It runs afoul of prevailing marketing wisdom. But my readers are mostly artists (and they’re visual learners like me.)
They often mention to me that they love that I use “tons of images.”
(Could you use a source for open-access, stunning, centuries-old, art, maps and sky charts? Here is Apollo Magazine‘s list of museums and other archives that provide unrestricted downloads of high-resolution images.)
Stock Photos? They Can Be Lush Not Lame
What about using a few stock photos to draw in some eyeballs to your writing?
Want amazing free nature images from the BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library)? This is a great resource for painters, art journalers, collage, mixed media, and assemblage artists.
More standard, less art and science-based paid stock photo sites are popping up all over the web. Here are links to three free sites I love lately:
1. Pexels
2. Pixabay
3. Unsplash
But Why Not Take Your Own Darn “Stock” Photos?
Yes, some of the images on these sites are sublime (especially on Unsplash).
But be warned; once you look at enough not-so-great photos of hand-drawn hearts in the sand, hand-drawn hearts in snow and hand-drawn hearts on chalkboards; it may dawn on you to whip out your phone and try taking photos for your newsletter or blog yourself.
Art Writing Tip 5.
Great Art Writing Allows Other Shining Hearts to Share Your Stage
“Letting others shine their light gives you enough illumination to light your own.” ―
Finally, you could enliven and deepen your art writing and promote the work of other artists you admire at the same time.
Have you considered interviewing someone you look up to for your next post?
I get permission and share the wonderful art, writing or words of at least one artist/subscriber in every post I create. I do this for two reasons:
1. My artist/subscribers are amazingly talented. Including their work, ups the quality of my blog.
2. I just feel a rush of electric happiness inside when I help others shine.
(If you’re a subscriber and you want a work of yours on my blog, please send me links to your art website or social media so I can place something in a future post.)
Parting Thought: Allow Your Writing Practice To Be As Creative as Your Art Practice.
Use your creativity to support both the visual and written side of your art practice.
Play with allowing. Strengthen your vulnerability muscles.
I know it’s terrifying to reveal the real you to others in print.
I’m scared all the time.
For some crazy reason, I just do it anyway.
But if you can muster up the moxie to be daring I believe there’s a world out there waiting to reward you for your bravery.
Give them a chance.
“The world is not limited by I.Q. We are all limited by bravery and creativity.”
— Astro Teller (scientist)
What do you think? Got other tips to add? Put them in the Comments below.
Other Charmed Writing Posts That Can Help
Need to get yourself to write more frequently?
Read or listen to our post How Artists Can Write More Often: 1 Realization That Can Change Everything. How about getting your hands on a fantastic writing book?
Head over to The Charmed Studio’s 5 Best Books on Writing For Artists. Or head to:51 Blog Post Topics for Heart-Centered Artists for 2020.
Want more eyeballs on your art? Check out Why Artists Need SEO and How To Get Started.
These are really helpful tips, I would love to have the time to have a blog and apply all the things I learned now :). Reading in blogs occasionally I can really relate to your advices. I especially like the advice to share a work secret. It is true and makes you feel nearer to the author.
Thank you for coming over and reading. You know you may not have a blog but you can apply the “sharing a work secret” tip to your vlogs on you tube, if it ever seems appropriate. You are teaching young artists in those delightful videos of yours.
That’s so true :). Or on instagram. I need to practise to make better captions really. Mine are really too short mostly. Or I just use some kind of quote I find lol. I’ll try work on it and apply your advices next time 🙂
Writing captions for instagram is not easy. I find being both concise and educational or entertaining often difficult.But no matter what you say you are a creative communicator. And genuine!!!
That’s so true you’re right. I can use this on youtube or instagram where I have to write captions all the time. But usually I’m quite uncreative and search some kind of quote that is not too cheesy. But it would be much better to apply your advices ;). I’ll perhaps try it next time when I’m daring enough ;).
Oh and I noticed I’m an adorable little monster. That is so cute <3
Yay for little monsters! I use quotes too, especially when I am feeling hesitant or shy. Quotes are great, they provide social proof but yes you are right that you have the right stuff within you already to add to your video or social media feeds. Experiment first with writing out captions you will never publish. What you would say to your best friend about the work if no one else was going to read it? What would you say to a casual acquaintance who was a big fan of your work and was purchasing the piece and wanted to know a little more about it? Tell them or your friend a mini-story in a private notebook. Maybe use quotes until one day you feel ready to try out something from the notebook. 🙂
I’m so glad you are blogging. Every time you post I can apply it somewhere in my life and it’s spot on! I love this Blog. 🙂 🙂 🙂
I am putting that one in my Feel Good File!
Authentic self and humor equals great writing.
I couldn’t agree more. You have to be willing to share part of yourself. I’m one to share my vulnerabilities with humor and it does hit home with a lot of people and they can relate.
Thanks Denise! I learn from you. I was thinking of the funny tag line on your business card and on your email signature when I wrote part of the post. I even had a line in about it but saving it for another piece I think. What does it say exactly again? I don’t want to misquote you. And do you think the creativity and humor of that sentence has helped you stand out from the crowd and open the door a crack to the upsurge of acting work you have had recently?
Well thank you for liking it. It says Discover a New Fossil, Cast an Unconventional Senior. I think my new agent mentioned she liked it. I think it helps me stand out and it says up front I have a sense of humor about myself.
That was it! Love it! It shows your humor but also a humble form of self esteem. People that aren’t freaked to be be perceived as over 29 always impress me. I know they honor who they are and are enjoying the ride of life.
Thank you for the encouragement! I need to start writing for once. I’ll do it right now.
Beautiful images you have in this one( not just mine ;D )
Hi Kikoe,
lol. Your image clinched it though. Glad it encouraged you. That is why I do this every two weeks, well that an the hope of instant wealth ( kidding.) I have read your writing, it’s good. If you did it every day (even for 15 minutes) you will be amazed with the eventual results.
I’ll try doing it, 15 mins doesn’t seem too hard…ahem…for now. The IDEA of it doesn’t feel hard.
Writing is not completely natural feeling to me but when I know what I want to say its pretty fun. That doesn’t happen every time I try to write haha…I’m sure you, as a writer have much more to say because you are always strengthening your writing muscles and it’s like drawing/art etc…because as you said the more you do it consistently, the better you get.
I mean, it’s not just how you write but like how you know what your focal point is, knowing how to consolidate your collections of loosely connected thoughts and theories into a readable “thing,” ok I’m rambling now!
Thanks again, happy to have found you/ been found by you ;D
You wrote: “It’s not just how you write but like how you know what your focal point is, knowing how to consolidate your collections of loosely connected thoughts and theories into a readable “thing.”
You are in good company if you can’t seem to grab your focal point easily in a piece. This is a problem any writer, even one’s with Pulitzers or bestselling books, struggle with. Your style gets clearer with time but no matter how long you have been writing it is never easy to know what to leave in or out. One thing that helps me when I can’t get my thoughts to streamline is to free-write first. Then I have to take colored pencils or highlighters and circle the few sentences that make sense, out of the lake of words I just poured out. Those circled sentences become my subheadings. I rearrange them in my head to form an outline. Make sense? You might want to give that a whirl. Also doodle out your writing ideas, IMAGES may clue you in to what you are trying to say better than words.
Thanks for emailing me this because it didn’t tell me you replied for some reason 🙁
That’s reassuring that the pros have the same problems!
So, I’m learning that basically I have the same problem in most areas – Lack of planning!
I should do a sketch then only a painting…whether its written or drawn or painted.
I like that approach of writing everything and going back, I do that as well. Sometimes it’s so funny because it ends up being a page of writing that is completely struck out and even the notes and corrections are scribbled out haha!
Thanks for reminding me to use images again, it’s so much easier for me!
(I followed you on Instagram, post something!)
I would say you may want to shoot for short posts for a year as an experiment. If you did one short post a week with one image in each in 2019 you would have 52 new doorways via search engines into your art by year’s end that you did not have before. That’s something.
P.S. OH GOD NOW I HAVE TO POST SOMETHING ON INSTAGRAM! Thanks for the nudge. If you want maybe we can be accountability buddies of sorts and come up with a plan to help each other show up for what we are hesitant to show up for.
This was so helpful and wonderful. Instead of professional writing I need to write a very tedious letter to my boss and I am going to use the heart side in part and I don’t know about how to make it funny but it would probably help. When I write those types of letters I get overly clinical and serious. Not going to help me get what I want and need no doubt. Thank you always for all your help. I love the part about sharing a secret with us. That is so true! thank you. love you. 🙂 🙂
Thanks for always taking the time to read my work Gale, what a pal you are. I will help you with the letter if you want. But I say yes, be funny, because the thing is—-you are funny. And your boss probably knows that you are as she/he is around you almost every day, so she won’t take it the wrong way. But in the end only you know best for you.