First off, let's define our terms so we are all on the same page. Many endeavors can be defined as arts, crafts, or vocations. Vocations can be learned, but often require some level of aptitude, if one is going to be truly proficient, and often a great deal of training and/or practice. Crafts, and arts require some innate “gift”, without which someone can never “learn” to be proficient. Techniques of an art or craft may be studied to improve one's abilities, but all the study in the world can not make someone an artist.

We can find a simple example of this in painting. I can paint my house. I will struggle with it. It will not be a very “professional” job, but it would be passable. I can slap some paint on canvas, I took some art classes, but it will not be “art” - a pretty painting perhaps, but not art. I can hire a professional painter to do my house. He will do a much better job. He makes a living painting houses.

Now if I want a very special job done I can not just hire any painter. Some paint for a living, and are very neat and professional, but others have a gift – they are true craftsmen. A craftsman has a eye for color, a special touch with his brush, things that can't be taught. He doesn't just work as a painter, he is a painter. Now our wonderful craftsman may not do very well putting paint to canvas. He may not have that gift. He is a craftsman not an artist.

I might hire an artist to paint wonderful frescoes in my living room, yet he may be less capable than I of painting a wall. He's an artist, not a professional house painter – yet he is a painter. Yes, someone could be all of those, but proficiency or gift as one does not guarantee ability in all.

Writing is much the same. Anyone can write. We write letters, reports, blogs. Some of us are better than others, some even get paid. There are myriad techniques to learn, and practice improves our skill at communicating. As with our painters, some have a natural talent. There is a craft and an art to writing. Those who communicate well, with a special flair that draws readers in, are true craftsmen. These literary craftsmen have a high level of skill and an ability to communicate effortlessly through the written word. Yet, as with our painters, that does not guarantee a gift as an artist.

The writer, as artist, has a gift that is in a way independent of “writing”. The writer has a innate gift that is expressed through the written word as the painter expresses his through images, or the musician through sound. He must learn the techniques and craft of writing so that he can express that which is already inside.

The lines between artist and craftsmen are not so clear cut as I have made it appear. I have obviously simplified for clarity. The point I am trying to get across is the unique gift of written communication as it pertains to the written narrative. The ability, not simply to write a technically correct paragraph, but to create a work of art.

I am not here to make critical judgments between bodice rippers and high literary fiction – I have seen graffiti as beautiful and artistic as Picasso's paintings. I am here to declare and celebrate the art of writing in all its forms. I have noticed a perception that writing is a technical exercise of putting words on paper. That someone can learn to write. That we are not artists.

A recent blog by a well known literary agent compared writing to a hobby, like stamp collecting or watching reality shows on tv. The gist of the article was that those who feel writing is a very central part of their life, something that defines who they are, are sad individuals who need to get over themselves. To this agent, it seems, writing is a hobby until you make a living at it, then it becomes a vocation.

Writers, like all artists, are defined by their art. Our stories, our art, is an expression of what makes us who we are. To deny our gift is to deny ourselves. We all must learn the techniques and craft of writing, to express ourselves effectively, but the words are already part of us. If it were not so, we would have nothing to write.

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