Essay Writing: An Art or Science?

The ability to write an essay is one of the most important skill one can acquire in his/her lifetime. Every professional at some point in time engages in the activity of writing either in the form of document drafting or applying for a leave. Students engage in thesis formation to represent their thoughts and ideas in written form. In a nutshell, writing can be considered as a form of self-expression. No one can explain the worth of writing more than authors.

Nevertheless, there is a question that we don’t hear often: is writing a form of art or science? In fact this question may not even seem of use to most of us. However, here are two perspectives of what actually writing is. Many of us would buy cheap writing paper and draft something useful on it and consider it as a form of science. But writing is not an exact science. Rather it is an art.

Writing as an art

When we are writing something, art is not something that directly comes to our minds. Poetry may be an exception which is considered pretty artistic. But what about other forms of writing?

The definition of art is use of creativity, imagination and skill to create something that is emotionally or physically expressive. However, if we go in a deeper understanding of what art is, then any skill can be termed as an art. Thus you have art of diplomacy and even art of making friends.

According to this definition, writing is surely a form of art. Firstly, it is a skill that an individual acquires through practice and experience. Secondly, which is the most important one, writing is a mode of self-expression which is one of the primary motives of art. But this leads us to the question that any form of writing is art? Even drafting legal documents is art?

Here the key is creative thinking. Whether you are drafting legal documents, writing a poetry, creating a scenic play, preparing arguments for an essay or writing anything, combining it with creative thinking can turn it into a form of art. Creative fiction is obviously considered as art than factual writing. But that doesn’t mean non-fiction books and articles are not artistic. The way information is provided exhibits element of art and creativity. They incited an interest in you and made you to read more.

Conclusion

The real argument comes down to the element of subjectivity. It totally depends on the person who is writing. You need to perceive whether writing is an art or a form of science depending on the mindset of writer. Any form of self-expression is art. If the objective to write is expressing yourselves, then writing is surely an art. If the motive of writing is to spread creativity and exhibit imaginative and thoughtful ideas, then writing is surely an art. It varies from person to person and the nature of what the writing is about. All essays contain different elements making it distinct from other types.