Artistry
Artistry is taking nothing and turning it into something that moves people.
Bringing Life to Lifelessness
Art starts with nothing. A blank canvas. A block of marble. A chunk of wood and a chainsaw. A white screen with a blinking cursor. And then something appears that wasn’t there before. That’s the magic. As authors, we use words to do the same thing. We take emptiness and give it shape, motion, and meaning. We turn nothing into something that feels alive.
Sights and Sounds That Are Felt
Great art isn’t just seen or heard. It’s felt. I’ve stood in the Uffizi in Florence staring at Botticelli, and it’s overwhelming. The scale, the detail, the brushstrokes right in front of your face. You don’t just look at it; you experience it.
Writing works the same way. When a story is good, you’re not reading words anymore. You’re inside the scene. You’re in the zone. You feel what the characters feel. You’re thinking, “No, don’t do that,” because you’re emotionally invested.
Dimensions of a Different Reality
That’s what art really does. It opens a door into another reality. A place that doesn’t physically exist, but feels real while you’re there. I can’t draw to save my life. The graphics I used back when I was briefing senators and generals were terrible compared to what real designers do today. But inside the covers of a book, that’s where my art lives. I can build worlds with words. I can move characters around, shape scenes, and pull readers into a reality that only exists in their minds.
Mediums Differ, Impact Is the Same
Paint, music, sculpture, film, writing. Different tools, same goal. Emotional impact. Emotional engagement. People won’t remember every detail of what they saw or read, but they will remember how it made them feel. It’s like smells. You forget them until one day you catch it again and suddenly you’re back in another time and place. Tequila will do that to you.
Art Is About Making Us Feel
That’s the core of it. Art isn’t about being technically perfect. It’s about connection. Making someone feel something they didn’t feel before. Even now, I still struggle with calling myself an artist. I was always the geek. First computer in the room. Learning programming in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Now I write fiction, and somehow that makes me an artist. It’s still weird to say out loud, but it’s true.
Final Thought
Artistry is taking nothing and turning it into something that moves people. As authors, our medium is words, but the goal is the same as every other artist’s: create emotion, create experience, create connection. Practice your craft. Shape your scenes. Bring your readers along for the ride. That’s art.
Artistry — Original Medium Article
Artistry — Over 1000 Five Minute Focus videos on the Successful Indie Author YouTube Channel
SIA Writing Challenge website — Record Your Progress on Your Way to Becoming a Successful Indie Author
Craig Martelle is an author, leader, and entrepreneur living in Alaska. Retired from the Marine Corps military intelligence community and physical security, he graduated summa cum laude from law school and went into business consulting. From intelligence, to the inner workings of company boardrooms, to on-the-ground leadership, Craig has seen it firsthand.
He is a million-selling author of over 200 science fiction (post-apocalyptic, military sci-fi, and space opera), thrillers, and the non-fiction series, Successful Indie Author. Craig has been running author conferences since 2017, and also the Successful Indie Author Facebook Group, and the Successful Indie Author YouTube Channel.
Leadership is a service, not a crown to lord over others.