LANDING 2022 Event 5 | Roundtable on Writing Processes
Nadya Wang, Ian Tee, Vivyan Yeo, ants chua, Sean Wang
By Sara Lau
Key points:
The way in which someone begins the writing process influences the style and structure of the final piece of work.
While there was no clear initial motivation for the act of writing, each writer expressed different goals and functions that they would like their work to fulfill.
The team collectively expressed a desire for diversity of both content in art writing as well as the forms in which they manifest
The fourth event for LANDING 2022 was a writers’ roundtable focused on writing processes, the role of the written word in art and its future development. This was led by A&M Editor Nadya Wang, in conversation with A&M Associate Editor, Ian Tee, A&M Content Producer Vivyan Yeo as well as A&M contributors ants chua and Sean Wang.
Here are the takeaways from the panel:
The way in which someone begins the writing process translates into the final piece of work. Through the conversation, two distinct styles of writing emerged: a stream of consciousness that is later cleaned up and organised, versus crafting a draft with thoughts and ideas that have already been neatly structured. Both Sean and ants revealed how they begin writing with a “word dump”, to which Ian pointed out that their final pieces often read in a conversational manner, where the writing is engaging and lyrical, and essentially suitable to be read out loud. In contrast, both Vivyan and Ian write in a more considered manner. Vivyan shared how every sentence she forms needs to be well thought out before moving on to the next, resulting in nuanced drafts . Ian talked about how he begins writing by keeping in mind the questions the final piece is meant to answer, ultimately prioritising legibility and communication over style, both in his writing and editing.
Despite these differences, a common thread that runs through everyone’s writing process is the need to “do nothing”, or rather, do anything but write. Nadya expressed how engaging in a different activity allows space for thoughts to percolate, to which all writers at the roundtable agreed, sharing their need to spend time away from their drafts. As ants aptly surmised, “If I am not writing, that is still part of the writing.”
While there was no clear initial motivation for the act of writing, each writer has developed different goals and functions that they would like their work to fulfill. While writing began as an instinctive act, most of the writers expressed now they now have a goal that they would like to achieve with their writing, which has been shaped through their own journey with writing within and beyond A&M. ants reflected on how writing allows them to build a relationship with a work of art, as well as helps them to concretise what may otherwise be amorphous feelings. In particular, returning to older writings of theirs also acts as a method of rediscovering old selves. Vivyan enjoys trying to find new vocabulary to translate the visual into each written piece, as well as engaging with the emotions provoked by a work, viewing them through various conceptual and philosophical lenses. Ian spoke about how writing complemented his own artmaking practice by allowing him to pursue two completely different trajectories and goals in communicating with an audience. While he is able, and often chooses to be more opaque in expressing ideas through his artworks, he tries to be as empathetic to the audience as possible in his writing, prioritising clear, coherent ideas and digestible information.
The team collectively expressed a desire for diversity of both content in art writing as well as the forms in which they manifest. Nadya stated that it has become intentional for A&M to feature styles and forms that deviate from people’s expectations of art writing. As a result, the writers who now work with her are also individuals who engage with art in various ways. Sean expressed that he enjoyed the writing presented in A&M as they often centre experiences, and he would like to see how to further meld creative writing with art writing. Vivyan cites Olivia Laing as an inspiration, elaborating on how her writing is conversational and makes art seem like a friend, instead of writing about it purely from a historical or socio-political lens. She also highlighted that writing is its own art form, and that art writing can go beyond being a mere accompaniment to an artwork. As someone who also performs, ants is interested in remixing forms. They are also invested in the relationship between the content of what is written and how it is written. They point out that a lot of art writing relies on an individual’s immediate reaction to a piece, which reflects what they describe as a consumer model of experiencing art, and expressed that they would like to see more complex and nuanced writing. Ian appreciates hearing from artists themselves and enjoys seeing their perspectives. At the same time, he is working towards having A&M feature writing that specifically analyses market trends and movements.
Overall, the roundtable produced a fruitful discussion about writing processes, the purposes of art writing as well as its potential futures.
Listen to the full recording of LANDING 2022 Event 5 here:
